IS 


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THE 

CAMBRIDGE 
MODERN  HISTORY 


THE 

CAMBRIDGE 
MODERN  HISTORY 


PLANNED  BY 

THE  LATE  LORD  ACTON  LL.D. 

REGIUS  PROFESSOR  OF  MODERN  HISTORY 


EDITED  BY 

A.  W.  WARD  LiTT.D. 

G.  W.  PROTHERO  Litt.D. 

STANLEY  LEATHES  MA. 


VOLUME  I 

THE  RENAISSANCE 


THE   MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

LONDON :  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1903 
^li  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1902, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up,  electrotyped,  and  published  November,  1902.  Reprinted 
November,  1903. 


J.  S.  Cashing  &  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 


The  plan  of  this  History,  as  is  indicated  on  the  title-page,  was 
conceived  and  mapped  out  by  the  late  Lord  Acton.  To  him  is  due,  in 
its  main  features,  the  division  of  the  work  into  the  volumes  and  chap- 
ters of  which  it  consists ;  and  it  was  at  his  request  that  most  of  the 
contributors  agreed  to  take  a  specified  part  in  the  execution  of  his 
scheme.  In  the  brief  statement  which  follows,  intended  to  set  forth 
the  principles  on  which  that  scheme  is  based,  we  have  adhered  scrupu- 
lously to  the  spirit  of  his  design,  and  in  more  than  one  passage  we  have 
made  use  of  his  own  words.  We  had  hoped  during  the  progress  of 
this  work  to  be  encouraged  by  his  approval,  and  perhaps  to  be  occa- 
sionally aided  by  his  counsel;  but  this  hope  has  been  taken  away  by 
an  event,  sudden  at  the  last,  which  is  deeply  mourned  by  his  University 
and  by  all  students  of  history. 

The  aim  of  this  work  is  to  record,  in  the  way  most  useful  to  the 
greatest  number  of  readers,  the  fulness  of  knowledge  in  the  field  of 
modern  history  which  the  nineteenth  century  has  bequeathed  to  its 
successor.  The  idea  of  a  universal  Modern  History  is  not  in  itself 
new ;  it  has  already  been  successfully  carried  into  execution  both  in 
France  and  Germany.  But  we  believe  that  the  present  work  may, 
without  presumption,  aim  higher  than  its  predecessors,  and  may  seek 
to  be  something  more  than  a  useful  compilation  or  than  a  standard 
work  of  reference. 

By  a  universal  Modern  History  we  mean  something  distinct  from 
the  combined  History  of  all  countries  —  in  other  words,  we  mean  a 
narrative  which  is  not  a  mere  string  of  episodes,  but  displays  a  con- 
tinuous development.  It  moves  in  a  succession  to  which  the  nations 
are  subsidiary.  Their  stories  will  accordingly  be  told  here,  not  for 
their  own  sakes,  but  in  reference  and  subordination  to  a  higher  process, 
and  according  to  the  time  and  the  degree  in  which  they  influence  the 
common  fortunes  of  mankind. 

A  mere  reproduction  of  accepted  facts,  even  when  selected  in  accord- 
ance with  this  principle,  would  not  attain  the  end  which  we  have  in 
view.  In  some  instances,  where  there  is  nothing  new  to  tell,  the  con- 
tributors to  this  History  must  console  themselves  with  the  words  of 
Thiers,  "  On  est  deja  bien  assez  nouveau  par  cela  seul  qu'on  est  vrai ;  " 
but  it  is  not  often  that  their  labours  will  be  found  to  have  been  con- 
fined to  a  recasting  of  existing  material.  Great  additions  have  of  late 
been  made  to  our  knowledge  of  the  past ;  the  long  conspiracy  against  the 
revelation  of  truth  has  gradually  given  way ;  and  competing  historians 

V 


vi 


Preface 


all  over  the  civilised  world  have  been  zealous  to  take  advantage  of  the 
change.  The  printing  of  archives  has  kept  pace  with  the  admission 
of  enquirers  ;  and  the  total  mass  of  new  matter,  which  the  last  half- 
century  has  accumulated,  amounts  to  many  thousands  of  volumes.  In 
view  of  changes  and  of  gains  such  as  these,  it  has  become  impossible 
for  the  historical  writer  of  the  present  age  to  trust  without  reserve 
even  to  the  most  respected  secondary  authorities.  The  honest  student 
finds  himself  continually  deserted,  retarded,  misled  by  the  classics  of 
historical  literature,  and  has  to  hew  his  own  way  through  multitudi- 
nous transactions,  periodicals,  and  official  publications,  in  order  to  reach 
the  truth. 

Ultimate  history  cannot  be  obtained  in  this  generation ;  but,  so  far 
as  documentary  evidence  is  at  command,  conventional  history  can  be 
discarded,  and  the  point  can  be  shown  that  has  been  reached  on  the  road 
from  the  one  to  the  other.  To  discharge  this  task  satisfactorily,  how- 
ever, requires  a  judicious  division  of  labour.  The  abundance  of  original 
records,  of  monographs  and  works  of  detail,  that  have  been  published 
within  the  last  fifty  years,  surpasses  by  far  the  grasp  of  a  single  mind. 
To  work  up  their  results  into  a  uniform  whole  demands  the  application 
of  the  cooperative  principle — a  principle  to  which  we  already  owe  such 
notable  achievements  of  historical  research  as  the  Monumenta  G-er- 
maniae  Historica^  our  own  Rolls  Series^  and  the  Dictionary/  of  National 
Biography/.  Without  such  organised  collaboration,  an  adequate  and 
comprehensive  history  of  modern  times  has  become  impossible.  Hence 
the  plan  of  the  present  work,  the  execution  of  which  is  divided  among 
a  large  and  varied  body  of  scholars. 

The  general  history  of  Europe  and  of  her  colonies  since  the  fifteenth 
century,  which  it  is  proposed  to  narrate  in  accordance  with  the  principles 
stated  above,  is  to  be  treated  in  twelve  volumes.  For  each  of  these  some 
historical  fact  of  signal  importance  has  been  chosen  as  the  central  idea 
round  which  individual  developments  are  grouped,  not  accidentally,  but 
of  reasoned  purpose.  The  Renaissance,  the  Reformation,  the  United 
States  of  America,  the  French  Revolution,  Napoleon,  are  examples  of 
such  ideas,  achievements,  or  figures  which  give  to  each  of  these  volumes 
in  succession  a  unity  not  of  name  alone.  The  use  of  such  characteristic 
designations  frees  us,  to  some  extent,  from  the  necessity  of  adhering 
rigorously  to  the  precise  limits  of  chronology  or  geography. 

Thus  the  subject  of  the  present  volume — the  Renaissance — possesses 
a  unity  of  subject-matter  rather  than  of  time.  Neither  the  anterior  nor 
the  posterior  limits  of  the  movement  are  precisely  marked.  Again,  the 
history  of  the  United  States  of  America,  although  intimately  connected 
with  that  of  Europe,  and  with  that  of  Great  Britain  in  particular,  has 
an  inner  coherence  of  its  own,  which  is  best  preserved  by  a  distinct  and 
continuous  treatment.  In  another  part  of  this  work,  dealing  with  the 
same  events  from  a  British  or  French  point  of  view,  the  American  War 


Preface 


vii 


of  Liberation  will  again  find  its  place,  in  so  far  as  it  affected  the  national 
progress  or  interests  of  either  country.  What  in  one  volume  or  in  one 
chapter  constitutes  the  main  subject,  in  another  may  form  a  digression 
or  furnish  an  illustration.  But,  throughout  the  varied  treatments  of 
successive  periods,'each  in  its  turn  dominated  by  historic  ideas  or  move- 
ments of  prominent  significance,  we  shall  consistently  adhere  to  the 
conception  of  modern  history,  and  of  the  history  of  modern  Europe 
in  particular,  as  a  single  entity.  This  conception  has  regulated  the 
choice  and  the  distribution  of  matter  and  the  assignment  of  space  to 
each  division. 

Certain  nations  or  countries  may  at  times  require  relatively  full 
treatment.  Italy,  for  instance,  fills  an  exceptionally  large  space  in  the 
present  volume.  And  the  reason  is  obvious.  From  Italy  proceeded  the 
movement  which  aroused  the  mind  of  Europe  to  fresh  activity ;  in  Italy 
this  movement  bore  its  earliest  and,  in  some  branches,  its  finest  fruit. 
Moreover,  in  the  general  play  of  forces  before  the  Reformation,  it  was 
on  Italian  soil  that  nearly  all  the  chief  powers  of  Europe  met  for  battle 
and  intrigue.  If  to  these  considerations  are  added  the  importance  of 
Rome  as  the  capital  of  the  Catholic  world  and  that  of  Venice  as  the 
capital  of  commercial  Europe,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  nothing  dis- 
proportionate in  the  share  allotted  to  Italy  and  Italian  affairs  in  this 
volume.  Other  countries  within  the  geographical  limits  of  the  Euro- 
pean continent  had  little  influence  during  the  period  of  the  Renaissance, 
and  are  therefore  comparatively  neglected.  The  Scandinavian  nations 
were  still  in  the  main  confined  to  their  own  immediate  sphere  of  action  ; 
and  it  needed  the  Reformation  to  bring  them  into  the  circle  of  general 
European  politics.  Russia  remained,  as  yet,  inert,  while  the  other 
Eastern  races  of  Europe  played  but  a  minor  part  either  in  its  material 
or  in  its  intellectual  development. 

Our  first  volume  is  not  merely  intended  to  describe  and  discuss  the 
Renaissance  as  a  movement  of  European  history.  It  is  also  designed 
as  an  introductory  volume  whose  business  it  is,  as  it  were,  to  bring  upon 
the  stage  the  nations,  forces,  and  interests  which  will  bear  the  chief 
parts  in  the  action.  Each  chapter  of  this  volume  includes  so  much  of 
antecedent,  especially  of  institutional  history,  as  seemed  necessary  for 
the  clear  understanding  of  the  conditions  with  which  it  is  concerned. 
Such  an  introduction  was  not  thought  requisite,  in  the  case  of  Great 
Britain,  in  a  book  written  for  English  readers. 

That  no  place  has  been  found  in  this  volume  for  a  separate  account 
of  the  development  of  the  pictorial,  plastic,  and  decorative  art  of  the 
Renaissance,  may  appear  to  some  a  serious  omission.  But  to  have 
attempted  a  review  of  this  subject  in  the  period  dealt  with  in  our  first 
volume,  would  have  inevitably  entailed  a  history  of  artistic  progress 
during  later  periods  —  an  extension  of  the  scope  of  this  work  which 
considerations  of  space  have  compelled  us  to  renounce.  Politics, 


viii 


Preface 


economics,  and  social  life  must  remain  the  chief  concern  of  this  History ; 
art  and  literature,  except  in  their  direct  bearing  on  these  subjects,  are 
best  treated  in  separate  and  special  works ;  nor  indeed  is  this  direct 
influence  so  great  as  is  frequently  supposed. 

A  full  index  to  the  whole  work  will  be  published  when  the  series  of 
volumes  has  been  completed.  A  carefully  constructed  table  of  contents 
and  a  brief  index  of  names  accompany  each  volume.  Footnotes  are 
deliberately  excluded,  and  quotations,  even  from  contemporary  au- 
thorities, are  sparingly  introduced.  On  the  other  hand,  each  chapter 
is  supplemented  by  a  full  working  bibliography  of  the  subject.  These 
bibliographies  are  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive.  Obsolete  works  are 
intentionally  excluded,  and  a  careful  selection  has  been  made  with 
the  view  of  supplying  historical  students  with  a  compendious  survey 
of  trustworthy  and  accessible  literature. 

Some  of  the  points  of  view,  to  which  this  preface  has  referred,  have 
been  urged  again  in  the  introductory  note  from  the  pen  of  the  late 
Bishop  of  London  which  is  prefixed  to  the  present  volume.  We  have 
printed  it  with  a  few  changes  of  a  kind  which  we  had  Dr  Creighton's 
express  authority  to  make,  and  we  are  glad  to  think  that  it  shows  both 
the  cordial  interest  taken  by  him  in  the  scheme  designed  by  Lord  Acton, 
and  the  agreement  as  to  its  main  principles  between  the  late  Regius 
Professor  and  the  eminent  historian  who  like  him  formerly  filled  a 
chair  in  this  University. 

On  behalf  of  the  Syndics  of  the  Press,  and  on  our  own  behalf,  we 
desire  to  express  our  thanks,  in  which  we  feel  assured  that  Lord  Acton 
would  have  cordially  joined,  for  valuable  assistance  given  in  regard  to 
the  present  volume  by  the  Rev.  J.  N.  Figgis,  of  St  Catharine's  College, 
and  Mr  W.  A.  J.  Archbold,  of  Peterhouse.  Mr  Archbold  was  also  of 
much  service  in  advancing  the  general  distribution  of  chapters  and  other 
editorial  arrangements.  The  advice  of  Professor  F.  W.  Maitland  has 
been  invaluable  to  all  concerned,  and  will,  we  trust,  continue  to  be  given. 
The  ready  and  courteous  cooperation  of  the  Secretary  to  the  Syndics, 
Mr  R.  T.  Wright,  of  Christ's  College,  has  from  the  first  been  of  the 
greatest  advantage  to  the  Editors.  They  confidently  hope  for  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  aid  which  they  have  received  and  are  receiving  from 
historical  scholars  in  this  University  and  elsewhere.  While  all  readers 
of  this  work  will  regret  the  loss  of  the  guidance  to  which  the  under- 
taking had  been  originally  entrusted,  it  is  most  keenly  felt  by  those 
who  are  endeavouring  to  carry  out  the  late  Lord  Acton's  conception. 

A.  W.  W. 
G.  W.  P. 

Cambridge,  ^' 
August,  1902. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 
By  the  late  Right  Rev.  Mandell  Creighton,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  London 

PAGE 


Division  of  history  into  periods   1 

Dividing  line  between  modern  and  medieval  times.    Recognition  of  principle 

of  Nationality      ............  2 

Growth  of  individual  freedom  in  thought  and  action.    Extension  of  the 

sphere  of  European  influence      .........  3 

Consequent  increase  in  historical  material   4 

Changes  in  point  of  view.    Difficulties  of  the  historian   5 

An  ordered  series  of  monographs  the  only  practicable  scheme  for  a  general 

History  of  Modern  Times   6 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  AGE  OF  DISCOVERY 
By  E.  J.  Payne,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  University  College,  Oxford 


Earlier  history  of  geographical  discovery   7 

Beginnings  of  a  new  era  of  discoveries   8 

Activity  of  missionaries  in  the  East.    The  Saracens  on  the  Mediterranean, 

in  Africa,  India,  on  the  Atlantic   9 

Dom  Henrique  of  Portugal   10 

The  Order  of  Christ   11 

Colonising  and  missionary  schemes.    Real  character  of  Henrique's  enterprise  12 

Slave  raiding  expeditions,  1441  sqq   13 

The  "  Western  Nile  "  and  Bilad  Ghana  reached,  1445    14 

Death  of  Henrique  (1460)  ;  extent  of  his  achievements  ;  his  will    ...  15 

The  Guinea  Trade.    Ivory  Coast,  Gold  Coast,  the  Congo  reached,  1484  .       .  16 

B.  Diaz  rounds  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1486    17 

Effect  of  Portuguese  discoveries.    Letter  of  Politian   18 

Schemes  of  western  exploration   19 

Legends  of  Atlantic  islands  ;  Brasil ;  Antilha   20 

Colombo ;  his  reception  in  Portugal ;  at  Genoa   21 

ix 


X 


Contents 


PAGE 

Agreement  with  Ferdinand  and  Isabel,  1492    22 

Existing  state  of  geographical  knowledge.    Colombo's  voyage,  1492-3.  Bulls 

of  Alexander  VI   23 

Other  voyages  of  Colombo ;  his  death,  1506    24 

Vasco  da  Gama's  voyage  to  India,  1497-8    25 

Stay  at  Calicut;  return  to  Lisbon,  1499    26 

Muslim  trade  with  the  East.    Emporium  of  Calicut   27 

Malacca.    Arabia.    Advantages  of  Portuguese  for  militant  commerce    .       .  28 

Cabral  leads  another  expedition.    Cochin  and  Cananor,  1500  ....  29 

Other  expeditions.    Hostility  of  the  Zamorin  of  Calicut   30 

Repeated  encounters.    The  Moorish  ports  seized.    Goa  occupied.    Affonso  de 

Albuquerque,  1509-15.    Malacca  seized   31 

Affonso  in  the  Red  Sea  ;  at  Hormuz.    His  death   32 

Englishmen  take  part.    Bristol.    The  Cabots.    Charter  of  Henry  VII,  1496  .  33 

Spain  sends  Pinzon  and  Americo  Vespucci  to  S.  America,  1499  ...  34 
Brazil  discovered.    Cabral  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  1500.    The  New  World. 

America  35 

The  Pacific  reached  from  the  East.    Magalhaes,  1519-21        ....  36 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  NEW  WORLD 

By  E.  J.  Payne,  M.A.,  Fellow  of  University  College,  Oxford 

Earlier  history  of  the  New  Continent ;  lack  of  records   37 

The  Nahuatlaca  in  Mexico ;  and  other  aboriginal  races.    Their  migrations. 

Mexican  records  ............  38 

Strife  of  highlanders  and  Lake  pueblos  in  Mexico   39 

Accumulations  of  gold  in  Mexico.    Early  Spanish  colonies     ....  40 

The  mainland  visited.    Expedition  of  Cortes,  1521   41 

Conquest  of  Mexico,  1522.    Its  civilisation   42 

Gold  sent  to  Europe.    Intervention  of  Francis  I.    Verrazzano.    New  France  43 

Cartier  in  North  America,  1534.    The  Inca  nation  in  Peru     ....  44 

Pizarro  in  Peru,  1532  ...       .    45 

Settlement  of  the  conquered  countries.   Influx  of  gold  to  Europe.   Piracy  and 

Protestantism   46 

Reaction  of  the  New  World  on  Europe.    Religious  toleration  possible  in  the 

New  World   47 

French  Protestants  to  Brazil  under  Durand,  1555    48 

Portuguese  in  Brazil,  1531.    Failure  of  Diirand's  colony   49 

Failure  of  another  French  colony  in  South  Carolina.    English  interest  roused  50 

Interlude  of  The  Four  Elements   51 

America  for  the  English.    Richard  Eden   52 

The  North  East  Passage.    Willoughby.    Frobisher   53 

Hernan  de  Soto  in  "  Florida,"  1539-   54 

Queen  Elizabeth  and  Florida.    Huguenots  in  Florida,  1564    ....  55 

New  ideas  suggested  by  new  discoveries  :  More's  Utopia  56-7 

Montaigne  and  the  New  World   58 

Comparison  of  Americans  and  Europeans   59 


Contents  xi 


PAGE 

Freedom  in  the  New  World.    Rome  in  the  New  World   60 

Papal  grants  to  the  Spanish  Crowns  in  the  New  World   61 

Jesuits  in  the  New  World.    Francis  Bacon   62 

New  physical  and  anthropological  speculation  .   63 

Prospects  of  European  civilisation  in  America   64 

Added  width  of  intellectual  scope   65 

Forecast  of  Anglo-Saxon  supremacy  in  the  New  World   66 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  OTTOMAN  CONQUEST 

By  J.  B.  Bury,  Litt.  D.,  LL.D.,  Fellow  and  Regius  Professor  of 
Greek  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin 

Establishment  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  in  Europe,  1358    67 

Fall  of  Constantinople,  1453.    Policy  of  Mohammad  II.    Servia.  Hungary. 

Genoa.    Venice  68 

John  Hunyady  crosses  the  Danube,  1454.    Belgrade  besieged,  1456 ;  relieved 

by  Hunyady.    John  of  Capistrano     ........  69 

Death  of  Hunyady,  1456.    Accession  of  M.  Corvinus,  1458.    Servia  overcome, 

1458.    George  Castriotes  in  Albania  70 

Acknowledged,  1463.    Successes  of  Scanderbeg;  his  death,  1467.  Bosnia. 

The  Bogomils.    Herzegovina  71 

Semendra  surrenders  to  Mohammad.  Danger  of  Bosnia  ....  72 
Bosnia  subdued.    Corvinus  intervenes ;  is  forced  to  retreat.  Herzegovina 

reduced,  1483.    Ragusa  and  Montenegro  73 

Ivan  the  Black  of  Montenegro.   Conquest  of  Greece.   Thomas  and  Demetrius 

in  the  Peloponnese      ...........  74 

Devastation  and  conquest  of  the  Morea.  Venetian  strongholds  ...  75 
War  with  Venice,  1463.    Disunion  of  Europe.    Aeneas  Sylvius      ...  76 

Crusade  projects,  1454-    .    Calixtus  III  77 

Pius  II.    Comneni  at  Trebizond ;  subdued,  1461      ......  78 

Muster  of  Crusaders  at  Ancona.  Death  of  Pius,  1464.  Venetian  War.  Turks 

capture  Negroponte,  1470    79 

Sixtus  IV.  Mocenigo's  naval  exploits.  Albania.  Siege  of  Scodra.  Reduc- 
tion of  Kroja.    Second  siege  of  Scodra      .  80 

Venice  makes  peace,  1479.    Advance  of  the  Muslims.    Capture  of  Otranto, 

1480    81 

Conquests  in  Asia  Minor,  1463-    .    Collision  with  Turcomans,  1471-  . 

Vlad  IV  in  Wallachia,  1456.  Turkish  tribute  refused  ....  82 
Vlad  expelled  by  the  Turks.    Moldavia.    Stephen  the  Great,  1457 ;  asserts 

authority  in  Wallachia;  victory  over  Turks,  at  Racova,  1475.  Genoese 

expelled  from  the  Crimea  by  Turks,  1475    83 

Vain  struggles  of  Stephen ;   his  death,  1504.     Submission  of  Moldavia, 

1512.    Turks  attack  Rhodes,  1480;    failure.    Death  of  Mohammad, 

1481  84 

Bayazid,  and  Jem.    Jem  flies  to  Cairo,  to  Rhodes  85 

Rhodes  makes  peace.    Jem  in  France;  at  Rome,  1489.    Negotiations  with 

Bayazid  86 


xii 


Contents 


PAGE 


Death  of  Jem,  1495.    Inaction  of  Bayazid;  war  with  Venice,  1499.  De- 
feat and  death  of  Loredano   87 

Fall  of  Lepanto.    Losses  in  the  Morea.    Gonzalo.    Peace,  1503.    Ismail  the 

first  Sofi  of  Persia   88 

Egypt;  war,  1485;  peace,  1491.    The  Sultan's  sons  at  war     ....  89 

Selim  I,  1512.    War  with  Persia.    Sunnites  and  Shiites.    Conquest  of  N. 

Mesopotamia,  1516      ...........  90 

Conquest  of  Syria,  1516  ;  Egypt,  1517.    Translation  of  Caliphate.  Authority 

of  the  Imam  or  Caliph   91 

Leo  X,  Francis  I,  and  the  Crusade.    Death  of  Maximilian,  1519,  and  of 

Selim,  1520.  Solyman,  the  Lawgiver,  the  Magnificent  ....  92 
War  with  Hungary;  Szabdcs,  Semlin,  Belgrade  captured,  1521.  Rhodes 

attacked       .............  93 

Rhodes  captured,  1522.    Francis  I  appeals  to  Solyman   94 

The  Reformation  and  the  Crusade.    King  Louis  of  Hungary  ....  95 

Campaign  of  Mohacs.  The  battle,  defeat  of  Hungarians,  1526  ...  96 
Zapolya  and  Ferdinand.    Jajce  captured,  1528.    Solyman  in  Hungary,  1529 ; 

Zapolya  submits.    Buda  captured   97 

Solyman  repulsed  at  Vienna,  1529.     The  Ottoman  State;  its  Laws  and 

Codes   98 

The  <S{/?«^is;  their  organisation.    The  Janissaries   99 

Fanaticism.    Fatalism.    Deterioration  in  rulers   100 

Administration  of  justice.    The  Grand  Vezir  ;  Ibrahim,  1523-       .       .       .  101 

Finance.    Kharaj.    Condition  of  Christian  subjects   102 

The  Greek  Church  under  the  Turks   103 


CHAPTER  IV 

ITALY  AND  HER  INVADERS 

By  Stanley  Leathes,  M.A.,  Fellow  and  Lecturer  of 
Trinity  College 


Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century.    Peace.    Balance  of  power.     State  system. 

Death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  Innocent  VIII,  1492  ....  104 
The  Kingdom  of  Naples ;  its  characteristics.  King  Ferrante  .  .  .  .  105 
Milan.  Ludovico  Sforza ;  his  character ;  his  wealth  .  .  . ,  .  .  106 
Military  weakness.    Relations  of  Italy  to  France  under  Louis  XL  Accession 

of  Charles  VIII,  1483    107 

Ludovico  approaches  the   French  Court.     French   claims  to  Milan,  to 

Naples  108 

Influences  for  intervention  in  Italy.  Embassy  of  Ludovico  ....  109 
Piero  at  Florence.    Alexander  VI  at  Rome.    Relations  with  Florence,  Milan, 

Venice,  and  Naples.    Giuliano  della  Rovere  110 

Charles'  dealings  with  Britanny,  England,  Aragon,  Maximilian.    Danger  of 

Ludovico.    French  preparations  Ill 

Invavsion,  1494.    Battle  at  Rapallo.   Advance  to  Asti  112 

Charles  at  Pavia,  Piacenza,  Pontremoli.    Surrender  of  Piero.    Piero  expelled. 

Charles  enters  Pisa  and  Florence  113 

Advance  on  Rome.     Perplexity  of  Alexander;    he  yields  to  necessity. 

Resignation  of  Alfonso.    Succession  of  Ferrantino.    French  advance      .  114 


Contents  xiii 


PAGE 

Naples  occupied.    Flight  of  Ferrantino.    Death  of  Jem.    League  of  States 

against  Charles.    Louis  of  Orleans  at  Asti  115 

Retreat  of  the  French.    Battle  of  Fornovo,  1495    116 

The  French  reach  Asti.  Charles  returns  to  France.  Results  of  cam- 
paign. Ferrantino  recovers  Naples.  French  generals  forced  to  sur- 
render, 1496    117 

Federigo  succeeds.    Death  of  Charles  VIII,  1498.    Expedition  of  Maximilian, 

1496    118 

Maximilian  attacks  Florence,  fails  to  take  Livorno.    Accession  of  Louis  XII 

of  France,  1498.    Designs  upon  Milan  119 

Treaty  with  Venice,  1499.    Difficulties  of  Ludovico  120 

French  invasion,  1499.  Ludovico  abandons  Milan.  Louis  at  Milan  .  .  121 
Revolt  of  the  duchy.  Return  of  Ludovico,  1500.  French  reconquest  .  .  122 
Capture  of  Ludovico  and  his  brother.     French  predominance  in  Italy. 

Designs  upon  Naples  123 

Agreement  with  the  King  of  Aragon;   joint  invasion,  1501;   the  kingdom 

overrun   .  124 

Disputes  of  France  and  Spain  in  Naples.    War  breaks  out.     Victories  of 

Gonzalo.    The  French  confined  to  a  few  forts,  1502    125 

Negotiations  with  Philip  of  Austria.    Efforts  to  recover  the  kingdom.  Death 

of  Alexander  VI,  1503   126 

The  French  defeated  on  the  Garigliano,  1503.  Treaties  of  Louis  with 
Maximilian,  Philip,  Ferdinand.    Interview  of  Ferdinand  and  Louis  at 

Savona,  1507    127 

Accession  of  Julius  II,  1503  ;  his  acquisitions ;  his  patience ;  he  takes  Bologna, 

and  overawes  Perugia,  1506    128 

Troubles  in  Genoa.  Expedition  of  Louis,  1507.  Submission  of  Genoa  .  .  129 
Ferdinand  and  Louis  plot  against  Venice.  The  enemies  of  Venice  .  .  130 
Maximilian  attacks  Venice,  1508.    Truce  with  Venice.    France  offended. 

League  of  Cambray,  1508    131 

Venetian  preparations.  French  advance.  Victory  of  Agnadello,  1509  .  .  132 
Venice  bows  to  the  storm.  Padua  re-occupied.  Maximilian  besieges  Padua  133 
Siege  raised.  Venice  makes  terms  with  Julius,  1510.  The  Swiss  .  .  .  134 
They  are  won  over  by  the  Pope;  futile  invasion,  1510,    Council  summoned 

by  Louis  to  Pisa,  for  1511.    Activity  of  Julius  135 

Reverses.    Lateran  Council.    League  with  Venice  and  Spain,  1511 ;  new  Swiss 

invasion  foiled.    Gaston  de  Foix  136 

Campaign  and  battle  of  Ravenna,  1512.  Death  of  Gaston.  Results  .  .  137 
The  Swiss  drive  out  the  French,  1512.    Successes  of  Julius.  Massimiliano 

Sforza  at  Milan  138 

Difficulties  of  the  Pope ;  his  death,  1513.    Campaign  of  Novara,  1513.  The 

French  defeated  by  the  Swiss  139 

End  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XII,  1515.     The  forces  of  Francis  I  cross  the 

Col  d'Argentiere,  1515  140 

Campaign  and  battle  of  Marignano  141 

The  war  brought  to  an  end,  1516.    Results  142 

Effects  upon  art.    Development  of  tactics.    Italian  influence  beyond  the  Alps  143 


xiv 


Contents 


CHAPTER  V 

FLORENCE  (I):  SAVONAROLA 
By  E.  Armstrong,  M.A.,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford 

PAGE 


Contrast  of  Savonarola  and  San  Bernardino.    Controversy  still  alive     .       .  144 

Early  youth.    Ferrara.    Florence.    Conviction  of  sin   145 

Argumentative  cast  of  mind.    Untrustworthy  legends  inspired  by  party 

feeling   146 

Independence  of  the  Friar.  Relations  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  ....  147 
The  change  under  Piero.    Rise  of  opposition.    The  Friar  leaves  Florence  and 

returns   148 

Separation  of  San  Marco ;   ill-will  of  Tuscan  convents.     Eloquence  of 

Savonarola   149 

Moral  superiority  of  Florence.    Simplicity  and  sobriety  of  life       .       .       .  150 

Style  of  the  Friar's  preaching   151 

Simplicity  of  life  advocated.     Invectives  against  abuses  in  the  Church. 

Prophecies  of  doom.    Political  bearing   152 

Hatred  of  Naples.  French  invasion,  1494.  Flight  of  Piero  ....  153 
Medici  palaces  sacked.    Concessions  to  people.    Savonarola  an  envoy  to 

Charles   154 

Savonarola  warns  Charles  to  leave  the  city.  Reform  of  Constitution  .  .  155 
Officials  punished.     Soderini  and  Venetian  institutions.     Preaching  of 

Savonarola   156 

He  enters  political  life.    Rival  schemes  for  a  constitution.    Grand  Council. 

Senate   157 

The  executive  unchanged.    Venetian  parallels.    "  People  and  Liberty  "       .  158 

Differences  from  Venetian  model.    Lack  of  independent  judicature       .       .  159 

Opposition  of  nobility.    Lower  classes  ignored   160 

Savonarola's  share  in  framing  constitution.    Appeal  to  Council.  Savonarola 

supports  the  proposal   161 

The  Parlamento  abolished.    The  executive  weakened   162 

Savonarola  on  the  duties  of  electors ;  his  financial  proposals    ....  163 

The  land-tax  unpopular  and  proved  insufficient   164 

Reform  of  Law  Courts.    Moral  ideals  supreme   165 

Laws  against  gambling,  &c.    Monti  di  pieta.    Gospel  of  labour      .       .       .  166 

Regulation  of  holidays.    Burning  of  the  Vanities    .       .       .       .       .       .  167 

The  moral  reforms  unpopular    ..........  168 

Later  reaction.    Growth  of  parties.    Piagnoni,  Bigi,  Arrabhiati.  Francesco 

Valori   109 

France  or  Italy?    Military  weakness.    Pisa,  Sarzana,  Pietra  Santa,  lost  to 

Florence  ^   170 

Milan  and  Venice  protect  Pisa.  Savonarola  stakes  all  on  its  recovery  .  .  171 
Maximilian  in  Italy.    Livorno  saved,  1496.    Death  of  Capponi.  Savonarola's 

fame  at  its  height   172 

Valori  Gonfaloniere,  1497 ;  then  Bernardo  del  Nero.    Reaction  against  Pia- 

(jnone  policy  .............  173 

Piero  attempts  to  return.    Arrabhiati  in  power.    Riots.    Proposal  to  dismiss 

the  Friar   174 

Excommunication  of  Savonarola,  June,  1497.    Medicean  plot.    Arrest  of 

piominent  citizens.    Appeal  demanded   175 


Contents  xv 


PAGE 

Appeal  refused.    Revulsion  in  popular  sentiment   176. 

Alexander  VI  and  Savonarola.    Political  position.    Alexander  intervenes, 

1495    177 

Defence  of  Savonarola.    Reunion  of  Tuscan  and  Lombard  Congregations. 
New  Tusco-Roman  Congregation,  1496.    Apology  for  Brethren  of  St 

Mark.    Excommunication  published,  1497    178 

Alexander  VI  willing  to  accept  submission.    Contumacy  of  Savonarola        .  179" 

Alexander  demands  that  he  be  silenced.    Franciscan  challenge,  1498     .       .  180 

The  ordeal  of  fire.    Disputes  and  futile  ending.    Riots.    Death  of  Valori     .  181 

Savonarola  arrested,  and  tried.    Use  of  torture   182 

Charges  of  imposture,  of  interference  in  party  politics   183 

Appeal  to  General  Council.    Condemnation  of  Savonarola   184 

Sentence  by  Church  and  State,  May,  1498.    Execution   18.5> 

Causes  of  the  tragedy.    Political  circumstances   186 

Political  activity  of  Savonarola.    Gradual  loss  of  favour   187 

The  ordeal.    Desertion  of  the  Friar  by  his  followers   188' 

Savonarola  as  a  spiritual  power   189 


CHAPTER  VI 
FLORENCE  (II):  MACHIAVELLI 

By  L.  Arthur  Burd,  M.A. 


Causes  of  the  downfall  of  the  Florentine  Republic  190 

Lack  of  military  strength ;  financial  difficulties ;  hostile  neighbours  ;  lack  of 

statesmen  and  generals   191 

Relation  of  Florence  to  the  French ;  to  Cesare  Borgia.  War  with  Pisa  .  .  192 
Cesare  Borgia  threatens  Florence;  takes  Piombino.    Vitellozzo  at  Arezzo, 

1502    193 

Cesare's  line  of  positions.    Urbino  and  Camerino  needed  to  complete  the 

ring.    Attitude  of  France  194 

Revolt  of  the  captains.    Machiavelli's  mission.    The  trap  of  Sinigagiia. 

Effects  on  Florence.    Death  of  Alexander  195 

Accession  of  Julius.    Reverses  of  the  French.    Government  of  Soderini 

(1502-12).    Position  of  Machiavelli  196 

Alviano  attacks  Florence ;  his  defeat.    Military  reforms,  1506.    Reduction  of 

Pisa.    War  of  Cambray.    Position  of  Florence  197 

Mission  of  Machiavelli  to  France,  1510.    The  Holy  League,  1511.  The 

French  driven  from  Italy,  1512  198 

The  Medici  restored,  1512.    Machiavelli's  career  19J? 

His  position  in  history  and  political  philosophy ;  his  life  in  retirement  .  .  200 
His  literary  works ;  his  opinions ;  their  genesis  and  exposition  .  .  .  201 
Local  and  temporary  elements  distinguished  from  general  and  permanent; 

individual  conceptions  from  those  common  to  his  times  ....  202 
His  conception  of  human  nature ;  its  essential  depravity ;  imitativeness  of 

man  20o 

Growth  and  decadence  alternate  204 

Causes  of  decay.    Influence  of  individuals  205 

Necessity  of  law  for  correction  of  human  depravity   206^^ 


xvi 


Contents 


PAGE 

Law  requires  the  support  of  religion.    Religion  as  an  instrument  of  rule. 

This  theoretical  foundation  required  for  practical  politics  .  .  .  207 
Appeal  to  experience;   to  history;   to  ancient  Rome.     Moral  obligation 

dependent  on  necessity  of  law  208 

Good  defined  is  that  which  serves  the  interests  of  the  majority.  Influence 

of  Christianity  209 

Free  Will  and  Fortune  210 

Success  the  test  of   political  action;    all  means   good  which  lead  to 

success.     Relation  of  morality  to  practical   politics.  Machiavelli's 

various  treatises  211 

The  Prince;   the  result  of  Machiavelli's  experience;   local  and  Italian 

patriotism.    Novelty  of  Machiavelli's  position  212 

Emancipation  of  political  wisdom  from  ecclesiastical  control.   Rule  of  reason  ; 

new  conception  of  the  State.    Republican  sympathies.    Necessity  of 

despotism     .............  213 

Corruption  of  Italy ;  to  be  cured  by  a  despot  214 

The  enemies  of  reform;  a  republic  incapable  of  curbing  them.    Reform  as 

restoration  215 

Popular  support  needed.  Fraud  and  violence  necessary  means  .  .  .  216 
Necessity  condones  offences  of  the  wise  prince.    Thoroughness  essential  to 

success  217 

Permanent  interest  and  influence  of  The  Prince  218 

CHAPTER  VII 
ROME  AND  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER 
By  Richard  Garnett,  C.B.,  LL.D. 

Establishment  of  the  Pope's  temporal  rule  part  of  a  general  movement 

towards  coalescence  in  Europe   219 

Effects  on  the  papacy  as  a  spiritual  institution   220 

Nepotism  and  the  papacy.    Sixtus  IV.    Innocent  VIII   221 

Innocent's  weakness  ;  at  home  and  abroad   222 

Necessity  for  increased  temporal  power.    Alliance  with  Lorenzo     .       .       .  223 

The  custody  of  Sultan  Jem.    Fall  of  Granada,  1492    224 

Election  of  Alexander  VI,  1492    225 

Simoniacal  practices.    Character  of  Alexander   226 

Troubles  with  Franceschetto  Cibo,  the  Orsini,  and  Naples.    Alliance  with 

Milan  and  Venice.    The  Pope  inclines  to  Naples   227 

Death  of  Ferrante  of  Naples.   French  designs  on  Naples.   Flight  of  Cardinal 

della  Rovere.    Schemes  of  Charles  VIII   228 

Alexander  sides  with  Naples  ;  approaches  the  Turk   229 

French  advance.    Alexander  decides  to  remain   230 

Negotiations  and  agreement  with  Charles  VIII  at  Rome.    Death  of  Jem. 

Flight  of  Alfonso   231 

League  against  France.    Retreat  of  Charles  VIII   232 

Alexander  at  war  with  the  Orsini,  1496-7.    The  Duke  of  Gandia  .       .       .  233 

Divorce  of  Lucrezia.    Death  of  Duke  of  Gandia,  1497    234 

Proposals  of  reform.    Cesare  to  the  front.    Change  of  policy  ....  235 


Contents  xvii 


PAGB 

Matrimonial  schemes.    Cesare  visits  Court  of  Louis  XII.    French  marriage 

and  alliance   236 

Milan  occupied,  1499.    Condition  of  papal  States.    Plans  of  Alexander; 

of  Cesare   237 

Imola  and  Fori!  conquered,  1499-1500.    Year  of  Jubilee,  1500.    Rimini  and 

Pesaro,  and  Faenza  occupied,  1500-1    238 

Alexander  takes  part  in  the  Franco-Spanish  conquest  of  Naples ;  the  Colonna 

suppressed.    Third  marriage  of  Lucrezia,  1501    239 

Camerino,  Urbino  taken.    The  condottieri  seized  at  Sinigaglia,  1502.  The 

Orsini  suppressed.    Danger  from  Spain  and  France         ....  240 

Death  of  Alexander  VI,  1503  ;  his  character  and  his  rule        ....  241 

Pius  III.    Julius  II.    Fate  of  Cesare  and  his  possessions        ....  242 

Character  and  policy  of  Julius  II   243 

Aggression  of  Venice,  1503.    The  Colonna  and  Orsini  restored      .       .       .  244 

Perugia  overawed,  Bologna  taken,  1506    245 

League  of  Cambray,  1508.  Agnadello,  siege  of  Padua,  1509  ....  246 
Submission  of  Venice  to  Julius,  1510.    Julius  turns  against  France,  and 

against  Ferrara   247 

Swiss  aid.    Danger  of  Julius  at  Bologna.    Siege  of  Mirandola       .       .       .  248 

Death  of  Alidosi.  Council  of  Pisa.  Lateran  Council  .  .  .  .  .  249 
Bologna  saved  by  Gaston  de  Foix.    Battle  of  Ravenna,  1512.    Another  Swiss 

invasion.    Ferrara  refuses  to  submit         .......  250 

Sforza  and  Medici  restored.    Plans  of  Julius   251 

His  death,  1513.    Manifestations  at  his  funeral.    His  work   ....  252 


CHAPTER  VIII 
VENICE 

By  Horatio  Brown,  LL.D. 

Venice  in  the  fifteenth  century ;  her  European  position.    Growth  of  Venetian 


maritime  empire   253 

Dalmatian  pirates.    The  Crusades.    Byzantine  jealousy         ....  254 

The  Fourth  Crusade.    Venetian  acquisitions.    Their  treatment     .       .       .  255 

Government  of  Crete.    Naval  policy  and  organization   256 

Rivalry  with  Genoa.  Development  of  commerce.  The  Black  Sea  .  .  257 
Losses  and  successes  of  Venice.    Acquisition  by  Venice  of  Tenedos.  War 

in  1378.    Genoese  capture  Chioggia   258 

Attack  of  Pisani  on  the  Genoese.    Defeat  and  capture  of  their  fleet,  1378. 

Rise  of  Turkish  power   259 

Territorial  expansion  of  Venice.  Intervention  at  Ferrara,  1300  .  .  .  260 
Succession  at  Ferrara.    The  Pope  and  Venice.    Excommunication,  1309. 

Peace,  1311   261 

War  between  Carrara  and  La  Scala.    Rise  to  power  of  La  Scala.  Venice 
heads  a  league.    Padua  occupied  for  Carrara.    Venice  occupies  March  of 

Treviso   262 

Venetian  policy  towards  her  subjects  on  the  mainland   263 

Opposition  on  the  terra  ferma.    Carrara;  Hungary.    Peace  of  Turin,  1381. 

Venetian  losses :  Tenedos,  Dalmatia,  Treviso,  &c.     .....  264 

C.  M.  H.  I.  b 


xviii 


Co7itents 


PAGE 


Extension  of  Carrara ;   of  Visconti.    Visconti  occupies  and  loses  Padua. 

Treviso,  &c.,  recovered  by  Venice  265 

Death  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti,  1402.    Venice  at  war  with  Carrara.  Padua, 

Vicenza,  Verona  secured  266 

Relations  to  the  Church.    Patriarch  of  Grado  becomes  the  Patriarch  of 

Venice,  1445.    Position  of  St.  Mark's  267 

Independent  ecclesiastical  policy  of  Venice  ;  she  adheres  to  the  conciliar  Pope, 
1409 ;  appeals  to  a  Council,  1483,  1509.    Appointment  to  benefices  at 

Venice  268 

Church  property.    Jurisdiction  over  clerics.    The  Inquisition        .       .       .  269 

Concessions  after  War  of  Cambray  270 

The  Venetian  Constitution ;   origins.    General  Assembly.    Doge.  Ducal 

Councillors.    Pregadi.    Reforms  of  1172    271 

New  Assembly.    Additional  Councillors.    Ducal  promissione.    Rise  of  com- 
mercial families  272 

Closing  of  the  Great  Council,  1297.    Conspiracy  of  Bajamonte  Tiepolo,  1310  273 

Establishment  of  the  Council  of  Ten  ;  its  procedure  274 

Outline  of  constitution.    Great  Council ;  Senate  ;  the  Ten      ....  275 

Collegio ;  Ducal  Council ;  Doge  276 

Dangers  of  Venice  ;  the  mainland  a  burden.    Commerce  her  chief  resource ; 

the  mercantile  marine  277 

Her  revenue.    Dalmatia  and  Friuli  acquired.    Victory  over  Turks  at  Gal- 

lipoli,  1416  278 

Recovery  of  Visconti.    Two,  parties.    Policy  of  Mocenigo.    Candidature  of 

Foscari ;  his  election,  1423    279 

League  with  Florence  against  Milan.    Brescia  and  Bergamo  acquired.  Con- 
duct of  Carmagnola  ;  his  execution,  1432    280 

Ravenna  acquired.    Death  of  Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  1447.    Peace  of  Lodi, 
1454.    Crema  and  Treviglio  acquired.    Fall  of  Constantinople,  1453. 

Deposition  of  Foscari.    Results  of  his  reign  281 

Splendour  of  Venice.    Evidence  of  Commines  282 

Venetian  administration.    Life  of  a  Venetian  noble  283 

Life  of  the  people.  Arts  and  letters.  Malipiero,  Sanudo,  Priuli  .  .  .  284 
Germs  of  decline.    Finance.    New  commercial  routes.    Advance  of  the  Turks. 

War,  1462    285 

Disasters  of  the  Turkish  War.    Peace,  1479.    Policy  of  peace  with  the  Turk. 

European  apathy  286 

Attack  on  Ferrara,  1481.   War  against  Italy ;  invitation  to  France.   Results  287 


CHAPTER  IX 

GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE 

By  T.  F.  Tout,  M.A.,  Professor  of  History  in  the  Owens 
College,  Victoria  University,  Manchester 

Lack  of  national  unity  in  Germany.    Comparison  of   Germany  under 

Frederick  III  and  France  under  Charles  VI  

The  powers  of  the  German  kingship  

Weakness  of  the  great  vassals.    The  imperial  Diet  .... 


288 
289 
290 


Contents  xix 


PAGE 

Cumbrous  and  expensive  procedure.    Meetings  of  Electors     ....  291 

Electoral  influence.    The  Leagues   292 

Narrowing  of  German  and  imperial  influence.  Internal  disorder  .  .  .  293 
The  attempts  at  Reform.    The  Landfriede.    Frederick  III;  his  weakness; 

his  policy   294 

Agreement  with  the  Pope.    Marriage  of  Maximilian   295 

Tyrolese  succession.     Acquisition  of   Tyrol.     Maximilian  elected  King. 

Frederick  the  Victorious,  Count  Palatine  of  the  Rhine     ....  296 

Albert  Achilles,  Elector  of  Brandenburg.  House  of  Wettin  ....  297 
Condition  of  the  Rhineland,  Franconia,  and  Swabia.     Knights  and  minor 

nobility   298 

Towns  and  peasantry.    Movement  for  reform   299 

Berthold  of  Mainz,  1484  ;  his  ambitions   300 

A  national  policy  framed.    Historical  parallels   301 

Diets  of  Frankfort,  148.5,  1489.    Summons  of  imperial  cities  to  the  Diet 

of  1489.    Diet  of  Niirnberg,  1491    302 

Accession  of  Maximilian ;  his  policy.     Schemes  of  Reform ;  propositions 

of  1495.    Imperial  Chamber  of  Justice.    Executive  Council  for  the 

Empire   303 

The   Common   Penny.     Alternative   scheme:    Landfriede;  Reichskammer- 

gericht   304 

Common  Penny.    Failure  of  scheme   305 

Diets  of  Lindau  and  Worms,  1496  and  1497      ........  306 

Helplessness  of  the  reformers.    Swiss  movement  for  independence.  Swiss 

War.    Swiss  terms  conceded,  1499    307 

Diet  of  Augsburg,  1500.    Fresh  reform  proposals   308 

Council  of  Regency ;  its  constitution   309 

Difficulties  between  Maximilian  and  Council  of  Regency  .....  310 

Berthold  gives  up  his  scheme.    Electoral  Diet ;  fresh  plans  of  reform    .       .  311 

Growth  of  a  royalist  party.    Efforts  of  Emperor   312 

Maximilian's  own  reforms.  Aulic  Council.  Finance  and  justice  .  .  .  313 
Fate  of  Aulic  Council.  Policy  of  Maximilian  in  the  hereditary  lands  .  .  314 
Question  of  succession  to  Landshut,  1504.  Maximilian  has  his  will  .  .  315 
Diet  of  Cologne,  1505.  Death  of  Berthold.  Increased  influence  of  Maxi- 
milian   316 

The  Matricula.    New  reforms  at  Constance  in  1507   317 

Need  of  money  and  men  ;  grants   318 

Max  takes  imperial  title.    Necessities  of  Emperor   319 

Fresh  proposals  for  army  and  administration.    Augsburg,  1510.  Inadequate 

results.    Cologne,  1512  .320 

System  of  Circles,  1512.    The  Swabian  League  and  Wtirtemberg   .       .       .  321 

Last  year  of  Maximilian  ;  his  death,  1519 ;  his  character   322 

His  ministers  and  his  relations  to  them  ;  Lang   323 

Maximilian's  capricious  changes ;  his  military  improvements  ....  324 

The  Landskneckte.    Maximilian  and  the  Renaissance   325 

His  literary  projects;  his  artistic  collaborators   326 

Progress  and  prosperity  under  Maximilian   327 

Survival  of  the  German  nation   328 


XX 


Contents 


CHAPTER  X 
HUNGARY  AND  THE  SLAVONIC  KINGDOMS 
By  Emil  Reich,  Dr.  Jur. 

PAGE 


Decay  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia.    Their  acquisition  by  the  Habsburgs  .       .  329 
Political  strategy  of  the  House  of  Austria.    The  Cech  and  Magyar  king- 
doms.   Points  of  difference   330 

Points  of  resemblance.    Social  and  political  structure   331 

Hungary.    Its  population .    Its  constitution   332 

Government,  local  and  national.    The  Diet   333 

Absence  of  feudalism.    Bohemia.    Nobles.    Knights.    Peasantry .       .       .  334 

The  Diet.    Matthias  Corvinus.    His  successes   335 

His  death,  1490.    Wladislav  II,  King  of  Hungary,  1490-1516.  Thomas 

Bakdcz.    The  Zapolyai   336 

Internal  dissensions.    Peasants'  War,  1514   337 

Louis  II  of  Hungary.    Sulayman  occupies  Belgrade,  1521.    Mohacs,  1526. 
Eclipse  of  Hungary 

Bohemia.    Magnates  at  war  with  the  towns.    Religious  dissensions.  Ill 

fortune  of  Bohemia  under  the  Jagello  kings   338 

Compensations.    Legislation  in  Hungary   339 

The  Renaissance  in  Hungary.     The  Reformation  in  Hungary.  Bohemia. 

Causes  of  the  downfall  of  the  two  kingdoms   340 

European  system.    Empire  and  Church.    Enclaves  in  the  West     .       .       .  341 

Continuous  monarchies  in  the  East.  Thek  relative  weakness  .  .  .  342 
Parliamentary  systems  in  the  East.    Hungary  and  Bohemia  inactive  in 

foreign  policy.    Comparison  with  the  Habsburgs   343 

Maximilian's  policy.    Hungarian  inaction   344 

Mohacs  unavoidable.    Poland.    The  magnates.    The  kings.    Weakness  of 

the  monarchy.    The  General  Diet   345 

Apathy  and  weakness  of  Poland   346 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  CATHOLIC  KINGS 
By  H.  Butler  Clarke,  M.A. 

Political  divisions  of  the  Iberian  peninsula.    Castile  and  Aragon  under  the 


rule  of  the  "  Catholic  Kings  "   347 

Castile.    History  of  its  institutions.    Behetrias ;  fueros ;  corregidores     .       .  348 

Privileges  of  the  several  Orders.    The  Castilian  Cortes   349 

General  and  particular  Cortes.    The  king.    Legislation  and  Justice      .       .  350 
Aragon.    The  four  Estates.    Power  of  the  Assembly.    The  Justicia.  Cata- 
lonia   351 

Valencia.  The  Basque  provinces.  War  of  Succession,  1475-6  .  .  .  352 
The  Hermandad.    Reforms.    Royal  grants  revoked,  1480.    The  Crusading 

Orders.    Ferdinand  Grand  Master  of  all   353 

The  nobility.    The  army.    The  navy   354 

The  royal  Councils.    The  clergy   355 


Contents  xxi 


PAGE 

Church  patronage.    The  Inquisition.    Trade  and  agriculture.  Taxation. 

The  alcahala   356 

Manufacture  and  commerce.    Population.    Coinage   357 

Revenue.    Codes  of  Laws.    Conquest  of  Granada,  1481-92     ....  358 

The  Jews  and  the  Inquisition.    Exile  or  Baptism,  1492    359 

Torquemada  ;  Lucero  ;  Ximenes.    Mild  government  of  Granada    .       .       .  360 

Change  of  policy,  1499.  Revolts.  Baptism  or  exile  for  Moriscos,  1501  .  .  361 
Foreign  policy.    Recovery  of  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne,  1493.    League  of 

Venice,  1494.  Conquest  of  Naples,  1503.  Marriage  policy  .  .  .  362 
Philip  and  Juana.    Death  of  Isabel,  1504.    Philip  and  Ferdinand.  Marriage 

of  Ferdinand,  1505    363 

Treaty  of  Salamanca,  1505.    Death  of  Philip,  1506    364 

Ferdinand  regent  of  Castile.  Fall  of  Gonzalo.  Conquest  of  Oran,  1509  .  365 
Conquests  of  Navarro  in  Africa.    His  defeat,  1510.    Designs  upon  Navarre. 

The  Holy  League.    The  English  at  Guipuzcoa.    Invasion  of  Navarre    .  366 

Conquest  of  Spanish  Navarre.    Remainder  of  Ferdinand's  life       .       .       .  367 

His  death,  1516.    His  character.    Rule  of  Ximenes   368 

Jean  d'Albret  attacks  Navarre.    Expedition  to  Algiers.    Charles'  Flemish 

counsellors.    Charles  in  Spain,  1517   369 

Ximenes  deposed.    New  arrangements.    Castilian  Cortes.    Cortes  of  Aragon  370 

Charles  King  of  the  Romans.    Discontent  of  Castile   371 

Cortes  of  Santiago,  1520.    Charles  leaves  the  country.     Revolt  of  the 

Comuneros   372 

Juana  seized.    Petition  to  Charles   373 

New  Regents  for  Castile.    Disunion  of  the  Comuneros   374 

Padilla  and  the  Comuneros  routed  at  Villalar,  1521.    End  of  the  War. 

Return  of  Charles,  1522    375 

Proscription.     Causes  of  the  failure  of  the  Comuneros.      Germania  of 

Valencia,  1519-   376 

The  rabble  gain  the  upper  hand.  Moderate  party.  The  'revolt  crushed  .  377 
Proscriptions  and  executions.  Fresh  invasion  of  Navarre  repulsed.  Devel- 
opment of  Charles'  character.  His  position  strengthened  .  .  .  378 
Literary  and  artistic  development.    Revival  of  Learning        ....  379 

Universities.    Popular  literature.    Early  specimens   380 

Amadis  of  Gaul.    Annalists   381 

Ignorance  of  the  people.    The  minor  arts.    Architecture.    Sculpture    .       .  382 

Conspicuous  examples  of  Spanish  art   383 


CHAPTER  XII 
FRANCE 

By  Stanley  Leathes,  M.A.,  Fellow  and  Lecturer  of 
Trinity  College 


Development  of  the  monarchy.    Decay  of  other  institutions   ....  384 

The  French  Church.    Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges,  1438    ....  385 

The  Council  of  Basel.    The  provisions  of  the  Pragmatic  ;  its  effects      .       .  386 

The  Pragmatic  under  Louis  XI ;  under  Charles  VIII   387 

Under  Louis  XII.    The  Concordat  of  Francis  I,  1516.    University  of  Paris  .  388 


xxii 


Contents 


PAGE 

The  great  princes  and  the  nobility.    Aquitaine.    The  Dukes  of  Burgundy. 

rhilip  the  Good.    Charles  the  Bold   389 

Campaign  of  Beauvais,  1472.    Charles  in  Lorraine,  in  Elsass,  in  Germany. 

Relations  to  the  Swiss.    Swiss  aggression   390 

Morat  and  Grandson,  1476.    Nancy,  1477.    Death  of  Charles.    Louis  and 

Maximilian   391 

Treaties  of  Arras,  1482,  and  Senlis,  1493.     Britanny.     Its  rights,  and 

independence   392 

League  against  Anne  of  Beaujeu.     The  Guerre  Folle,  1485.    Intrigues  to 

secure  the  Breton  succession   393 

The  League  defeated  by  La  Tremouille,  1488.  Death  of  Francis  II  .  .  394 
Anne  of  Britanny  marries  Maximilian,  1490.    Forced  to  marry  Charles,  1491. 

Stages  of  the  union  of  Britanny  with  France   395 

Anjou ;  absorbed,  1481.    Guyenne.    The  Armagnacs   396 

Albret.    Bourbon.    Lesser  nobility   397 

ThQ  Bourgeois ;  Louis  XL    The  peasants.    Their  relation  to  the  King  .       .  398 

The  Estates  General.    Their  decay  ;  1439,  1451,  1484    399 

Attitude  of  the  Estates  in  1484.    Meeting  of  1506.    Predominance  of  the  King. 

His  Council   400 

The  Parlements.    Relations  to  the  Council   401 

Composition  and  functions  of  the  Parlement  of  Paris.     Lesser  judicial 

authorities   402 

Legislation.    Codification.    Royal  officers   403 

Financial  system.    The  Taille  imposed  by  royal  authority      ....  404 

Ordinary  and  extraordinary  revenue.    Domaine  ;  Aides;  Gahelle    .       .       .  405 

Taille.    Inequalities  of  incidence   406 

Variations  in  the  burden  of  taxation.    Financial  divisions      ....  407 

Administration  of  finance,  and  financial  officers   408 

Chamhres  des  Comptes.    Imperfect  control.    Lack  of  unity      ....  409 

Expenditure.    Pensions.    The  army,  and  war   410 

Changes  in  the  military  system.    Reforms  of  1439    411 

Reform  of  1445.    The  Ordonnances  established   412 

Infantry.    Artillery.    Navy.    Commerce   418 

Art.    Architecture.    Literature   414 

The  chief  persons  of  the  period.    Louis  XI   415 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  NETHERLANDS 

By  A.  W.  Ward,  Litt.  D.,  LL.D.,  Master  of  Peterhouse 

Impression  made  by  Charles  the  Bold  on  contemporary  imagination      .       .  417 

Effects  of  his  failure.  Building  of  Burgundian  fortunes.  The  great  towns  ,  418 
Acquisitions  of  Philip  the  Good,  1419-67.    Namur.    Brabant.    Cities  of 

Brabant.    Hainault,  Holland,  and  Zeeland   419 

The  towns  of  the  northern  Netherlands.  Amsterdam.  Kennemerland  .  420 
Friesland.  Groningen.  The  Bishop  of  Utrecht.  Luxemburg  .  .  .  421 
Principality  of  Liege.  W ars  of  Liege,  1465-8.  The  Somme  towns  .  .  422 
Bishopric  of  Utrecht.  Feuds  in  Utrecht.  Gelderland.  Party-strife  .  .  423 
Conquest  of  Gelderland.  Burgundian  rule  in  Gelderland,  1473-  .  Central- 
isation under  the  Dukes   424 


Contents  xxiii 


PAGE 

Opposition  of  the  Communes  of  Flanders  and  Brabant   425 

Courtray,  1302.    Roosebeke,  1382.    Philip  the  Good   426 

Subjection  of  Bruges,  1438.    Subjection  of  Ghent,  1453.    Causes  of  the  com- 
munal decline   427 

Craft  organisation.    Mutual  jealousy  of  towns   428 

Industrial  and  commercial  decline  in  the  fifteenth  century  ....  429 
The  nobles.    The  Court.    Manners  and  character  of  the  nobles.    The  duke 

and  the  clergy   430 

The  lawyers.    Judicial  reforms.    The  Estates  under  Philip  and  Charles       .  431 

Military  reforms   432 

Painting  under  the  Burgundian  dukes.    Literature.    Historians  and  chron- 
iclers.   Chambers  of  Rhetoric   433 

Religious  movements.  Rusbroek.  Fraterhuis  of  Deventer  ....  434 
Brethren  of  the  Common  Life.    AVindesem  Congregations.    Transcription  of 

MSS.    Hegius  at  Deventer.    His  pupils   435 

Sintius.  Agricola.  Influence  of  the  Brethren.  University  of  Louvain  .  436 
Religious  thinkers.    John  Wessel.    Action  of  Louis  XI  after  the  death  of 

Charles  the  Bold,  1477    437 

Plans  of  conquest.    The  Estates  at  Ghent.    The  Great  Privilege    .       .       .  438 

Provincial  charters.    Resistance  to  France.    Mary  and  her  counsellors  .       .  439 

French  intrigues  in  Flanders   440 

Hugonet  and  Himbercourt  arrested  and  executed.    Suitors  for  Mary's  hand  .  441 

Maximilian.    His  marriage  with  Mary.    Maximilian  in  the  Netherlands      .  442 

Difficulties  of  Maximilian   443 

Death  of  Mary,  1482.    Faction  feuds.    The  question  of  the  Regency     .       .  444 

Peace  of  Arras,  1482.  Campaign  in  Utrecht,  1483.  Death  of  Louis  .  .  445 
Maximilian  and  the  Flemings.    French  intervention.    Submission  of  Bruges 

and  Ghent   446 

Maximilian  as  King  of  the  Romans.    Fresh  agitation   447 

Bruges  and  Ghent  take  np  arms.    Maximilian  a  prisoner  at  Bruges.  His 

release.    Philip  of  Cleves  heads  the  opposition   448 

Maximilian  leaves  for  Austria.     Albert  of  Saxony,  governor.  Successes. 

Further  troubles  at  Bruges  and  Ghent   449 

Philip  of  Cleves  finally  submits.    The  Breton  marriage,  1490.    Charles  of 

Egmond  claims  Gelderland   450 

Prolonged  struggle.    The  Peace  of  Senlis,  1493.    Maximilian  in  the  Nether- 
lands, 1494    451 

Disputes  with  England.    The  Intercursus  Magnus,  1496    452 

Relations  oi  Philip  and  Maximilian.    Albert  of  Saxony  in  Friesland.  Fries- 
land  finally  subdued.    Marriage  of  Philip  and  Juana,  1496      .       .       .  453 
Philip  negotiates  with  France,  in  opposition  to  Max.    Foreign  policy  of 

Philip.    His  death,  1506    454 

Margaret  regent  of  the  Netherlands,  1507-15.  Her  experience.  Her  policy  .  455 
Relations  to  Maximilian.    Opposition  between  his  interests  and  those  of  the 

Netherlands   456 

Failure  of  Margaret's  policy.    Charles  takes  up  the  reins,  1515       .       .       .  457 

Cost  of  the  Austrian  rule.    Impoverishment  of  the  country,  1494-1514  .       .  458 

Relations  to  the  Empire.  Decline  of  Flemish  trade.  Rise  of  Antwerp  .  .  459 
Stagnation  of  intellectual  life  in  the  Netherlands  before  the  Reformation. 

Premonitions  of  the  Reformation.    Erasmus  and  the  Renaissance  .      .  460 

His  relations  to  the  Reformation   461-2 


xxiv 


Contents 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  EARLY  TUDORS 
By  James  Gairdner,  C.B.,  LL.D. 

PAGE 


Results  and  end  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses   463 

Warwick.    Accession  of  Henry  VII,  1485    464 

Star  Chamber.     Conspiracies.    Lovel  and  the  Staffords,  1486.  Lambert 

Simnel,  1487    465 

Defeat  of  Lambert  and  his  supporters.  Britanny  and  France,  1488-9.  In- 
trigues of  Spain   466 

Treaty  with  France,  1492.    Maximilian,  Philip,  Margaret  of  Burgundy,  and 

the  Netherlands   467 

Perkin  Warbeck,  1491.  Commercial  reprisals  against  Flanders  .  .  .  468 
Perkin  in  Ireland,  in  Scotland.    James  IV  of  Scotland.    Invades  England, 

1496.    Rising  in  Cornwall,  1497    469 

Perkin  at  Cork,  in  Cornwall,  1497.    Captured   470 

Warfare  on  the  Scottish  border.    Ireland.    Kildare   471 

Poynings  and  his  Acts.    Kildare  reinstated,  1496    472 

The  end  of  Warbeck,  1499.     Commercial  treaties  with  the  Netherlands, 

1496-9    473 

Spanish  marriage,  1502.    Flight  of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk   474 

His  relations  to  foreign  princes  and  towns   475 

Philip  and  Juana  in  England,  1506.    Marriage  and  commercial  treaties        .  476 

Henry  sues  for  the  hand  of  Margaret  of  Savoy.    Death  of  Henry  VII,  1509   .  477 

Accession  of  Henry  VIII.  Empson  and  Dudley  beheaded  ....  478 
Expeditions  to  Cadiz  and  Gelders.    Andrew  Barton.    Henry  joins  the  Holy 

League,  1511   479 

Expedition  to  Gascony,  1512.    Raid  on  Britanny.    Action  off  Brest      .       .  480 

Invasion  of  France,  1513.    Battle  of  the  Spurs   481 

Project  to  marry  Mary  to  Charles  of  Castile.    Invasion  of  Scots.    Battle  of 

Flodden,  1513   482 

Attitude  of  European  powers.    Rise  of  Wolsey   483 

Alliance  of  French  and  English  Kings.    Marriage  of  Mary  to  Louis  XII. 

Death  of  Louis  XII,  1515   484 

The  Duke  of  Albany  and  Margaret  of  Scotland.  Wolsey  a  Cardinal  .  .  485 
Victory  of  Francis  I  at  Marignano.   Henry  hires  Swiss  troops  against  Francis. 

Death  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon   486 

Maximilian  negotiates  with  Henry.    Europe  courts  English  friendship  .       .  487 

Margaret  of  Scotland  at  Greenwich,  1517.   Riots  against  foreigners  in  London  488 

Intrigues  at  Rome  in  favour  of  Wolsey.    Treaty  with  France,  1518       .       .  489 

Charles  joins.    Charles  elected  Emperor,  1519   490 

Consolidation  of  monarchies  in  Europe.    More's  Utopia.    New  views  of 

politics.    Learning  in  England   491 

Condition  of  England.    English  manners   492 


Contents 


XXV 


CHAPTER  XV 

ECONOMIC  CHANGE 

By  the  Rev.  William  Cunningham,  D.D.,  Fellow  of 
Trinity  College 

PAGE 

Change  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  seventeenth  centuries   493 

The  contrast  developed.    Area  of  trade.    The  breakdown  of  monopolies       .  494 

Self-sufficing  groups  dissolved.    The  use  of  money  extended   ....  495 

Regulation  of  exchange  and  industry  by  towns  in  medieval  times  .       .       .  496 

Gives  way  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  national  regulation  ....  497 
Rise  of  capitalistic  regime.    Hindrances  to  the  employment  of  capital  in 

medieval  times.  Money-lending  in  the  Middle  Ages  ....  498 
Laws  against  usury.     Disabilities  of  bankers.     Mercantile  enterprise  an 

exception   499 

New  openings  for  capital.    Reasons  for  an  abrupt  change.    The  Black 

Death   500 

Effects  of  the  plague.    Constant  wars  in  the  later  Middle  Ages      .       .       .  501 

Diversion  of  traffic.    Decline  of  the  Hansa.    The  Turks.    The  Moors    .       .  502 

Recovery  in  France.    Jacques  Coeur.    Financial  reforms  of  his  time      .       .  503 

Need  for  royal  encouragement  of  industry.  Short-lived  commercial  success  .  504 
Increasing  scarcity  of  precious  metals  compensated  by  the  liberation  of 

hoarded  coin   505 

The  Augsburg  capitalists.    The  Fuggers.    Development  of  mining       .       .  506 

Shifting  of  centres  of  trade.    Rise  of  Antwerp   507 

Advantages  of  Antwerp.    Freedom  from  customary  restrictions     .       .       .  508 

Antwerp  a  permanent  fair ;  a  great  free  money  market   509 

Fall  of  Antwerp,  1576.    Commission  business.    Ocean  trade  ....  510 

Craft  gilds  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.    Use  of  capital   511 

Industries  most  suited  for  capitalistic  enterprise.    The  textile  industries       .  512 

The  gilds  transformed  or  crushed  by  capital   513 

Capitalistic  development  of  industry.    New  questions  of  economic  policy      ,  514 

Difficulties  of  urban  industrial  organisation   515 

Relations  to  the  peasants.    Depression  of  the  cultivators  for  the  sake  of  the 

town   516 

Territorial  economic  policy  adopted  by  the  nations   517 

Spain.  The  New  World  and  its  gold.  The  capitalists  at  work  .  .  .  518 
Increase  in  the  price  of  produce  in  Spain.     Short-lived  development  of 

industry       .   519 

Foreign  capital  discouraged.    Government  hoards  of  metal     ....  520 

Failure  of  Spain  to  use  her  opportunities.    Other  nations  benefit   .       .       .  521 

England.    The  country  forced  for  lack  of  gold  to  develop  industry        .       .  522 

Concessions  to  companies.    Monopolies  on  capitalistic  lines    ....  523 

Influence  of  aliens.    Improvement  of  agriculture   524 

Hales'  Discourse  of  the  Common  Weal  under  Edward  VI.    France.  Recovery 

under  Henry  IV.    His  ministers   525 

Reform  of  the  taille.    Use  of  royal  money  for  remunerative  work.    Canals    .  526 

Encouragement  of  industries.    Agriculture      .     '   527 

Success  of  England  and  France  as  compared  with  Spain   528 


xxvi  Contents 


PAGE 

Change  of  trade  routes.  Failure  of  towns  depending  only  on  commerce  .  529 
Success  dependent  upon  power  of  adaptation.    Agriculture  fails  to  attract  the 

capitalist  530 

Distribution  of  the  new  treasure.    Effects  of  capitalistic  effort       .      ,      .  531 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CLASSICAL  RENAISSANCE 

By  Sir  Richard  C.  Jebb,  M.P.,  Regius  Professor  of  Greek 

Revival  of  Learning.  Scholastic  Philosophy.  Humanism  ....  532 
Learning  from  the  fifth  to  the  eighth  century.  Trivium  and  Quadrivium  .  533 
Manuals  and  compendia.  Boetius.  Benedictines.  Ireland  ....  534 
Baeda.  Charles  the  Great.  His  schools.  Alcuin.  The  monasteries  .  .  535 
Latin  studies  after  Charles  the  Great.  Scholastic  philosophy  in  the  thir- 
teenth century   536 

Greek  studies  before  the  Renaissance.    Italy.    Constantinople       .       .       .  537 

Humanism  in  Italy.    Petrarch,  1304-74   538 

Rienzi.    Relation  of  Petrarch  to  the  ancients   539 

Petrarch's  patrons ;  his  disciples.    Boccaccio.    Study  of  Greek      .       .       .  540 

Byzantine  scholarship.    Boccaccio.    Manuel  Chrysoloras,  1397-     .       .       .  541 

Effect  of  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  1453.  Greek  scholars  in  Italy  .  .  .  542 
John  Argyropoulos  (1456-71).     Demetrius  Chalcondylas  (from  c.  1447). 

John  Lascaris  (d.  1535)   543 

Latin  scholarship.    Giovanni  di  Conversino.    Coluccio  de'  Salutati.  Gas- 

parino  da  Barzizza   543 

Latinity.    Letter-writing   544 

Lorenzo  Valla  (d.  1547).    Bembo.    Paulus  Jovius   545 

Erudition.  Translation.  Grammars.  Criticism.  Valla  ....  546 
Monuments  of  antiquity.    Archaeology.    Poggio.    Biondo.    Foundation  of 

museums   547 

Appreciation  of  ancient  sculpture  and  architecture.  Raffaelle  .  .  .  548 
Epigraphy.    Search  for  MSS.    Petrarch.    Boccaccio.    Poggio  in  Switzerland 

and  Germany,  1414   549 

Annals  of  Tacitus,  1508.    Greek  codices.    Constantinople       ....  550 

Filelfo.    Vespasiano.    Niccoli  of  Florence,  d.  1437    551 

Cosmo  de'  Medici.  Vatican  Library.  Nicolas  V.  Calixtus  III.  Sixtus  IV.  552 
Private  libraries.    Urbino.  —  Stages  of  progress  in  humanistic  study.  Oral 

teaching.    Academies  '  553 

Professors.    Filelfo  at  Florence,  1429    554 

Politian,  1454-94.    His  rhetorical  gift   555 

School  training.    Vittorino  da  Feltre   556 

Vittorino  at  Mantua.    Scope  of  education  in  his  school   557 

Guarino  da  Verona  at  Venice  and  Ferrara   558 

Platonic  Academy  at  Florence.    Lorenzo  de'  Medici.    His  circle :  Pico  della 

Mirandola,  Alberti,  Michelangelo,  Politian,  Landino  ....  559 
Roman  Academy.    Pomponius  Laetus,  c.  1460.    Neapolitan  Academy.  Jovi- 

anus  Pontanus,  c.  1458    560 

Printing  in  Italy.    Rome,  Venice,  Milan,  Florence   561 

Aldo  Manuzio  at  Venice,  1490-1515.    Editions  of  Greek  and  Latin  classics   .  562 


Contents 


xxvii 


PAGE 


Neacademia  at  Venice,  1500.    Visit  of  Erasmus,  1508.    Death  of  Aldo,  1515. 

His  character  and  work.  Subsequent  history  of  the  Aldine  press  .  .  563 
Decline  of  humanism.  French  and  Spanish  wars.  Bembo  ....  564 
Leo  X,  1513-21.  Scholarship  and  ecclesiastical  preferment  .  .  .  ,  565 
Greek  printing  at  Rome.  Leo  X  and  the  New  Learning  ....  566 
Sack  of  Rome,  1527.    Later  scholars.    Condition  of  Italy       ....  567 

Our  debt  to  the  Italian  Renaissance  568 

Humanism  in  the  North.    Erasmus,  1467-1536.    His  career.   Attitude  towards 

humanism  569 

His  educational  and  moral  aims.    The  Bible  570 

Vogue  of  his  writings.    Enlarged  scope  of  the  Renaissance  in  the  North. 

Germany.  Johann  Mtiller  (Regiomontanus),  d.  1476  ....  571 
Roelof  Huysmann  (Rudolf   Agricola),  d.  1485.     Patrons.  Universities. 

Johann  Reuchlin,  1455-1522    572 

Defence  of    Hebrew   learning.     Epistolae    Obscurorum    Virorum,  1514-7. 

Scholarship  in  the  service  of  biblical  criticism  573 

Philip  Melanchthon,  1497-1560.  Characteristics  of  the  Teutonic  Renaissance  574 
France.  Intercourse  with  Italy.  Greek  studies.  Lascaris.  Aleander  .  575 
Greek  printing  at  Paris,  from  1507.    Robert  Estienne  (Stephanus),  and  his 

son  Henri.    Budaeus.    Turnebus  576 

Lambinus.    Dolet.    French  study  of  Roman  Law.  —  Scaliger,  Salmasius, 

Casaubon.    General  character  of  French  humanism  as  compared  with 

ItaUan  577 

Iberian  peninsula.    Barbosa.    Lebrixa.    Ximenes.    Complutensian  Polyglot, 

1522.  Fate  of  the  New  Learning  in  the  peninsula  ....  578 
The    Netherlands.      Influence    of    Spain.      Leyden.      Lipsius.  Vossius. 

Heinsius.    Grotius  579 

England.    Oxford  Hellenists,  c.  1500.    Grocyn.    Linacre.    William  Lilly. 

Cambridge:    Erasmus,   1510-13.     Croke.     Thomas   Smith.  Cheke. 

Ascham  580 

Cambridge  in  1542.  —  Pronunciation  of  Greek  581 

English  Schools.  British  scholarship  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Translations  582 
Larger  aspects  of  the  English  Renaissance.  —  Conclusion.    The  work  of 

Italy  583 

Result  of  the  Renaissance  584 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  CHRISTIAN  RENAISSANCE 
By  M.  R.  James,  Litt.  D.,  Fellow  of  King's  College 


Lack  of  Christian  learning  attested  by  Roger  Bacon   585 

Grosse teste's  translations  from  the  Greek   586 

His  interest  in  origins.    Hebraic  studies.    Roger  Bacon's  statement  of  needs 

and  actual  services   587 

Precursors  of  Grosseteste  and  Bacon.    Greek  learning  at  St  Denis  .       .       .  588 

Library  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury,  c.  1300    589 

Hebrew  learning  in  England  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.    At  Paris.  Domi- 
nican revision  of  the  Vulgate   590 

Hebrew  learning  more  common  than  Greek.    Nicholas  de  Lyra,  d.  1340        .  591 

Learning  of  the  Franciscans.    Catalogus  Librorum  Angliae      ....  592 


xxviii 


Contents 


PAGE 


Sacred  learning  in  Italy.    Greek  neglected  till  the  fifteenth  century       .       .  593 

The  age  of  collection  and  Christian  literature.    The  Vatican  Libraiy    .       .  594 

Library  of  Nicholas  V.    Newly  found  works,  c.  1455    595 

Inferences  from  the  contents  of  the  Vatican  Library.    Venice  and  Florence  .  596 

Collections  in  France.    Hermonymus.    In  England   597 

Duke  Humphrey,  William  of  Selling.    St  Augustine's,  Canterbury       .       .  598 

Greek  books  at  Basel.    German  apathy.    Nicholas  of  Trier    ....  599 

His  books  at  Cues.    Translations  in  the  fifteenth  century       ....  600 

Ambrogio  Traversari,  d.  1438.  George  of  Trebizond  translates  Eusebius  .  601 
Beginnings  of  criticism.    Lorenzo  Valla  and  the  Donation  of  Constantine. 

The  text  of  the  Bible   602 

The  Complutensian  Polyglot.    The  First  Greek  Testament    ....  603 

The  Syriac  version.  The  Septuagint,  1587.  Textual  advance  .  .  .  604 
Commentators  on  the  Bible.     Hebrew  studies.     Pico  della  Mirandola. 

Reuchlin   605 

Work  of  Erasmus.    His  Greek  Testament.    St  Jerome   606 

Other  patristic  recensions.    Origen.    Erasmus'  attitude  to  antiquity     .       .  607 

The  study  of  ecclesiastical  history   608 

The  Magdeburg  Centuriators.    Baronius'  Annales   609 

Christian  archaeology.    The  Lives  of  the  Saints   610 

Bibliography  of    Christian    literature.     Trithemius,    Gesner,  Bellarmin. 

Libraries  in  the  sixteenth  century   611 

Importance  of  MSS.    Publication  of  early  Christian  literature       .       .       .  612 

Philo,  Josephus.    Apocryphal  literature   613 

The  Apostolic  Fathers,  Ignatius,  Clemens  Romanus,  &c   614 

The  Greek  Apologists.    Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus,  Origen,  &c   615 

Eusebius  of  Caesarea.    The  Latin  Fathers.    TertuUian,  Cyprian   .       ,       .  616 

The  Latin  Apologists.    Lactantius,  &c.    Minor  Christian  writings        .       .  617 

The  Bibliothecae  Patrum.    Basel,  Zurich,  Paris,  Cologne         ....  618 

Conclusions  and  summary.    Work  of  the  several  centuries     ....  619 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
CATHOLIC  EUROPE 
By  the  Rev.  William  Barry,  D.D. 


Projects  of  Church  Reform,  1311-1520    620 

Lateran  Council,  1512.  Council  of  Trent.  Spirit  of  Reform  projects  .  .  621 
Strength  of  the  Church.    Rome  the  world's  centre.    Reluctance  of  the 

Papacy  to  undertake  disciplinary  reform.    Its  grounds         .       .       .  622 

Conciliar  movement.    Failure  of  Council  of  Basel.    Heresy    ....  623 

Dogmatic  orthodoxy  the  rule.    Freedom  of  discussion.    Nicholas  of  Cusa  624 

Thomas  a  Kempis.  Loyola.  Erasmus.  Catholic  movement  .  .  .  625 
Independent  movement.     England,   France,   and  Italy  inert.  Spiritual 

movements  in  the  Netherlands.  The  Dominicans.  Ruysbroek  .  .  626 
Thomas  Aquinas.    Gerard  Groot.    Florentius.    Brethren  of  the  Common 

Life.    Windeshem   627 

Educational  movement.    The  Imitation  of  Christ   628 


Contents  xxix 


PAGE 

Cusanus.    Diocesan  and  Provincial  Synods   629 

Statutes  against  abuses.    Their  inefficiency.    Cusanus  as  Legate    .       .       .  630 

His  visitations  and  reforming  energy   631 

The  effects  inadequate.    His  quarrel  with  Sigismund  of  Tyrol       .       .       .  632 

Death  of  Cusanus,  1464.    The  literary  Renaissance.    Printing       .       .       ,  633 

Support  of  the  Church.    Rudolf  Agricola.    Hegius.   Wimpheling  .       .       .  634 

His  works.    His  aims.    The  University  of  Paris   635 

Gallicanism.    Other  Universities.    Wessel  at  Paris   636 

The  Renaissance  in  France.    Universities  in  Germany    .....  637 

The  universities  orthodox.    The  Church  and  education  in  Germany      .       .  638 

Religious  publications.    The  printing  of  the  Bible   639 

The  Bible  in  translations.    No  printed  English  Bible  before  1520  .       .       .  640 

Wyclif's  Bible.    Other  translations.    The  press  in  Germany  ....  641 

Influence  of  the  hierarchy  and  the  religious  Orders.    Erasmus  in  England    .  642 

The  English  clergy  and  the  Renaissance   643 

Decay  of  learning  in  England  after  the  Reformation.    Colet  ....  644 

Religion  in  England.    Legatine  commission  of  Wolsey,  1518  ....  645 

Wolsey  and  education.    The  Papacy  and  reform   646 

Saints  and  preachers  in  Italy   647 

The  Orders  in  Italy.    Gilds  and  brotherhoods  in  Italy   648 

Savonarola.    His  ideas  and  aspirations   649 

His  failure.    The  Spanish  crowns  and  the  Spanish  Church.    Ximenes  .       .  650 

Mendoza.    Talavera.    Spanish  demands  for  papal  reform       ....  651 

Spirit  of  Catholic  reformers.    Contrast  with  the  Reformation        .      .      .  652 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  EVE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 
By  Henry  Charles  Lea 


Union  of  spiritual  and  secular  forces  in  the  Reformation   653 

Medieval  struggle  of  Church  and  State  for  supremacy.    The  victory  of  the 

spiritual  power   654 

Failure  of  the  Councils.    Pretensions  of  the  Popes  in  the  fifteenth  century    .  655 

Legates  and  nuncios.    Control  of  patronage.    Simony   656 

Complaints  and  resistance.    Nomination  of  bishops.    Venice  ....  657 

Hungary.    Spain.    The  Empire   658 

Pluralism.    Extravagant  wealth  of  the  clergy.    Examples     ....  659 

Immunities  of  the  clergy.    Venetian  claims   660 

Sixtus  IV  and  Florence.    Papal  claim  to  shelter  the  laity       ....  661 
Indulgences.    Exemption  from  taxation  of  church  property    ....  662 
Progressive  secularisation  of  the  Holy  See,  from  the  thirteenth  to  the  six- 
teenth century     .   663 

Consequent  danger  to  the  Pope  from  Italian  enemies   664 

Alexander  VI,  Julius  II,  Leo  X.    Distrust  of  the  Papacy        ....  665 

The  crusades  starved  in  consequence.    Extravagance  of  the  Popes  .       .       .  666 

Cost  of  collection  of  papal  revenues.    Farming  of  the  revenues      .       .       .  667 

Dispensations.    Annates  and  tithes  of  ecclesiastical  revenue    ....  668 

Refusal  to  pay  tithe  in  the  fifteenth  century.    Venality  of  the  Curia      .       .  669 

Sale  of  offices.    Cost  of  business   670 


XXX 


Contents 


PAGE 


Corrupt  administration  of  justice.    Litigation  concerning  benefices.    Sale  of 

cardinalates   671 

The  Papacy  for  sale.    Corruption  of  Avignon  and  Rome   672 

Superstitious  reverence  for  the  external  symbols  of  religion.    Divorce  of 

religion  and  morality   673 

Decline  of  morality  among  the  clergy.    Hans  Boheim   674 

Cahiers  of  the  Spanish  Cortes.    Anticlerical  literature,  c.  1500        .       .       .  675 

The  preaching  of  the  Friars.   Foulques  de  Neuilly,  Thomas  Connecte,  &c.     .  676 

The  Councils.    Lateran  Council,  1512-7   677 

Its  inadequate  results.  The  Curia  regarded  as  past  reform  ....  678 
The  New  Learning  and  the  humanistic  movement.    Paganistic  and  heretical 

fancies   679 

More  serious  questionings.   Heimburg,  Rucherath,  Wessel      ....  680 

Laillier,  Vitrier,  Langlois,  Lefevre  d'Etaples.  Freedom  of  exegesis  .  .  681 
Pirckheimer.     Erasmus  escapes  condemnation.     Forerunners  of  Luther. 

Staupitz   682 

The  NarrenschiffoiBv2LTit  -.683 

Reuchlin  and  Pfefferkorn.     Epistolae  Obscurorum  Virorum.     Invention  of 

printing   684 

Dissemination  of  translations  of  the  Bible  and  of  heretical  literature.  Cen- 
sorship of  the  press   685 

Academies,  societies,  and  secret  associations.    Germany  predestined  as  the 

field  of  battle   686 

Teutonic  independence.  Ancient  rancour  against  the  Papacy.    Subjection  of 

the  Church  in  Germany.    Concordat,  1448   687 

The  Concordat  violated.    Opposition  to  papal  exactions.    Diether  of  Mainz 

and  the  question  of  annates,  1459-   688 

Nicholas  of  Cusa.    Complaints  at  Cot)lenz  in  1479    689 

The  grievances  of  1510.    Maximilian.   Lack  of  single  authority  in  Germany  690 

Abuses  only  to  be  removed  by  the  Reformation   691 

Causes  of  the  change  of  spirit   692 


BIBLIOGEAPHIES 


CHAPS.  PAGES 

I  AND  II.    The  Age  of  Discovery  and  the  New  World  .  693-9 

III.  The  Ottoman  Conquest   700-5 

IV.  Italy  and  her  Invaders   706-13 

V.  Florence  (I):  Savonarola    .....  714-18 

VI.  Florence  (II):  Machiavelli         ....  719-26 

VII.  Rome  and  the  Temporal  Power         .       .       .  727-28 

VIII.    Venice   729-33 

IX.  Germany  and  the  Empire          ....  734-44 

X.  Hungary  and  the  Slavonic  Kingdoms        .       .  745-8 

XI.  The  Catholic  Kings    .       .       .       .       .       .  749-53 

XII.    France   754-60 

XIII.  The  Netherlands  ......  761-9 

XIV.  The  Early  Tudors   770-2 

XV.  Economic  Change       ......  773-8 

XVI.  The  Classical  Renaissance         ....  779-81 

XVII.  The  Christian  Renaissance         ....  782-3 

XVIII.    Catholic  Europe   784-8 

XIX.  The  Eve  of  the  Reformation     ....  789-92 


INTRODUCTOET  NOTE 


Any  division  of  history  is  doubtless  arbitrary.  But  it  is  impossible 
for  history  to  discharge  all  the  obligations  which,  from  a  strictly 
scientific  point  of  view,  are  incumbent  upon  it.  If  we  accept  the 
position  that  history  is  concerned  with  tracing  the  evolution  of  human 
affairs,  we  are  continually  being  driven  further  back  for  our  starting- 
point.  The  word  "  affairs  "  is  generally  supposed  to  indicate  some 
definite  movement ;  and  the  forces  which  render  a  movement  possible 
must  be  supposed  to  have  depended  upon  institutions  which  produced 
organised  action.  These  institutions  arose  from  attempts  to  grapple 
with  circumstances  by  the  application  of  ideas.  We  are  thus  carried 
back  to  an  enquiry  into  the  influence  of  physical  environment  and 
into  the  origin  of  ideas  relating  to  society.  We  pass  insensibly  from 
the  region  of  recorded  facts  into  a  region  of  hypothesis,  where  the 
qualities  requisite  for  an  historian  have  to  be  supplemented  by  those 
of  the  anthropologist  and  the  metaphysician.  A  pause  must  be  made 
somewhere.  Humanity  must  be  seized  at  some  period  of  its  develop- 
ment, if  a  beginning  is  to  be  made  at  all.  The  selection  of  that  point 
must  be  determined  by  some  recognisable  motive  of  convenience. 

The  limitation  implied  by  the  term  modern  history  depends  on  such 
a  motive,  and  is  to  be  defended  on  that  ground  only.  Modern  history 
professes  to  deal  with  mankind  in  a  period  when  they  had  reached  the 
stage  of  civilisation  which  is  in  its  broad  outlines  familiar  to  us,  during 
the  period  in  which  the  problems  that  still  occupy  us  came  into  conscious 
recognition,  and  were  dealt  with  in  ways  intelligible  to  us  as  resembling 
our  own.  It  is  this  sense  of  familiarity  which  leads  us  to  draw  a  line 
and  mark  out  the  beginnings  of  modern  history.  On  the  hither 
side  of  this  line  men  speak  a  language  which  we  can  readily  under- 
stand ;  they  are  animated  by  ideas  and  aspirations  which  resemble  those 
animating  ourselves  ;  the  forms  in  which  they  express  their  thoughts 
and  the  records  of  their  activity  are  the  same  as  those  still  prevailing 
among  us.  Any  one  who  works  through  the  records  of  the  fifteenth 
and  the  sixteenth  century  becomes  conscious  of  an  extraordinary  change 

C.  M.  H.  I.  1 


2     Contrast  of  the  medieval  and  the  modern  world 


of  mental  attitude,  showing  itself  on  all  sides  in  unexpected  ways. 
He  finds  at  the  same  time  that  all  attempts  to  analyse  and  account 
for  this  change  are  to  a  great  extent  unsatisfactory.  After  marshalling 
all  the  forces  and  ideas  which  were  at  work  to  produce  it,  he  still 
feels  that  there  was  behind  all  these  an  animating  spirit  which  he 
cannot  but  most  imperfectly  catch,  whose  power  blended  all  else 
together  and  gave  a  sudden  cohesion  to  the  whole.  This  modern 
spirit  formed  itself  with  surprising  rapidity,  and  we  cannot  fully  explain 
the  process.  Modern  history  accepts  it  as  already  in  existence,  and 
herein  has  a  great  advantage.  It  does  not  ask  the  reader  to  leave  the 
sphere  of  ideas  which  he  knows.  It  makes  but  slight  claims  on  his 
power  of  imagination,  or  on  his  sympathy  with  alien  modes  of  thought. 
He  moves  at  his  ease  in  a  world  which  is  already  related  at  every  point 
with  the  world  in  which  he  lives.  Things  are  written  clearly  for  his 
understanding. 

It  is  of  course  possible  to  investigate  the  causes  of  this  change,  and 
to  lay  bare  the  broad  lines  of  difference  between  the  medieval  and  the 
modern  world.  In  outward  matters,  the  great  distinction  is  the  frank 
recognition  in  the  latter  of  nationality,  and  all  that  it  involves.  The 
remoteness  of  the  Middle  Ages  is  partly  due  to  the  technicalities  which 
arose  from  the  persistent  attempt  to  regard  international  relationships 
as  merely  forming  part  of  a  universal  system  of  customary  law.  Motives 
which  we  regard  as  primary  had  to  find  expression  in  complicated 
methods,  and  in  order  to  become  operative  had  to  wait  for  a  convenient 
season.  A  definite  conception  had  been  promulgated  of  a  European 
commonwealth,  regulated  by  rigid  principles  ;  and  this  conception  was 
cherished  as  an  ideal,  however  much  it  might  be  disregarded  in  actual 
practice.  Practical  issues  had  always  to  justify  themselves  by  reference 
to  this  ideal  system,  so  that  it  is  hard  to  disentangle  them  accurately 
in  terms  of  modern  science.  This  system  wore  away  gradually,  and 
was  replaced  by  the  plain  issue  of  a  competition  between  nations,  which 
is  the  starting-point  of  modern  history.  This  division  of  history  is 
mainly  concerned  with  the  rise  and  fall  of  nations,  and  with  an  estimate 
of  the  contributions  made  by  each  to  the  stock  of  ideas  or  experiments 
which  influenced  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

The  growth  of  national  feeling,  and  its  recognition  as  the  dominant 
force  in  human  affairs,  went  side  by  side  with  a  fuller  recognition  of  the 
individual.  The  strength  of  national  life  depended  upon  the  force  of 
the  individuals  of  whom  the  nation  was  composed.  International  com- 
petition implied  a  development  of  national  sentiment,  which  needed  the  aid 
of  each  and  all.  As  the  individual  citizen  became  conscious  of  increased 
importance,  he  was  inclined  to  turn  to  criticism  of  the  institutions  by 
which  he  had  previously  been  kept  in  a  state  of  tutelage.  The  Church 
was  the  first  to  suffer  from  the  results  of  this  criticism,  and  modern 
history  begins  with  a  struggle  for  liberty  on  the  ground  which  was  the 


Problems  of  modern  history 


3 


largest,  the  right  of  free  self-realisation  as  towards  God.  The  conflict 
which  ensued  was  long  and  bitter.  The  issue  could  not  be  restricted 
solely  to  the  domain  of  religion,  but  rapidly  invaded  civil  relations. 
The  demands  of  the  individual  constantly  increased,  and  every  country 
had  to  readjust  in  some  form  or  another  its  old  institutions  to  meet 
the  ever  growing  pressure. 

Hence,  the  two  main  features  of  modern  history  are  the  development 
of  nationalities  and  the  growth  of  individual  freedom.  The  interest 
which  above  all  others  is  its  own  lies  in  tracing  these  processes, 
intimately  connected  as  they  are  with  one  another.  We  delight  to 
see  how  peoples,  in  proportion  to  their  power  of  finding  expression 
for  their  capabilities,  became  more  able  to  enrich  human  life  at  large  not 
only  by  adapting  in  each  case  means  to  ends,  but  also  by  pursuing  a 
common  progressive  purpose. 

Side  by  side  with  this  increase  of  energy  went  an  extension  of  the 
sphere  with  which  European  history  was  concerned.  The  discovery 
of  the  New  World  is  a  great  event  which  stands  on  the  threshold 
of  modern  history,  and  which  has  mightily  influenced  its  course. 
New  spheres  of  enterprise  were  opened  for  adventurous  nations,  and 
colonisation  led  to  an  endless  series  of  new  discoveries.  The  growth  of 
sea  power  altered  the  conditions  on  which  national  greatness  depended. 
Intercourse  with  unknown  peoples  raised  unexpected  problems.  Trade 
was  gradually  revolutionised,  and  economic  questions  of  the  utmost 
complexity  were  raised. 

These  are  obvious  facts,  but  their  bearing  upon  the  sphere  and  scope 
of  historical  writing  is  frequently  overlooked.  It  is  no  longer  possible 
for  the  historian  of  modern  times  to  content  himself  with  a  picturesque 
presentation  of  outward  events.  In  fact,  however  much  he  may  try  to 
limit  the  ground  which  he  intends  to  occupy,  he  finds  himself  drawn 
insensibly  into  a  larger  sphere.  His  subject  reveals  unsuspected  relations 
with  problems  which  afterwards  became  important.  He  perceives  ten- 
dencies to  have  been  at  work  which  helped  to  produce  definite  results 
under  the  unforeseen  conditions  of  a  later  age.  He  discovers  illustra- 
tions, all  the  more  valuable  because  they  represent  an  unconscious 
process,  of  forces  destined  to  become  powerful.  His  work  expands  in- 
definitely in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  curtail  it ;  and  he  may  sigh  to  find 
that  the  main  outline  before  him  insensibly  loses  itself  in  a  multitude 
of  necessary  details.  If  he  is  to  tell  the  truth,  he  cannot  isolate  one 
set  of  principles  or  tendencies  ;  for  he  knows  that  many  of  equal  import- 
ance were  at  work  at  the  same  time.  He  is  bound  to  take  them  all  into 
consideration,  and  to  show  their  mutual  action.  What  wonder  that  his 
book  grows  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  restrain  it  within  definite  limits  ? 

Indeed  history,  unlike  other  branches  of  knowledge,  cannot  prescribe 
limitations  for  itself.  It  is  not  only  that  men  need  the  experience 
of  the  past  to  help  them  in  practical  endeavours,  to  enable  them  to 


4 


Fresh  matter  and  fresh  points  of  view 


understand  the  position  of  actual  questions  with  which  they  and  their  age 
are  engaged.  For  this  purpose  accurate  facts  are  needed,  —  not  opinions, 
however  plausible,  which  are  unsustained  by  facts.  At  the  same  time, 
the  variety  of  the  matters  with  which  history  is  bound  to  concern  itself 
steadily  increases.  As  more  interest  is  taken  in  questions  relating  to 
social  organisation,  researches  are  conducted  in  fields  which  before  were 
neglected.  It  is  useless  for  the  science  of  history  to  plead  established 
precedent  for  its  methods,  or  to  refuse  to  lend  itself  willingly  to  the 
demands  made  upon  its  resources.  The  writer  of  history  has  to  struggle 
as  he  best  may  with  multifarious  requirements,  which  threaten  to  turn 
him  from  a  man  of  letters  into  the  compiler  of  an  encyclopsedia. 

This  continual  increase  of  curiosity,  this  widening  of  interest,  intro- 
duces a  succession  of  new  subjects  for  historical  research.  Documents 
once  disregarded  as  unimportant  are  found  to  yield  information  as  to 
the  silent  growth  of  tendencies  which  gradually  became  influential. 
The  mass  of  letters  and  papers,  increasing  at  a  rate  that  seems  to  be 
accelerated  from  year  to  year,  offers  a  continual  series  of  new  suggestions. 
They  not  only  supplement  what  was  known  before,  but  frequently 
require  so  much  readjustment  of  previous  judgments,  that  a  new  pre- 
sentation of  the  whole  subject  becomes  necessary.  This  process  goes  on 
without  a  break,  and  it  is  hard  in  any  branch  of  history  to  keep  pace 
with  the  stock  of  monographs,  or  illustrations  of  particular  points,  which 
research  and  industry  are  constantly  producing.  However  much  a  writer 
may  strive  to  know  all  that  can  be  known,  new  knowledge  is  always 
flowing  in.  Modern  history  in  this  resembles  the  chief  branches  of 
Natural  Science  ;  before  the  results  of  the  last  experiments  can  be 
tabulated  and  arranged  in  their  relation  to  the  whole  knowledge  of  the 
subject,  new  experiments  have  been  commenced  which  promise  to  carry 
the  process  still  further. 

In  sciences,  however,  which  deal  with  nature,  the  object  of  research 
is  fixed  and  stable  :  it  is  only  man's  power  of  observation  that  increases. 
But  history  deals  with  a  subject  which  is  constantly  varying  in  itself  and 
which  is  regarded  by  each  succeeding  generation  from  a  different  point 
of  view.  We  search  the  records  of  the  past  of  mankind,  in  order  that 
we  may  learn  wisdom  for  the  present,  and  hope  for  the  future.  We 
wish  to  discover  tendencies  which  are  permanent,  ideas  which  promise 
to  be  fruitful,  conceptions  by  which  we  may  judge  the  course  most 
likely  to  secure  abiding  results.  We  are  bound  to  assume,  as  the 
scientific  hypothesis  on  which  history  is  to  be  written,  a  progress  in 
human  affairs.  This  progress  must  inevitably  be  towards  some  end  ; 
and  we  find  it  difficult  to  escape  the  temptation,  while  we  keep  that  end 
in  view,  of  treating  certain  events  as  great  landmarks  on  the  road.  A 
mode  of  historical  presentation  thus  comes  into  fashion  based  upon  an 
inspiring  assumption.  But  the  present  is  always  criticising  the  past, 
and  events  which  occur  pass  judgment  on  events  which  have  occurred. 


An  ordered  collection  of  monographs 


5 


Time  is  always  revealing  the  weaknesses  of  past  achievements,  and 
suggesting  doubts  as  to  the  methods  by  which  they  were  won.  Each 
generation,  as  it  looks  back,  sees  a  change  in  the  perspective,  and  cannot 
look  with  the  same  eyes  as  its  predecessor. 

There  are  other  reasons  of  a  like  kind  which  might  further  explain 
the  exceeding  difficulty  of  writing  a  history  of  modern  times  on  any 
consecutive  plan.  The  possibility  of  effective  and  adequate  condensa- 
tion is  almost  abandoned,  except  for  rudimentary  purposes.  The  point 
of  view  of  any  individual  writer  influences  not  only  his  judgment  of 
what  he  presents,  but  his  principle  of  selection  ;  and  such  is  the  wealtli 
of  matter  with  which  the  writer  of  modern  history  has  to  deal,  that 
selection  is  imperative.  In  the  vast  and  diversified  area  of  modern 
history,  the  point  of  view  determines  the  whole  nature  of  the  record,  or 
else  the  whole  work  sinks  to  the  level  of  a  mass  of  details  uninformed 
by  any  luminous  idea.  The  writer  who  strives  to  avoid  any  tendency 
becomes  dull,  and  the  cult  of  impartiality  paralyses  the  judgment. 

The  present  work  is  an  attempt  to  avoid  this  result  on  an  intelligible 
system.  Every  period  and  every  subject  has  features  of  its  own  which 
strike  the  mind  of  the  student  who  has  made  that  period  or  subject 
the  field  of  his  investigations.  His  impressions  are  not  derived  from 
previous  conceptions  of  necessary  relations  between  what  he  has  studied 
and  what  went  before  or  after  ;  they  are  formed  directly  from  the  results 
of  his  own  labours.  Round  some  definite  nucleus,  carefully  selected, 
these  impressions  can  be  gathered  together  ;  and  the  age  can  be  pre- 
sented as  speaking  for  itself.  No  guide  is  so  sure  for  an  historian 
as  an  overmastering  sense  of  the  importance  of  events  as  they  appeared 
to  those  who  took  part  in  them.  There  can  be  no  other  basis  on  which 
to  found  any  truly  sympathetic  treatment. 

From  this  point  of  view  a  series  of  monographs,  conceived  on  a  con- 
nected system,  instead  of  presenting  a  collection  of  fragments,  possesses 
a  definite  unity  of  its  own.  The  selection  and  arrangement  of  the  subjects 
to  be  treated  provides  a  general  scheme  of  connexion  which  readily 
explains  itself.  Each  separate  writer  treats  of  a  subject  with  which  he  is 
familiar,  and  is  freed  from  any  other  responsibility  than  that  of  setting 
forth  clearly  the  salient  features  of  the  period  or  subject  entrusted  to 
him.  The  reader  has  before  him  a  series  of  presentations  of  the  most 
important  events  and  ideas.  He  may  follow  any  line  of  investigation 
of  his  own,  and  may  supply  links  of  connexion  at  his  will.  He  may 
receive  suggestions  from  different  minds,  and  may  pursue  them.  He  is 
free  from  the  domination  of  one  intelligence  —  a  domination  which  has 
its  dangers  however  great  that  intelligence  maybe — striving  to  express 
the  multifarious  experience  of  mankind  in  categories  of  its  own  creation. 
He  is  free  at  the  same  time  from  the  aridity  of  a  chronological  table, —  a 
record  of  events  strung  round  so  slight  a  thread  that  no  real  connexion 
is  apparent.    Each  subject  or  period  has  a  natural  coherence  of  its  own. 


6 


Scheme  of  the  present  work 


If  this  be  grasped,  its  relations  to  other  divisions  of  the  work  will  be 
readily  apparent  and  may  be  followed  without  difficulty. 

This  is  the  main  idea  on  which  the  method  pursued  in  these  volumes 
is  founded.  The  mode  of  treatment  adopted  is  not  arbitrary,  or  dictated 
by  considerations  of  convenience.  It  springs  from  the  nature  of  the 
subject  and  its  difficulties.  Specialisation  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
study  of  history,  and  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  master  mind  to  co- 
ordinate in  one  product  the  results  of  all  the  special  work  that  is  being 
accomplished  around  it.  Elements  of  interest  and  suggestiveness,  which 
are  of  vital  importance  to  the  specialist,  disappear  before  the  abstract 
system  which  the  compiler  must,  whatever  may  be  the  scale  of  his  under- 
taking, frame  for  his  own  guidance.  The  task  is  too  large,  its  relations 
are  too  numerous  and  too  indefinite,  for  any  one  mind,  however  well 
stored,  to  appreciate  them  all.  It  is  better  to  allow  the  subject-matter 
to  supply  its  own  unifying  principle  than  to  create  one  which  is 
inadequate  or  of  mere  temporary  value.  At  all  events,  this  work  has 
been  undertaken  with  a  desire  to  solve  a  very  difficult  problem,  and  to 
supply  a  very  real  need,  so  far  as  was  possible  under  the  conditions  of 
its  publication. 


CHAPTER  I 


THE  AGE  OF  DISCOVERY 

Among  the  landmarks  which  divide  the  Middle  Ages  from  modern 
times  the  most  conspicuous  is  the  discovery  of  America  by  the  Genoese 
captain  Cristoforo  Colombo  in  1492.  We  shall  discuss  in  the  next 
chapter  the  nature  and  consequences  of  this  discovery  ;  the  present 
deals  briefly  with  the  series  of  facts  and  events  which  led  up  to  and 
prepared  for  it,  and  with  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  made.  For 
Colombo's  voyage,  the  most  daring  and  brilliant  feat  of  seamanship  on 
record,  though  inferior  to  some  others  in  the  labour  and  difficulty  involved 
in  it,  was  but  a  link  in  a  long  chain  of  maritime  enterprise  stretching 
backward  from  our  own  times,  through  thirty  centuries,  to  the  infancy  of 
Mediterranean  civilisation.  During  this  period  the  progress  of  discovery 
was  far  from  uniform.  Its  principal  achievements  belong  to  its  earliest 
stage,  having  been  made  by  the  Phoenicians,  Greeks  and  Carthaginians 
before  the  Mediterranean  peoples  fell  under  the  dominion  of  Rome. 
By  that  time,  the  coasts  of  Southern  Europe  and  Asia,  and  of  Northern 
Africa,  together  with  one  at  least  —  perhaps  more  —  among  the  neigh- 
bouring island  groups  in  the  Atlantic,  were  known  in  their  general 
configuration,  and  some  progress  had  been  made  in  the  task  of  fixing 
their  places  on  the  sphere,  though  their  geographical  outlines  had  not 
been  accurately  ascertained,  and  the  longitude  of  the  united  terra  firma 
of  Europe  and  Asia  was  greatly  over-estimated.  In  consequence  of  this 
excessive  estimate  Greek  geographers  speculated  on  the  possibility  of 
more  easily  reaching  the  Far  East  by  a  western  voyage  from  the  Pillars 
of  Hercules  ;  and  this  suggestion  was  occasionally  revived  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Yet  from  the  foundation  of  that  Empire 
down  to  the  thirteenth  century  of  our  era,  such  a  voyage  was  never 
seriously  contemplated  ;  nor  was  anything  substantial  added  to  the 
maritime  knowledge  inherited  b}^  the  Middle  Ages  from  antiquity. 
About  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  maritime  activity  recom- 
menced, and  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  a  degree  of  progress  had  been 
reached  which  forced  the  idea  of  a  westward  voyage  to  the  Far  East 
into  prominence,  and  ultimately  brought  it  to  the  test  of  experience. 

7 


8 


The  Intellectual  Revival  [iioo-i400 


These  four  centuries,  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth, 
constitute  what  is  called  the  Age  of  Discovery.  The  fifteenth  cen- 
tury marks  its  greatest  development;  and  in  the  last  decade  of  that 
century  it  enters  on  its  final  stage,  consequent  on  the  discovery  of 
America. 

This  period  was  an  Age  of  Discovery  in  a  wider  sense  than  the 
word  denotes  when  associated  with  maritime  enterprise  only.  It  beheld 
signal  discoveries  in  the  arts  and  sciences — the  result  of  a  renewed  intel- 
lectual activity  contrasting  vividly  with  the  stagnation  or  retrogression 
of  the  ten  centuries  preceding.  It  witnessed  the  rise  and  development 
of  Gothic  architecture,  in  connexion  with  the  foundation  or  rebuild- 
ing of  cathedrals  and  monasteries ;  the  beginnings  of  modern  painting, 
sculpture, and  music;  the  institution  of  universities;  the  revival  of  Greek 
philosophy  and  Roman  law ;  and  some  premature  strivings  after  freedom 
of  thought  in  religion,  sternly  repressed  at  the  time,  but  destined  finally 
to  triumph  in  the  Reformation.  All  these  movements  were  in  fact  signs 
of  increased  vitality  and  influence  on  the  part  of  Roman  Christianity ; 
and  this  cause  stimulated  geographical  discovery  in  more  than  one  way. 
Various  religious  and  military  Orders  now  assumed,  and  vigorously 
exercised,  the  function  of  spreading  Christianity  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  By  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  the  Danes,  Norwe- 
gians, Swedes,  Poles,  and  Hungarians  had  already  been  partly  converted. 
During  the  twelfth  century,  the  borders  of  the  Roman  faith  were  greatly 
enlarged.  Missionary  enterprise  was  extended  to  the  Pomeranians  and 
other  Slavonic  peoples,  the  Finns,  Lieflanders,  and  Esthonians.  The 
Russians  had  already  been  christianised  by  preachers  of  the  Greek 
Church;  Nestorians  had  penetrated  Central  Asia,  and  converted  a 
powerful  Khan  who  himself  became  a  priest,  and  whose  fame  rapidly 
overspread  Christendom  under  the  name  of  Presbyter  or  "Prester"  John. 
Prester  John  was  succeeded  by  a  son,  or  brother,  who  bore  the  name  of 
David;  but  Genghis  Khan  attacked  him,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century  put  an  end  to  the  Christian  Khanate.  In  the  thirteenth 
century,  Roman  missionaries  sought  to  recover  the  ground  thus  lost, 
and  Roman  envoys  made  their  way  through  Central  Asia,  though 
the  Catholic  faith  never  obtained  in  these  Eastern  parts  more  than 
an  imperfect  reception  and  a  precarious  footing.  Traders  and  other 
travellers  brought  the  Far  East  into  communication  with  Europe  in 
other  ways ;  and  Marco  Polo,  a  Venetian  adventurer  who  had  found 
employment  at  the  Great  Khan's  court,  even  compiled  a  handbook 
to  the  East  for  the  use  of  European  visitors. 

While  inland  discovery  and  the  spread  of  Christianity  were  thus 
proceeding  concurrently  in  the  North  of  Europe  and  Central  Asia,  a 
process  somewhat  similar  in  principle,  but  different  in  its  aspect,  was 
going  on  in  the  South,  where  the  Mediterranean  Sea  divided  the 
Christian  world  from  the  powerful  "  Saracens,"  or  Mohammadans  of 


1100-1400]      The  Saracens  on  the  Mediterranean  9 

Northern  Africa.  The  conquests  of  this  people,  of  mixed  race,  but  united 
in  their  fanatical  propagation  of  the  neo-Arab  religion,  had  been  made 
when  Southern  Europe,  weak  and  divided,  still  bore  the  marks  of  the 
ruin  which  had  befallen  the  Western  Empire.  The  greater  part  of  Spain 
had  fallen  into  their  hands,  and  they  had  invaded,  though  fruitlessly, 
France  itself.  Charles  the  Great  had  begun  the  process  of  restoring 
the  Christian  West  to  stability  and  influence,  and  under  his  successors 
Western  Christendom  recovered  its  balance.  Yet  the  Saracen  peoples 
still  preponderated  in  maritime  power.  They  long  held  in  check  the 
rising  maritime  power  of  Venice  and  Genoa  ;  they  overran  Corsica,  Sar- 
dinia, and  the  Balearic  Islands.  Nor  was  the  domination  of  these  vigor- 
ous peoples  confined  to  the  Mediterranean.  In  the  Red  Sea  and  on  the 
East  coast  of  Africa,  frequented  by  them  as  far  south  as  Madagascar, 
they  had  no  rivals.  Eastward  from  the  Red  Sea  they  traded  to,  and 
in  many  places  settled  on,  the  coasts  of  India,  and  the  continental 
shores  and  islands  of  the  Far  East.  That  branch  which  held  Barbary 
and  Spain  was  not  likely  to  leave  unexplored  the  Western  coast  of 
Africa  and  the  Canary  Islands.  It  was  on  this  coast  that  the  principal 
work  achieved  in  the  Age  of  Discovery  had  its  beginnings  ;  and  although 
maritime  enterprise  flourished  at  Constantinople  and  Venice,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  these  beginnings  are  due  to  the  Saracens.  The 
Moors,  or  Saracens  of  North-west  Africa,  must  have  made  great  pro- 
gress in  ship-building  and  navigation  to  have  been  able  to  hold  the 
Mediterranean  against  their  Christian  rivals.  Masters  of  North  Africa, 
they  carried  on  a  large  caravan  trade  across  the  Sahara  with  the  negro 
tribes  of  the  Soudan.  It  is  certain  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  Age  of 
Discovery  they  were  well  acquainted  with  the  dreary  and  barren  Atlan- 
tic coast  of  the  Sahara,  and  knew  it  to  be  terminated  by  the  fertile  and 
populous  tract  watered  by  the  Senegal  River  ;  for  this  tract,  marked 
"  Bilad  Ghana  "  or  "  Land  of  Wealth,"  appears  on  a  map  constructed  by 
the  Arab  geographer  Edrisi  for  Roger  II,  the  Norman  King  of  Sicily, 
about  the  year  1150.  That  they  habitually  or  indeed  ever  visited  it  by 
sea,  is  improbable,  since  it  was  more  easily  and  safely  accessible  to  them 
by  land  ;  and  the  blank  sea-board  of  the  Sahara  offered  nothing  worthy 
of  attention.  The  Italians  and  Portuguese,  on  the  contrary,  excluded 
from  the  African  trade  by  land,  saw  in  Bilad  Ghana  a  country  which 
it  was  their  interest  to  reach,  and  which  they  could  only  reach  by  sea. 
Hence,  the  important  events  of  the  Age  of  Discovery  begin  with  the 
coasting  of  the  Atlantic  margin  of  the  Sahara  —  first  by  the  Genoese, 
in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  then  by  the  Portuguese,  in 
the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  —  and  with  the  slave-raiding  expeditions 
of  the  latter  people  on  the  voyage  to  and  in  Bilad  Ghana  itself.  The 
name  Ghana  became  known  to  the  Genoese  and  Portuguese  as  Guinea," 
and  the  negroes  who  inhabited  it  —  a  pure  black  race,  easily  distinguish- 
able from  the  hybrid  wanderers,  half  Berber  and  half  black,  of  the 


10  Dom  Henrique  of  Portugal  [l4i5-4l 


Western  Sahara — were  called  "  Guineos."  Hitherto  the  Portuguese 
and  Spaniards  had  purchased  blacks  from  the  Moors  ;  by  navigating 
the  African  coast  they  hoped  to  procure  them  at  first  hand,  and  largely 
by  the  direct  process  of  kidnapping. 

While  we  know  nothing  of  any  voyages  made  by  the  Moors  to 
Bilad  Ghana,  and  very  little  of  the  expeditions  of  the  Genoese  explorers 
who  followed  them,  we  possess  tolerably  full  accounts  of  the  Portuguese 
voyages  from  their  beginning  ;  and  these  accounts  leave  us  in  no  doubt 
that  the  nature  and  object  of  the  earliest  series  of  expeditions  were  those 
above  indicated.  The  slave-traders  of  Barbary,  until  the  capture  of 
Ceuta  by  the  Portuguese  in  1415,  may  have  occasionally  supplemented 
their  supply  of  slaves  obtained  through  inland  traffic,  by  voyages  to  the 
Canary  Islands,  made  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  off  the  Guanche  natives. 
Probably  they  also  frequented  the  ports  and  roadsteads  on  the  Barbary 
coast  outside  the  Straits.  But  the  possession  of  Ceuta  enabled  the 
Portuguese  to  gain  a  command  of  the  Atlantic  which  the  Moors  were 
not  in  a  position  to  contest.  Dom  Henrique,  Iff  ante  of  Portugal,  and 
third  surviving  son  of  King  Joao  I,  by  Philippa  of  Lancaster,  sister  of 
Henry  IV,  King  of  England,  became  Governor  of  Ceuta,  in  the  capture 
of  which  he  had  taken  part,  and  conceived  the  plan  of  forming  a 
"  Greater  Portugal  "  by  colonising  the  Azores  and  the  islands  of  the 
Madeira  group,  all  recently  discovered,  or  rediscovered,  by  the  Genoese, 
and  conquering  the  "  wealthy  land  "  which  lay  beyond  the  dreary  shore 
of  the  Sahara.  The  latter  part  of  this  project,  commenced  by  the 
Iffante  about  1426,  involved  an  outlay  which  required  to  be  compen- 
sated by  making  some  pecuniary  profit ;  and  with  a  view  to  this  Dom 
Henrique  subsequently  resolved  to  embark  in  the  slave-trade,  the  prin- 
cipal commerce  carried  on  by  the  Moors,  over  inland  routes,  with  the 
Soudan  and  Bilad  Ghana.  Having  given  his  slave-hunters  a  preliminary 
training,  by  employing  them  in  capturing  Guanches  in  the  Canary 
Islands,  he  commissioned  them  in  1434  to  pass  Cape  Bojador  and  make 
similar  raids  on  the  sea-board  of  the  Sahara.  The  hardy  hybrid  wan- 
derers of  the  desert  proved  more  difficult  game  than  the  Guanches.  For 
the  purpose  of  running  them  down,  horses  were  shipped  with  the  slave- 
hunters,  but  the  emissaries  of  the  Iffante  still  failed  to  secure  the 
intended  victims.  Vainly,  says  the  chronicler,  did  they  explore  the 
inlet  of  the  Rio  do  Ouro,  and  the  remoter  one  of  Angra  de  Cintra  "  to 
see  if  they  could  make  capture  of  any  man,  or  hunt  down  any  woman 
or  boy,  whereby  the  desire  of  their  lord  might  be  satisfied."  In  default 
of  slaves,  they  loaded  their  vessels  with  the  skins  and  oil  of  seals.  This 
poor  traffic  was  scarcely  worth  pursuing,  and  for  several  years  (1434- 
41)  the  project  of  conquering  Bilad  Ghana  and  annexing  it  to  the 
Portuguese  Crown  remained  in  abeyance. 

Yet  Dom  Henrique  was  not  a  mere  slave-trader.  The  capture  of 
slaves  was  destined  to  subserve  a  greater  purpose  —  the  conversion  of 


1415-41]  Bilad  Ghana  and  the  Nile 


11 


Bilad  Ghana  into  a  Christian  dependency  of  Portugal,  to  be  administered 
by  the  military  Order  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  Portugal  this  Order  had 
succeeded  to  the  property  and  functions  of  the  dissolved  Order  of  the 
Temple,  and  Dom  Henrique  was  its  Governor.  His  project  was  in 
substance  similar  to  that  carried  out  by  the  Teutonic  Order  in  conquer- 
ing and  christianising  the  heathen  Prussians  ;  and  the  Order  of  Christ 
corresponded  in  its  function  to  the  Orders  of  Santiago  and  Alcantara, 
which  were  actively  engaged  in  ridding  Spain  of  the  Moors.  Dom 
Henrique's  scheme  represents  the  final  effort  of  the  crusading  spirit  ; 
and  the  naval  campaigns  against  the  Muslim  in  the  Indian  seas,  in 
which  it  culminated,  forty  years  after  Dom  Henrique's  death,  may  be 
described  as  the  Last  Crusade.  We  shall  see  that  Albuquerque,  the 
great  leader  of  this  Crusade,  who  established  the  Portuguese  dominion 
in  the  East  on  a  secure  footing,  included  in  his  plan  the  recovery  of 
the  holy  places  of  Jerusalem.  The  same  object  was  avowed  by  Colombo, 
who  thought  he  had  brought  its  attainment  within  measurable  distance 
by  the  successful  voyage  in  which  he  had  sought  to  reach  the  Far  East 
by  way  of  the  West. 

A  curious  geographical  illusion  served  as  a  background  and  supple- 
ment to  the  scheme.  The  Senegal  River,  which  fertilises  Bilad  Ghana, 
and  is  the  first  considerable  stream  to  the  southward  of  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules,  was  believed  by  Arab  geographers  to  flow  from  a  lake  near 
those  in  which  the  Nile  originated,  and  was  itself  described  as  the 
"Western  Nile."  The  eastern  branch  of  the  true  Nile  flowed  through 
the  Christian  kingdom  of  Abyssinia  ;  and  if  the  "  Western  Nile  "  could 
also  be  christianised  from  its  mouth  to  its  supposed  source — no  insuper- 
able task,  for  Bilad  Ghana  had  not  fallen  under  the  sway  of  Islam  — 
Christian  Europe  would  join  hands  with  Christian  East  Africa,  the  flank 
of  the  Mohammadan  power  would  be  turned,  and  European  adventure 
would  have  unmolested  access  to  the  Red  Sea  and  the  ports  of  Arabia, 
India,  and  China.  How  far  in  this  direction  the  Iffante's  imagination 
habitually  travelled,  is  uncertain.  His  immediate  object  was  to  subjugate 
and  convert  the  not  yet  Islamised  heathen  in  the  North-west  of  Africa, 
beginning  with  the  Senegal  River,  and  to  create  here  a  great  Portuguese 
dependency,  the  spiritualities  of  which  were,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Holy  See,  to  be  vested  in  the  Order  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  were  destined 
to  furnish  a  fund  for  the  aggrandisement  of  the  Order,  and  the  further- 
ance of  its  objects. 

In  recent  times  Dom  Henrique  has  been  named  Prince  Henry  the 
Navigator,  —  a  title  founded  on  the  supposition  that  his  expeditions 
mainly  aimed  at  the  extension  of  nautical  enterprise  for  its  own  sake,  or 
had  for  their  conscious  though  remote  object  the  discovery  of  the  sea- 
route  to  India  and  the  westward  exploration  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It 
has  even  been  stated  that  the  town  founded  by  him  on  the  southernmost 
point  of  the  Sacred  Promontory,  the  westernmost  angle  of  which  bears  the 


12 


Dom  Henrique^  s  project  [ 1426-41 


name  of  Cape  St  Vincent  — a  town  now  represented  by  the  little  village 
of  Sagres  —  was  the  seat  of  a  school  of  scientific  seamanship,  and  that 
his  aim  was  to  train  up  for  the  national  service  a  continuous  supply  of 
intrepid  and  accomplished  sailors,  destined  in  the  third  and  fourth 
generation  to  perform  the  memorable  feats  associated  with  the  names  of 
Da  Gama  and  Magalhaes.  All  this  must  be  dismissed  as  illusory,  and 
the  picturesque  title  "  the  Navigator  "  is  calculated  to  mislead.  There 
is  nothing  to  show,  or  even  to  suggest,  that  Dom  Henrique  was  ever 
further  away  from  Portugal  than  Ceuta  and  its  immediate  neighbourhood, 
or  that  he  had  formed  any  plans  for  the  extension  of  ocean  navigation 
beyond  a  point  long  previously  reached  by  the  Genoese,  or  ever  thought 
of  the  route  round  the  southernmost  point  of  Africa  as  a  practical  route 
to  India.  A  more  truthful  clue  to  the  aims  of  his  life  occurs  near  the 
beginning  of  his  last  will,  wherein,  after  invoking  "  my  Lord  God  "  and 
"  my  Lady  Saint  Mary  for  that  she  is  the  Mother  of  Mercy,"  he  beseeches 
"  my  Lord  Saint  Louis,  to  whom  I  have  been  dedicated  from  my  birth, 
that  he  and  all  Saints  and  Angels  will  pray  God  to  grant  me  salvation." 
The  model  of  conduct  and  policy  affected  by  Dom  Henrique  was  the 
heroic  and  sainted  French  King  who  had  flourished  two  centuries  before. 
Louis,  after  ascertaining  by  disastrous  experience  the  impracticability 
of  driving  the  Saracens  from  the  Holy  Land  and  Egypt,  had  sought  to 
convert  the  Sultanate  of  Tunis  into  a  dependency  of  B^rance  as  the  first 
step  in  recovering  northern  Africa  for  Christendom.  In  some  respects 
the  plan  of  Dom  Henrique  was  easier  of  achievement  than  that  of  Louis. 
Islam  having  not  yet  overspread  Bilad  Ghana,  it  would  be  far  less 
difficult  to  conquer  and  convert  its  undisciplined  savages  to  the  Gospel^ 
than  to  drive  a  wedge  into  the  heart  of  Mohammadan  North  Africa  by 
the  conquest  of  Tunis.  Both  schemes  were  late  offshoots  of  the  crusad- 
ing spirit ;  Dom  Henrique's  plan  was  among  its  last  manifestations. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  later  Crusades,  this  plan  was  largely  inspired  by 
political  objects.  The  Villa  do  Iff  ante  on  the  Sacred  Promontory  was 
destined  to  be  the  maritime  centre  of  the  united  empire  of  Peninsular 
Portugal  and  Greater  Portugal  —  the  latter  comprising  the  Madeira 
group  and  the  Azores,  together  with  Bilad  Ghana,  and  whatever  else 
the  Iffante  might  annex  to  the  ancient  dominion  of  Portugal  and 
Algarve.  It  was  a  sacred  spot ;  for  hither  the  Christians  of  Valencia  had 
fled,  seven  centuries  before,  from  the  terrible  Abd-ur'rahman  Adahil, 
carrying  with  them  the  body  of  St  Vincent,  from  whose  last  burial-place 
the  westernmost  promontory  of  Europe  thenceforth  took  its  name. 

In  1441,  twenty-six  years  after  the  capture  of  Ceuta,  and  the  year 
after  Terceira,  the  first  among  the  Azores  to  be  discovered,  had  been 
reached,  a  sudden  impetus  was  given  to  the  Iffante's  project.  Antam 
Gongalvez  had  sailed  to  the  Rio  do  Ouro  for  sealskins  and  oil.  Having 
secured  his  cargo,  he  landed  with  nine  armed  men  on  the  shore  of  the 
inlet,  and  after  a  desperate  struggle  with  a  solitary  naked  African 


1441-44] 


His  hopes  fulfilled 


13 


succeeded  in  wounding  and  capturing  him.  To  this  feat  he  added  that 
of  cutting  off  a  female  slave  from  her  party,  and  securing  her  also. 
Shortly  afterwards  Nuno  Tristam,  a  knight  highly  esteemed  by  Dom 
Henrique,  arrived  at  the  Rio  do  Ouro  with  a  caravel,  intending  to 
explore  the  coast  beyond  Angra  de  Cintra  in  search  of  captives.  Fired 
by  the  exploit  of  Gongalvez,  Tristam  landed,  marked  down  a  party  of 
natives,  and  after  killing  several  captured  ten  men,  women,  and  children, 
including  a  personage  who  ranked  as  a  chief.  After  exploring  the 
coast,  with  no  further  success,  as  far  as  Cape  Branco,  Tristam  followed 
Gongalvez  to  Portugal,  where  they  joyfully  presented  to  the  Iff  ante  the 
long-desired  first-fruit  of  his  projects.  Chroniclers  dwell  complacently 
on  the  joy  experienced  by  the  Iff  ante,  commensurate  not  to  the  value  of 
the  slaves  actually  taken  but  to  the  hope  of  future  captures,  and  on  his 
pious  rapture  at  the  prospect  of  saving  the  souls  of  so  many  African 
heathen.  Dom  Henrique  now  sought  and  obtained  from  the  Pope  a 
special  indulgence  for  all  who  should  fight  under  the  banner  of  the 
Order  of  Christ  for  the  destruction  and  confusion  of  the  Moors  and 
other  enemies  of  Christ,  and  for  the  exaltation  of  the  Catholic  faith. 
He  further  procured  from  his  brother  Dom  Pedro,  regent  of  the  king- 
dom, an  exclusive  right  of  navigation  on  the  West  African  coast,  and  a 
surrender  of  the  whole  of  the  royalties  due  to  the  Crown  on  the  profits 
of  these  voyages.  A  new  stimulus  was  given  to  the  enterprise  by  the 
discovery  that  captives  of  rank  could  be  held  to  ransom,  and  exchanged 
for  several  slaves.  In  the  following  year  (1442)  Gongalvez  obtained  ten 
slaves  in  exchange  for  two  captured  chiefs,  and  brought  back  a  little 
gold  dust  and  some  ostrich  eggs.  In  the  next  year  Tristam  passed  in 
his  caravel  beyond  Cape  Branco,  and  reached  the  island  of  Arguin. 
Fortune  favoured  him  in  an  unusual  degree,  for  he  returned  with  his 
caravel  laden  with  captives  to  its  full  capacity.  The  success  of  the 
enterprise  was  now  assured,  and  in  the  next  year  it  was  prosecuted 
on  a  more  extensive  scale.  The  people  of  Lagos,  the  port  where  the 
captured  slaves  were  landed,  roused  by  the  prospect  of  still  greater  gains, 
made  preparations  for  seeking  them,  by  way  of  joint-stock  enterprise, 
on  a  larger  scale  than  heretofore.  The  Iffante  licensed  an  expedition 
consisting  of  six  caravels,  the  command  being  given  to  Lanzarote, 
receiver  of  the  royal  customs  at  Lagos,  and  presented  each  with  a 
banner  emblazoned  with  the  cross  of  the  Order  of  Christ,  to  be  hoisted 
as  its  flag.  Lanzarote  and  his  companions  raided  the  coast  as  far  as 
Cape  Branco,  shouting  "  Santiago  !  San  Jorge  !  Portugal !  "  as  their  war- 
cry,  and  ruthlessly  slaying  all  who  resisted,  whether  men,  women,  or 
children.  They  brought  back  to  Lagos  no  less  than  235  captives  ;  the 
receiver  of  customs  was  raised  by  the  Iffante  to  the  rank  of  knight,  and 
the  wretched  captives  were  sold  and  dispersed  throughout  the  kingdom. 
Large  tracts,  both  of  Portugal  and  Spain,  remained  waste  or  half  culti- 
vated as  a  result  of  the  Moorish  wars  :  and  the  grandees  of  these 


14 


Bilad  Ghana  reached 


[1445 


lands  eagerly  purchased  the  human  chattels  now  imported  in  increasing 
numbers. 

The  project  of  Dom  Henrique  had  now  made  an  important  advance. 
Its  ultimate  success  appeared  certain  ;  and  the  Iffante  resolved  that  a 
direct  effort  should  be  made  to  reach  Bilad  Ghana  itself,  through  which 
the  "  Western  Nile  "  rolled  its  waters  from  the  highlands  of  Abyssinia 
and  the  Christian  realm  of  "Prester  John."  A  certain  equerry  was 
commanded  to  go  with  a  caravel  straight  for  Guinea,  and  to  reach  it 
without  fail.  He  passed  Cape  Branco,  but  was  unable  to  resist  the 
temptation  of  a  profitable  capture  on  his  route.  Landing  on  one  of  the 
islands  near  the  Bank  of  Arguin,  he  and  his  men  were  surprised  by  a 
large  party  of  natives,  who  put  off  from  the  mainland  in  canoes,  and  killed 
most  of  the  raiders,  including  their  commander.  Five  only  returned  to 
Portugal.  Diniz  Diaz,  an  adventurer  of  Lisbon,  claimed  about  the  same 
time  to  have  passed  the  Senegal  River,  to  have  sailed  along  the  thirty- 
four  leagues  of  coast  which  separate  it  from  Cape  Verde,  and,  on  the 
strength  of  having  on  his  way  picked  up  a  few  natives  in  canoes,  to  have 
been  the  first  to  bring  back  real  "  Guinea  negroes  "  for  the  Portuguese 
slave-market.  How  far  his  claim  to  this  distinction  is  sustainable,  is 
left  an  open  question  by  the  authorities.  The  wave  of  African  enter- 
prise was  now  steadily  gaining  strength.  The  Iffante  readily  licensed 
all  intending  adventurers,  and  the  coast,  long  unfrequented  by  the 
European  sailor,  swarmed  with  caravels.  In  1445  twenty-six  vessels, 
fourteen  of  which  belonged  to  Lagos,  left  that  port  under  the  command 
of  the  experienced  Lanzarote,  specially  commissioned  to  avenge  the 
Iffante's  unfortunate  equerry  who  had  fallen  as  a  protomartyr  on  the 
African  shore,  carrying  the  Cross-emblazoned  banner  of  the  Order  of 
Christ.  Six  of  these  fulfilled  the  Iffante's  direction  to  push  on  to  the 
River  of  Nile,"  and  land  in  Bilad  Ghana.  The  palm-trees  and  other 
rich  vegetation,  the  beautiful  tropical  birds  which  flitted  round  their 
caravels,  the  strange  kinds  of  fish  observed  in  the  waters,  gave  promise 
of  the  approaching  goal ;  and  at  length  the  voyagers  beheld  the  sea 
discoloured  by  the  muddy  waters  of  the  Senegal  to  a  distance  of  two 
leagues  from  land.  Scooping  these  up  in  their  hands,  and  finding  them 
fresh,  they  knew  that  their  object  was  attained,  sought  the  river's  mouth, 
anchored  outside  the  bar,  launched  their  boats,  captured  a  few  hapless 
negroes,  and  returned  to  Dom  Henrique,  picking  up  more  captives  on 
the  way,  with  the  welcome  intelligence  that  his  desires  were  at  length 
accomplished,  that  the  "  River  of  Nile  "  had  been  reached,  and  the  way 
opened  to  the  kingdom  of  Prester  John. 

In  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  efforts  to  reach  Bilad  Ghana  the 
Iffante  thus  saw  them  at  length  crowned  with  success  ;  and  his  licensees 
pursued  the  trade  thus  opened  up  so  vigorously  that  in  1448,  seven 
years  after  the  capture  of  the  first  natives,  and  three  years  after  the 
Senegal  had  been  reached,  not  less  than  927  African  slaves  had  been 


1445-60] 


Dom  Henrique's  last  years 


15 


brought  to  the  Portuguese  markets,  the  greater  part  of  whom,  it  is 
unctuously  observed  by  Zurara,  were  converted  to  the  true  way  of 
salvation.  The  rich  field  of  commerce  thus  entered  upon  was  rapidly 
developed  by  the  continued  exploration  of  the  coast.  We  have  seen 
that  even  before  the  Iffante's  emissaries  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Senegal  a  navigator  standing  further  out  to  sea  claimed  to  have  passed 
it,  and  reached  Cape  Verde.  The  year  in  which  the  Senegal  River  was 
actually  reached  (1445)  was  marked  by  another  important  advance.  The 
Venetian  captain  Ca  da  Mosto  and  the  Genoese  Antonio  de  Nola,  both 
in  the  Iffante's  employ,  passed  beyond  Cape  Verde,  and  reached  the 
Gambia  River  ;  the  Iffante  began  also  in  this  year  the  colonisation  of 
San  Miguel,  which  had  been  reached  in  the  previous  year,  and  was  the 
second  among  the  Azores  Islands  in  order  of  discovery.  In  1446  Ca  da 
Mosto  and  Antonio  de  Nola  not  only  discovered  the  four  Cape  Verde 
Islands,  Boavista,  Santiago,  San  Filippe,  and  San  Cristovao,  but  passed 
Capo  Roxo,  far  beyond  the  Gambia  River,  and  coasted  the  shore  to  an 
equal  distance  beyond  Capo  Roxo,  discovering  the  rivers  Sant'  Anna, 
San  Domingos,  and  Rio  Grande.  From  the  coast  south  of  Cape  Verde 
new  wonders  were  brought  back  to  Portugal.  The  Iffante's  eyes  were 
gladdened  by  beholding  tusks  of  the  African  elephant,  and  a  living 
African  lion. 

How  far  southward  along  the  coast  the  Iffante's  licensees  had  actually 
sailed  at  the  time  of  his  death  (1460),  is  uncertain.  Could  the  distances 
reported  by  them  as  expressed  in  nautical  leagues  be  accepted  as 
trustworthy  evidence,  they  must  have  passed  the  Bissagos  and  De  Los 
Islands,  and  here  reached  the  latitude  of  Sierra  Leone,  only  eight  degrees 
north  of  the  equator.  But  the  estimates  given  in  the  chronicle,  founded 
only  on  dead  reckoning,  are  in  excess  of  actual  geographical  distances. 
We  doubt  whether  before  Dom  Henrique's  death  Portuguese  seamen 
had  passed  the  tenth  parallel  of  north  latitude  ;  and  it  is  known  that 
in  his  last  years  the  complete  discovery  and  colonisation  of  the  Azores 
group  chiefly  occupied  his  attention.  Dom  Henrique's  will,  which 
specifies  churches  founded  by  him  in  each  of  the  Azores,  in  Madeira^ 
Porto  Santo,  and  Deserta,  as  well  as  in  various  towns  of  Portugal 
and  on  the  opposite  coast  of  Morocco,  speaks  of  the  great  dependency 
of  Guinea,  which  he  had  secured  for  the  Portuguese  Crown,  in  general 
terms  only.  He  looked  on  it  as  a  certain  source,  in  the  future,  of 
large  ecclesiastical  revenues.  These,  following  a  common  practice  of 
the  age,  were  settled  by  him,  with  the  Pope's  assent,  on  the  military 
and  religious  Order  of  which  he  was  governor.  Guinea  was  to  be 
parcelled  into  parishes,  each  having  a  stipendiary  vicar  or  chaplain, 
charged  for  ever  with  the  duty  of  saying  "  one  weekly  mass  of  St 
Mary"  for  the  Iffante's  soul.  We  find  nothing  about  the  circumnavi- 
gation of  Africa,  or  the  extension  of  the  enterprise  to  the  Indian  Ocean. 
Down  to  his  death  he  probably  expected  that  a  junction  with  the 


16 


The  Guinea  trade 


[1460-81 


Christians  of  Abyssinia  and  the  East  would  be  ultimately  effected  by 
ascending  the  Western  Nile  or  Senegal  River  to  its  sources,  which 
were  universally  supposed  to  be  near  those  of  the  Egyptian  Nile.  This 
expectation,  however,  he  associated  with  the  remote  future  ;  his  present 
policy  was  to  secure  Guinea  as  a  dependency  for  Portugal  and  a  rich 
appanage  for  the  Order  of  Christ,  by  the  construction  of  forts,  the 
establishment  of  parochial  settlements,  and  the  foundation  of  churches. 

The  economic  character  of  the  Iffante's  enterprise  was  felt,  even  in 
his  lifetime,  to  be  so  little  in  accordance  with  the  character  which 
history  demands  for  its  heroes,  that  a  contemporary  chronicle  of  the 
Guinea  expeditions,  compiled  by  one  Cerveira,  is  known  to  have  been 
suppressed,  and  replaced  by  the  garbled  work  of  Zurara,  whose  object 
it  was  to  write  the  Iffante's  panegyric  as  a  great  soldier  and  eminent 
Christian,  and  as  the  patriotic  founder  of  the  Greater  Portugal  which 
posterity  would  never  cease  to  associate  wdth  his  name.  As  the  enter- 
prise assumed  larger  proportions,  the  pretence  that  the  negro  was 
captured  and  shipped  to  Portugal  for  the  salvation  of  his  soul  was 
abandoned.  Even  more  valuable,  for  commercial  purposes,  than  negro 
slaves,  were  the  gold  and  ivory  in  which  the  tribes  south  of  the  Gambia 
River  abounded.  The  Portuguese,  who  were  now  expert  slave-raiders, 
found  that  the  reward  of  their  enterprise  was  best  secured  by  dispos- 
ing of  their  prey  to  the  chiefs  of  other  tribes,  who  were  ready  to  give 
gold  and  ivory  in  exchange.  The  Guinea  trade,  which  assumed  this 
character  almost  exclusively  soon  after  Dom  Henrique's  death,  was  now 
farmed  out  to  the  highest  bidders.  Affonso  V  in  1469  granted  it  to 
one  Fernam  Gomes  for  five  years,  at  an  annual  rent  of  500  crusados, 
on  condition  that  the  grantee  should  in  each  year  discover  a  hundred 
leagues  of  coast,  or  five  hundred  leagues  altogether  during  the  term. 
Pursuant  to  these  conditions  Gomes  pushed  the  task  of  exploration 
vigorously  forward.  His  sailors  rounded  Cape  Palmas,  the  south-western 
extremity  of  North  Africa,  whence  the  coast  trends  to  the  north-east, 
passed  the  "  Ivory  Coast,"  and  reached  what  has  ever  since  been  known 
as  "  the  Gold  Coast "  in  a  special  sense  —  the  land  of  the  Fantee,  having 
as  a  background  the  mountains  of  Ashantee  ;  and  here,  a  few  years  later, 
Joao  II  founded  the  fort  of  San  Jorge  da  Mina,  the  first  great  per- 
manent fortress  of  the  Portuguese  on  the  Guinea  coast.  Before  the 
death  of  Affonso  V  (1481),  his  subjects  had  coasted  along  the  kingdoms 
of  Dahomey  and  Benin,  passed  the  delta  of  the  Niger,  crossed  the  bight 
of  Biafra,  where  the  coast  at  length  bends  to  southward,  discovered  the 
island  of  Fernam  do  Po,  followed  the  southwards-trending  coast-line 
past  Cape  Lopez,  and  reached  Cape  St  Catherine,  two  degrees  south  of 
the  equator.  These  explorations  proved  that  the  general  outline  of 
Southern  Africa  had  been  correctly  traced  on  Italian  charts  dating  from 
the  preceding  century  ;  and  the  last  steps  in  the  process  of  explora- 
tion, which  finally  verified  this  outline,  were  taken  with  extraordinary 


i486]  Cape  of  Good  Hope  reached  17 

rapidity.  In  1484  Diego  Cam  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  sailed 
a  short  way  up  the  river,  and  brought  back  with  him  four  natives, 
who  quickly  acquired  enough  Portuguese  to  communicate  important 
information  regarding  their  own  country  and  the  coast  beyond  it. 
Returning  with  them  in  1485,  he  proceeded  some  distance  to  the 
southward,  but  made  no  extensive  discoveries  ;  nor  was  it  until  the 
following  year  that  Bartolomeo  Diaz,  charged  by  Joao  II  with  the 
task  of  following  the  continent  to  its  southern  extremity,  passed  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Congo  two  degrees  beyond  the  southern  tropic,  and 
reached  the  Sierra  Parda,  near  Angra  Pequena.  From  this  point  he 
resolved  to  stand  out  to  sea,  instead  of  following  the  shore.  Strong 
westerly  gales  drove  him  back  towards  it  ;  and  he  at  length  reached 
Mossel  Bay,  named  by  him  Bahia  dos  Vaqueiros,  from  the  herdsmen  who 
pastured  their  flocks  on  its  shore.  He  was  now  on  the  southern  coast 
of  Africa,  having  circumnavigated  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  unawares. 
From  this  point  Diaz  followed  the  coast  past  Algoa  Bay  as  far  as  the 
Great  Fish  River.  Its  trend  being  now  unmistakably  to  the  north-east, 
he  knew  that  he  had  accomplished  his  task.  Returning  towards  the 
Cape,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  Cabo  Tormentoso,  or  Cape  Tem- 
pestuous, he  rounded  it  in  the  reverse  direction  to  that  which  he  had 
at  first  intended,  and  returned  to  Portugal. 

As  the  Portuguese  exploration  of  the  African  coast  proceeded  during 
sixty  years,  the  objects  with  which  it  was  pursued  were  almost  com- 
pletely transformed  ;  and  it  illustrates  perhaps  more  aptly  than  any 
other  episode  in  European  history  the  transition  from  the  ideas  of 
the  crusading  age  to  those  of  the  age  of  dominant  commerce  and 
colonisation.  Dom  Henrique's  conception  of  a  "  Greater  Portugal ' 
including  the  island  groups  of  the  Atlantic  and  Bilad  Ghana  on 
the  Senegal  River  certainly  recalls,  and  was  probably  founded  on,  the 
Mohammadan  dominion  which  included  Southern  Spain,  the  Balearic 
Islands,  and  Northern  Africa,  and  which  St  Louis  proposed  to  replace 
by  a  Christian  dominion  equally  comprehensive.  To  this  strictly  medi- 
eval conception  the  Iffante  added  some  dim  idea  of  a  junction  with  the 
Christian  sovereign  of  Abyssinia,  to  be  effected  by  ascending  the  Western 
Nile.  Beyond  this  point  we  have  no  reason  to  conclude  that  his 
imagination  ever  wandered.  The  transformation  began  after  his  death. 
The  new  dominion  called  "  Guinea  "  was  ascertained  by  a  rapidly  ex- 
tending process  of  exploration  to  be  of  enormous  size  ;  this  modest 
province,  as  it  had  seemed  in  prospect,  assumed  the  proportions  and 
character  of  a  vast  and  hitherto  unknown  continent.  Twenty-six  years 
of  discovery,  after  the  Iffante's  death,  revealed  three  times  the  length  of 
coast  which  had  been  made  known  in  the  course  of  a  considerably  longer 
period  during  his  lifetime  ;  and  the  Portuguese  sailors  had  now  been 
brought  within  measurable  distance  of  the  Red  Sea  and  Persian  Gulf — 
of  India,  China,  and  the  Spice  Islands.    Europe's  commerce  with  the 

C.  M.  H.  I.  2 


18  Effect  of  Portuguese  discoveries  [1488 


East — an  object  far  exceeding  in  importance  the  conquest  of  Guinea — 
was  evidently  within  the  grasp  of  Portugal.  Ten  years  elapsed,  and 
a  transcendent  effort  of  seamanship  had  to  be  made,  before  actual 
possession  was  taken  of  the  prize.  Meanwhile,  the  geographical  know- 
ledge attained  during  these  twenty-six  years  wrought  like  a  ferment  in 
the  minds  of  European  observers.  It  was  felt  that  the  little  kingdom 
of  Portugal  had  effected  something  like  a  revolution  in  the  intellectual 
world  :  and  the  ideas  inspired  by  this  change,  while  the  existence  of 
the  New  World,  called  afterwards  America,  was  as  yet  unsuspected,  are 
admirably  expressed  in  an  epistle  addressed  to  JoSo  II  by  Angiolo 
Poliziano,  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  literature  at  Florence.  The 
foremost  scholar  of  the  Renaissance  tenders  to  the  Portuguese  King  the 
thanks  of  cultivated  Europe.  Not  only  have  the  Pillars  of  Hercules 
been  left  behind,  and  a  raging  ocean  subdued,  but  the  interrupted  con- 
tinuity of  the  habitable  world  has  been  restored,  and  a  continent  long 
abandoned  to  savagery,  representing  one-third  of  the  habitable  world, 
has  been  recovered  for  Christianity  and  civilisation.  What  new  com- 
modities and  economic  advantages,  what  accessions  to  knowledge,  what 
confirmations  of  ancient  history,  heretofore  rejected  as  incredible,  may 
now  be  expected  !  New  lands,  new  seas,  new  worlds  (alii  mundi)^  even 
new  constellations,  have  been  dragged  from  secular  darkness  into  the 
light  of  day.  Portugal  stands  forth  the  trustee,  the  guardian,  of  a 
second  world  (mundus  alter') ^  holding  in  the  hollow  of  her  hand  a  vast 
series  of  lands,  ports,  seas,  and  islands,  revealed  by  the  industry  of  her 
sons  and  the  enterprise  of  her  Kings.  The  purpose  of  Politian's  epistle 
is  to  suggest  that  the  story  of  this  momentous  acquisition  should  be 
adequately  written  while  the  memorials  of  it  are  yet  fresh  and  com- 
plete, and  to  this  end  he  offers  his  own  services.  Its  significance  for 
ourselves  lies  in  the  fact  that  his  admiration  is  couched  in  terms  which 
would  apply  with  equal  or  greater  propriety  to  the  impending  discovery 
of  the  western  continent.  The  existence  of  America  was  as  yet  unsus- 
pected :  and  the  mental  fermentation  produced  in  Europe  by  the 
Portuguese  voyages  quickly  led  to  its  discovery.  To  cosmographers 
this  fermentation  irresistibly  suggested  the  revival  of  an  idea  evolved 
eighteen  hundred  years  previously  by  Greek  geographers  from  the  con- 
sideration of  the  recently  ascertained  sphericity  of  the  earth  and  the 
approximate  dimensions  of  its  known  continental  areas.  A  few  days' 
sail,  with  a  fair  wind,  it  had  been  long  ago  contended,  would  suffice 
to  carry  a  ship  from  the  shores  of  Spain,  by  a  westward  course,  to  the 
eastern  shores  of  Asia.  The  argument  had  never  been  wholly  lost 
sight  of  ;  and  the  revival  of  science  in  the  thirteenth  century  had  once 
more  brought  it  into  prominence.  Roger  Bacon  had  given  it  a  con- 
spicuous place  in  his  speculations  as  to  the  distribution  of  land  and 
ocean  over  the  globe.  One  is  even  tempted  to  think  that  those  adven- 
turous Genoese  who  in  1281  passed  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  with  two 


1400-92] 


Atlantic  island  explorations 


19 


vessels,  intending  to  make  their  way  to  the  Indies,  and  were  never  again 
heard  of,  prematurely  sought  to  bring  it  to  the  test  of  experience  ;  but 
the  better  opinion  is  that  they  merely  proposed  to  circumnavigate 
South  Africa.  As  the  African  coast  was  progressively  explored  by  the 
Portuguese  and  laid  down  on  the  chart,  the  realisation  of  the  idea  of 
reaching  the  East  by  way  of  the  West  became  a  practical  matter. 
While  Gomes  was  pushing  forward  the  exploration  of  Southern  Guinea, 
a  canon  of  Lisbon,  on  a  visit  to  Florence,  consulted  Toscanelli,  the  most 
celebrated  of  Italian  physicists,  on  the  feasibility  of  such  a  voyage,  and 
brought  back  to  Affonso  V  a  verbal  opinion  favourable  to  it  ;  and  this 
opinion  was  shortly  confirmed  by  a  letter  and  a  chart  on  which  the 
proposed  westward  course  was  laid  down.  Twelve  years  were  yet  to  pass 
before  Diaz  reached  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  the  time  for  testing  the 
scheme  had  not  fully  come.  But  as  the  Portuguese  ships  drew  nearer 
to  their  goal,  the  western  voyage  more  and  more  attracted  attention  ; 
and  the  idea  gained  countenance  through  the  extension  of  maritime 
enterprise  further  and  further  into  the  unknown  westward  expanses  of 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  pursuant  to  the  development  of  a  Greater  Portugal 
according  to  Dom  Henrique's  design. 

Before  his  death  the  Iff  ante  had  provided  for  colonisation  and  church- 
building  in  each  island  of  the  Azores  group.  Beyond  the  Azores,  medieval 
imaginative  cartographers  dotted  the  unknown  Atlantic  with  numerous 
islands,  some  of  which  were  distinguished  by  positive  names.  Scholars 
pondered  over  Pliny's  account,  based  on  a  legend  stated  at  length  in 
Plato's  Timaeus^  of  the  great  island  Atlantis,  believed  to  have  formerly 
existed  far  to  the  westward  of  Mount  Atlas,  from  which  both  island 
and  ocean  derived  their  familiar  name.  Later  legends  described  vari- 
ous existing  islands  as  having  been  actually  reached  in  historical 
times.  Arab  sailors  had  discovered  the  "  Isle  of  Sheep "  ;  Welsh 
emigrants  had  peopled  a  distant  land  in  the  west  ;  seven  bishops, 
fleeing  before  the  Mohammadan  invaders,  had  sailed  westward  from  the 
Spanish  peninsula  and  founded  Christian  communities  on  an  island 
which  thenceforward  bore  the  name  of  the  Isle  of  the  Seven  Cities. 
Saint  Brandan,  an  Irish  missionary,  had  reached  another  rich  and  fertile 
island,  traditionally  named  from  its  discoverer  ;  another  island,  believed 
to  lie  not  far  to  westward  of  the  Irish  coast,  bore  the  name  "Brasil." 
Far  to  the  north-west  a  perfectly  truthful  historical  tradition,  embodied 
in  the  Sagas  of  Iceland,  and  repeated  by  geographers,  placed  the  "  New 
Land  "  or  "  New  Isle  "  discovered  in  the  tenth  century  by  Northmen  from 
Iceland,  and  by  them  named  "  Vineland,"  from  the  small  indigenous 
American  grape.  All  the  Azores  Islands  had  been  colonised  in  the 
Iff  ante's  lifetime.  As  after  his  death  the  Guinea  coast  was  revealed 
in  ever-lengthening  extent,  other  adventurers  dared  to  sail  further  and 
further  westward  into  the  unknown  expanses  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
name  commonly  given  among  the  Portuguese  seamen  to  the  object  of 


20  Antilha^^  and  "  BrasiV^  [1450-92 


suchL  voyages  was  "  Antilha," — a  word  by  some  antiquaries  derived 
from  the  Arabic,  though  more  probably  a  compound  Portuguese  word 
meaning  "  opposite  island,"  or  "  island  in  the  distance,"  and  denoting 
any  land  expected  to  be  descried  on  the  horizon.  Year  by  year  vessels 
from  Lisbon  scoured  the  sea  beyond  the  Azores  in  search  of  "  Antilha  " 
or  "  Antilhas."  In  1486,  the  year  in  which  Diaz  reached  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  Fernam  Dolmos,  lord  of  Terceira,  procured  from  Joao  II  a 
grant  of  Antilha  to  his  own  use,  conditionally  upon  its  discovery  by  him 
within  two  years.  The  terms  in  which  it  was  on  this  occasion  described 
clearly  illustrate  the  contemporary  idea  concerning  it — "  a  great  isle,  or 
isles,  or  continental  coast."  The  possibility  of  reaching  Eastern  Asia, 
with  its  continental  coast  and  numerous  islands,  by  a  western  passage 
was  no  doubt  present  to  the  minds  of  those  who  framed  this  grant. 
But  Antilha  was  by  no  means  conceived  of  as  part  of  the  Asiatic  coast, 
or  as  one  of  the  adjacent  islands.  It  was  believed  to  lie  nearly  midway 
between  Europe  and  Asia,  and  would  form  the  voyager's  half-way 
station  on  his  passage  to  and  fro  ;  hence  its  discovery  was  looked  for- 
ward to  as  the  first  step  in  the  achievement  of  the  westward  passage. 
The  description  of  it  as  "  a  great  isle,  or  isles,  or  continental  coast " 
perhaps  connects  it  with  the  "  New  Land  "  or  "  Vineland  "  of  the  North- 
men, which  was  represented  as  a  continental  shore  bordering  the  northern 
expanses  of  the  Atlantic,  with  islands  of  its  own  adjacent  to  it.  Some 
such  conception  of  the  half-way  land  was  probably  present  to  the  mind 
of  John  Cabot,  who  reached  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  by  taking  a 
northward  route,  passing  by  or  near  to  Iceland,  the  maritime  base  of  the 
Northmen's  discovery  of  "Vineland." 

The  more  usual  conception  of  Antilha  was  that  of  a  large  solitary 
island  in  the  midst  of  the  Atlantic  in  more  southern  latitudes  :  and 
it  had  been  so  indicated  on  the  chart  sent  by  Toscanelli  for  the  guidance 
of  Portuguese  explorers  in  1474.  Similar  notions  were  entertained  as  to 
the  islands  of  St  Brandan,  and  Brasil,  by  the  seamen  of  Bristol,  who 
during  these  years  were  scouring  the  Atlantic  further  to  the  northward, 
with  not  less  eagerness  than  those  of  Lisbon.  The  general  object  of  all 
these  voyages  was  the  same.  It  was  to  find  some  convenient  half-way 
island  as  an  outpost  of  further  exploration  in  the  direction  of  the  Far 
East,  and  a  station  in  the  new  commercial  route  about  to  be  established. 
Year  by  year  sailors  from  Bristol  sailed  from  Dingle  Bay,  on  the  south- 
west coast  of  Ireland,  in  search  of  "  Brasil  Island,"  pursuing  the  same 
plan  as  that  of  the  Portuguese  who  sailed  from  Lisbon  in  quest  of  the 
"  Antilha,"  or  "  Antilhas."  No  record  exists  of  the  course  taken  in  these 
voyages  :  but  we  can  have  little  doubt  that  after  sailing  for  some  dis- 
tance due  west  the  course  was  changed,  and  a  zigzag  mode  of  exploration 
was  adopted,  which  could  lead  to  nothing  but  failure.  The  explorer, 
ever  haunted  by  the  suspicion  that  he  had  left  Antilha  behind  him,  would 
at  length  change  his  course,  and  look  out  in  the  reverse  direction.   It  is 


1484] 


Colombo  abandons  '^Antilha^^ 


21 


easy  to  see  that  the  first  condition  of  a  westward  voyage  which  was  to 
produce  a  positive  discovery  was  definitively  to  abandon  this  fruitless 
method,  and  to  sail  due  west  from  the  Old  World  ;  Colombo  was  the 
first  to  reach  America  because  he  was  the  first  to  take  this  view  of  the 
conditions  of  his  task.  His  plan,  early  determined  on  and  tenaciously 
adhered  to,  was  to  abandon  Antilha  and  Brasil,  and  to  assume  that 
between  the  Azores  and  the  Eastern  shores  and  islands  of  Asia  there 
were  no  lands  to  be  discovered,  and  that  there  was  accordingly  nothing 
to  be  done  but  to  cross  the  trackless  Atlantic  by  as  direct  a  course  as 
possible.  This  perfectly  accurate  forecast,  and  the  firmness  with  which 
he  adhered  to  the  plan  founded  upon  it,  rank  among  the  most  con- 
spicuous indications  of  Colombo's  greatness. 

The  execution  of  such  a  plan  involved  great  preparations.  Three 
ships,  provisioned  for  twelve  months,  represented  Colombo's  estimate  of 
what  was  necessary  ;  and  whatever  power  should  accept  his  offer  to  sail 
with  such  an  equipment  for  the  Eastern  shores  and  islands  of  Asia,  was 
destined  to  acquire  the  substantial  sovereignty  of  that  New  Continent 
whose  existence  remained  as  yet  unsuspected.  Both  Cristoforo  and 
Bartolomeo  Colombo  had  been  from  their  youth  in  the  maritime  service 
of  Portugal,  and  Cristoforo  had  married  a  Portuguese  wife.  In  early 
life  he  had  found  constant  employment  in  the  Guinea  voyages  ;  having 
also  sailed  to  Bristol,  and  from  Bristol  far  beyond  Iceland,  he  knew  the 
entire  field  of  Atlantic  navigation  from  the  Arctic  circle  to  the  equator. 
It  was  natural  that  his  first  proposal  for  making  a  westward  passage 
to  the  East  should  be  made  to  the  King  of  Portugal.  It  was  equally 
natural  that  the  proposal  should  be  rejected.  The  circumnavigation  of 
Africa  was  nearly  accomplished ;  of  this  route  to  the  wealthy  East  the 
Portuguese  would  enjoy  a  practical  monopoly,  and  it  could  be  effectively 
defended.  Contemporary  explorations  in  the  Western  Atlantic  left 
doubtful  the  question  whether  any  land,  island  or  continent,  existed 
in  this  direction  within  practical  sailing  distance.  Even  if  the  westward 
passage  were  successfully  accomplished,  it  was  manifest  that  Portugal 
would  be  unable  to  monopolise  it,  and  that  the  discovery  must  ultimately 
enure  for  the  benefit  of  the  stronger  maritime  nations  of  Western 
Europe.  Considerations  of  this  kind  sufficed  to  ensure  the  rejection  of 
Colombo's  proposals  by  the  prudent  counsellors  of  Affonso  V  ;  but  the 
projector  always  remembered  his  repulse  with  bitter  resentment,  and 
mockingly  remarked,  in  after  years,  that  the  Almighty  had  rendered 
Affonso  blind  and  deaf  to  the  miracle  about  to  be  wrought  by  Him 
through  the  agency  of  the  King  and  Queen  of  Castile."  Having  failed 
in  the  land  of  his  adoption,  Colombo  carried  his  project  to  the  republic 
of  which  he  was  born  a  citizen,  where  it  met  with  no  better  reception. 
The  interest  of  Genoa  was  to  keep  the  Oriental  trade  in  its  existing 
overland  channels  ;  and  the  same  consideration  prevailed  with  the  rival 
city  of  Venice,  to  whose  Signoria  the  projector  made  his  next  application. 


22 


Colombo^ s  proposals  accepted 


[1492 


It  was  now  clear  that  the  project  would  only  be  taken  up  by  some 
power  which  had  no  vested  interest  in  maintaining  the  existing  state 
of  commercial  intercourse — some  power  on  the  western  sea-board  of 
Europe,  for  which  the  establishment  of  the  proposed  route  would  open 
up  a  new  field  of  enterprise.  Such  powers  were  Spain,  England,  and 
France  ;  and  Colombo  astutely  bethought  himself  of  applying  simulta- 
neously to  the  two  former,  and  playing  them  off  against  each  other  until 
one  of  them  definitely  accepted  his  proposals.  He  carried  his  plan  in 
person  to  Spain,  and  commissioned  his  brother  Bartolomeo  to  lay  it  before 
Henry  VII  of  England  (1485).  Accidents,  delays,  and  circumstances  of 
various  kinds  put  off  for  four  years  longer  the  momentous  issue  which 
of  these  two  powers  would  accept  the  plan  and  obtain  the  inheritance 
of  the  unknown  New  World.  Fortune  inclined  the  balance  in  favour  of 
Spain.  When  a  message  at  length  arrived  summoning  Colombo  to  a 
conference  with  the  King  of  England,  he  had  already  come  to  a  substan- 
tial agreement,  though  he  had  not  yet  concluded  all  the  terms  of  his 
bargain,  with  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Bartolomeo  Diaz,  at  this  junc- 
ture, had  just  returned  from  his  cruise  on  the  southernmost  shore  of 
Africa.  On  April  17,  1492,  the  contract  was  signed  which  secured  to 
Colombo,  not  merely  the  usual  rewards  of  maritime  enterprise  accorded 
to  adventurers  in  Portuguese  practice,  but  some  additional  advantages 
of  a  personal  nature,  including  the  dignity  of  Admiral  and  Viceroy 
in  the  islands  and  continental  provinces  to  be  acquired  by  him  for  the 
Castilian  Crown.  On  August  3  he  sailed  from  Palos  ;  on  Septem- 
ber 6  he  quitted  the  roadstead  of  Gomera  ;  and  three  days  later  the 
breeze  sprang  up  which  carried  his  three  caravels  successfully  across 
the  Atlantic. 

At  this  point  it  will  be  convenient  to  glance  for  a  moment  at  the 
existing  state  of  geographical  knowledge,  which  had  become  consider- 
ably augmented  during  the  fifteenth  century.  With  one  vast  deduc- 
tion— namely,  the  northern  and  north-eastern  coasts  of  Europe  and 
Asia  from  the  North  Cape  of  Norway  eastward  as  far  as  Northern 
China,  including  Northern  Russia  and  Siberia — the  Old  World  had  now 
been  completely  revealed.  To  Europeans,  indeed,  the  contour  of  South- 
eastern Africa  remained  unascertained.  Its  true  shape,  nevertheless, 
must  have  been  known  to  the  Arab  seamen  who  navigated  the  Indian 
Ocean  :  many  of  these  were  also  well  acquainted  with  the  Eastern 
Archipelago,  known  to  Europeans  only  as  passengers  or  overland 
travellers,  as  far  as  a  point  near  the  western  end  of  New  Guinea. 
Greenland  was  known,  and  in  Northern  and  Western  Europe  the 
discovery  of  "  Vineland "  by  Norse  adventurers  five  hundred  years 
previously  was  still  a  familiar  tradition.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
scientific  geography  all  this  amounted  to  little.  Not  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  the  earth's  surface  had  been  laid  down  on  the  map.  Colombo's 
first  expedition  did  no  more  than  determine  the  breadth  of  the  Atlantic 


1492] 


Colomho  crosses  the  Atlantic 


23 


in  the  latitude  of  the  northern  tropic,  and  prove  that  a  numerous  group 
of  islands,  from  which  the  proximity  of  a  continental  shore  or  Terra 
Firma  might  fairly  be  inferred,  existed  on  the  other  side.  His  subse- 
quent voyages  changed  this  inference  into  certainty  :  but  the  fact  that 
the  Terra  Firma  here  encountered  was  a  continent  hitherto  unknown, 
though  its  northern  parts  had  been  reached  by  the  Northmen  five 
centuries  before,  was  never  ascertained  by  him,  and  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  fourteen  years  later,  he  believed  himself  to  have  merely  reached 
the  eastern  parts  of  Asia.  In  fact,  he  was  nearly  at  the  opposite 
meridian,  and  a  hemisphere  raised  its  immense  dome  between.  Colombo's 
five  weeks'  voyage,  nevertheless,  proved  the  great  turning-point  in  man's 
slowly-progressing  knowledge  of  the  globe.  Eighteen  years  after  his 
death  the  general  figure  of  the  New  World  had  been  ascertained,  its 
southernmost  point  rounded,  the  Pacific  crossed,  and  the  first  furrow 
ploughed  by  a  ship's  keel  around  the  sphere.  Small  as  was  his  own 
actual  contribution  to  geographical  knowledge,  it  was  his  energy  and 
enterprise,  and  his  alone,  which  rapidly  forced  on  a  conception  of 
geography  sufficiently  accurate  to  last  with  little  improvement  to  the 
time  of  Cook,  nearly  three  centuries  later. 

The  consequences  of  this  voyage  must  ever  render  all  its  details 
and  circumstances  matters  of  exceptional  interest ;  but  it  is  impossible 
here  to  enter  into  them.  On  October  12,  1492,  Colombo  landed  on 
one  of  the  Bahama  Islands  from  his  ship's  boat,  wearing  the  costume 
of  Admiral  of  Castile,  and  holding  aloft  the  Castilian  banner  ;  and 
in  the  course  of  a  three  months'  cruise  he  visited  Cuba  and  Hayti, 
and  gained  a  general  notion  of  the  West  Indian  archipelago.  The 
tidings  of  his  voyage  were  joyfully  received  both  in  Spain  and  at  Rome  ; 
and  a  petition  was  preferred  to  Pope  Alexander  VI  for  a  confirmation 
to  the  Spanish  Crown  of  the  district  comprising  the  newly-found  islands, 
subject  only  to  the  rights  of  any  Christian  communities  which  might 
happen  to  be  included  in  it.  In  answer  to  this  two  separate  bulls  were 
issued.  One  simply  contained  the  confirmation  desired  ;  the  other  was 
framed  in  similar  terms,  but  limited  the  area  of  Spanish  enterprise  to  a 
meridian  line  to  be  drawn  one  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores  and 
the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  The  last,  often  singled  out  as  a  prominent 
illustration  of  Romish  arrogance,  was  in  fact  only  a  suggestion  intended 
to  prevent  disputes,  probably  due  to  some  ofiicial  of  the  papal  chancery. 
It  was  never  acted  on  by  the  parties,  and  was  withdrawn  in  the  same 
year  by  the  Pope  himself.  For  by  a  third  bull,  dated  September  25, 
1493,  and  superseding  previous  ones,  the  entire  field  of  oceanic  enter- 
prise was  expressly  declared  to  be  open  to  both  nations,  on  the  under- 
standing that  Spain  should  approach  it  by  the  westward  passage  only, 
and  not  infringe  Portugal's  monopoly  of  the  African  coast.  The  parties, 
thus  remitted  to  their  original  rights,  fixed  as  the  boundary  of  their 
areas  of  enterprise  a  meridian  of  their  own  selection,  370  leagues  west 


24 


Portuguese  activity  renewed 


[1495 


of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands,  and  intended  to  mark  a  midway  line  be- 
tween the  Azores,  the  westernmost  of  Portugal's  possessions,  and  the 
new  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  supposed  to  be  the  easternmost  parts 
of  the  Spanish  acquisitions.  The  action  of  the  Holy  See  in  assuming  to 
partition  the  globe  between  the  sovereigns  of  Spain  and  Portugal  has 
often  been  ridiculed.  Such  ridicule,  it  will  be  seen,  is  misplaced ;  and 
the  papal  claim  to  universal  dominion,  in  its  practical  bearings,  repre- 
sented nothing  more  than  a  simple  counterclaim  against  the  more  ancient 
and  equally  extravagant  pretensions  of  the  successors  of  Mohammad. 

A  second  voyage  made  by  Colombo  in  1493,  a  third  in  1498,  and 
a  fourth  in  1502,  added  something,  but  not  much,  to  the  sum  of  his 
discoveries  ;  and  his  administration  as  governor  of  the  new  Spanish 
acquisitions  was  only  remarkable  for  demonstrating  his  utter  incapacity 
for  the  post.  Naturally  enough,  his  conception  of  his  duties  and  of  the 
purpose  which  the  new  possessions  of  Spain  were  destined  to  serve,  was 
based  on  the  policy  of  the  Portuguese  on  the  coast  of  Guinea.  Gold, 
and  slaves  as  a  means  to  gold,  and  as  the  only  product  immediately 
procurable  and  readily  exchangeable  for  gold,  were  the  only  commodities 
worth  carrying  to  Europe ;  and  the  scantier  the  supply  of  the  former, 
the  greater  was  the  necessity  for  pushing  the  quest  of  the  latter.  The 
true  riches  of  the  Indies,  Colombo  wrote,  are  the  Indians.  The  wretched 
natives,  unable  to  procure  the  small  quantity  of  gold  demanded  of  them 
as  a  poll-tax,  were  provoked  to  resistance,  and  then  captured  and  shipped 
by  him  in  great  numbers  to  Europe  to  be  sold  in  the  market  of 
Seville.  But  the  feeble  and  intractable  Indians  proved  of  little  value 
as  labourers  ;  and  it  was  at  length  ordered  that  this  revolting  traffic 
must  cease.  The  Spanish  adventurers  who  accompanied  him  frustrated 
his  plans  and  procured  his  recall ;  and  at  his  death  in  1506,  fourteen 
years  after  his  unique  nautical  achievement,  the  first  seaman  in  Europe, 
who  might  in  half  that  time  have  revealed  the  whole  American  coast, 
had  only  added  to  the  map  the  West  Indian  archipelago  and  the  coasts 
of  Honduras,  Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica,  Darien,  and  Paria  in  Venezuela. 
In  a  few  years  his  name  was  almost  forgotten  ;  and,  by  a  strange  freak 
of  fortune,  one  Americo  Vespucci,  a  man  of  mercantile  pursuits  who 
happened  more  than  once  to  visit  the  New  World  and  wrote  accounts 
of  his  adventures,  was  credited  by  an  ignorant  public  with  Colombo's 
discovery,  and  from  him  the  new  continent  received  its  name. 

Meanwhile,  the  success  of  Colombo's  first  and  second  voyages  urged 
on  the  Portuguese  the  necessity  of  prosecuting  to  its  conclusion  their 
own  national  enterprise.  Dom  Manoel  the  Fortunate  now  succeeded 
to  the  throne  (1495)  ;  and  Vasco  da  Gama,  a  young  seaman  who  had 
been  selected  by  Joao  II,  after  the  return  of  Diaz,  to  command  the 
expedition  which  was  to  complete  the  work  of  sixty  years  by  carrying 
the  Portuguese  flag  round  the  newly-discovered  southern  cape  to  the 
shores  of  India,  was  commissioned  to  undertake  the  task.    A  voyage 


1498] 


Vasco  da  Gama  reaches  India 


25 


from  Lisbon  to  India  was  by  far  the  greatest  feat  of  seamanship  ever 
attempted  ;  even  its  first  portion,  the  voyage  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  which  it  was  proposed  to  make  as  directly  as  possible  from  the 
Cape  Verde  Islands  across  the  open  ocean,  avoiding  the  circuitous  route 
by  the  Guinea  coast  and  the  mouth  of  the  Congo,  was  a  far  greater 
undertaking  than  the  voyage  of  Colombo.  The  discoverer  of  America 
had  but  to  sail  36  days,  with  a  fair  wind,  to  traverse  the  2,600  miles 
between  Gomera  and  the  Bahamas.  The  distance  from  the  Cape  Verde 
Islands  to  the  Cape  was  3,770  miles.  It  was  impossible  to  make  the 
voyage  by  great-circle  sailing.  Contrary  winds  and  currents  made  it 
necessary  to  shape  a  course  curving  to  the  extent  of  almost  half  a 
circle,  the  direct  line  forming  the  chord  of  the  arc  ;  and  93  days 
elapsed  after  Da  Gama  had  left  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  before  he 
reached  the  coast  of  South  Africa.  Leaving  Lisbon  on  July  8,  1497, 
and  the  Island  of  Santiago,  the  southernmost  of  the  Cape  Verde  group, 
on  August  3,  he  first  sighted  land  on  November  4,  and  on  the  8th 
anchored  in  the  bay  of  St  Helena,  in  the  land  of  the  Hottentots, 
where  he  remained  eight  days,  careening  his  ships  and  taking  in  wood. 
Quitting  his  anchorage  on  the  16th,  he  doubled  the  Cape  on  the 
22nd,  and  three  days  later  reached  Mossel  Bay,  where  he  remained 
thirteen  days.  Resuming  his  course  on  December  8,  he  eight  days 
afterwards  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Fish  River,  the  last  point 
reached  by  Diaz,  and  was  now  in  waters  never  before  traversed  by 
European  vessels.  Struggling  against  the  Agulhas  current,  which  had 
baffled  his  predecessor,  he  on  Christmas  Day  reached  the  roadstead 
which  from  that  circumstance  obtained  the  name  of  Port  Natal.  After 
making  halts  in  the  Bay  of  Lourengo  Marques,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Kiliman  River,  Da  Gama  once  more  stood  out  to  sea,  and  on  March  2, 
1498,  anchored  in  the  roadstead  of  Mozambique.  He  had  now  effected 
the  desired  junction  of  the  West  with  the  East ;  for  the  Mohammadan 
population  here  spoke  the  Arabic  language,  and  through  his  own 
interpreters  he  could  freely  communicate  with  them. 

From  this  point  Da  Gama's  task  was  easy.  He  had  entered  a  field 
of  navigation  known  in  all  its  parts  from  remote  times,  and  familiar 
ground  to  resident  Mohammadan  seamen  and  traders,  who  received  him 
amicably  and  furnished  him  with  pilots.  From  Mozambique  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Mombasa,  where  he  fell  in  with  non-Mohammadan  residents, 
supposed  by  him  to  be  Christians,  but  in  reality  Banyans  of  India. 
A  still  larger  "  Christian  "  population  of  the  same  nation  was  found 
in  the  port  of  Malindi.  Here  the  adventurers  were  furnished  with  a 
"  Christian  "  pilot,  who  conducted  them  safely  across  the  Indian  Ocean 
to  Calicut,  off  which  place  Da  Gama  anchored  on  May  20,  ten 
months  and  twelve  days  after  leaving  Lisbon.  Calicut  was  the  great 
emporium  of  Arab  trade.  It  was  the  chief  among  the  many  ports 
of  the  Malabar  coast,  whence  Europe  drew  its  supplies  of  pepper  and 


26 


Da  Gama  at  Calicut 


[1498 


ginger.  Here  Mohammadan  merchants  purchased  cinnamon  brought  from 
Ceylon  and  spices  from  the  Molucca  Islands,  which  they  carried  to  the 
port  of  Jiddah  in  Arabia,  and  then  to  the  port  of  Tor  in  the  Sinaitic 
peninsula,  whence  they  were  carried  overland  to  Cairo.  Here  they 
were  shipped  down  the  Nile  to  Rosetta,  and  the  last  stage  of  trans- 
port was  performed  on  camels  to  Alexandria,  where  they  were  purchased 
by  European  merchants.  At  all  these  places  duties  had  to  be  paid, 
in  consequence  of  which  the  cost  of  the  merchandise  was  quadrupled  ; 
and  large  profits  could  be  reaped  by  merchants  who  carried  them 
directly  from  the  East  to  Western  Europe.  There  was  another  trade 
route  to  Europe  by  way  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  so  through  Syria 
to  Aleppo  and  Beyrut.  Although  frequent  wars  were  waged  between 
the  native  princes  of  the  Malabar  coast,  they  all  maintained  a  good 
understanding  with  the  Muslim  sailors  and  traders,  and  many  of  the 
latter  permanently  resided  on  the  Malabar  coast  and  in  the  Far  East. 
The  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  was  not  altogether  unexpected.  Their 
intention  of  penetrating  the  Indian  Ocean  was  well  known  ;  and  on  his 
arrival  Da  Gama  pretended  to  be  in  search  of  some  missing  vessels  of  his 
squadron.  Having  landed  to  enquire  concerning  them,  he  asked  per- 
mission to  trade,  which  was  granted.  Meanwhile  the  Muslim  residents 
intrigued  with  the  native  prince,  entitled  the  "  Samori,"  or  "  Zamorin,'* 
hoping  to  deal  the  Portuguese  a  crushing  blow  on  the  very  threshold 
of  their  undertaking.  Representing  the  new-comers  as  mere  marauders, 
they  so  far  succeeded  as  to  induce  the  Zamorin  to  detain  Da  Gama 
and  some  of  his  companions  as  prisoners.  He  barely  himself  escaped 
assassination  ;  but  a  good  understanding  was  at  length  restored,  and  the 
Portuguese  commander,  after  taking  in  a  valuable  cargo  of  pepper, 
ginger,  cinnamon,  cloves,  and  nutmegs,  besides  rubies  and  other  precious 
stones,  sailed  on  his  return  voyage  on  August  29,  1498,  and  in  Septem- 
ber 1499  at  length  made  his  triumphal  entry  into  Lisbon.  Besides  the 
merchandise  which  he  secured,  he  brought  back  precise  information 
concerning  the  coasts  of  India  as  far  as  Bengal,  Ceylon,  Malacca,  Pegu, 
and  Sumatra. 

Thus  was  the  way  opened  for  Europe's  maritime  invasion  of  the 
East ;  a  process  in  modern  history  perhaps  of  even  greater  importance 
than  the  European  occupation  of  the  New  World.  Ever  since  Da  Gama's 
great  voyage  Southern  and  Eastern  Asia,  comprising  then  as  noAv  the 
most  populous  nations  on  the  globe,  have  been  gradually  falling  under 
the  sway  of  the  European  powers,  who  have  first  appropriated  their 
foreign  trade,  making  permanent  settlements  on  their  coasts  in  order 
to  secure  it,  thence  advanced  to  controlling  their  administration  and 
usurping  their  government,  and  in  some  varying  degree  have  succeeded 
in  the  more  difQcult  task  of  gradually  changing  their  habits  of  life  and 
thought.  In  all  this  Europeans  have  been  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  Mohammadans  of  Western  Asia  and  Northern  Africa  ;  and  these  had 


Il00-l500j        Muslim  traders  in  the  East 


27 


inherited  their  commercial  sphere  from  remote  antiquity.  Greek  tradi- 
tion even  ascribed  the  invention  of  ocean  navigation  to  the  aboriginal 
Erythraeans,  who  had  ploughed  the  Red  Sea  long  before  Phoenicians 
and  Greeks  ventured  to  cross  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  ancient  ethnology 
distinguished  these  from  the  Semitic  adventurers  who  in  historical  times 
had  colonised  the  islands  on  the  southern  coast  of  Arabia,  and  not  only 
traded  by  sea  along  this  coast  in  its  entire  length,  but  frequented  the 
adjacent  shores  of  Africa,  and  regularly  crossed  the  mouth  of  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  with  the  monsoon  in  search  of  the  commodities  of  Western 
India. 

The  establishment  of  Islam  gave  a  new  and  powerful  stimulus  to 
all  Arabian  enterprise.  By  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  there 
existed  from  the  Red  Sea  to  Japan  a  valuable  and  well-organised  com- 
merce, mainly  in  the  hands  of  Arabian  or  other  Muslim  seamen  and 
merchants.  For  the  effect  of  the  propagation  of  Islam  had  been  to 
bring  to  the  field  of  Asiatic  trade  a  crowd  of  adventurers  of  many  nations, 
many  of  whom  were  Turks  of  Anatolia  or  Europe.  Others  were  Greeks, 
Albanians,  Circassians,  and  other  Levantines  of  European  descent  who 
had  abandoned  the  Christian  faith  for  gain,  and  had  brought  to  the 
Muslim  sailors  and  merchants  of  the  Eastern  ocean  the  knowledge  and 
experience  of  the  Mediterranean  peoples.  These  were  generally  known 
in  India  and  the  Far  East  as  "  Rumes  "  (Arab.  Rumi^  a  Greek)  ;  and 
Muslim  opponents  found  in  the  East  by  the  Portuguese  thus  included 
not  only  true  Arabs,  whether  of  Arabia,  Africa,  or  India,  generally 
known  as  "  Moors,"  but  large  numbers  of  Turks  and  "  Rumes,"  whose 
European  experience  and  connexion  greatly  aided  the  Moors  in  their 
resistance  to  the  European  maritime  invasion. 

The  course  of  trade  in  these  seas  was  not  exclusively  from  west  to 
east  and  back  again.  From  very  early  times  a  maritime  commerce  had 
been  carried  on  in  the  reverse  direction  ;  and  the  meeting-place  of  the 
two  trades  was  the  port  of  Calicut.  Hither  came,  once  a  year — for  only 
during  the  summer  were  the  Chinese  seas  navigable  for  Chinese  vessels  — 
a  large  trading  fleet  from  the  ports  of  China.  The  huge  Chinese  junks, 
with  their  fixed  sails  of  matted  reeds,  never  lowered,  even  in  harbour, 
and  mainly  propelled  by  oars  of  immense  length,  and  having  on  board 
gardens  of  growing  vegetables,  and  large  chambers  for  the  ships'  officers 
and  their  families,  so  that  each  was  as  it  were  a  floating  town,  were  ob- 
jects of  curious  interest  to  the  Arabian  sailors.  The  largest  were  reputed 
to  carry  a  thousand  persons,  and  each  was  attended  by  three  smaller 
craft  for  the  purpose  of  loading  and  unloading.  It  was  natural  for  the 
Arabs,  who  had  already  secured  a  part  of  the  Indian  coasting  trade,  to 
push  their  way  towards  the  Far  East,  and  to  claim  a  share  in  the  trade 
of  China  and  the  Spice  Islands.  They  found  a  convenient  station  in  the 
port  of  Malacca,  which  in  their  hands  quickly  became  the  second  great 
emporium  of  the  Eastern  trade.  Nor  did  they  rest  here.    Making  their 


28 


Muslim  traders  in  the  East 


[1400-1500 


way  to  the  ports  of  China  itself,  they  were  amicably  received,  and 
allowed  to  form  settlements  of  their  own.  Many  such  settlements,  each 
having  its  resident  magistrate  and  Sheikh  ul  Islam,  existed  hard  by 
the  chief  Chinese  ports,  and  others  were  scattered  through  the  Eastern 
Archipelago.  Malacca  became  the  western  outpost  of  the  Far-Eastern 
trade  thus  developed.  Hither  were  brought  the  cloves  of  the  Moluccas, 
the  mace  and  nutmeg  of  Banda,  the  sandal  wood  of  Timor,  the  camphire 
of  Borneo,  and  many  other  spices,  drugs,  dyes,  and  perfumes  from  Java, 
Siam,  China,  and  the  Philippine  Islands,  all  of  which  could  be  purchased 
here  more  cheaply  of  the  resident  Arab  merchants  than  of  those  of 
Calicut,  who  obtained  them  in  the  ancient  course  of  trade  from  the 
Chinese  fleet.  Hence  the  sailors  of  Africa  and  Arabia,  at  the  arrival  of 
the  Portuguese,  already  resorted  directly  to  Malacca  for  the  produce  of 
the  Far  East,  and  Calicut  became  chiefly  a  market  for  the  cinnamon 
of  Ceylon,  and  the  ginger,  pepper,  and  miscellaneous  commodities  of 
Malabar  itself. 

The  ports  of  Arabia,  and  the  Arab  settlements  in  Eastern  Africa, 
were  the  inlets  through  which  the  produce  of  India  and  the  Far  East 
were  finally  dispersed ;  and  large  quantities  found  their  way  through 
Suez,  Jiddah,  Mascat,  and  Hormuz,  to  the  markets  of  Europe.  It  thus 
appears  that  the  area  of  the  Eastern  trade  naturally  fell  into  two  divi- 
sions, the  mouth  of  the  Persian  Gulf  marking  the  partition.  Eastward 
of  this  lay  the  area  of  export,  westward  the  area  of  import.  Hence  the 
fact  that  the  Portuguese,  having  rounded  Southern  Africa,  made  straight 
for  Calicut,  the  outpost  of  the  exporting  area.  The  ideas  and  expecta- 
tions with  which  they  approached  this  immense  and  unique  field  of 
enterprise  were  tinged  with  the  arrogance  of  prolonged  success.  It  was 
necessary,  as  a  means  to  making  themselves  masters  of  the  Eastern  trade, 
before  all  else,  not  only  to  prove  themselves  masters  of  the  Asiatic  seas, 
but  to  be  able  to  defy  resistance  on  land,  and  to  hold  by  military  force 
whatever  positions  it  might  be  desirable  to  occupy.  For  these  purposes 
such  demonstrations  of  force  as  had  availed  them  on  the  African  coast 
were  insufficient.  Society  in  the  East  rested  everywhere  on  a  military 
basis.  The  native  Asiatic  princes  universally  possessed  numerous  and 
not  ill-equipped  armies,  though  ill-supplied,  or  not  at  all,  with  firearms. 
By  sea  the  Arabs  and  Rumes  were  more  formidable.  Wherever  maritime 
trade  exists  it  must  defend  itself  against  pirates  ;  and  piracy  was  rife 
on  all  the  Indian  and  Chinese  shores.  Hence  the  larger  vessels,  both 
on  the  Malabar  coast  and  on  that  of  China,  were  usually  manned  with 
fighting  men,  and  those  of  the  Arabs  and  Rumes  occasionally  carried 
large  guns.  The  Oriental  fleets,  if  assembled  in  one  place,  would  have 
immensely  outnumbered  the  ships  capable  of  being  sent  against  them  by 
Portugal.  But  in  regard  to  construction,  equipment,  and  the  art  of 
navigation  the  Portuguese  had  greatly  the  advantage.  Even  the  Arabs 
knew  nothing  of  the  art  of  using  a  vessel  mainly  as  a  military  machine, 


i50o]  Successes  of  Cabral  and  De  Nueva  29 


much  less  of  manoeuvring  and  combined  action  for  attack,  defence, 
pursuit,  and  co-operation  with  troops  on  land.  Eastern  vessels,  indeed, 
were  scarcely  capable  of  being  so  employed.  The  hard  woods  used  in 
constructing  them  forbade  the  use  of  iron  nails,  and  their  heavy  planks 
were  rudely  made  fast  with  cocoa-nut  cordage  and  wooden  pins.  Steer- 
ing gear  and  ground-tackle  were  of  a  rudimentary  sort  :  even  a  moderate 
gale  rendered  the  ship  scarcely  manageable,  and  the  guns  were  useless 
except  at  close  quarters.  The  Portuguese,  who  inherited  the  naval 
experience  of  two  thousand  years,  had  become  through  their  African 
voyages  the  best  seamen  in  Europe,  possessed  ships  of  the  newest  type, 
and  attacked  the  Arabian  vessels  with  the  confidence  begotten  of  their 
maritime  successes  against  the  Barbary  Moors. 

The  treachery  experienced  by  Da  Gama  from  the  Zamorin  of  Calicut 
made  it  still  more  necessary  for  the  Portuguese  to  be  strong  enough  to 
punish,  as  well  as  to  invade,  the  enemy ;  and  when  Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral 
sailed  in  1500  in  command  of  the  second  expedition  to  India  his  vessels 
were  formidably  armed  with  artillery.  By  way  of  demonstrating  his 
strength  Cabral  shortly  after  his  arrival  captured  a  large  Moorish  vessel 
as  it  passed  the  roadstead  and  presented  her  to  the  Zamorin.  Suspect- 
ing the  Moors  of  obstructing  him  in  procuring  lading  for  his  fleet,  he 
attacked  and  captured  a  Moorish  vessel  in  the  roadstead  itself.  In 
reprisal  the  Moors  on  shore  destroyed  the  Portuguese  factory  and 
massacred  its  inhabitants.  Cabral  seized  and  destroyed  ten  large  Moorish 
ships,  and  bombarded  the  town.  He  then  sailed  for  Cochin,  burning 
two  more  ships  of  Calicut  on  the  way.  Cochin,  the  seat  of  a  Rajah 
hostile  to  the  Zamorin,  was  also  a  port  frequented  by  the  Moors,  and  a 
few  of  them  resided  there  permanently.  Cabral  was  amicably  received, 
completed  his  lading,  and  promised  the  Rajah  to  add  Calicut  to  his 
dominions,  his  design  in  this  being  to  gain  the  Rajah's  assistance  in 
conquering  Calicut  for  the  Portuguese.  Being  now  ready  to  return, 
Cabral  declined  invitations  from  the  Rajahs  of  Cananor  and  Quilon,  and 
sailed  for  Europe.  Having  encountered  a  storm,  he  put  into  Cananor, 
where  the  Rajah  promised  free  trade  to  the  Portuguese,  and  sent  on 
board  an  envoy  with  presents  for  the  Portuguese  king.  Before  his 
return  Joao  de  Nueva  had  sailed  from  Lisbon  for  India,  with  four  ships 
and  four  hundred  men.  In  view  of  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Zamorin, 
De  Nueva  made  for  Cananor,  where  he  learned  that  the  Indian  King  was 
ready  to  attack  him  with  forty  ships.  Leaving  his  factors  at  Cananor, 
De  Nueva  sailed  at  once  to  attack  the  enemy  in  their  own  waters,  and 
inflicted  on  them  a  signal  defeat.  Successful  though  the  Portuguese 
had  been,  the  tidings  of  this  continued  hostility  on  the  part  of  the 
Rajah  who  dominated  the  principal  emporium  of  India  gave  rise  at 
home  to  grave  misgivings.  Some  counselled  the  abandonment  of  an 
enterprise  to  which  the  strength  of  a  small  European  power  seemed 
unequal.    Even  if  the  resistance  of  Calicut  were  broken,  what  would  be 


30  Enlarged  scheme  of  conquest  [i506 


the  situation  when  Turkey  and  Egypt  should  combine  with  the  Arabs 
to  drive  Portugal  from  the  precarious  lodgment  she  had  acquired  ?  And 
if  the  mere  threshold  of  the  East  had  proved  so  hard  to  win,  how  much 
harder  would  it  be  to  strike  into  the  heart  of  the  field,  and  attack  the 
Muslim  in  the  strong  positions  of  the  Far  East,  with  the  countless 
millions  of  China  at  their  back  ? 

Against  such  arguments  the  honour  of  a  Christian  nation,  the  lust  of 
territorial  aggrandisement,  and  above  all  the  greed  of  gold,  prevailed  in 
the  end.  Twenty  ships  were  despatched,  in  three  squadrons,  under  the 
general  command  of  the  first  adventurer,  Vasco  da  Gama,  and  other 
commanders  followed  in  rapid  succession.  The  original  plan  of  campaign 
was  still  adhered  to.  Whatever  the  cost,  the  Moors  must  be  dislodged 
from  Calicut,  the  resistance  of  the  native  king  broken,  and  the  control 
of  the  trade  transferred  to  the  Portuguese,  whose  king  the  Zamorin 
must  acknowledge  as  his  sovereign.  Beaten  at  every  point  in  fair  fight, 
the  Zamorin  maintained  his  ground  by  fraud  and  treachery.  The  stream 
of  wealth  still  poured  into  Portugal  through  Cochin  and  Cananor, 
immensely  augmented  by  the  spoils  of  captured  Moorish  vessels,  but  the 
Zamorin  still  held  his  ground.  In  an  interval  during  which  the  Portu- 
guese forces  were  weakened  by  the  withdrawal  of  returning  ships,  he 
attacked  and  destroyed  Cochin.  The  Portuguese  having  retaken  it, 
restored  its  prince,  and  built  a  strong  fort  for  themselves,  the  infuriated 
Rajah,  having  roused  such  of  his  neighbours  as  were  amenable  to  his 
appeal,  seized  a  similar  opportunity  and  assailed  Cochin  with  fifty 
thousand  men.  In  a  campaign  of  five  months  he  was  defeated  and  slain 
by  the  Portuguese  under  Duarte  Pacheco,  who  earned  the  title  of  the 
Portuguese  Achilles  ;  but  his  successor  maintained  the  same  attitude, 
and  despatched  an  embassy  to  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  asking  for  aid  in 
resisting  the  invaders.  The  Sultan  sent  word  to  the  Pope  threatening 
to  destroy  the  holy  places  at  Jerusalem  if  the  Portuguese  persisted  in 
their  invasion  of  India.  The  only  effect  of  this  empty  menace  was  to 
stimulate  the  Portuguese  King  to  renewed  efforts  on  a  larger  scale.  The 
crisis  of  the  struggle  was  approaching ;  and  in  view  of  this  a  more  com- 
prehensive scheme  was  adopted.  Abandoning  the  attempt  to  reduce 
the  obstinate  resistance  of  a  single  prince,  it  was  determined  to  attack 
the  Muslim  maritime  system  in  all  its  parts,  and  to  establish  a  new 
emporium  on  the  Malabar  coast  as  the  commercial  and  naval  centre  of 
the  new  Portuguese  eastern  empire.  .  Already  the  Moorish  traders  in 
search  of  the  produce  of  the  Far  East  had  begun  to  avoid  the  Malabar 
coast,  and  to  make  their  way  from  the  Arabian  and  African  ports  by  a 
new  route  to  Malacca.  It  was  resolved  to  seize  this  key  of  the  Far  East 
without  delay,  and  to  gain  possession  of  the  Moorish  settlements  on  the 
African  coast,  and  the  Arabian  ports  of  Hormuz  and  Aden.  By  exact- 
ing heavy  duties  at  these  places  the  whole  trade  would  gradually  be 
diverted,  and  the  Portuguese  would  ultimately  control  the  Red  Sea  itself. 


1509-15]  Affonso  de  Albuquerque 


31 


The  chief  African  settlements  were  seized  with  little  difficulty  by 
Francisco  de  Almeida  ;  and  the  rest  of  the  programme  was  successfully 
carried  out  by  Affonso  de  Albuquerque  (1509-15).  The  excellent 
natural  harbour  of  Goa  had  already  been  chosen  as  the  new  seat  of  the 
Portuguese  dominions.  The  town,  built  by  the  Muslim  fifty  years 
previously,  had  lately  fallen,  together  with  the  adjacent  country,  under 
the  sway  of  the  powerful  Adil  Khan  ;  and  it  was  well  known  that  here 
the  Muslim  enemy  intended  to  concentrate  their  forces  with  the  view  of 
driving  the  Portuguese  from  the  Indian  seas.  A  Muslim  pirate  who 
foresaw  the  issue  of  the  contest  allied  himself  with  the  Portuguese,  on 
the  terms  that  he  should  be  appointed  guazil  or  port-admiral  of  Goa, 
and  farmer  of  the  large  demesne  lands  which  the  conquest  would  annex 
to  the  Portuguese  Crown  ;  and  on  March  4, 1510,  Albuquerque  entered 
Goa  and  received  the  keys  of  the  fortress.  The  dispossessed  Hindoo 
inhabitants  welcomed  the  Portuguese  as  deliverers  ;  and  although  Adil 
Khan  forced  his  way  again  into  the  town,  compelling  the  Portuguese 
to  evacuate,  it  was  recaptured  by  Albuquerque  (November  25),  and 
strongly  fortified.  Many  Portuguese  received  grants  of  land  and  mar- 
ried native  women  ;  the  confiscated  estates  of  the  Moorish  mosques  and 
Hindoo  temples  were  annexed  to  the  great  church  of  S.  Catherina  :  a 
mint  was  set  up,  the  new  coinage  having  on  one  side  the  cross  of  the 
Order  of  Christ,  on  the  other  Manoel's  device  of  a  sphere,  lately  adopted 
by  him  to  signalise  the  vast  accession  which  his  dominions  had  now 
received.  Hindoos  and  Moors  returned  to  the  settlement,  acknow- 
ledging the  Portuguese  supremacy  ;  and  Goa  thus  became  the  most 
thriving  port  of  the  Malabar  coast. 

Albuquerque  followed  up  this  success  by  sailing  in  person  for  Malacca, 
where  he  arrived  in  June,  1511.  A  few  Portuguese  had  already  been 
allowed  to  settle  there  for  the  purpose  of  trade.  They  had  been  treach- 
erously attacked  by  the  Moors,  and  their  property  confiscated  ;  and 
although  a  few  effected  their  escape,  several  were  still  held  prisoners. 
Mohammad,  the  Sultan  of  Malacca,  havingrefused  Albuquerque's  demand 
for  their  liberation  and  the  restitution  of  their  property,  Albuquerque 
assaulted  and  sacked  the  town,  capturing  hundreds  of  guns,  erected  a 
fortress,  set  up  a  mint,  and  built  a  church  dedicated  to  the  Virgin.  The 
native  princes  of  the  adjoining  mainland  and  islands  hastened  to  offer 
their  friendship  and  urge  the  Portuguese  commander  to  make  his 
footing  secure.  In  this  he  completely  succeeded,  for  although  repeated 
attempts  were  made  to  dislodge  the  Portuguese,  the  settlement  was 
successfully  defended,  and  became,  as  was  foreseen,  a  base  from  which 
all  the  Muslim  settlements  in  the  Far  East  were  gradually  reduced  to 
subjection. 

The  news  of  the  capture  of  Malacca  was  in  due  time  communicated 
to  the  Court  of  Rome.  A  public  thanksgiving  was  appointed,  marked 
by  processions  in  which  the  Pope  figured  in  person.    Later  came  an 


32 


Albuquerque's  last  years  [1513-15 


embassy  from  Portugal,  headed  by  Tristao  da  Cunha,  under  whom 
Albuquerque  had  seen  his  first  service  in  the  East.  The  presents  of 
gold,  jewels,  and  oriental  embroidery,  an  earnest  of  the  future  wealth 
to  be  drawn  by  the  Holy  See  from  the  East,  were  borne  in  triumphal 
procession.  They  were  followed  by  richly  caparisoned  Persian  horses, 
leopards,  a  panther,  and  a  gigantic  elephant,  which  knelt  thrice  before 
the  Holy  Father  ;  and  in  reply  to  an  address  Leo  X  delivered  a  Latin 
oration,  in  which  he  praised  the  maintenance  of  peace  by  the  Christian 
powers,  and  spoke  hopefully  of  the  union  of  their  forces  against  the 
Muslim.  Meanwhile  Albuquerque,  having  almost  swept  the  Turkish 
and  Arab  ships  from  the  Indian  sea,  was  preparing  to  carry  the  war  into 
their  own  waters.  Early  in  1513  he  sailed  from  Goa  with  twenty  vessels, 
and  after  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  Aden  entered  the  Red  Sea.  His 
successes  had  filled  his  mind  with  the  wildest  expectations.  By  an 
alliance  with  the  Christian  sovereign  of  Abyssinia  he  dreamed  of  estab- 
lishing himself  on  the  Upper  Nile,  cutting  a  canal  through  the  moun- 
tains separating  it  from  the  Red  Sea,  diverting  the  river,  and  thus 
turning  into  a  desert  the  most  flourishing  of  the  Muslim  countries. 
Another  project  was  to  land  a  force  in  the  harbour  of  Yembo,  plunder 
the  temple  of  Medina,  and  carry  away  Mohammad's  coffin,  to  be  held  until 
the  holy  places  of  Jerusalem  should  be  surrendered  in  exchange  for  it. 
A  fiery  cross,  seen  over  the  African  coast  as  he  waited  for  a  wind,  was 
hailed  as  an  omen  of  success  ;  but  prudence  and  the  affairs  of  Goa 
suggested  his  return,  and  after  a  very  limited  reconnaissance  of  the  Red 
Sea  coasts  he  returned  to  India.  The  voyage  confirmed  his  belief  in  the 
capture  and  fortification  of  Aden  as  the  necessary  means  of  effecting  a 
junction  with  Abyssinia  at  the  port  of  Massowah.  This  once  accom- 
plished, Suez,  Jiddah,  and  Mecca  itself  would  be  practically  at  the 
invader's  mercy. 

At  another  important  point  Albuquerque  strengthened  the  Portu- 
guese position.  Before  succeeding  to  the  chief  command  he  had  set  up 
a  small  Portuguese  factory  at  the  ancient  port  of  Hormuz,  near  the 
entrance  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  From  this  the  Portuguese  had  advanced 
to  obtaining  control  of  the  customs  payable  on  Persian  exports  to  India. 
Albuquerque  now  obtained  the  surrender  of  the  fort  of  Hormuz,  with 
the  command  of  the  entire  import  trade  from  India  to  Persia,  as  well  as 
through  Mesopotamia  to  Aleppo,  and  Beyrut  on  the  Mediterranean. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  preparing  an  expedition  for  the  conquest 
of  Aden,  the  only  thing  which  seemed  still  undone  in  order  to  give 
Portugal  complete  control  of  the  eastern  seas,  being,  in  his  own  words, 
"the  closing  of  the  gates  of  the  Straits."  He  died  at  Goa,  habited  as  a 
comraendador  of  the  Order  of  Santiago.  By  his  will  he  desired  that  his 
bones  should  be  carried  to  Portugal.  This  was  strenuously  opposed  by 
the  settlers  of  Goa,  who  believed  their  city  to  be  only  safe  so  long  as  the 
bones  of  the  great  commander  remained  among  them  ;  nor  was  it  until 


1480-95]  Maritime  enterprise  at  Bristol  33 


fifty  years  later,  when  the  Portuguese  dominion  seemed  absolutely  safe 
from  attack,  that  they  were  at  length  removed  to  Lisbon.  During  these 
fifty  years  the  main  features  of  his  scheme  had  been  carried  out.  Un- 
molested access  to  all  the  trading  stations  in  the  Far  East  was  obtained, 
and  of  many  the  Portuguese  were  in  uncontrolled  possession.  In  other 
places  they  shared  the  trade  with  those  whom  they  had  hoped  to  expel. 
Albuquerque's  scheme  for  seizing  and  holding  the  Red  Sea  was  aban- 
doned :  and  the  culmination  of  the  Portuguese  successes  in  the  East  was 
followed  by  the  rapid  decline  of  their  power.  We  must  now  recur  to 
the  situation  of  other  European  powers  at  the  time  of  Dom  ManoeFs 
succession  to  the  throne  in  1495. 

Not  merely  were  the  Spaniards  by  this  time  actively  preparing  for 
the  exploration  and  effective  occupation  of  their  newly  acquired  trans- 
atlantic islands  ;  but  Englishmen,  who  had  so  long  been  prosecuting 
westward  discovery,  and  whose  king,  Henry  VII,  had  barely  missed  the 
prize  which  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Spain,  now  bestirred  themselves 
once  more.  Bristol  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  most  considerable  ports 
in  Europe  ;  its  merchants  and  seamen  vied  with  those  of  Genoa  and 
Venice,  and  skilled  navigators  from  those  great  ports  here  found  ready 
employment.  Doubtless  in  1495,  or  earlier,  the  news  of  Colombo's 
success  in  a  quest  which  Bristol  men  had  long  made  an  interest  of  their 
own  roused  its  merchants  to  activity;  and  John  Cabot,  a  citizen  of 
Venice,  though  of  Genoese  extraction,  became  the  chosen  instrument 
of  their  designs.  Cabot's  three  sons,  Lewis,  Sebastian,  and  Sanctus,  had 
apparently  all  been  educated  to  his  own  calling  ;  and  on  March  5,  1496, 
Henry  VII  granted  a  petition  preferred  by  the  father  and  sons,  praying 
the  sanction  of  the  Crown  to  a  voyage  contemplated  by  them  in  search 
of  unknown  countries,  understood  or  believed  to  exist  beyond  the  ocean 
in  northern  latitudes.  Having  regard  to  the  large  commerce  carried  on 
between  Bristol  and  Iceland,  and  to  the  continuity  of  Icelandic  tradi- 
tion, embodied  in  the  Sagas,  we  entertain  no  doubt  that  the  intention 
was  to  seek  the  "  New  Land,"  "  New  Isle,"  or  "  Vineland  "  of  the  North- 
men ;  and  this  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  the  course  actually  taken 
when  the  voyage  was  begun.  Pursuant  to  this  petition,  still  pre- 
served in  the  Public  Record  Office,  the  Privy  Seal  was  on  the  same 
day  affixed  to  the  first  charter  authorising  its  holders  to  hoist  the 
English  flag  on  shores  hitherto  unknown  to  Christian  people,  and  to 
acquire  the  sovereignty  of  them  for  the  English  Crown.  This  charter, 
and  the  voyage  made  pursuant  to  it,  were  put  forward  in  a  later 
generation,  and  are  still  sometimes  regarded,  as  the  root  of  England's 
title  to  her  American  possessions ;  and  the  date  of  the  letters  patent 
<^March  5, 1496)  has  not  ineptly  been  styled  the  birthday  of  the  British 
Empire.  It  is  stipulated  that  the  grantees,  who  are  authorised  to  enter 
the  Northern,  Western,  and  Eastern  seas,  but  not  the  Southern,  shall 
after  each  voyage  return  to  the  port  of  Bristol ;  that  they  shall  then  and 

C.  M.  H.  I.  3 


34 


Brazil  discovered 


[1500 


there  pay  to  the  Crown,  in  money  or  merchandise,  one-fifth  of  their  net 
profits  :  that  they  shall  be  allowed  to  import  their  goods  free  of  cus- 
toms :  and  that  no  English  subjects  shall  frequent  the  continents,  islands, 
villages,  towns,  castles,  and  places  generally  frequented  by  them  without 
their  licence.  While  the  Cabot  grant  disregards  the  Pope's  supposed 
partition  of  the  globe  between  Portugal  and  Spain,  it  forbids,  by  impli- 
cation, any  intrusion  into  those  southern  seas  in  which  each  of  these 
powers  had  already  acquired  territory  by  actual  occupation.  Colombo's 
discoveries  were  as  yet  limited  to  the  chain  of  islands  separating  the 
Caribbean  Sea  from  the  Atlantic  ;  the  Portuguese  had  not  as  yet  set 
foot  on  American  soil.  The  voyage  of  Cabot,  which  had  no  practical 
results,  and  was  soon  well-nigh  forgotten,  will  be  briefly  noticed  in  our 
next  chapter.  Englishmen,  eminently  practical,  saw  in  the  intelligence 
brought  back  by  him  no  promise  of  a  profitable  commerce,  or  indeed 
of  commerce  at  all ;  nor  did  English  colonial  ideas  take  a  definite  shape 
until  nearly  a  century  later. 

Meanwhile  the  Spanish  monarchs,  anxious  to  ascertain  the  extent 
of  their  trans-oceanic  possessions  and  to  secure  them  from  intrusion, 
licensed  Vicente  Yanez  Pinzon,  who  had  commanded  a  vessel  under 
Colombo  in  his  first  voyage,  to  prosecute  the  discovery  of  the  supposed 
coast  of  Eastern  Asia.  Pinzon  was  directed  to  avoid  interference  with 
the  private  rights  acquired  by  Colombo,  and  to  visit  only  the  coast  to 
southward  of  the  Orinoco,  the  limit  of  Colombo's  explorations.  Start- 
ing from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands  on  November  14,  1499,  and  having 
on  board  Americo  Vespucci,  through  whose  narrative  the  voyage  became 
well  known,  though  the  name  of  the  captain  who  conducted  it  was 
suppressed,  Pinzon  stood  to  the  south-west  and  struck  the  coast  of  Brazil 
near  Cape  St  Augustin  in  the  State  of  Pernambuco.  Sailing  north- 
wards along  the  coast,  he  rounded  Cape  San  Roque,  the  north-western 
promontory  of  South  America,  coasted  along  the  north-eastern  shore  of 
Brazil  and  the  coasts  of  Guiana  and  Venezuela,  passing  the  mouth  of  the 
Amazon  River,  the  rivers  of  Guiana,  and  the  Orinoco,  and  reached  the 
Gulf  of  Paria,  whence  he  made  his  way  back  to  Europe,  bringing  with 
him  thirty  Indian  captives  and  a  quantity  of  strange  vegetable  pro- 
ducts, including  various  dye-woods,  whence  the  coast  ultimately  obtained 
its  permanent  name  of  "  Brazil."  When  these  new  discoveries  were  laid 
down  on  the  chart,  it  became  manifest  that  a  considerable  part  of  them 
were  to  the  east  of  the  370  leagues'  line,  agreed  on  in  1494  as  the 
boundary  between  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  areas  of  enterprise ;  and 
by  a  singular  accident  these  very  coasts  were  reached  in  the  last  year 
of  the  fifteenth  century  by  Pedro  Alvarez  Cabral,  the  commander  of  the 
second  Portuguese  expedition  to  India  and  the  Far  East.  Like  Da 
Gama  himself,  Cabral  proposed  to  cross  from  the  Cape  Verde  Islands 
to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  athwart  the  open  sea,  making,  for  the  reason 
already  given  in  our  description  of  Da  Gama's  voyage,  an  immense 


1507] 


The  New  World  called  America 


35 


circuit  to  the  westward.  In  so  doing  he  lost  sight,  as  might  be  antici- 
pated, of  one  of  his  ships ;  while  seeking  her  he  lost  his  course,  and 
unexpectedly  descried  land.  It  was  the  Brazilian  coast,  the  mountain 
range  called  Pascoal,  in  the  State  of  Bahia,  to  the  south  of  the  spot 
where  Pinzon  had  landed  three  months  previously.  Having  discovered 
a  safe  harbour,  named  by  him  Porto  Seguro,  Cabral  proceeded  on  his 
voyage  to  the  Cape  and  India.  Thus  was  America  discovered  for  the 
second  time,  and  independently  of  the  enterprise  of  Colombo.  The 
discovery  was  rapidly  followed  up.  In  May,  1501,  Manoel  despatched 
three  vessels  commissioned  to  explore  from  Porto  Seguro  southwards, 
as  far  as  the  coast  within  the  Portuguese  line  might  extend.  They 
returned  in  September,  1502,  having  discovered  it  as  far  south  as  32 
degrees  of  south  latitude.  Adding  this  coast  to  what  had  already 
been  discovered  by  Colombo  and  others  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  it  will 
be  seen  that  at  the  time  of  Colombo's  death  in  1506,  and  in  the 
course  of  fourteen  years  from  his  first  voyage,  about  seven  thousand 
miles  of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  America  had  been  revealed.  As  a  mere 
matter  of  measurement,  this  fell  short  of  the  length  of  coast-line  which 
Portuguese  enterprise  had  added  to,  or  rather,  had  accurately  traced 
on,  the  map  of  Africa  since  the  year  1426.  But  its  geographical 
importance  and  general  significance  were  far  greater,  for  it  became 
more  and  more  doubtful  whether  this  immense  coast  could  possibly  be 
the  eastern  shore  of  Asia.  Colombo  himself,  in  writing  of  the  lands 
reached  by  him,  occasionally  referred  to  them  as  constituting  "  Another 
world  (orhis)  "  or  "  A  new  world."  The  former  expression  had  been 
commonly  employed  in  late  Roman  times  to  denote  regions  separated, 
or  apparently  separated,  by  the  ocean  from  the  continent  of  Europe, 
such  as  the  British  Islands  were,  and  the  Scandinavian  peninsula  was 
supposed  to  be.  The  latter  expression  came  into  general  use.  It  was 
employed  by  Vespucci  in  the  narrative  of  his  voyages,  which  he  circu- 
lated in  manuscript  with  a  view  to  his  own  promotion  in  the  maritime 
profession  ;  a  narrative  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  obscure  printer, 
one  Walzmiiller  of  St  Die  in  Lorraine,  and  was  embodied  in  a  brief 
outline  of  geography  compiled  by  him  and  printed  in  1507.  Half 
in  jest,  half  seriously,  Walzmiiller  proposed  to  denominate  the  New 
World  from  the  seaman  whom  he  supposed  to  be  its  discoverer,  and 
gave  it  the  name  America. 

By  similar  steps  proceeded  the  final  stage  of  the  great  discovery,  in 
which  the  New  World  was  revealed  in  something  nearly  approximating 
to  its  real  extent,  and  its  discontinuity  with  Asia  proved  everywhere 
except  in  the  northernmost  parts  of  the  Pacific.  From  the  Caribbean 
Sea  Spanish  explorers  advanced  northwards  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
circumnavigated  Cuba,  reached  the  peninsula  of  Florida  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi,  proved  the  continuity  of  these  northern  shores 
with  the  "  America  "  of  the  South,  and  showed  them  to  be  probably 


36 


Magalhaes^  voyage 


[1519-22 


continuous  with  the  "  New  Land  "  of  the  Northmen,  which  had  been 
revisited  by  Cabot,  and  subsequently  by  the  Portuguese  navigator 
Cortereal.  This  probability  was  strengthened  by  the  voyage  of  the 
Florentine  seaman  Giovanni  da  Verrazzano,  commissioned  for  the  pur- 
pose by  Francis  I  of  France,  in  1524,  in  circumstances  to  be  mentioned 
presently.  Before  this,  not  only  had  the  Pacific  been  reached  by  crossing 
the  continent  in  more  than  one  place,  but  Magalhaes  had  discovered 
and  passed  the  strait  which  bears  his  name.  Juan  Diaz  de  Solis  in  1515 
reached  the  Plate  River,  where  he  and  several  companions  were  killed 
in  a  kidnapping  raid  on  the  natives.  Probably  he  supposed  himself  to 
have  reached  the  southern  extremity  of  the  continent.  Shortly  after- 
ivards  the  estuary  was  examined  by  a  more  famous  captain,  who  ascer- 
tained its  real  geographical  character.  Fernao  de  Magalhaes,  a  skilful 
Portuguese  seaman  who  had  long  been  employed  in  the  Portuguese  trade 
to  the  Far  East,  having  been  refused  an  increase  of  pay  to  which  he 
considered  himself  fairly  entitled,  quitted  the  service  of  Manoel,  and 
sought  to  revenge  himself  by  persuading  Charles  V  that  the  Spice 
Islands  were  within  the  hemisphere  assigned  to  Spain  by  the  treaty  of 
1494.  He  undertook  to  demonstrate  this,  and  to  conduct  Spanish 
vessels  thither  by  a  route  round  the  southern  cape  of  America  ;  and 
on  September  20,  1519,  he  sailed  from  San  Lucar  for  this  purpose. 
The  enormous  estuary  of  the  Plate  River  had  to  be  completely 
explored,  in  order  to  ascertain  that  it  was  not  in  fact  the  passage  of 
which  he  was  in  search  ;  and  more  than  a  year  elapsed  before  this 
intrepid  navigator  found  himself  past  the  50th  parallel  of  latitude, 
painfully  coasting  the  barren  and  apparently  interminable  coast  of 
Patagonia.  Nearly  two  months  elapsed  before  he  reached  the  Strait 
which  bears  his  name.  On  November  27, 1 520,  having  occupied  twenty 
days  in  threading  the  Strait,  he  reached  the  Pacific  ;  and  fourteen 
months  afterwards  he  was  slowly  nearing  the  Ladrones,  after  accom- 
plishing the  greatest  feat  of  continuous  seamanship  the  world  has  ever 
known.  Magalhaes  was  fated  not  to  complete  his  task.  He  fell  by  the 
spear  of  a  native  at  Zebu,  one  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  on  April  27, 
1521 ;  and  his  vessel,  the  "  Victoria,"  was  brought  home  on  September  8, 
1522,  after  making  the  first  circumnavigation  of  the  globe,  in  a  voyage 
which  occupied  three  years  less  fourteen  days.  The  feat  which  Colombo 
proposed  to  accomplish  —  a  voyage  to  the  Far  East  by  a  westward 
passage  across  the  Atlantic  —  was  at  length  achieved,  thirty  years  after 
its  projector  made  the  first  attempt  to  perform  it,  and  twenty-four  after 
he  stumbled  unexpectedly  on  the  vast  continent  which  barred  the  way. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  NEW  WORLD 

The  story  of  the  Age  of  Discovery  naturally  merges  in  that  of  the 
New  World,  the  principal  fruit  of  the  strenuous  labours  to  which  that 
Age  owes  its  name.  The  history,  in  the  wider  sense,  of  the  New  World 
begins  in  the  remotest  ages  ;  for  the  habits  of  life  and  thought  displayed 
among  its  aborigines  at  the  time  of  the  Discovery,  and  its  indigenous 
languages,  which  stand  nearer  to  the  origin  of  speech  than  any  group  of 
languages  in  the  Old  World,  carry  the  ethnologist  back  to  a  stage  far 
more  archaic  than  is  indicated  in  any  other  quarter  of  the  globe.  Its 
history,  in  so  far  as  history  is  a  mere  record  of  specific  facts  and  events 
known  to  have  taken  place  in  particular  districts,  in  a  definite  succession, 
and  admitting  of  being  distinctly  connected  with  particular  peoples  and 
personages,  is  extremely  limited.  Its  modern  historical  period,  in  fact, 
coincides  very  nearly  with  that  of  the  Old  World's  "  modern  "  history, — 
a  circumstance  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  its  advanced  peoples,  though 
by  no  means  devoid  of  the  historical  instinct,  possessed  but  limited 
means  of  keeping  historical  records ;  and  partly  to  the  circumstance 
that  their  history,  such  as  it  was,  consisted  in  changes  of  ascendancy 
happening  in  comparatively  quick  succession,  in  the  course  of  which 
the  memory  of  events  connected  with  past  dominations  soon  lapsed 
into  oblivion,  or  dwelt  but  faintly  and  briefly  in  the  remembrance  of 
those  peoples  who  happened  to  be  dominant  at  the  Spanish  Conquest. 
Although  the  general  series  of  American  migrations,  beginning  with 
the  entry  of  man  into  the  New  World  from  the  Old  in  the  remote  age 
when  Asia  and  America,  afterwards  parted  by  the  shallow  Strait  of 
Behring,  were  continuous,  has  passed  out  of  knowledge,  it  may  be 
assumed  to  have  proceeded  on  the  principle  of  the  stronger  tribe 
expelling  the  weaker  from  districts  yielding  the  more  ample  supplies  of 
food.  There  is  good  reason  to  conclude  that  the  peoples  and  tribes  of 
low  stature  who  still  occur  sporadically  in  various  parts  of  America, 
represent  the  earliest  immigrants.  At  the  Discovery  tribes  and  nations 
of  tall  stature,  great  physical  strength  and  endurance,  and  a  certain 
degree  of  advancement  in  the  arts  of  life,  were  dominant  in  all  the 

37 


38 


Aboriginal  nations 


districts  most  favourable  for  human  habitation  ;  and  it  is  possible  in 
some  measure  to  trace  the  movements  by  which  their  migrations  had 
proceeded,  and  the  steps  by  which  they  acquired  dominion  over  lower  or 
less  powerful  peoples  in  whose  midst  they  settled.  Foremost  among  these 
dominant  peoples  stand  the  Nahuatlaca  or  Mexicans,  who  had  their  chief 
seat  at  Mexico  on  the  plateau  of  Anahuac,  and  the  Aymara-Quichua,  or 
Peruvians,  whose  centre  of  dominion  was  at  Cuzco  in  the  Andes.  On 
the  subjugation  of  these  two  peoples  the  Spanish- American  Empire  was 
founded.  Next  in  importance,  but  of  lower  grade,  come  the  Caribs  of 
Venezuela  and  the  West  Indian  archipelago,  the  first  ethnological  group 
encountered  by  Colombo,  and  the  only  one  known  to  him  ;  the  Tupi- 
Guarani  of  Brazil,  who  had  conquered  and  occupied  most  of  the  shore 
which  fell  to  the  lot  of  Portugal  ;  the  Iroquois,  who  held  the  district 
colonised  by  France  ;  and  the  Algonquins,  who  occupied  with  less  power 
of  resistance  to  invasion  that  colonised  by  England.  It  is  remarkable 
that  all  these  nations  appear  once  to  have  been  maritime  and  fishing 
peoples,  to  have  multiplied  and  developed  their  advancement  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  sea,  and  thence  to  have  penetrated 
and  settled  various  tracts  of  the  interior.  We  trace  them  to  three 
maritime  districts,  all  extremely  favourable  to  practice  in  fishing,  navi- 
gation, and  exploration  :  (1)  the  Nahuatlaca,  Iroquois,  and  Algonquins, 
to  British  Columbia  ;  (2)  the  Aymara-Quichua  and  the  Tupi-Guarani  to 
the  ancient  "  Argentine  sea  "  —  a  vast  body  of  salt  water  which  at  no 
very  remote  period  filled  the  great  plain  of  Argentina  —  and  to  the  chain 
of  great  lakes  which  once  existed  to  the  north  of  it ;  (3)  the  Caribs 
to  the  Orinoco,  whence  they  spread  by  a  natural  advance  to  the  West 
Indian  archipelago,  and  probably  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
where  one  branch  of  them,  at  no  very  remote  period  before  the  Dis- 
covery, perhaps  founded  large  agricultural  pueblos,  still  traceable  in 
the  earthworks  which  in  many  places  line  the  banks  of  that  great 
river  and  its  tributaries,  and  threw  up  the  "  Animal  Mounds  "  which 
are  among  the  most  curious  monuments  of  ancient  America. 

The  Nahuatlaca  or  "  Civilised  People  "  (nahua  =  rule  of  life  ;  tlacatl^ 
pi.  tlacd  —  man)  appear  to  have  originally  dwelt  at  no  great  distance  from 
the  Iroquois  and  Algonquins,  on  the  North  American  coast  opposite 
Vancouver  Island,  where  their  peculiar  advancement  had  its  first  devel- 
opment. With  them  the  history,  in  the  ordinary  sense,  of  aboriginal 
America  begins.  The  Nahuatlaca  alone  among  American  peoples  pos- 
sessed a  true  though  inaccurate  chronology,  and  kept  painted  records  of 
contemporary  and  past  events.  Pinturas  preserved  at  Tezcuco  variously 
assigned  the  years  387  and  439  of  the  Christian  era  as  the  date  of  the 
earliest  migration  to  the  south  from  maritime  lands  far  to  the  north 
of  California.  A  more  probable  date  —  about  a.d.  780  —  was  furnished 
to  the  earliest  Spanish  enquirers  as  the  time  when  the  first  swarm  of 
the  Aculhuaque,  or  "  Strong  Men,"  arrived  in  Anahuac  from  Aculhuacan, 


780-1431] 


The  Nahuatlacd 


39 


their  previous  seat  northward  of  Xalisco,  founded  the  pueblos  of  Tollan 
and  Tollantzinco,  and  entered  the  Mexican  Valley,  where  they  settled 
at  Culhuacan  and  Cohuatlichan  and  built  on  an  island  in  the  Lake  a 
few  huts,  which  later  grew  into  the  pueblo  of  Mexico.  By  a  long  sub- 
sequent immigration  were  founded  the  Tecpanec  pueblos  in  the  south- 
western corner  of  the  Lake,  to  which  Mexico  was  once  tributary, 
and  on  whose  subjugation  by  Mexico  the  dominion  found  by  the  Con- 
quistadores  was  established  about  a  century  before  the  Conquest.  The 
Tecpanec  pueblos,  five  in  number,  the  principal  one  being  Azcapozalco, 
subjugated  a  rival  confederacy,  on  the  opposite  shore,  headed  by 
Tezcuco,  about  1406.  In  this  conquest  they  were  materially  assisted 
by  the  people  of  two  villages  (Tenochtitlan  and  Tlatelolco),  founded  on 
the  island  of  Mexico  nearly  a  century  before  by  a  wandering  tribe  of 
non-Naliuatlacan  origin,  to  whom  the  Tecpanecs  had  given  the  name  of 
Azteca,  or  "  Crane-people. "  Over  these  lake  villages,  after  the  Tezcucans 
had  been  subdued  by  their  aid,  the  Tecpanecs  maintained  a  relentless 
tyranny,  which  at  length  produced  a  revolt,  in  the  course  of  which 
the  Mexican  villagers  obtained  a  complete  victory.  The  Tezcucans, 
who  rose  against  their  Tecpanec  conquerors  shortly  afterwards  (1431), 
regained  their  liberty  ;  and  the  two  Mexican  pueblos  entered  into  an 
alliance  with  Tezcuco,  in  which  Tlacopan,  a  Tecpanec  pueblo  which 
had  remained  neutral  during  the  struggle,  was  also  included.  This  con- 
federacy conquered  and  considerably  enlarged  the  dominion  acquired  by 
the  Tecpanec  confederacy,  and  held  in  subjection  a  large  and  populous 
tract  extending  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and  containing  all  the 
best  parts  of  the  southern  extremity  of  North  America,  where  it  narrows 
towards  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.  One  important  district  only  was 
excluded  from  it.  This  was  a  highland  tract  held  by  Tlaxcallan,  Huexo- 
tzinco,  and  Cholollan, — pueblos  of  the  Nahuatlaca  founded  in  early  times, 
and  never  subjugated  either  by  the  Tecpanecs  or  by  the  confederated 
pueblos  who  succeeded  to  their  dominion.  At  the  Spanish  Conquest 
Cholollan,  the  largest  and  most  prosperous  of  the  three,  was  in  alliance 
with  the  Lake  pueblos  ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  Tlaxcallan  and 
Huexotzinco  would  have  been  admitted  to  the  same  status  but  for  the 
Mexican  Rule  of  Life,  which  demanded  war  every  twenty  days,  ostensibly 
as  a  means  of  procuring  sacrifices  for  the  sun  and  other  gods,  but 
really  to  provide  the  material  for  the  cannibal  feasts  by  which  each 
sacrifice  was  terminated.  Had  peace  been  made  between  the  pueblos 
of  the  Lake  and  those  of  the  highlands,  both  groups  must  have  had 
recourse  to  distant  frontiers  for  the  means  of  fulfilling  what  was  univer- 
sally regarded  by  the  Nahuatlaca  as  an  imperative  obligation.  Human 
sacrifice,  indeed,  was  understood  to  be  necessary  to  the  cosmic  order, 
for  without  it  the  sun,  who  was  conceived  as  a  god  of  animal  nature, 
subsisting  by  food  and  drink,  would  not  merely  cease  to  yield  his 
warmth,  but  would  perish  out  of  the  heavens. 


40 


Spanish  colonisation 


[1494-1518 


The  importance  of  the  New  World  to  Europe,  in  the  first  century 
after  the  Discovery,  chiefly  rested  on  the  fact  that  it  was  found  to  be  a 
huge  storehouse  of  gold  and  silver.  To  a  large  extent  its  resources  in 
this  respect  had  already  been  worked  by  the  aborigines.  Gold  is  the 
only  metal  which  occurs  in  its  native  or  unmixed  state,  and  is  largely 
found  in  the  debris  of  those  rocks  which  are  most  exposed  to  atmospheric 
action.  It  therefore  early  attracts  the  attention  of  savages,  who  easily 
apply  it  to  purposes  both  of  use  and  ornament ;  and  more  elaborate 
working  in  gold  is  one  of  the  first  arts  of  advanced  life.  Silver  attracts 
attention  and  acquires  value  from  its  similarity,  in  most  qualities,  to 
gold ;  in  Mexico  both  metals  were  regarded  as  of  directly  divine  origin. 
The  Toltecs,  or  people  of  Tollan,  were  reputed  the  earliest  workers  in 
gold  and  silver ;  and  as  this  pueblo  was  understood  to  have  been  founded 
by  a  Nahuatlacan  tribe  at  least  as  early  as  A.D.  780,  these  metals  had 
been  sought  and  wrought  in  the  Mexican  district  for  at  least  700  years. 
There  is  no  reason  for  concluding  that  after  being  manufactured  they 
were  largely,  or  indeed  at  all,  exported ;  hence  the  immense  accumulations 
of  metallic  wealth  which  were  found  in  the  Mexican  district  —  accumu- 
lations greedily  seized  by  the  Conquistadores,and  poured  through  Spanish 
channels  into  the  mints  of  Europe,  where  the  stock  of  gold  had  probably 
not  been  substantially  increased  since  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
Still  larger  accessions  to  the  mineral  wealth  of  Europe  followed  the 
discovery  and  conquest  of  Peru  —  especially  after  the  Spaniards  became 
masters  of  the  mines  of  Potosi  —  and  of  New  Granada,  where  an  almost 
savage  people  had  laid  up  great  quantities  of  the  precious  metals  in  the 
form  of  utensils  and  rude  works  of  art ;  and  from  the  discovery  and 
conquest  of  these  richly  endowed  countries,  and  the  plunder  of  their 
stored-up  wealth,  date  the  serious  efforts  of  European  nations  other 
than  Spain  and  Portugal  to  acquire  territory  in  the  New  World. 

Twenty-five  years  passed  between  Colombo's  discovery  and  the  first 
intelligence  of  Mexico.  During  this  period  Spanish  America  was  limited 
to  the  four  greater  Antilles  —  Espanola,  Cuba,  Puerto  Rico,  and  Ja- 
maica. On  the  northern  shore  of  the  South  American  continent,  in  what 
is  now  Venezuela,  attempts  had  been  made  to  effect  a  lodgment,  but 
in  vain  ;  this  district,  and  indeed  the  continent  generally,  was  long 
regarded  as  a  mere  field  for  slave-raiding,  the  captives  being  sold  in 
Espanola  and  Cuba.  The  smaller  islands,  and  the  other  adjacent  con- 
tinental coasts,  remained  unconquered  and  uncolonised ;  much  as  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Atlantic  the  Canaries  and  the  Madeira  group 
were  parcelled  into  feudal  estates  and  parishes,  while  the  neighbouring 
shore  of  Africa  remained  unattempted.  The  Spaniards,  wholly  new 
to  their  task,  had  to  gain  experience  as  colonists  in  a  savage  land. 
Often  their  settlements  were  founded  on  ill-chosen  sites.  When  Isabella^ 
Colombo's  first  colony  in  Espanola,  had  to  be  abandoned,  San  Domingo 
was  founded  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  island  (1494)  ;  the  site  of  this, 


1522] 


Cortes  invades  Mexico 


41 


again,  was  changed  by  Ovando,  the  succcessor  of  Colombo  after  his  re- 
moval from  the  administration  (1502)  ;  and  the  same  thing  happened  at 
Santiago  de  los  Caballeros.  Of  the  eighteen  towns  founded  in  the  early- 
years  of  colonisation  a  century  later  only  ten  survived.  A  few  towns 
were  founded  in  Puerto  Rico  by  Ovando  ;  Cuba  was  colonised  by  Diego 
Velasquez,  and  Jamaica  by  Juan  de  Esquivel.  But  the  settlements  in 
both  were  few  and  unprosperous,  Santiago  de  Cuba  having  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  become  almost  deserted.  Sugar  was  the  only  crop 
yielding  profits  ;  gold  was  procured  in  the  smallest  quantities ;  the  best 
investment  was  to  take  over  horned  cattle,  turn  them  loose  to  breed, 
and  hunt  the  savage  herd  for  its  hides  and  tallow,  which  were  shipped 
for  sale  to  Europe. 

By  such  means,  and  by  mercilessly  tasking  the  Indians  as  labourers 
in  field  and  mine,  many  emigrants  in  time  became  rich  men,  and  looked 
eagerly  round  for  new  and  wider  fields  of  adventure.  Slave-raiding  on 
the  continental  coasts  was  a  favourite  employment,  and  a  certain  quantity 
of  gold  was  readily  bartered  for  trifles  by  the  natives,  wherever  the 
Spaniards  landed ;  and  by  these  pursuits  the  Cuban  colonists  at  length 
reached  the  coast  pueblos  of  Yucatan,  Avhich  were  comparatively  recent 
outposts  of  Nahuatlacan  advancement.  Velasquez,  the  governor  of 
Cuba,  in  1518  sent  a  squadron  of  vessels  to  reconnoitre  this  coast  more 
fully;  Grijalva,  who  commanded,  traced  the  shore-line  as  far  as  the 
tierra  caliente  of  Mexico,  and  reached  Vera  Cruz,  then  as  now  the 
port  of  Mexico.  Here  Carib  seamen  shipped  the  surplus  tributes  and 
manufactured  products  of  the  Lake  pueblos  for  barter  in  the  southern 
parts  of  their  extensive  field  of  navigation.  From  Vera  Cruz  Grijalva 
coasted  northwards  as  far  as  the  Panuco  River.  Many  large  pueblos  were 
descried  in  the  distance ;  the  names  of  Mexico  and  of  Motecuhzoma, 
its  Tlatohuani  ("  Speaker,"  in  the  sense  of  "  Commander  "  or  Supreme 
Chief),  first  fell  on  Spanish  ears ;  and  the  description  of  the  great  Lake 
pueblo  was  listened  to  with  more  interest,  because  in  these  parts  the 
exploring  party  obtained  by  barter  an  immense  quantity  of  gold.  Here, 
at  length,  signs  of  civilised  life  were  found ;  large  hopes  of  wealth,  whether 
by  commerce  or  plunder,  were  excited  ;  and  on  the  return  of  the  expedi- 
tion Velasquez  ordered  a  new  one  to  proceed  thither  without  delay.  His 
design  was  simply  to  prosecute  the  remunerative  trade  which  Grijalva  had 
begun.  Others  formed  bolder  schemes  ;  and  his  secretary  and  treasurer, 
probably  in  collusion  with  the  schemers,  persuaded  him  to  entrust  the 
command  to  Hernan  Cortes,  who  had  conceived  the  plan  of  employing 
the  whole  military  force  of  Santiago  de  Cuba  at  his  disposal  in  invading 
Mexico  and  subjugating  it  at  one  blow.  This  Cortes  accomplished  only 
by  fortune's  favour  ;  for  he  knew  nothing  of  the  imminent  peril  he  was 
rashly  encountering,  and  his  force  barely  escaped  annihilation. 

The  landing  of  Cortes,  and  his  safe  progress  through  a  difficult 
country  to  the  frontier  of  Tlaxcallan,  were  facilitated  by  the  circumstance 


42 


Conquest  of  Mexico 


[1522 


that  the  people  of  the  country,  who  had  groaned  for  the  greater 
part  of  a  century  under  the  cruel  tyranny  of  Mexico,  welcomed  him 
everywhere  as  a  deliverer.  The  coast  tribes  mistook  him  for  the  ancient 
Toltec  god  Quetzalcohuatl.  The  Tlaxcaltecs,  who  had  never  beheld  a 
friendly  force  on  their  borders,  at  first  mistook  him  for  an  ally  of  the 
Mexicans  ;  but  on  learning  the  true  aspect  of  affairs  they  joined  him  as 
allies.  Thus  Cortes,  from  the  territory  of  Tlaxcallan  as  his  base,  con- 
ducted his  campaign  against  the  Lake  pueblos  with  the  help  of  auxiliaries 
who  possessed  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  a  military 
experience  gained  by  a  century's  constant  fighting.  At  first  he  posed 
as  a  friendly  emissary  of  the  great  European  monarch  his  master. 
Having  on  these  terms  obtained  admittance  to  Mexico  for  himself  and 
his  armed  force,  he  seized  the  Tlatohuani's  person,  put  him  in  chains,  and 
assumed  the  government.  These  proceedings  naturally  led  to  a  rising 
on  the  part  of  the  Mexican  warriors,  who  attacked  the  Spaniards  and 
drove  them  from  the  pueblo  with  great  loss,  taking  many  prisoners  and 
sacrificing  them  to  the  Nahuatlacan  gods.  Driven  ignominiously  from 
Mexico,  and  chased  by  an  infuriated  enemy  through  and  out  of  the 
Valley,  Cortes  retired  by  a  circuitous  route  to  Tlaxcallan,  and  laid  his 
plans  anew.  Having  refreshed  his  troops  and  renewed  his  supplies, 
he  built  two  brigantines  for  action  on  the  Lake  ;  launched  them  from 
Tezcuco,  which  he  occupied  with  little  difficulty  ;  assaulted  Mexico  by 
water  ;  gained  possession  of  its  streets  and  buildings  by  slow  degrees ; 
and  at  length  broke  the  resolute  resistance  of  its  warriors,  and  rased  its 
clay-built  edifices  to  the  ground.  He  had  won  for  the  Castilian  Crown 
the  dominion  of  the  confederated  Lake  pueblos  —  a  tract  of  country 
extending  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Mexican  Gulf,  800  miles  in  length  on 
the  Pacific  shore,  and  somewhat  less  on  the  other,  comprising  many 
large  towns  and  above  five  hundred  agricultural  villages,  and  the  seat 
of  the  most  advanced  communities  of  the  New  World. 

This  conquest  was  no  barren  victory  over  mere  barbarians.  Though 
no  ethnologist  would  concede  to  the  Nahuatlacan  polity  the  title  of  a 
civilisation,  it  possessed  the  foundations  on  which  all  civilisation  is  built 
—  a  numerous  and  docile  peasantry,  an  organised  system  of  labour, 
and  physical  elements  adequate  to  wealth-production.  In  these  cir- 
cumstances an  unique  social  state  had  been  evolved,  to  which  the  near- 
est analogue  in  the  Old  World  is  the  gross  barbarism  of  Ashanti  or 
Dahomey.  It  was  lower  than  these  in  that,  except  man  himself,  there 
were  no  animals  kept  for  labour,  nor  were  any  kept  for  food  except 
man  and  the  dog.  In  other  respects  the  arts  of  life  were  better 
developed  :  and  to  the  superficial  observation  of  the  Conquist adores  the 
large  territory  dominated  by  the  Lake  pueblos  had  an  aspect  suffi- 
ciently civilised  to  justify  them  in  giving  it  the  name  of  "New  Spain." 
What  was  of  most  importance  in  the  eye  of  the  European  invaders,  it 
possessed  stores  of  the  precious  metals,  which  had  been  accumulating  in 


1524]  Francis  I  claims  North  America 


43 


the  hands  of  dominant  tribes  for  seven  centuries.  Immense  quantities  of 
treasure  steadily  poured  henceforth  into  Spain ;,  and  America  assumed  an 
entirely  new  aspect  for  the  nations  of  Western  Europe.  Almost  from 
the  first  Spain  perceived  that  other  European  powers  would  dispute 
with  her,  and  perhaps  one  day  wrest  from  her,  the  possession  of  the 
rich  New  World  which  accident  had  given  to  her.  The  conquest  of 
Mexico  nearly  corresponded  with  the  opening  of  a  period  of  hostility 
between  Spain  and  France,  which  lasted,  though  with  considerable 
intermissions,  from  1521  to  1556.  Cortes,  who  entered  Mexico  in  the 
former  year,  despatched  at  the  end  of  1522  two  vessels  to  Spain  laden 
with  Mexican  treasure  ;  Giovanni  da  Verrazzano,  a  Florentine  in  the 
French  service,  captured  these  near  the  Azores,  and  about  the  same  time 
took  a  large  vessel  homeward  bound  from  Espanola,  laden  with  treasure, 
pearls,  sugar,  and  hides.  Enriched  by  these  prizes,  he  gave  large  compli- 
mentary presents  to  the  French  King  and  High  Admiral ;  and  general 
amazement  was  felt  at  the  wealth  which  was  pouring  into  Spain  from 
its  transatlantic  possessions.  "  The  Emperor,"  Francis  exclaimed,  "  can 
carry  on  the  war  against  me  by  means  of  the  riches  he  draws  from  the 
West  Indies  alone  !  "  Of  the  immense  inheritance  obtained  by  Spain 
in  America  the  only  parts  actually  reduced  to  possession  by  the  Span- 
ish monarch  were  the  four  great  Antilles,  and  those  portions  of  the  con- 
tinent which  had  been  settled  by  the  Nahuatlaca.  Southward,  the 
shores  from  Yucatan  as  far  as  the  Plate  River  had  been  explored  by 
Spain  and  Portugal ;  and  all  that  seemed  to  remain  to  the  future 
adventurer  was  the  North  American  shore  from  the  Mexican  Gulf  to 
Newfoundland.  Jocosely  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  claim  of  the 
peninsular  powers  to  make  a  bipartite  division  of  the  sphere  between 
them  until  they  should  "  produce  the  will  of  Adam,  constituting  them 
his  universal  heirs,"  Francis  commissioned  the  successful  Florentine 
captain  to  reconnoitre  the  whole  shore  from  Florida  to  Newfoundland. 
This  being  done,  he  intimated  to  Europe  that  he  claimed  it,  by  right 
of  discovery,  as  the  share  of  France  in  the  great  American  heritage. 
He  called  it  New  France,  —  a  term  familiar  in  French  ears  since  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  as  the  title  of  the  Latin  Empire 
of  Constantinople,  and  now  less  inappropriately  applied  by  transfer  to 
the  New  World. 

The  commission  thus  entrusted  to  and  accomplished  by  Verrazzano 
was  masked  under  the  pretence  of  seeking  a  North-west  passage  to  the 
Far  East.  But  its  real  object  was  to  lay  a  foundation  for  the  claim  of 
France  to  the  whole  of  America  north  of  Mexico,  put  forward  in  the 
belief,  which  ultimately  proved  well  warranted,  that  this  tract  would, 
like  Mexico,  prove  rich  in  the  precious  metals.  Having  completed  the 
voyage  by  which  his  name  is  chiefly  remembered,  Verrazzano  resumed  the 
profitable  practice  of  plundering  the  Spanish  homeward-bound  ships, 
and  took  some  prizes  between  Spain  and  the  Canaries.    On  his  return  he 


44  The  Inca  nation  in  Peru  [i425-l525 


fell  in  with  a  squadron  of  Spanish  war  vessels,  surrendered  to  them  after 
a  severe  engagement,  and  in  1527  was  hanged  as  a  pirate  at  Colmenar 
de  Arenas.  France  strenuously  maintained,  and  sought  by  repeated 
efforts  to  substantiate,  the  right  to  North  America  which  Verrazzano's 
coasting- voyage  was  supposed  to  have  acquired.  In  periods  of  war  no 
attempts  at  possession  were  made  ;  but  in  the  intervals  of  peace  expedi- 
tions were  undertaken  to  the  Gulf  of  St  Lawrence,  with  the  view  of 
exploring  the  passage  to  the  Far  East  of  which  it  was  imagined  to  be 
the  beginning.  Cartier  made  two  voyages  for  this  purpose  in  15B4  and 
1535  ;  and  in  1540  he  sailed  up  the  great  river  of  Canada,  and  selected 
a  site  for  the  colony  which  in  1542  Roberval  attempted  to  establish. 
Cartier  brought  to  France  news  of  the  two  principal  native  nations 
of  North  America  —  nations  on  which  later  French  settlers  bestowed  the 
names  "  Iroquois  "  and  "  Algonquin,"  each  being  a  purely  French  word 
embodying  a  peculiarity  in  the  sound  of  their  respective  languages. 
The  Algonquins,  who  were  the  earlier  immigrants,  were  partially  culti- 
vators of  the  soil,  but  chiefly  relied  for  subsistence  on  hunting  and 
fishing.  The  more  advanced  Iroquois,  who  appear  to  have  driven  the 
Algonquins  from  the  choicest  parts  of  their  territory,  had  nearly  reached 
the  stage  in  which  agriculture  is  the  main  source  of  subsistence,  though 
they  were  accomplished  hunters  and  formidable  warriors :  and  their 
compact  territory  was  parcelled  out  among  five  tribes,  who  formed  the 
confederation  so  well  known  in  later  history  as  the  "  Five  Nations." 
Though  Roberval's  attempt  failed,  the  example  thus  set  was  followed  in 
a  later  generation  in  other  latitudes,  and  other  nations  were  encouraged 
to  imitate  it.  Meanwhile  the  aspect  of  American  enterprise  was  greatly 
modified,  and  the  effect  produced  by  the  discovery  of  the  treasures  of 
Mexico  greatly  enhanced,  by  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  Peru,  the 
richest  district  of  the  New  World  hitherto  revealed. 

Here,  again,  we  are  struck  by  the  comparatively  modern  date  of  the 
aboriginal  dominion  which  the  Spanish  adventurers  found  established 
along  the  coast  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Andes.  This  dominion,  of 
which  the  centre  was  at  Cuzco,  was  very  much  more  extensive  than  that 
of  the  federated  Mexican  pueblos.  Unlike  the  Nahuatlaca,  the  Peruvian 
people  had  no  reckoning  of  years  ;  nor  can  the  date  of  any  fact  in 
Peruvian  history  anterior  to  the  conquest  be  accurately  ascertained.  All 
that  we  know  is  that  the  settlement  of  the  nation  or  people  who  then 
dominated  the  sierra  and  the  coast  from  Cuzco,  where  the  traditions 
of  their  arrival  were  still  fresh,  was  of  comparatively  modern  date. 
They  called  themselves  Inca^  or  "people  of  the  sun"  Qlnti),  They 
were  probably  an  offshoot  from  a  large  group  of  warlike  tribes,  in 
which  the  Tupi-Guarani  were  included,  long  settled  on  the  margins 
of  the  vanished  Argentine  sea  and  of  a  chain  of  great  lakes  to  the 
north  of  it,  where  they  subsisted  by  fishing  and  hunting.  From  this 
district  they  ascended  to  the  sierra,  where  the  huanaco  and  vicuna. 


1532] 


Conquest  of  Peru 


45 


two  small  cognate  species  of  the  camel  genus,  furnished  abundant  food 
and  material  for  clothing.  These  they  domesticated  as  the  llama  and 
paco^  both  being  Quichua  words  implying  subjugation;  they  propagated 
by  art  the  pulse  and  food-roots  of  the  Cordillera,  and  established  many 
permanent  pueblos  in  and  near  the  great  lake  basin  of  Titicaca,  the 
earliest  seat  of  Peruvian  advancement.  From  this  district  they  advanced 
northwards,  and  occupied  a  canton  almost  impregnably  situated  in  the 
midst  of  immense  mountains  and  deep  gorges,  known  to  geographers  as 
the  "Cuzco  district."  In  historical  times  they  had  separated  into  two 
branches,  speaking  two  languages,  evidently  divergent  forms  of  a  single 
original,  called  by  Spanish  grammarians  Aymara  and  Quichua;  names 
which  it  has  been  found  convenient  to  use  as  ethnical  terms  for  the 
peoples  who  spoke  them.  Tradition  carried  back  the  history  of  the 
Aymara-Quichua  in  Cuzco  and  its  neighbourhood  about  three  hundred 
years,  during  which  eleven  Apu-Capac-Incas,  or  "  head-chiefs  of  the  Inca 
(people)"  were  enumerated  ;  but  it  was  generally  considered,  and  is 
almost  conclusively  shown  by  balancing  evidence,  that  not  much  more 
than  a  century  had  elapsed  since  they  made  their  first  conquests  beyond 
the  limited  "  Cuzco  district,"  and  that  only  the  last  five  of  the  Apu- 
Capac-Incas  —  Huiracocha-Inca,  Pachacutic-Inca,  Tupac-Inca-Yupanqui, 
Huaina-Capac-Inca,  and  Tupac-atau-huallpa  —  all  forming  a  chain  of 
succession  from  father  to  son,  had  ruled  over  an  extensive  territory. 
The  great  expansion  took  place  in  the  time  of  Pachacutic-Inca,  and  is 
traceable  to  an  invasion  by  an  alliance  of  tribes  from  the  north,  who 
had  long  dominated  Middle  Peru,  and  now  sought  to  conquer  the  Cuzco 
district  and  the  valley  of  Lake  Titicaca.  Under  Pachacutic  this  invasion 
was  repelled  ;  the  allies  were  defeated  at  Yahuarpampa,  and  the  war  was 
carried  into  the  enemy's  country  :  the  dominion  of  the  invading  tribes 
now  fell  almost  at  one  blow  into  the  hands  of  the  chiefs  of  Cuzco.  These 
victories  were  rapidly  followed  by  the  conquest  of  the  northern  or  Quito 
district,  now  forming  the  republic  of  Ecuador,  and  of  the  coast-valleys, 
where  a  remarkable  and  superior  advancement,  founded  on  fishing  and 
agriculture,  had  existed  probably  from  an  earlier  date  than  that  of  the 
stronger  tribes  of  the  sierra. 

The  Spaniards,  who  obtained  information  of  the  Inca  people  and 
their  dominion  soon  after  crossing  the  isthmus  of  Panama,  reconnoitred 
the  Peruvian  coast  in  1525,  during  the  head-chieftaincy  of  Huaina- 
Capac.  But  this  chief  had  died,  and  a  civil  war,  in  which  the  succession 
was  contested  between  his  two  sons  Tupac-cusi-huallpa  the  sun  makes 
joy  commonly  known  by  the  epithet  Huascar  ("  the  chosen  one  "),  and 
Tupac-atau-huallpa  ("the  sun  makes  good  fortune"),  had  been  terminated 
in  favour  of  the  latter,  when  Pizarro  invaded  the  country  in  1532  with  a 
party  of  183  soldiers.  Everywhere  large  accumulations  of  treasure  were 
found ;  for  gold  and  silver  had  been  mined  both  in  the  coast-pueblos  and  in 
the  sierra  from  remote  times,  and  the  whole  of  the  produce  still  remained, 


46 


Influx  of  treasure  into  Europe 


[1540-55 


largely  accumulated  in  the  numerous  burial-places  of  a  people  who 
preserved  with  almost  Egyptian  care  the  corpses  of  the  dead,  depositing 
with  them  the  gold  and  silver  which  had  belonged  to  them  when  alive. 
The  facilities  for  marching,  which  a  century  of  well-organised  aboriginal 
rule  had  established  from  one  end  of  the  dominion  to  the  other,  and  in 
several  places  between  the  coast  and  the  mountains,  made  Pizarro's  pro- 
gress easy.  So  soon  as  the  supreme  chief  had  been  seized  and  imprisoned 
or  put  to  death,  the  submission  of  his  followers,  and  the  subjugation  of 
his  territory,  quickly  followed.  But  it  was  an  easier  task  for  the  vile 
and  sordid  adventurers  who  invaded  Peru  to  destroy  the  tyranny  of  its 
aboriginal  conquerors  and  sack  its  pueblos,  than  for  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment to  assert  the  authority  of  the  Crown,  and  provide  the  Inca 
dominion  with  a  suitably  organised  administration.  After  much  blood- 
shed, extending  over  many  years,  this  was  at  length  accomplished  ; 
the  lands  which  had  belonged  to  the  Inca,  the  sun,  or  the  native  chiefs, 
and  the  peasantry,  were,  with  their  peasant  inhabitants,  chiefly  serfs 
attached  to  the  soil,  granted  by  the  Crown  to  gentlemen  immigrants, 
and  held  on  similar  terms  to  those  annexed  to  the  "  commends  "  of  the 
military  Orders  —  the  name  "  commend  "  indeed,  becoming  the  technical 
term  for  estates  so  held.  Here,  as  in  Mexico,  churches  were  built  and 
endowed,  diocesan  organisations  were  established,  and  the  difficult  work 
of  converting  the  Indians  was  begun  and  earnestly  carried  on  by  a 
devoted  clergy  ;  superior  courts  of  justice  were  constituted,  and  law 
was  administered  in  the  village  by  alcaldes  ;  the  aboriginal  population, 
freed  from  the  grinding  tyranny  of  their  old  masters,  increased  and 
throve  ;  new  mines,  especially  of  silver,  were  discovered  and  wrought. 
Both  Peru  and  Mexico  gradually  assumed  the  resemblance  of  civilised 
life  ;  and  their  prosperity  testified  to  the  benefits  conferred  on  them  by 
conquests  which,  however  unjustifiable  on  abstract  grounds,  in  both 
cases  redeemed  the  populations  affected  by  them  from  cruel  and  oppres- 
sive governments,  and  bloody  and  senseless  religions. 

After  the  conquest  of  Peru  the  treasure  sent  by  America  to  Spain 
was  trebled  ;  the  silver  mines  of  Europe  were  practically  abandoned,  and 
before  long  Europe's  entire  gold-supply  was  obtained  from  the  New 
World.  In  these  circumstances  the  naval  enterprise  not  only  of  the 
enemies,  but  of  the  political  rivals  of  Spain  was  stimulated  to  assume  the 
form  of  piracy  ;  and  in  this  connexion  a  peculiar  cause  came  into  opera- 
tion about  this  time,  which  had  a  strongly  modifying  effect  on  the 
destinies  of  the  New  World.  Both  Charles  V  and  his  son  and  successor 
in  Spain,  Philip  II,  had  constituted  themselves  the  champions  of  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  and  they  freely  employed  the  gold  of  America  in  the 
pursuit  of  intrigues  favourable  to  their  policy  in  every  European 
country.  Hence,  to  cut  off  the  supply  at  its  source  became  the  universal 
policy  of  Protestantism,  now  struggling  for  life  throughout  Western 
Europe.    The  persecution  of  the  Huguenots  drove  large  numbers  of 


Effect  of  the  New  World  on  Europe  47 


French  Protestants  to  join  the  roving  captains  who  harassed  Spanish 
commerce  ;  and  their  efforts,  begun  in  time  of  war,  were  continued  in 
time  of  peace.  Thus  did  the  French  wars  with  Spain  develope  into  a 
general  war  on  the  part  of  the  Protestants  of  Western  Europe  against 
Spain  as  the  champion  of  the  Papacy  and  the  author  of  the  Inquisition. 
In  the  New  World  this  movement  resulted  in  the  plundering  of  Spanish 
vessels,  attacks  on  the  Spanish  ports  with  the  object  of  holding  them  to 
ransom,  and  finally  attempts,  unsuccessful  at  first,  but  effectual  when 
experience  in  colonisation  had  once  been  gained,  to  found  new  European 
communities,  in  the  teeth  of  all  opposition,  on  the  soil  of  a  continent 
which  the  Spaniards  regarded  as  most  justly  their  own,  and  as  before  all 
things  entrusted  to  them  for  the  diffusion,  and  the  ultimate  extension 
over  the  whole  globe,  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

Here,  at  length,  we  reach  a  point  of  view  from  which  the  general 
bearing  of  the  New  World  on  the  parallel  growth  of  European  economics 
and  politics  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  religious  theory,  philosophical 
thought,  and  scientific  advancement  on  the  other,  might  be  brought 
under  observation.  Our  remarks  must  be  confined  to  the  latter  group 
of  topics.  For  during  the  period  covered  by  this  chapter  the  political 
system  of  Europe  was  not  sensibly  disturbed,  while  the  economic  changes 
produced  by  the  discovery  and  conquest  of  the  New  World  were  as 
yet  imperfectly  developed.  But  the  sudden  shattering  of  the  old 
geography  produced  by  the  Discovery  reacted  at  once  in  a  marked  way 
on  European  habits  of  thought.  Religion  is  man's  earliest  philosophy ; 
and  what  affects  his  habits  of  thought  and  alters  his  intellectual  points 
of  view  cannot  but  modify  his  religious  conceptions.  The  discovery  of 
the  New  World,  and  its  prospective  employment  as  a  place  for  the 
planting  of  new  communities  of  European  origin,  greatly  contributed  to 
substitute  for  the  medieval  law  of  religious  intolerance  the  modern 
principle  of  toleration.  In  the  Old  World  the  former  theory  had 
hitherto  enjoyed  general  acceptance,  and  it  rested  on  a  logical  basis. 
There  was  Scriptural  warranty  for  the  doctrine  that  the  Supreme  Being 
was  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  sins  of  men  not  only  upon  their  descend- 
ants to  the  third  and  fourth  generation,  but  also  upon  the  nation  to 
which  such  men  belonged  ;  and  it  followed  that  to  believe  or  conceive  of 
Him,  or  to  worship  Him,  otherwise  than  in  accordance  with  the  revela- 
tion graciously  made  by  Him  for  the  guidance  of  man,  was  something 
more  than  an  offence  against  Himself.  It  was  an  intolerable  wrong  to 
society,  for  it  exposed  the  pious  many  to  the  penalty  incurred  by  an 
impious  minority.  Plague  and  pestilence,  famine  and  destruction  in 
war,  were  brought  on  a  nation  by  religious  apostasy ;  and  it  was  there- 
fore not  merely  lawful,  but  a  national  duty,  to  stamp  out  apostasy  in 
its  beginnings.  The  history  of  Christendom  down  to  the  Discovery 
of  America  is  in  the  main  one  long  series  of  more  or  less  successful 
applications  of  this  perfectly  intelligible  principle  to   the  general 


48 


Ideas  of  the  French  Protestants  [1550-5 


conduct  of  human  affairs.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  New  World,  the 
Old  World  might  perhaps  to  this  day  have  been  governed  in  accordance 
with  it. 

But  the  New  World  was  virgin  soil.  All  Christendom,  with  the 
approbation  even  of  Jew  and  Islamite,  would  readily  have  united,  in  the 
opinion  that  its  gross  aboriginal  idolatries  should  be  extinguished,  and 
the  worship  of  the  One  God  introduced  into  it,  in  whatever  form.  And 
in  the  plantation  or  creation  of  new  Christian  communities  in  America 
the  reason  for  intolerance  as  a  necessary  social  principle  no  longer 
existed.  Each  colony — and  colonies  in  this  practically  vacant  continent 
could  be  planted  at  considerable  distances  from  each  other  —  could  now 
settle  its  religious  principles  for  itself,  for  it  did  so  at  its  own  risk.  In 
this  way  the  Old  World  found  the  solution  of  what  in  France  and 
elsewhere  had,  by  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  become  a  serious 
social  and  political  difficulty.  In  France,  in  Germany,  in  England,  the 
nation  was  coming  to  be  divided  into  two  hostile  camps.  Catholic  and 
Protestant.  Was  the  one  half  in  each  case  to  be  extinguished  by  the 
other,  in  an  internecine  war  ?  The  banishment  of  the  weaker  party  by 
migration  —  and  already  expatriation  was  substituted  for  the  death 
penalty  in  the  case  of  greater  moral  crimes  than  heresy  —  was  a  wise 
and  merciful  alternative.  The  French  Protestants,  who  felt  that  the 
course  of  God's  dealings  with  man  must  on  the  whole  be  in  their  favour, 
were  the  first  to  think  of  a  new  career,  in  a  new  world  perhaps  revealed 
for  the  purpose,  as  the  beginning  of  a  better  order  of  things,  if  not  as 
the  fulfilment  of  the  destiny  of  the  Reformed  faith  ;  and,  as  the  tri- 
umph of  the  Catholic  party  in  France  became  more  and  more  probable, 
Protestant  leaders  cast  anxious  eyes  towards  the  American  shore,  as  a 
possible  place  of  refuge  for  their  people,  should  they  be  worsted  in  the 
struggle.  An  attempt  of  this  nature  was  made,  with  the  sanction  and 
help  of  Coligny,  the  head  of  the  Protestant  party,  by  Nicolas  Durand, 
better  known  by  his  assumed  name  of  Villegagnon,  a  Knight  of  the 
Maltese  Order  who  had  served  in  the  expedition  of  Charles  V  against 
Algiers,  and  who  also  distinguished  himself  as  an  author  and  an 
amateur  theologian.  Durand  had  resided  at  Nantes,  where  the  pro- 
priety of  providing  a  transatlantic  refuge  for  Protestants,  and  the 
capabilities  of  the  Brazilian  coast,  now  frequently  visited  for  commercial 
purposes  by  French  seamen,  were  matters  of  common  discussion.  He 
resolved  to  be  the  first  to  carry  such  a  scheme  into  effect ;  and  he  found 
ample  support  among  the  partisans  of  the  Reformed  religion,  including 
Coligny,  through  whose  influence  he  obtained  a  large  pecuniary  grant 
from  the  French  King.  In  May  1555  he  sailed  with  two  ships  for  the 
coast  of  South  Brazil,  where  he  settled  on  an  island,  still  known  as  Ilha 
de  Villagalhao,  near  the  mouth  of  the  bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  two  miles 
from  the  mainland.  Durand  named  the  country  he  proposed  to  occupy 
"Antarctic  France."    The  voyage  was  understood  to  mark,  and  did  in 


1555] 


Durand's  colony  in  Brazil 


49 


fact  mark,  a  new  era  in  history.  It  was  the  actual  beginning  of  the 
movement  which  brought  to  the  New  World,  as  a  place  where  they 
might  worship  God  in  their  own  way,  the  Puritans  of  New  England, 
the  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Catholics  of  Maryland.  Scholars 
called  it  the  Expedition  of  the  Indonauts ;  and  a  French  pedant,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  time,  celebrated  its  departure  in  an  indifferent  Greek 
epigram.  God  looked  down,  he  said,  from  heaven,  and  saw  that  the 
corrupt  Christians  of  Europe  had  utterly  forgotten  both  Himself  and 
His  Son.  He  therefore  resolved  to  transfer  the  Christian  Mysteries  to  a 
New  World,  and  to  destroy  the  sinful  Old  World  to  which  they  had 
been  entrusted  in  vain. 

Preoccupied  with  the  task  of  establishing  themselves  in  India  and 
the  Far  East,  the  Portuguese  had  for  thirty  years  after  the  discovery 
of  Brazil  done  almost  nothing  by  way  of  reducing  this  district  into 
possession.  A  few  ships  frequented  the  coast  for  the  purpose  of  trading 
with  the  natives,  and  setting  ashore  criminals  to  take  their  chance  of 
being  adopted  or  eaten  by  them.  The  success  of  Madeira  as  a  sugar- 
growing  island  suggested  the  extension  of  this  form  of  enterprise  in 
Brazil,  to  which  attention  had  been  drawn  by  a  recent  discovery  of  gold ; 
and  the  soil,  as  in  Madeira,  was  granted  out  in  hereditary  captaincies, 
each  grantee  receiving  exclusive  rights  over  50  leagues  of  sea-board. 
Martim  Affonso  de  Sousa,  afterwards  viceroy  in  India,  obtained  the 
first  of  the  fiefs,  and  took  possession  in  1531.  Eleven  others  followed, 
and  in  1549  the  direction  of  the  whole  colony  was  vested  in  a  Governor- 
general,  whose  seat  was  fixed  at  Bahia.  The  Portuguese  settlements 
were  in  North  and  Middle  Brazil,  and  by  choosing  an  insular  site  far 
to  the  south  Durand  expected  to  escape  disturbance.  His  first  care 
was  to  build  a  fort  and  mount  his  guns.  He  announced  his  arrival 
to  the  Church  of  Geneva,  by  whom  two  pastors  were  duly  ordained  and 
sent  out  with  the  next  batch  of  emigrants.  Durand  began  by  sharing 
with  these  ministers  the  conduct  of  divine  worship ;  and  specimens  of  his 
extemporaneous  prayers,  in  the  course  of  which  he  gave  thanks  to  God 
for  mercifully  visiting  the  mainland  with  a  depopulating  pestilence, 
whereby  the  enemies  of  the  elect  were  destroyed,  and  the  Lord's  path 
made  straight,  have  come  down  to  us.  He  devoted  to  theological 
studies  the  abundant  leisure  left  him  by  his  administration.  Convinced 
by  the  arguments  of  Cyprian  and  Clement,  he  ordered  that  water 
should  be  mingled  with  the  sacramental  wine,  directed  salt  and  oil 
to  be  poured  into  the  baptismal  font,  and  forbade  the  second  marriage 
of  a  pastor,  fortifying  himself  in  the  position  he  thus  assumed  by  argu- 
mentative appeals  to  Holy  Scripture.  When  he  at  last  publicly  announced 
his  adherence  to  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  a  breach  between 
him  and  his  Calvinist  flock  was  inevitable.  Only  one  among  them,  a 
voluble  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne  whom  he  associated  with  himself  in  the 
office  of  the  pulpit,  supported  his  pretentions.    When  the  scandalised 


50 


English  voyages  in  the  Atlantic  [1480-98 


colonists  absented  themselves  from  public  worship,  he  proceeded  to 
severe  disciplinary  measures ;  and  in  the  end  they  quitted  the  island, 
threw  themselves  on  the  kindness  of  the  savages  of  the  mainland,  and 
made  their  way  to  trading  vessels  in  which  they  sailed  for  Europe.  Thus 
the  Indonaut  colony,  the  first  Protestant  community  in  the  New  World, 
ended  in  a  ludicrous  failure. 

As  the  struggle  between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants  of  France 
became  more  and  more  desperate,  the  idea  of  founding  a  Protestant 
colony  in  America  was  revived :  and  it  was  now  resolved  to  use  for  this 
purpose  the  immense  tract  which  Verrazzano's  voyage  was  understood 
to  have  acquired  for  the  French  Crown.  Coligny,  with  the  assent  of 
Charles  IX,  equipped  two  vessels,  which  he  despatched  on  February  18, 
1562,  under  the  command  of  Jean  Ribault,  to  found  the  first  colony 
attempted  in  North  America  since  the  return  of  Roberval  in  1540.  After 
exploring  the  coast,  Ribault  chose  Port  Royal  Sound  in  the  present  State 
of  South  Carolina,  as  the  most  promising  site  for  a  colony ;  began  the 
construction  of  a  fort,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Charles-fort,  for  the 
protection  of  those  whom  he  intended  to  leave  behind ;  and  returned  to 
Europe.  Their  supplies  being  exhausted,  the  colonising  party  fell  into 
dissensions,  mutinied  against  the  rigorous  discipline  enforced  by  their 
captain,  and  assassinated  him.  No  reinforcements  arriving  from  Europe, 
they  built  a  pinnace,  intending  to  return,  put  to  sea,  suffered  indescrib- 
able hardships,  and  put  back  again,  more  dead  than  alive,  towards  the 
American  shore.  They  were  picked  up  by  a  homeward-bound  English 
barque,  one  of  whose  crew  had  been  with  Ribault  on  the  outward  voyage. 
Some  were  landed  in  France ;  while  those  who  were  not  too  exhausted 
to  continue  the  voyage  were  taken  on  to  England,  where  the  liveliest 
interest  was  by  this  time  felt  in  the  question  of  North  American  coloni- 
sation.   How  this  revived  interest  arose,  may  now  be  briefly  explained. 

The  history  of  English  enterprise  in  connexion  with  the  New  World 
goes  back  in  substance  to  the  period  of  the  Discovery  itself.  Even 
before  this,  Bristol  seamen  had  sought  for  the  mythical  St  B randan's  in 
the  expanses  of  the  Atlantic  ;  possibly  the  ancient  connexion  of  that 
port  with  Iceland  had  brought  the  Norse  sagas  to  their  ears,  and  the 
quest  pursued  by  them  was  in  substance  the  search  for  "  Vineland  "  or 
New  England.  John  Cabot,  having  obtained  on  March  5,  1496,  the 
patent  referred  to  on  an  earlier  page,  evidently  sailed  in  quest  of  the 
"New  Land"  or  "New  Island"  of  the  Northmen,  and  between  that 
date  and  August,  1497,  when  he  returned  to  Bristol,  reached  and  in- 
vestigated the  shores  of  Labrador  and  Newfoundland  which  represent 
the  coast  called  by  the  Northmen  "Hellu-Land"  (stony  land).  A 
voyage  was  attempted  by  him  to  the  New  Land  in  1498,  but  not 
accomplished,  and  thenceforward  English  interest  in  the  continent  of 
America  relaxed,  although  the  Newfoundland  waters  were  increasingly 
frequented  by  fishermen  of  other  nations ;  so  that  the  voyage  of  1496-7 


1515] 


English  ideas  on  America 


51 


was  practically  forgotten,  when,  nearly  sixty  years  afterwards.  English- 
men began  once  more  to  turn  their  attention  to  America.  From  the 
untroubled  early  years  of  Henry  VIII,  when  America,  as  yet  wholly 
savage,  and  its  discovery  received  conspicuous  notice  in  a  serious  philo- 
sophical drama,  to  the  marriage  of  Philip  and  Mary,  when  it  stood  forth 
in  the  eyes  of  Europe  as  the  source  of  more  wealth  than  the  world  had 
ever  seen,  the  New  World  is  scarcely  mentioned  in  English  literature, 
though  the  continental  press  teemed  with  accounts  of  it  and  allusions  to 
it.  But  an  old  dramatist's  picture  of  the  new  continent,  as  it  presented 
itself  to  English  eyes  about  1515,  becomes  all  the  more  striking  through 
its  isolation.  The  play,  or  "interlude,"  is  entitled  The  Four  Elements  ; 
the  leading  personage,  named  Experience^  discourses  at  some  length  on 
the  "  Great  Ocean  "  —  "  so  great  that  never  man  could  tell  it,  since  the 
world  began,  till  now  these  twenty  year  "  —  and  the  new  continent  lately 
found  beyond  it ;  a  continent  "  so  large  of  room  "  as  to  be  "  much  longer 
than  all  Christendom,"  for  its  coast  has  been  traced  above  5000  miles. 
The  inhabitants,  from  the  south,  where  they  "  go  naked  alway,"  to  the 
north,  where  they  are  clad  in  the  skins  of  beasts,  are  everywhere  savages, 
living  in  woods  and  caves,  and  knowing  nothing  of  God  and  the  devil,  of 
heaven  and  hell,  but  worshipping  the  sun  for  his  great  light.  The 
fisheries,  the  timber,  and  the  copper  of  America  are  named  as  its  chief 
sources  of  wealth ;  and  the  speaker  laments,  in  stanzas  perfectly  rhyth- 
mical, though  the  accent  is  somewhat  forced,  that  England  should  have 
missed  the  opportunity  of  discovering  and  colonising  this  vast  country : 

O  what  a  [great]  thing  had  been  then, 
If  that  they  that  be  Englishmen 

Might  have  been  the  first  of  all 
That  there  should  have  taken  possession, 
And  made  first  building  and  habitation, 

A  memory  perpetual ! 

And  also  what  an  honourable  thing, 
Both  to  the  realm,  and  to  the  king, 
To  have  had  his  dominion  extending 

There  into  so  far  a  ground, 
Which  the  noble  king  of  late  memory, 
The  most  wise  prince  the  seventh  Harry, 

[Had]  caused  first  for  to  be  found ! 

Nor  is  this  all  that  England  has  lost.  Hers  would  have  been  the 
privilege  of  introducing  civilisation  and  preaching  the  Gospel  in  this 
dark  continent  —  of  leading  its  brute-like  tribes  "  to  know  of  men  the 
manner,  and  also  to  know  God  their  Maker."  This  task,  it  is  evidently 
felt,  would  more  fittingly  have  fallen  to  the  lot  of  England  than  of 
Castile  and  Portugal. 

The  American  coast  was  doubtless  occasionally  sighted  from  English 
vessels.    But  it  was  only  gazed  on  as  a  curious  spectacle.    The  Northern 


52 


^'America  for  the  English 


[1554 


shore,  the  only  part  accessible  to  English  adventurers  without  encroach- 
ment on  the  transatlantic  possessions  of  a  friendly  power,  yielded  little 
or  nothing  to  commerce  which  could  not  be  obtained  with  less  trouble 
in  Europe  itself.  During  these  sixty  years,  which  saw  no  break  in  the 
friendly  relations  between  England  and  Spain,  many  English  merchants 
resided  in  the  latter  country,  who  must  have  heard  with  astonishment, 
and  probably  a  certain  envy,  of  the  rich  treasure-districts  which  explora- 
tion revealed  in  quick  succession,  and  occasionally  visited  them,  or  some 
of  them,  in  person.  Not  until  the  marriage  of  the  English  Queen  with 
the  Spanish  heir-apparent  was  it  ever  suggested  that  England  should 
aspire  to  share  in  the  wealth  which  the  fortune  of  events  had  poured 
into  the  lap  of  Spain.  About  this  time  Mexico  and  Potosi  shone  forth 
with  tempting  lustre  in  the  eyes  of  Europe.  These  districts  were  mere 
patches  on  the  map  of  a  continent  which  probably  contained  gold  and 
silver  in  all  its  parts,  and  which  had  been  designed  by  nature  to  be  the 
treasure-house  of  the  world.  Nine-tenths  of  it  remained  unexplored. 
The  events  of  the  Franco-Spanish  wars  had  proved  the  Spaniards 
incapable  of  excluding  from  it  other  nations  whose  seamen  were  better 
than  their  own ;  and  English  seamen,  then  as  now,  acknowledged  no 
superiors.  Other  Mexicos  and  Potosis  doubtless  awaited  the  first  adven- 
turer bold  enough  to  strike  the  blow  that  should  secure  them.  Why 
should  England  again  neglect  her  opportunity  ? 

It  was  not,  however,  exactly  in  this  aspect  that  the  suggestion  of 
"  America  for  the  English  "  was  first  put  forward.  The  writer  who  earned 
the  credit  of  it  —  one  Richard  Eden,  Hakluyt's  precursor,  who  to  book- 
learning  added  a  keen  personal  interest  in  sailors  and  sailors'  tales  —  was 
a  clerk  in  Philip's  "  English  Treasury."  Possibly  he  owed  this  post  to  a 
volume  published  by  him  in  the  year  preceding  that  of  Philip's  marriage, 
containing  a  translation  of  a  somewhat  meagre  account  of  the  New 
World  compiled  by  a  German  geographer.  The  object  of  this  volume, 
in  his  own  words,  was  to  persuade  Englishmen  to  "  make  attempts  in 
the  New  World  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  commodity  of  our  country," 
and  the  sole  inducement  held  out  was  America's  wealth  in  the  precious 
metals.  Only  a  few  years  had  elapsed  since  the  produce  of  the  mines  of 
Potosi  was  first  registered  in  the  books  of  the  Spanish  King.  Had 
Englishmen,  writes  Eden,  been  awake  to  their  interests,  "that  Rich 
Treasury  called  Perularia  (the  bullion-warehouse  of  Seville)  might  long 
since  have  been  in  the  Tower  of  London  ! "  At  this  date  Edward  VI, 
a  Protestant,  with  whom  Spain's  papal  title  to  the  New  World  was  not 
likely  to  find  recognition,  was  on  the  throne.  His  future  marriage  re- 
mained undecided  ;  but  it  was  anticipated  that  he  would  intermarry  with 
a  French  princess,  and  that  England  and  France,  henceforth  in  strict 
alliance,  would  continue  the  process  of  despoiling  Spain,  which  France 
alone  had  so  successfully  begun.  By  the  death  of  Edward  and  the 
succession  of  Mary  the  political  outlook  was  changed.    On  July  19, 


1576-8]  Frobisher  seeks  a  N.W.  passage 


53 


1554,  Philip  of  Spain  arrived  in  England,  and  in  the  next  week  was 
married  to  Mary  at  Winchester.  He  brought  with  him  immense  quanti- 
ties of  gold  and  silver  borne  on  the  backs  of  a  hundred  horses.  Eden's 
regretful  comment  was  now  misplaced,  for  the  contents  of  "  that  Rich 
Treasury  called  Perularia  "  were  actually  on  their  way  to  the  Tower  of 
London !  On  October  2  there  arrived  at  the  Tower  £50,000  in  silver, 
destined  to  form  the  nucleus  of  Philip's  "  English  Treasury,"  in  which 
Eden  had  obtained  a  clerkship.  He  watched  the  entry  of  the  newly- 
married  sovereigns  into  the  metropolis ;  and  his  former  vision,  in  a 
modified  shape,  now  floated  before  him  as  a  consequence  of  the  match. 
An  ancient  commercial  alliance  was  now  fortified  by  a  dynastic  one ; 
Spain  and  England  must  surely  henceforth  deal  with  the  New  World 
as  partners.  Eden  now  resolved  to  translate  the  first  portion  of  the 
Decades "  of  Peter  Martyr,  which  contained  a  lively  and  popular 
account,  in  a  series  of  Latin  letters,  written  in  the  fashion  of  the  day, 
of  American  history  from  the  Discovery  to  the  Conquest  of  Mexico. 
Other  matter  of  a  similar  description  filled  up  his  volume ;  and  in  the 
preface  he  eloquently  urges  English  sailors  and  merchants  to  quit  the 
well-worn  tracks  of  traditional  commerce,  and  adventure  boldly  to 
the  coasts  of  Florida  and  Newfoundland. 

Although  such  ideas  were  doubtless  widely  entertained,  the  short 
reign  of  Mary  afforded  no  scope  for  realising  them  ;  and  the  new 
Anglo-Spanish  connexion  left  in  the  New  World  but  a  single  and 
fleeting  trace.  A  South-American  official,  when  planning  a  town  in  a 
remote  valley  of  the  Argentine  Andes,  named  it  Londres,  or  London, 
in  honour  of  the  union  of  Philip  and  Mary.  This  was  the  first  place 
in  America  named  after  an  English  city.  Its  existence  was  of  short 
duration ;  the  Indians  expelled  the  colonists,  who  were  fain  to  choose 
another  site.  The  only  noteworthy  fact  during  this  reign  bearing 
upon  the  present  subject  was,  that  a  remarkable  maritime  project  was 
disastrously  proved  to  be  impracticable.  Its  aim  was  the  discovery  of 
a  North-eastern  passage  to  the  Far  East,  answering  to  the  South-eastern 
passage  that  was  now  commonly  made  by  the  Portuguese  round  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  Shortly  before  Edward's  death  Sir  Hugh  Willoughby 
sailed  for  this  purpose  with  three  vessels.  Winter  came  suddenly  on ; 
Willoughby  laid  up  his  ships  in  a  harbour  of  Russian  Lapland,  where 
he  and  the  crews  of  two  of  his  vessels  were  frozen  to  death ;  while 
Chancellor,  the  captain  of  the  third,  with  difficulty  reached  the  White 
Sea,  landed  at  Archangel,  and  returned  by  Moscow.  This  disaster 
stopped  further  search  for  the  passage  ;  seamen  and  traders  henceforth 
turned  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  speculated  on  the  discovery  of 
a  North-west  passage.  Elizabeth  had  been  on  the  throne  eighteen 
years,  when  Frobisher,  a  Yorkshireman  who  had  constituted  himself 
the  pioneer  of  this  project,  obtained  the  means  of  bringing  it  to  the 
test,  and  commenced  a  fruitless  search,  which  lasted  two  centuries  and 


54 


Florida  unoccupied 


[1513-58 


a  half,  for  a  passage  first  proved  in  our  own  generation  to  have  a  geo- 
graphical existence,  but  to  be  nautically  impossible.  Frobisher's  voyages 
did  little  towards  effecting  their  ostensible  purpose.  Led  astray  by  the 
quest  of  the  precious  metals,  he  loaded  his  ships  with  immense  quantities 
of  a  deceptive  pyrites,  which  contained  a  small  proportion  of  gold,  but  far 
less  than  enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  extracting  it ;  and  the  scheme,  which 
had  degenerated  into  a  mere  mining  adventure,  was  quietly  abandoned. 

Meanwhile  the  attention  of  Western  Europe  was  still  concentrated 
on  "  Florida,"  —  a  term  denoting  all  the  North  American  continent  as  far 
northward  as  the  Newfoundland  fishery,  and  bestowed  on  it  by  its  dis- 
coverer Ponce  de  Leon,  who  reached  it  on  Easter  Day  (^Pascua  Florida)^ 
1513.  Eden's  preface  conveys  the  impression  that  the  Spaniards  had 
neglected  this  vast  tract  of  the  continent ;  nothing  however  could  be  less 
true.  The  most  strenuous  efforts  had  been  made  to  penetrate  it,  in  the 
confident  expectation  that  it  would  prove  as  rich  in  treasure  as  Mexico 
itself ;  and  Pamphilo  de  Narvaez,  chiefly  known  to  fame  by  his  futile 
mission  to  arrest  the  campaign  of  Cortes,  had  landed  here  in  1528  with 
the  object  of  emulating  that  supremely  fortunate  adventurer's  exploits. 
Repulsed  and  forced  back  to  the  coast,  he  took  refuge  in  his  ships 
and  perished  in  a  storm.  Five  only  of  his  three  hundred  men  regained 
Mexico,  where  they  published  the  exciting  news  that  Florida  was  simply 
the  richest  country  in  the  world.  This  statement  was  probably  made 
in  irony  rather  than  in  seriousness  ;  yet  it  was  not  without  foundation 
in  fact,  for  the  Appalachian  Mountains  contain  mines  of  gold  and  silver 
which  are  profitably  worked  to  this  day.  By  the  conquest  of  Peru 
adventure  to  Florida  received  for  the  second  time  a  powerful  stimulus, 
Hernan  de  Soto,  a  lieutenant  of  Pizarro,  who  had  been  appointed 
Governor  of  Cuba,  undertook  to  annex  it  to  the  Spanish  dominions 
(1538).  His  ill-fated  expedition,  commenced  in  the  next  year,  forms  a 
well-known  episode  in  American  history.  During  four  years  De  Soto 
persevered  in  a  series  of  zigzag  marches  through  a  sparsely  peopled 
country,  containing  no  pueblos  larger  than  the  average  village  of 
hunting  tribes,  and  showing  no  trace  whatever  of  either  gold  or  silver. 
In  descending  the  Mississippi  he  sickened  and  died;  the  miserable 
remnant  of  his  troops  sailed  from  its  mouth  to  the  Panuco  River  in 
Mexico,  bringing  back  tidings  of  a  failure  more  disheartening,  because 
the  result  of  a  more  protracted  effort,  than  that  of  Narvaez.  In  1549 
some  friars  of  the  Dominican  Order,  elsewhere  so  successful  in  dealing 
with  the  American  aborigines,  landed  in  Florida,  only  to  be  at  once 
set  upon  and  massacred.  By  this  time  the  Indians  knew  the  general 
character  and  aims  of  the  new-comers  who  styled  themselves  "  Christians," 
and  dealt  with  them  accordingly.  Outside  Spain  it  was  generally 
thought  that  Providence  had  prescribed  limits  to  Spanish  conquest, 
and  reserved  the  Northern  continent  for  some  other  European  people  — 
obviously  either  the  French  or  the  English. 


1558-65J         French  and  English  in  Florida  55 


Hence,  when  in  1558  a  Protestant  princess  succeeded  to  the  English 
throne,  she  found  the  policy  which  she  was  expected  to  pursue  in  this 
direction  defined  for  her  in  public  opinion.  Here  was  Florida,  the 
"  richest  country  in  the  world,"  still  without  any  owner,  or  even  any 
pretender  to  its  ownership,  though  sixty  years  had  passed  since  Colombo 
discovered  the  continent  of  which  it  formed  a  large  and  prominent  part. 
A  whole  generation  had  passed  away  since  the  heroic  period  of  Spanish- 
American  history  —  the  conquest  of  Mexico  and  Peru ;  and  that  period 
had  evidently  closed.  Clearly  Providence  forbade  Spain  to  cherish 
the  hope  of  succeeding  in  any  further  attempt  to  subjugate  Florida. 
France,  though  ambitious  as  ever,  was  hopelessly  entangled  in  civil 
broils.  Everyone  expected  Elizabeth,  who  was  in  truth  no  bigot,  to 
found  colonies  in  this  vast  and  fertile  tract,  so  near  to  England  and  so 
easily  reached  from  it ;  where,  perhaps,  her  Catholic  and  her  Protestant 
subjects  might  settle  in  peace,  each  group  respectively  occupying  some 
large  and  well-defined  district  of  its  own.  The  name  itself,  bandied 
about  for  half  a  century,  had  by  this  time  become  a  household  word 
which  was  not  without  humorous  suggestions.  Satirists  travestied  it 
as  "  Stolida,"  or  land  of  simpletons,  and  "  Sordida,"  or  land  of  muck- 
worms ;  pirates,  arrested  on  suspicion  and  examined,  mockingly  avowed 
themselves  bound  for  Florida.  In  France,  experiences  of  a  certain 
kind  —  unedifying  transactions  of  gallantry  in  the  base  sense  of  the 
word  —  were  called  "adventures  of  Florida."  The  world  was  eagerly 
expecting  the  impending  revelation,  which  should  disclose  the  future 
fate  of  the  temperate  regions  of  North  America.  To  the  pretensions 
of  France  the  fortune  of  events  soon  gave  a  negative  answer.  Nothing 
daunted  by  the  failure  of  Ribault's  party,  Coligny  in  1565  despatched 
Ren^  Laudonniere,  a  captain  who  had  served  under  Ribault,  to  make 
a  second  effort.  Laudonnidre  chose  as  the  site  of  his  settlement  the 
mouth  of  the  river  called  by  Ribault  the  River  of  May  (St  John's 
River),  from  its  discovery  by  him  on  the  first  day  of  that  month 
in  1562 ;  and  here  he  arrived  in  the  midsummer  of  1564,  with  a 
strong  and  well-armed  party,  built  a  fort,  and  began  exploring  the 
country.  Most  of  the  intending  settlers  had  been  pirates,  whom,  in 
the  close  proximity  of  St  Domingo  and  Jamaica,  it  was  impossible  to 
keep  from  resuming  their  old  trade  ;  others  joined  an  Indian  chief,  and 
followed  him  to  war  with  a  neighbouring  tribe  in  hope  of  plunder. 
The  stores  of  Fort  Caroline  were  soon  exhausted ;  and,  but  for  the 
timely  relief  obtained  from  John  Hawkins,  who  passed  the  Florida 
coast  on  his  homeward  way,  the  emigrants  must  have  starved,  or  have 
returned  to  Europe,  or  have  been  dispersed  among  the  wild  aborigines. 
In  the  next  year  (1565)  the  Spaniards  destroyed  what  was  in  effect  a 
mere  den  of  pirates,  and  built  the  fort  of  St  Augustine  to  protect 
their  own  settlements  and  commerce,  as  well  as  the  still  unspoiled 
treasures  of  Appalachia,  and  to  prevent  the  heretics  of  France  from 


56 


New  ideas  from  the  New  World  [1516 


gaining  a  footing  on  American  soil ;  and  in  a  few  years  (1572)  the 
massacre  of  St  Bartholomew  put  an  end  to  the  Huguenot  designs  on 
Florida. 

At  this  point,  where  France  retires  for  a  time  from  the  stage,  leaving 
England  to  enter  upon  it  and  open  the  drama  of  Anglo-American 
history,  we  drop  the  thread  of  events  to  resume  our  survey  of  the  effect 
produced  by  the  discovery  and  unveiling  of  the  New  World  on  European 
ideas  and  intellectual  habits.  The  complete  revolution  in  geography, 
which  now  suddenly  revealed  to  man  his  gross  ignorance  in  the  most 
elementary  field  of  knowledge  —  the  earth  beneath  his  feet  —  had  a  wider 
effect.  It  shook  the  existing  system  of  the  sciences,  though  it  had  not 
as  yet  the  effect  of  shattering  it,  much  less  of  replacing  it  by  something 
more  nearly  in  accordance  with  the  truth  of  things.  It  produced  in 
many  —  over  and  above  the  suspicion  already  long  harboured  in  logical 
minds,  that  neither  the  accepted  doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Catholic 
Church  nor  any  modification  of  it  likely  to  meet  with  acceptance  in 
its  place,  could  possibly  represent  the  true  construction  of  God's  will 
revealed  in  Scripture — that  sense  of  general  intellectual  insecurity  which 
is  best  named  "  scepticism."  Charron's  future  motto,  "Que  sais-je?," 
became  the  leading  motive  in  intellectual  conduct.  It  is  impossible 
to  attempt  here  to  trace  this  movement  in  its  entirety  ;  we  can  but 
select  three  writers,  belonging  to  three  successive  generations,  and  all 
prominent  among  their  contemporaries  as  pioneers  of  new  paths  of 
thought,  and  all  of  whom  avowedly  derived  much  of  their  inspiration 
from  the  events  briefly  noticed  above.  All  three  were  laymen  ;  a  fact 
not  in  itself  devoid  of  significance.  The  writings  of  ecclesiastics  during 
this  period,  even  in  the  case  of  distinguished  humanists  such  as  Bembo 
or  Erasmus,  show  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  same  influence.  The  control 
of  thought  was  passing  away  from  the  Church.  All  three,  too,  were 
lawyers,  and  two  of  them  were  Lord  Chancellors  of  England.  Sir 
Thomas  More,  born  ten  years  before  the  voyage  of  Colombo,  wrote 
and  published  his  Utopia  in  1516,  soon  after  the  Pacific  had  been  first 
descried  from  a  mountain  in  Darien,  and  while  the  Spaniards  in  the 
Antilles  were  gathering  the  information  which  led  to  the  conquest  of 
Mexico  and  Peru,  both  as  yet  unknown.  This  admirable  classic  of 
the  Renaissance,  too  keen  in  its  satire  and  too  refined  in  its  feeling  to 
have  any  practical  effect  commensurate  with  the  acceptance  which  it 
instantly  won  among  cultivated  and  thoughtful  contemporaries,  was 
avowedly  suggested  by  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  the  new  Western 
World.  What  possibilities  of  discovery,  not  merely  in  the  realm  of 
geography,  but  in  that  of  social  organisation,  morals,  and  politics, 
were  laid  open  by  this  amazing  revelation  of  a  strange  world  of  oceans, 
islands  and  continents,  covering  one-third  of  the  sphere !  The  extent 
of  America  to  the  westward,  with  all  that  lay  beyond,  was  as  yet 
unknown ;  and  More  was  not  exceeding  the  limits  of  those  possibilities 


1516] 


New  social  possibilities  suggested 


57 


when  he  described  a  traveller,  who  had  accompanied  Vespucci  in  his 
last  voyage,  as  remaining  in  South  America  with  a  few  companions 
and  making  their  way  westwards  home  by  shore  and  sea,  thus  antici- 
pating the  circumnavigation  of  the  globe  which  a  few  more  years  were 
to  see  achieved.  The  traveller's  name  is  Hythlodaeus,  or  Expert  in 
Nonsense ;  and  none  among  the  countries  visited  by  him  so  strongly 
arrests  his  attention  as  the  island  of  Utopia,  or  Nowhere,  where 
the  traditional  absurdities  dominant  in  the  Old  World  are  unknown, 
and  society  is  constituted  on  a  humane  and  reasonable  basis.  Utopia 
is  an  aristocratic  republic,  in  which  the  officers  of  government,  elected 
annually,  are  presided  over  by  a  chief  magistrate  elected  for  life. 
Everyone  is  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  drones  are  banished  from  the 
hive  ;  it  is  an  accepted  principle  that  every  man  has  a  natural  right  to 
so  much  of  the  earth  as  is  necessary  for  his  subsistence,  and  may  lawfully 
dispossess  of  his  land  any  possessor  who  leaves  it  untilled.  Even  the 
generous  imagination  of  More  did  not  rise  to  the  conception  of  a  state 
of  society  in  which  slavery  was  unknown  :  and  the  labouring  population 
of  Utopia  are  still  slaves.  Not  that  they  are  held  as  private  property, 
for  private  property  is  unknown.  Whatever  is  valuable  is  held  as  it  were 
on  lease  from  the  community,  on  condition  of  making  such  use  of  it  as 
shall  enure  for  the  public  benefit.  The  family  is  patriarchally  governed ; 
there  is  no  coinage ;  gold  and  silver  are  not  used  as  ornaments,  but  are 
only  applied  to  the  basest  purposes,  and  precious  stones  serve  only  to 
adorn  children.  The  energies  of  the  Utopians,  released  from  the  empty 
employments  of  Old  World  life,  are  concentrated  on  the  development 
of  learning  and  science.  Many  of  them  worship  the  heavenly  bodies  and 
the  distinguished  dead,  but  the  majority  are  theists.  Their  priests  are 
chosen  by  popular  election :  they  have  few  and  excellent  laws,  but  no 
professional  lawyers ;  they  detest  war,  but  are  well  armed,  and  fight 
intrepidly  when  necessary,  though  by  preference  they  employ  a  neigh- 
bouring nation  of  herdsmen  as  mercenaries.  The  temples  of  the 
Utopians  are  private  buildings,  and  there  is  no  worship  of  images. 
No  living  thing  is  offered  in  sacrifice,  though  incense  is  burned,  and 
wax  candles  are  lighted  during  the  service  of  God,  and  vocal  and  in- 
strumental music  is  practised  in  connexion  with  it.  But  in  all  religious 
matters  there  is  absolute  toleration.  There  is  indeed  a  limited  excep- 
tion in  favour  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  a  future  state  of 
rewards  and  punishments,  belief  in  both  of  which  is  thought  to  be 
essential  to  good  citizenship.  Yet  even  those  who  reject  these  doctrines 
are  tolerated,  on  the  principle  that  a  man  cannot  make  himself  believe 
that  which  he  might  desire  to  believe,  but  which  his  reason  compels  him 
to  reject :  these,  however,  are  regarded  as  base  and  sordid  natures,  and 
excluded  from  public  offices  and  honours.  The  attitude  of  the  Utopians 
towards  Christianity,  of  which  they  hear  for  the  first  time  from  Hythlo- 
daeus, is  described  as  favourable  :  what  chiefly  disposes  them  to  receive  it 


58 


Montaigne  and  the  New  World 


[1560-80 


is  its  original  doctrine  of  community  of  goods.  Before  the  strangers  quit 
Utopia,  many  of  the  inhabitants  have  embraced  Christianity  and  received 
baptism.  The  question  of  the  Christian  priesthood  presents  a  difficulty. 
All  the  European  travellers  are  laymen ;  how  then  can  the  Utopian 
Christians  obtain  the  services  of  duly  qualified  pastors  ?  They  settle 
this  question  for  themselves.  Applying  the  established  principle  of 
popular  election,  they  hold  that  one  so  chosen  could  effectually  do  all 
things  pertaining  to  the  priestly  office,  notwithstanding  the  lack  of 
authority  derived  through  the  successors  of  St  Peter.  Although  Chris- 
tianity is  thus  permitted  and  even  encouraged,  its  professors  are  for- 
bidden to  be  unduly  zealous  fpr  its  propagation  ;  a  Christian  convert 
who  condemns  other  religions  as  profane,  and  declares  their  adherents 
doomed  to  everlasting  punishment,  is  found  guilty  of  sedition  and 
banished.  The  Utopia^  it  will  be  seen,  is  no  mere  academic  imitation  of 
Plato's  Republic.  Specifically,  the  New  World  has  little  to  do  with  its 
details.  It  was  the  mere  possibilities  suggested  by  the  New  World 
which  occasioned  this  remarkable  picture  of  a  state  of  society  diametri- 
cally opposed  to  the  aspect  of  contemporary  Europe.  More's  romance 
lost  its  hold  on  public  attention,  as  soon  as  headstrong  enthusiasts  on 
the  Continent  endeavoured  to  realise  some  of  its  fundamental  principles  ; 
but  at  a  later  date,  through  the  founders  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, it  had  some  ultimate  effect  on,  as  it  took  its  motive  from,  the 
New  World  which  was  beginning  to  stir  European  minds  to  their  depths 
at  the  time  when  it  was  written. 

From  More  we  turn  to  a  writer  of  a  later  generation,  remarkable  for 
the  freedom  and  independence  of  his  mental  attitude  towards  contempo- 
rary ideas  and  institutions,  and  who  avows  in  more  than  one  place  that 
the  New  World  profoundly  modified  his  habits  of  thought.  No  close 
reader  of  Montaigne  will  dispute  that  the  contemplation  of  the  New 
World,  in  connexion  with  the  events  which  happened  after  its  discovery, 
greatly  contributed  to  give  him  that  large  grasp  of  things,  that  mental 
habit  of  charity  and  comprehensiveness,  something  of  which  passed  from 
him  to  Bacon  and  to  Shakspere,  both  diligent  students  of  his  writings. 
Michel  de  Montaigne,  a  French  advocate  and  country  gentleman,  who 
may  be  called  the  Plato  of  modern  philosophical  literature,  was  born  in 
1533,  when  Pizarro  was  overrunning  Peru.  During  his  life  the  New 
World  was  growing  ever  larger  in  the  eyes  of  mankind ;  and  as  it  drew 
him  to  itself,  by  a  species  of  intellectual  gravitation,  it  detached  him 
from  the  standing-ground  of  his  time,  and  raised  him  in  a  correspond- 
ing degree  far  above  it.  The  facts  of  aboriginal  American  history  and 
ethnology,  narrated  by  the  Conquistadores  and  by  other  travellers,  sank 
deeply  into  his  mind ;  and  his  knowledge  of  the  New  World  was  not 
mere  book-learning.  As  a  counsellor  of  Bordeaux,  he  often  came  in 
contact  with  merchants  and  seamen  who  were  familiar  with  America ; 
but  his  chief  source  of  information  was  a  man  in  his  own  service,  who 


1560-80] 


Montaigne  and  the  New  World 


59 


had  lived  ten  or  twelve  years  in  Brazil,  whom  he  describes  as  a  plain 
ignorant  fellow,  but  from  whom  he  seems  never  to  have  been  weary  of 
learning  at  first  hand.  Before  Colombo's  voyage  the  savage  or  "  brute 
man  "  had  been  as  little  known  in  Europe,  and  was  in  fact  as  much  of 
a  myth  as  the  unicorn  or  griffin.  When  Montaigne  wrote,  he  had 
become  as  well  known  as  the  Moor,  the  Berber,  or  the  Guinea  negro, 
and  the  spectacle  of  a  new  transatlantic  continent,  scarcely  less  extensive 
than  the  aggregate  of  those  Old  World  countries  of  which  Europe 
possessed  any  definite  knowledge,  and  peopled  by  men  scarcely  above  the 
state  of  nature,  seized  the  French  philosopher  with  a  strange  fascination. 
By  its  contrast  with  European  life  it  suggested  some  startling  reflections. 
What  if  civilisation,  after  all,  were  a  morbid  and  unnatural  growth? 
What  if  the  condition  of  man  in  America  were  that  for  which  the 
Creator  designed  him  ?  What  if  those  omnipotent  powers,  law  and 
custom,  as  at  present  constituted,  were  impudent  usurpers,  destined  one 
day  to  decline  under  the  influence  of  right  reason,  and  to  give  place,  if 
not  to  the  original  rule  of  beneficent  Nature,  at  least  to  something 
essentially  very  different  from  the  systems  which  now  passed  under  their 
names  ?  Montaigne  puts  these  questions  very  pointedly.  In  the  Tupi- 
Guarani  of  Brazil,  as  described  by  one  who  had  known  them  long  and 
intimately,  he  recognised  nothing  of  the  character  associated  with  the 
words  "  barbarous  "  and  "  savage."  They  were  rather  a  people  perma- 
nently enjoying  the  fabled  Golden  Age  of  ancient  poetry ;  strangers  to 
the  toils,  diseases,  social  inequalities,  vices,  and  trickeries  which  chiefly 
made  up  civilised  life  ;  dwelling  together  in  vast  common  houses,  though 
the  institutions  of  the  family  were  strictly  preserved,  and  enjoying  with 
little  or  no  labour,  and  no  fears  for  the  future,  all  the  reasonable  com- 
modities and  advantages  of  human  life,  while  knowing  nothing  of  its 
superfluities ;  refined  in  their  taste  for  poetry,  specimens  of  which  were 
recited  to  him  by  his  domestic  informant,  and  which  appeared  to  him 
Anacreontic  in  their  grace  and  beauty:  and  employed  chiefly  in  the 
chase,  the  universal  pleasure  of  the  human  race,  even  in  the  highest 
state  of  refinement.  This  they  carried,  perhaps,  a  stage  too  far.  They 
hunted  their  neighbouring  tribesman  for  his  flesh,  and,  like  others 
among  the  more  advanced  American  peoples,  were  cannibals  —  a  name 
which  Montaigne  used  as  the  title  of  the  laudatory  tractate  here 
quoted.  What  of  that?  Civilised  man,  says  the  philosopher,  who 
practically  enforces  servitude  on  nine-tenths  of  the  human  race,  consumes 
the  flesh  and  blood  of  his  fellow-man  alive.  Is  it  not  worse  to  eat  one's 
fellow-man  alive,  than  to  eat  him  dead  ?  These  Americans  torture  their 
prisoners,  it  is  true ;  worse  tortures  are  inflicted  in  civilised  Europe,  in 
the  sacred  names  of  justice  and  religion.  We  Europeans  regard  these 
our  fellow-men  with  contempt  and  aversion.  Are  we,  in  the  sight  of 
God,  much  better  than  they  ?  Have  we  done,  are  we  doing,  by  our  fellow- 
man  at  home,  according  to  the  light  which  is,  or  should  be,  within  us  ? 


60 


European  life  in  America 


[1500-80 


Montaigne  was  perhaps  only  half  serious.  Yet  such  views  commended 
themselves  more  or  less  to  perfectly  serious  thinkers  in  other  European 
countries;  and  they  accorded  with  a  feeling,  which  had  long  been 
gaining  ground,  of  revolt  against  the  hollow  pageantry,  the  rigid  social 
and  political  forms,  the  grasping  at  an  empty  show  of  power  and  dignity, 
which  marked  medieval  life,  and  of  expectation  advancing  towards 
more  of  simplicity,  sincerity,  and  accordance  with  truth  and  nature. 
These  views  affected  men's  religious  conceptions,  and  had  something 
to  do  with  the  Protestant  and  Puritan  views  of  religious  duty  and 
theory.  They  were  more  amply  represented  in  the  Quakerism  of  a  later 
age ;  and  while  they  originated  in  the  Old  World,  they  had  their  freest 
and  fullest  development,  as  will  appear  later  on  in  this  History,  in  the 
New.  Held  in  check  in  Europe,  where  power  tenaciously  clung  to  the 
machinery  of  feudalism,  they  fermented  in,  and  began  to  permeate, 
social  strata  on  which  that  machinery  rested  with  crushing  weight,  and 
produced  those  revolutionary  and  socialistic  doctrines  which  have  so 
largely  affected  modern  European  society,  but  have  found  less  favour  in 
America.  The  emigrant  in  the  New  World  was  conscious  of  breathing 
different  air.  In  this  spacious  continent  much  seemed  trifling,  and  even 
ridiculous,  which  had  commanded  his  respect,  and  even  devotion,  at 
home.  Much  of  the  burden  of  the  Past  seemed  to  fall  from  his  shoulders. 
Industry  ensured  subsistence,  even  to  the  poorest :  security  of  subsistence 
led  by  an  easy  transition  to  competence,  and  often  to  affluence.  In  all 
these  stages  a  general  sense  of  independence  was  fostered,  felt  in  different 
degrees  in  different  parts,  but  common,  to  some  extent,  to  the  Spanish 
landowner  among  his  Indian  serfs,  the  sugar-planter  among  his  slaves, 
the  missionary  among  the  converts  he  was  reclaiming  from  savagery,  and 
the  peasant  wrestling  with  the  forest  and  turning  it  into  an  expanse 
of  fertile  fields.  The  political  tie  which  bound  the  emigrant  to  the 
European  power  commanding  his  allegiance  was  scarcely  felt.  The 
merchant  made  large  profits :  capital  earned  high  interest.  There  was 
everywhere  a  large  measure  of  freedom  in  local  government.  Even  in 
Spanish  America  the  European  distinction  between  the  noble  and  the 
plebeian  was  never  introduced,  nor  could  the  Courts  of  justice  exercise 
jurisdiction  of  hidalguia.  Such  a  condition  of  things  necessarily  had  its 
reaction  on  the  mother  countries :  and  Europe  almost  from  the  first  felt 
that  reaction,  in  however  slight  a  degree. 

In  one  respect  the  medieval  constitution  of  Europe  received  from 
the  New  World,  in  the  period  immediately  subsequent  to  the  Discovery, 
a  decided  accession  of  strength.  The  conquest  and  settlement  of  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  America  opened  an  immense  field  of  operations  to  the 
Catholic  Church ;  and  this  field  was  forthwith  entered  upon  with 
extraordinary  vigour  and  success.  During  the  sixteenth  century  Rome 
was  gaining  in  the  New  World  more  than  she  was  losing  in  the  Old. 
In  Mexico,  in  Peru,  and  in  New  Granada  foundations  already  existed 


1500-80] 


The  Catholic  Church  in  America 


61 


from  which  the  missionary  had  but  to  sweep  away  an  effete  super- 
structure to  erect  a  loftier  and  more  durable  one.  The  aborigines  were 
deeply  imbued  with  religious  ideas,  and  trained  from  childhood  to 
regular  habits  of  worship  and  ritual ;  the  houses  of  the  gods,  numerous 
and  often  magnificent,  were  held  in  deep  veneration,  and  endowed  with 
extensive  estates ;  the  superiority  of  the  great  "  Dios  "  of  the  Spaniards 
—  a  title  understood  by  the  Indians  to  be  the  proper  name  of  a  deity  to 
whose  worship  the  people  of  Europe  were  especially  devoted  —  had  been 
abundantly  manifested  in  the  military  successes  of  his  votaries ;  con- 
version w^as  insisted  on  by  the  conquerors ;  and  as  the  images  of  the  old 
deities  were  destroyed,  their  shrines  defaced,  and  their  rites  forbidden, 
compliance  was  dictated  by  the  very  spirit  of  aboriginal  paganism.  In 
Mexico,  where  the  ancient  rites  demanded  human  sacrifices  in  vast 
numbers,  and  in  a  cruel  and  repulsive  form,  their  abolition  was  effected 
with  comparative  ease.  In  Peru,  where  human  sacrifice  was  chiefly 
limited  to  infant  victims,  who  were  simply  strangled  and  buried,  the 
Indians  were  more  firmly  attached  to  their  old  religion ;  and  a  serious 
obstacle  to  its  abandonment  lay  in  their  devotion  to  the  practice  of 
ancestor-worship.  Long  after  the  mass  of  them  had  accepted  the 
doctrine  and  practice  of  Christianity,  they  secretly  offered  sacrifice  to 
the  desiccated  bodies  of  the  dead;  and  a  rigorous  and  prolonged 
inquisition  had  to  be  organised  and  carried  into  effect  before  the 
idolatry  of  Peru  was  extirpated.  Meanwhile  the  settlement  of  the 
Church  proceeded  on  the  general  lines  recognised  in  Europe ;  but  in 
America,  as  in  the  Spanish  districts  conquered  from  the  Moors,  the 
Holy  See  forbore  some  of  its  prescriptive  rights  in  favour  of  the  Crown. 
Notwithstanding  the  ordinances  of  the  Lateran  Council,  Alexander  VI 
in  1501  granted  to  the  Crown  all  tithes  and  first-fruits  in  the  Indies. 
The  consideration  for  this  "  temporalisation  "  of  property  which  of  right 
belonged  to  the  Church  was  the  conquest  of  territory  from  infidels,  and 
their  conversion  to  Christianity.  The  right  of  patronage  in  all  sees  and 
benefices  was  also  vested  by  the  Pope  in  the  Spanish  sovereigns,  as  fully 
as  had  already  been  done  in  the  case  of  the  Kingdom  of  Granada,  subject 
only  to  the  condition  that  it  should  remain  in  the  Crown  inalienably. 
The  Crown  was  further  appointed  the  Pope's  legate  in  America.  The 
limits  of  dioceses  were  at  first  laid  down  by  the  Popes ;  but  even  this 
right,  together  with  the  power  of  dividing  and  consolidating  them,  was 
granted  to  the  Crown,  and  no  American  Bishop  could  return  to  Europe 
without  the  Viceroy's  licence.  The  Church  in  America  held  its  own 
Councils,  under  the  direction  of  the  metropolitans  of  Mexico  and 
Lima;  and  no  appeal  in  ecclesiastical  matters  was  carried  to  Rome. 
The  Crown  obtained  the  income  of  vacant  sees,  a  part  of  which  was 
assigned  to  the  defence  of  the  coasts  against  heretic  pirates.  These 
concessions  were  amply  justified  by  the  immense  revenue  which  poured 
into  Rome  from  Spanish  America  in  the  form  of  donations,  of  proceeds 


62 


Religious  Orders  in  America  [1500-80 


of  bulls  for  the  Holy  Crusade,  and  of  the  sale  of  indulgences  and 
dispensations.  What  the  Holy  See  bestowed  with  one  hand  it  received 
back,  in  larger  measure,  with  the  other. 

Outside  the  limits  of  settled  life  the  work  of  evangelisation  was 
vigorously  pursued  by  Franciscan,  Dominican,  and  Augustinian  friars, 
who  from  the  first  flocked  to  the  New  World  in  all  its  parts ;  but  the 
chief  share  in  this  labour  was  borne  by  the  newly-founded  Company  of 
Jesus.  Among  the  exigencies  which  led  to  its  establishment  may 
certainly  be  reckoned  the  need  of  adequately  grappling  with  the  task  of 
preaching  Christianity  in  America,  as  well  as  in  India  and  the  Far  East ; 
and  the  numerous  "  Reductions  "  in  the  savage  districts  of  North  and 
South  America  abundantly  testify  to  the  devotion  and  energy  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers.  At  first  the  regular  clergy  greatly  outnumbered  the 
secular.  In  many  cases  they  received,  by  dispensation,  valuable  benefices  ; 
and  being  in  all  respects  better  educated  and  trained  than  the  secular 
clergy,  they  more  easily  acquired  the  American  languages.  The  surplus 
incomes  of  these  regularised  benefices  were  remitted  to  the  superiors 
of  their  incumbents  in  Europe,  and  were  ultimately  applied  to  the 
foundation  of  houses  of  the  several  Orders  in  the  New  World.  The 
Franciscan,  Augustinian  and  Jesuit  colleges  in  Peru  were  in  effect 
the  chief  centres  of  European  civilisation ;  and  the  Jesuits  have  left  a 
durable  monument  of  their  zeal  in  the  Republic  of  Paraguay.  To  those 
members  of  these  Orders  who  engaged  in  missionary  work  the  ethno- 
logist and  historian  are  greatly  indebted.  But  for  their  labours  the 
deeply  interesting  history  and  folk-lore  of  Mexico  and  Peru  would  have 
been  inadequately  preserved,  and  the  languages  of  many  tribes  outside 
the  pale  of  settled  life  must  have  perished.  Together  with  the  fine 
churches  attached  to  the  mission  settlements,  the  cathedral  and  parish 
churches  of  Spanish  America,  often  built  on  the  sites  of  ancient  temples, 
form  an  unique  series  of  historical  monuments.  Entirely  built  by  native 
labour,  and  largely  by  voluntary  contributions  from  native  sources,  they 
were  to  a  great  extent  served  by  pastors  of  Indian  or  partly  Indian 
descent  —  a  class  whom  it  was  the  policy  of  Spain  to  foster,  and  through 
which  her  control  of  her  vast  American  dominions  was  in  some  measure 
maintained. 

What  was  the  effect  of  the  New  World  in  the  realm  of  learning  and 
science?  Here,  on  the  whole,  the  New  World,  at  least  in  the  first 
eighty  years  of  its  history,  figures  rather  as  a  consequence  than  a  cause. 
At  Montaigne's  death  Francis  Bacon,  designing  to  reconstruct  the  system 
of  the  sciences,  was  meditating  and  elaborating  the  great  series  of 
books  and  tractates  in  which  his  views  were  given  to  the  world ;  and  in 
many  of  his  writings  it  is  clear  that  America  with  its  physical  features, 
its  plants  and  animals,  and  its  aboriginal  race,  was  largely  the  subject 
of  his  meditation,  and  that  the  vast  array  of  facts  associated  with  it 
enlarged  and  modified  his  opinions  and  forecasts.    To  some  extent  Bacon 


1580-1600]       Bacon  studies  the  Neto  World 


63 


was  the  scholar  of  Montaigne,  whose  conception  of  America  as  the 
middle  one  of  three  island-continents  which  once  lay  westward  of  the 
Old  World  —  the  vanished  Atlantis  which  gave  its  name  to  the  Atlan- 
tic, the  new-found  America  beyond  it,  and  a  third,  still  undiscovered, 
but  probably  soon  to  be  revealed  in  the  unknown  expanses  of  the  Pacific, 
and  called  by  Bacon  "  New  Atlantis,"  as  bearing  the  same  geographical 
relation  to  the  New  World  which  the  earlier  Atlantis  had  borne  to  the 
Old  —  underlies  his  noble  philosophical  romance  bearing  that  name  as 
its  title.  Bacon's  habit  of  thought  and  study  had  induced  in  him 
a  broader  and  profounder  conception  of  the  New  World  than  that 
presented  in  the  pages  of  his  French  predecessor.  The  phenomena  of 
society,  which  chiefly  attracted  Montaigne,  had  for  him  only  a  secondary 
interest.  Thirsting  to  know  the  Causes  of  Things,  he  aspired  to  com- 
prehend nature  in  her  entirety,  to  penetrate  her  secret,  and  to  interpret 
her  message :  and  the  New  World  lent  him  opportune  and  unexpected 
help.  The  configuration  of  sea  and  land  surfaces,  the  mountains,  the 
tides  and  winds,  the  animals  and  plants  of  the  New  World,  opened 
for  the  first  time  an  enormous  field  of  physical  enquiry.  The  New 
World,  for  example,  threw  new  light  on  the  distribution  of  terrestrial 
and  maritime  areas.  Like  the  continents  of  the  Old  World  (Europe 
and  Asia  for  the  purpose  of  this  comparison  counting  as  one)  both 
North  and  South  America  broadened  out  towards  the  north  and  tapered 
towards  the  south,  the  alternative  principle  of  termination  by  variously 
shaped  peninsulas  being  found  here  also  to  recur.  What,  Bacon  asked, 
was  the  shape  of  that  supposed  continent  lying  south  of  the  Strait  of 
Magalhaes,  and  commonly  called  Terra  Australis?  The  conflicting  or 
according  phenomena  of  the  tides  in  different  places ;  the  water-spouts ; 
the  refrigeration  of  the  air  by  icebergs  on  the  Canadian  coast ;  the 
balmy  breezes  blowing  to  seaward  from  Florida ;  the  trade-winds,  which 
had  lent  Europe  wings  to  carry  her  across  the  Atlantic ;  the  constant 
westerly  or  anti-trade  winds  blowing  towards  the  Portuguese  shore,  from 
which,  it  was  sometimes  said,  Colombo  had  inferred  the  existence  of  a 
western  continent  generating  them  ;  the  comparatively  cold  climate  of 
North  America,  the  frozen  expanse  of  Labrador  being  in  the  latitude 
of  Britain,  and  the  contradictory  phenomena  of  the  Peruvian  coast, 
which  lay  almost  under  the  Equator,  while  its  ocean  breezes,  blowing 
hardest  at  the  full  moons,  were  said  to  produce  a  climate  like  that  of 
Southern  Europe ;  the  strange  inequalities  of  temperature  experienced  in 
dift'erent  parts  of  the  Peruvian  Cordilleras  ;  the  alleged  phenomenon  that 
the  peaks  of  the  Andes  remain  destitute  of  snow,  while  it  thickly  covers 
their  lower  elevations,  with  the  effects  produced  on  man  by  their  attenu- 
ated air,  not  so  much  cold  as  keen,  piercing  the  eyes  and  purging  the 
stomach;  —  such  enquiries  as  these,  never  previously  formulated,  make 
Bacon  the  founder  of  modern  physical  geography.  American  man,  in 
his  physical  and  ethnological  aspect,  strongly  attracted  Bacon's  attention. 


64 


Bacon  on  the  New  World 


[1580-1600 


Was  the  extraordinary  longevity  of  the  Brazilian  and  Virginian  tribes, 
who  retained  manly  vigour  at  the  age  of  120  years,  connected  with 
their  practice  of  painting  the  skin  ?  What  was  the  cause  of  a  similar 
phenomenon  in  Peru  ?  Was  it  true,  as  some  alleged,  that  the  fearful 
morbus  gallicus,"  then  for  the  first  time  raging  in  Europe,  and  sup- 
posed, though  erroneously,  to  have  been  imported  from  America,  had 
its  origin  in  the  loathsome  practice  of  cannibalism  ?  What  was  the 
effect  on  American  man  of  maize,  as  his  staple  diet  ?  In  America,  where 
flint  was  scarce,  fire  was  universally  kindled  by  the  wooden  drill.  The 
American  Prometheus,  then,  in  Bacon's  words,  "had  no  intelligence 
with  the  European,"  and  the  arts  of  life  must  have  originated  inde- 
pendently in  the  New  World  ;  —  an  inference  somewhat  boldly  made 
from  a  single  pair  of  facts,  but  which  accorded,  though  Bacon  knew  it 
not,  with  the  traditions  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  is  amply  confirmed, 
in  our  own  well-informed  age,  by  everything  known  as  to  the  general 
progress  of  the  American  aborigines.  By  an  effort  of  judgment  for 
which  the  materials  scarcely  existed,  and  which  had  certainly  never  been 
made  before  his  time,  Bacon  mentally  arrayed  against  each  other  the 
polished  nations  of  Europe  and  the  barbarous  or  savage  ones  of  America, 
and  asked  himself  the  reason  of  the  contrast.  Was  it  to  be  sought  in 
the  soil,  in  the  sky,  in  the  physical  constitution  of  man  ?  These  sugges- 
tions he  answered  negatively ;  the  difference,  he  concluded,  lay  solely  in 
the  fact  that  the  American  peoples,  for  some  as  yet  unknown  reason, 
had  made  less  progress  in  the  arts  of  life.  We  know  the  reason  to  be 
Nature's  parsimony  in  furnishing  the  western  continent  with  animals 
capable  of  labour  and  amenable  to  domestication. 

Here  another  question  presented  itself  to  this  prince  among  thinkers. 
Was  the  project  of  planting  the  civilisation  of  Europe  among  the 
American  savages  —  a  project  widely  entertained  in  Western  Europe  — 
a  feasible  one  ?  Bacon  answered  this  also  in  the  negative.  Nor  is  it 
doubtful  that,  having  regard  to  the  contemporary  idea  of  "  planting," 
Bacon  was  right.  The  idea  of  teaching  the  Indians  "  to  live  virtuously, 
and  know  of  men  the  manner,  and  also  to  know  God  their  Maker,"  was 
not  yet  obsolete ;  and  the  Spaniards,  according  to  their  lights,  were 
vigorously  prosecuting  the  task  in  Mexico  and  elsewhere.  It  has  been 
reserved  for  a  later  age,  in  most  respects  more  advanced,  to  acquiesce 
in  a  system  of  colonisation  which  dispossesses  the  aboriginal  owners  of 
the  soil,  and  deals  with  them  as  with  vermin  to  be  hunted  down,  or 
stamped  out,  or  deported  to  holes  and  corners  of  the  land,  to  dwindle 
and  die  out  under  the  effect  of  poverty,  chagrin,  and  vices  introduced 
by  their  civilised  conquerors.  From  the  Discovery  to  the  time  when 
European  nations  adopted  a  commercial  policy  and  a  commercial 
morality — from  Colombo  to  Penn  —  those  of  the  natives  who  sub- 
mitted to  European  rule  were  regarded  as  men  to  be  civilised  and 
christianised,  and  ultimately  to  be  blended  in  one  race  with  their 


1580-1600]    The  New  World  and  the  New  Philosophy  65 


European  brethren.  Bacon  discountenanced  this  view  so  far  as  concerned 
the  savages  of  "  Florida  "  or  North-eastern  America,  and  the  founda- 
tion of  English  colonies  there  on  a  corresponding  footing.  He  bade 
Englishmen  throw  aside  ideas  which  to  his  thinking  savoured  less  of 
reality  than  of  antiquated  romances  like  Amadis  de  Graul,  and  take  up 
Caesar's  Commentaries.  If  Englishmen  must  perforce  colonise,  he  pointed 
out  to  them,  as  the  proper  field  of  colonial  enterprise,  the  adjacent  island 
of  Ireland,  whose  aboriginal  people  were  sunk  in  a  barbarism  more 
shameful  than  American  savagery,  because  of  their  immediate  prox- 
imity to,  and  close  relations  with,  one  of  the  most  civilised  nations  on 
the  globe. 

These  instances  by  no  means  represent  the  full  influence  exercised 
by  the  New  World  on  the  most  powerful  mind  of  modern  times,  and 
through  him  on  ages  which  have  realised  his  ideas  without  adding 
anything  to  their  transcendent  scope  and  penetration.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  Bacon's  whole  scheme  for  the  reconstitution  of  know- 
ledge on  a  broader  basis  and  firmer  foundation,  in  accordance  with  the 
truth  of  things  and  without  regard  to  the  routine  of  scholastic  tradition, 
and  with  such  fulness  that,  in  his  own  words,  the  "  crystalline  globe  "  of 
the  understanding  should  faithfully  reflect  all  that  the  "  material  globe," 
or  external  world,  offers  to  his  apprehension,  was  suggested  to  him  by 
the  facts  briefly  sketched  in  the  foregoing  pages.  Truth,  he  wrote,  was 
not  the  daughter  of  Authority,  but  of  Time.  America  was  certainly 
"  the  greatest  birth  of  time  "  ;  Bacon  applied  these  words  to  the  philo- 
sophic system  of  which  he  was  the  founder.  The  discovery  of  America 
gave  the  human  intellect  what  is  known  to  mechanics  as  a  "dead  lift." 
It  dispelled  a  secular  illusion ;  it  destroyed  the  old  blind  reverence  for 
antiquity,  which  Spenser  might  well  have  depicted  as  a  sightless  mon- 
ster, stifling  mankind  in  its  serpentine  embraces.  Truth,  to  borrow 
from  Milton  an  allegory  worthy  of  Bacon,  had  been  hewn,  like  the 
body  of  Osiris,  into  a  thousand  pieces.  Philosophy,  like  Isis,  the  dis- 
consolate spouse,  wandered  over  the  earth  in  quest  of  them :  and  the 
time  would  come  when  they  should  be  "gathered  limb  to  limb,  and 
moulded  into  an  immortal  feature  of  loveliness  and  perfection."  What 
grounds  of  hope,"  to  use  Bacon's  phrase,  for  that  glorious  reunion  —  or 
rather,  what  certain  auguries  of  its  ultimate  attainment  —  he  gathered 
from  the  New  Cosmography,  his  writings  abundantly  testify.  His  own 
vast  survey  of  knowledge,  attained  or  that  ought  to  be  attained,  he 
modestly  described  as  a  coasting  voyage  or  periegesis  of  the  "  New 
Intellectual  World."  He  loved  to  compare  his  own  conjectures  and 
anticipations  of  the  boundless  results  which  he  knew  his  method  destined 
to  achieve  in  the  hands  of  posterity  with  the  faint  indications  which  had 
inspired  Colombo  to  attempt  that  "  mirabilis  navigatio,"  that  daring  six 
weeks'  voyage  westward  across  the  Atlantic.  Feebly,  indeed,  and  through 
the  darkness  of  night,  he  says,  blew  the  breeze  of  hope  from  the  shores 

C.  M.  H.  I.  5 


66     The  New  World  and  the  New  Philosophy  [i580-l600 


of  the  New  Continent  of  knowledge  and  power  towards  him,  as  from  his 
lonely  elevation  he  eagerly  watched  for  those  cheering  signals  which  he 
knew  would  sooner  or  later  greet  the  patient  eye  of  expectant  philosophy, 
though  he  himself  might  not  be  destined  to  behold  them.  Those  signals, 
he  wrote,  must  one  day  come,  unless  his  own  faith  in  the  future  should 
prove  vain,  and  men  were  content  to  remain  intellectual  abjects. 
Humanity  had  waited  long  ages  for  the  accomplishment  of  Seneca's 
prophecy  —  a  prophecy  which  was  in  every  mouth  at  the  Discovery, 
and  of  which  Bacon,  like  all  his  contemporaries,  hailed  the  Discovery  as 
the  destined  fulfilment ; 

Venient  annis  saecula  seris 
Quibus  Oceanus  vincula  rerum 
Laxet,  et  in  gens  pateat  tellus, 
Tiphysque  novos  detegat  orbes, 
Nec  sit  terris  ultima  Thule. 

Possibly  he  had  pondered  over  a  less-known  passage  in  the  prose  writings 
of  the  same  author,  who  predicts  that  the  time  shall  come  when  know- 
ledge shall  be  vastly  increased,  and  men  shall  look  back  with  amazement 
at  the  ignorance  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  There  was  confirmation 
for  such  hopes  in  Holy  Scripture.  The  anticipation  of  the  Chaldean 
seer  that  in  the  latest  times  many  should  run  to  and  fro,  and  know- 
ledge be  increased"  he  interpreted  as  foreshadowing  the  opening  of 
five-sixths  of  the  globe,  hitherto  closed,  to  man's  travel,  study,  and 
reinvigorated  powers  of  reasoning.  Into  the  future  of  history,  in  the 
narrow  sense  of  the  word.  Bacon  ventured  only  by  one  memorable 
forecast,  since  abundantly  verified,  and  more  abundantly  by  momentous 
events  of  quite  recent  occurrence.  He  prophesied  that  the  great 
inheritances  of  the  East  and  the  West,  both  at  the  time  ready  to  slip 
from  the  feeble  grasp  of  Spain,  must  alike  fall  to  those  who  commanded 
the  ocean  —  to  that  Anglo-Saxon  race  of  which  he  will  remain  to  all 
time  one  of  the  most  illustrious  representatives. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  OTTOMAN  CONQUEST 

In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  two  powers  which  had 
recently  sprung  into  unexpected  prominence  were  closing  in  upon 
Constantinople  from  the  west  and  from  the  east.  But  in  the  race  for 
the  stronghold  on  the  Bosphorus  the  competitor  which  might  have 
seemed  to  have  the  best  chances  of  winning,  suddenly  fell  out.  With 
the  death  of  Stephen  Dusan  (1356)  the  ill-consolidated  empire  of  Servia 
collapsed :  his  successors  were  ciphers  ;  whereas  Orchan,  the  Sultan  of  the 
Ottomans,  handed  down  a  well-disciplined  State,  built  on  strong  founda- 
tions, to  a  line  of  eminent  princes.  Under  him  the  Ottoman  Turks  won 
(1358)  their  first  foothold  on  European  soil  by  the  occupation  of  the 
fortress  of  Gallipoli,  —  somewhat  less  than  a  century  before  Mohammad  II 
captured  Constantinople.  It  was  not  long  before  Orchan's  son  Murad  I 
had  crept  round  and  conquered  the  eastern  half  of  the  Balkan  peninsula, 
cutting  off  Constantinople  from  Christian  Europe.  For  the  first  time, 
since  the  days  of  Darius  and  Xerxes,  Thrace  passed  under  the  sway  of 
an  Asiatic  power,  —  often  as  the  hosts  of  Sassanid  kings  and  Saracen 
caliphs  had  lined  the  shores  of  the  dividing  straits.  If  the  conquest  had 
resembled  in  character  the  old  Persian  conquest,  if  the  inhabitants  had 
been  required  only  to  pay  tribute  to  a  distant  ruler  and  receive  his 
garrisons  in  their  cities,  the  lot  of  these  lands  would  have  been  light. 
But  they  were  taken  into  full  possession  by  their  new  lords ;  and  oriental 
nomads  of  an  alien  and  intolerant  religion  were  planted  as  the  domi- 
nant race  amid  the  Christian  population.  The  circumstance  that  the 
Ottomans  were  nomads  (they  were  a  clan  of  the  Turkish  tribe  of  Oghuz) 
gives  their  empire  its  significance  in  the  history  of  mankind.  In  the 
perpetual  struggle  between  the  herdsmen  and  the  tillers  of  the  soil  which 
has  been  waged  from  remote  ages  on  the  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia, 
the  advance  of  the  Ottomans  was  a  decisive  victory  for  the  children  of 
the  steppes.  This  feature  of  their  conquest  is  of  no  less  fundamental 
importance  than  its  aspect  as  a  victory  for  Islam. 

How  the  Ottomans  were  caught  in  the  tide  of  the  Mongol  invasion 
and  their  power  almost  ruined ;  how  they  recovered  under  the  prudent 

67 


68 


Mohammad^ s  aims.  —  Genoa 


[1453 


guidance  of  Mohammad  I ;  how  the  wave  of  conquest  once  more  rolled 
on  under  Murad  II,  until  a  seal  was  set  upon  their  European  empire  by 
the  capture  of  Constantinople,  —  all  this  has  been  told  by  Gibbon.  The 
story  is  here  taken  up  in  1453. 

For  a  moment  it  was  not  clear  whether  the  new  lord  of  Constanti- 
nople would  be  content  with  a  suzerainty  over  the  neighbouring  lands 
which  had  once  been  provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire,  or  would  reduce 
them  to  the  condition  of  provinces  of  the  Ottoman  realm.  The  princes 
of  the  Peloponnese,  the  despot  of  Servia,  the  lords  of  some  of  the  island 
States  of  the  Aegean,  forthwith  offered  their  submission.  Mohammad 
soon  showed  that  he  would  not  acquiesce  in  a  system  of  vassal  states 
paying  him  tribute  as  overlord,  but  aimed  at  compassing  the  complete 
and  immediate  subjection  of  the  Balkan  peninsula.  A  typical  oriental 
conqueror,  he  was  driven  on  by  the  true  instinct  that  it  would  be  fatal  to 
stand  still  or  abandon  aggression ;  he  believed  that  it  was  the  destiny  of 
his  people  to  spread  the  religion  of  the  Prophet  over  the  whole  earth, 
and  the  task  of  his  life  was  to  further  the  accomplishment  of  this  end. 
His  next  successors  worked  with  varying  vigour  in  the  same  direction, 
and  the  Ottomans  throve  so  long  as  they  conquered.  But  it  was  con- 
stant success  in  war  that  quickened  and  strengthened  the  frame  of 
their  State ;  and  the  hour  in  which  limits  were  set  to  territorial  advance 
marks  the  beginning  of  a  rapid  decline.  The  nature  of  their  institu- 
tions, as  we  shall  see,  demanded  war. 

Mohammad  first  turned  his  arms  against  Servia.  This  step  was 
determined  by  Servia's  geographical  position,  lying  on  the  road  to 
Hungary.  For  Mohammad  saw  that  Hungary  was  the  only  country, 
John  Hutiyady  the  only  leader,  that  he  had  seriously  to  fear.  The  two 
western  powers  which  had  the  greatest  interests  at  stake  in  the  East  and 
were  most  gravely  affected  by  the  change  of  masters  at  Constantinople, 
were  Venice  and  Genoa.  The  Genoese  were  accustomed  to  dealings  with 
the  Ottomans ;  they  were  the  first  Christian  power  west  of  the  Adriatic 
that  had  made  a  treaty  with  them,  and  they  had  not  scrupled  to  use 
the  alliance  of  the  infidels  against  their  fellow-Christians.  The  Genoese 
colony  of  Galata  sent  the  keys  of  their  walled  town  to  Mohammad  on 
the  fall  of  the  City,  and  the  Sultan  though  he  slighted  their  walls  granted 
them  a  favourable  capitulation  securing  their  liberties  and  commercial 
rights.  But  Genoa  was  feeble  and  indifferent;  and,  feeling  herself 
unequal  to  new  efforts,  she  transferred,  before  the  fatal  year  was  over, 
her  Pontic  settlements  to  the  Genoese  Bank  of  St  George,  into  whose 
hands  the  administration  of  Corsica  passed  about  the  same  time.  But  the 
financial  resources  of  the  Bank  did  not  suffice  for  the  task  of  supporting 
these  colonies,  and  Genoese  trade  declined.  Venice,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  not  indifferent ;  and  her  first  thought  was,  not  to  recover  the  bulwark 
of  Christendom  from  the  hands  of  the  Muslim,  but  to  preserve  her  own 
commercial  privileges  under  the  rule  of  the  infidel  sovereign.    She  sent 


1454-6]       Hungarian  War ;  siege  of  Belgrade  69 


an  envoy  to  Mohammad ;  and  a  treaty,  which  formed  the  basis  of  all 
subsequent  negotiations,  was  presently  concluded.  By  it  she  secured 
freedom  of  trade  for  her  merchants  and  the  privilege  of  protecting 
Venetian  settlers  on  Turkish  soil  by  means  of  her  own  officers. 

Hungary,  then,  was  the  only  power  that  Mohammad,  secure  on  the 
side  of  Venice,  had  immediately  to  fear.  In  the  first  month  of  1454  the 
young  and  worthless  King  Ladislaus  had  assembled  a  diet  at  Buda  and 
carried  extraordinary  measures  for  organising  an  army  against  the 
Turks.  John  Hunyady,  appointed  commander-in-chief,  had  a  host 
ready  to  take  the  field  in  spring,  when  George  Brankovic,  the  despot  of 
Servia,  arrived,  suppliant  for  help,  with  the  news  that  the  Turk  was 
advancing  against  his  kingdom.  Hunyady  crossed  the  Danube  and 
raided  Turkish  territory,  while  Mohammad  beleaguered  the  Servian  for- 
tresses of  Ostroviza  and  Semendra  (Smederevo).  He  took  Ostroviza, 
but  Semendra  —  a  stronghold  of  capital  strategic  importance  for  opera- 
tions against  Servia,  Hungary,  and  W allachia  —  was  saved  by  the  arrival 
of  the  Magyar  general,  and  Mohammad  retreated.  A  large  detach- 
ment of  the  retreating  army  encountered  Hunyady  near  Krusovac.  No 
regular  battle  was  fought;  a  panic  seized  the  Turks  and  they  were 
routed  with  slaughter.  Hunyady  completed  his  campaign  by  descend- 
ing the  Danube  and  reducing  the  Ottoman  fortress  of  Widdin  to  ashes. 

In  the  following  year  (1455)  Mohammad  —  who  claimed  Servia 
through  his  step-mother,  a  Servian  Princess  —  won  a  foothold  in  the 
south  of  the  country  by  the  capture  of  Novoberdo,  with  its  important 
gold  and  silver  mines  ;  and  he  spent  the  next  winter  in  making  large  and 
elaborate  preparations  for  besieging  Belgrade  by  land  and  water.  The 
siege  lasted  three  weeks  in  July,  1456,  and  hardly  has  a  more  brilliant 
feat  been  achieved  in  the  course  of  the  struggles  between  Europe  and 
the  Ottoman  Turks  than  the  relief  of  Belgrade  by  John  Hunyady  and 
his  Magyar  army.  It  was  the  second  time  that  he  saved  this  bulwark  at 
the  gates  of  Hungary.  Pope  Calixtus  III  had  sent  an  able  legate,  Juan 
de  Carvajal,  to  rally  the  people  round  the  general  in  the  holy  cause  ;  but  it 
is  a  minorite  brother,  John  of  Capistrano,  who  shares  with  Hunyady  the 
glory  of  the  triumph.  The  eloquence  of  this  preacher,  inspired  with 
zeal  against  the  misbeliever,  could  still  move  men's  hearts  to  some  faint 
semblance  of  that  crusading  fervour  which  had  once  strung  Europe  to 
madness.  The  greater  part  of  the  host  which  was  collected  was  a 
tattered  undisciplined  rabble ;  but  infinite  patience  and  energy  overcame 
all  difficulties.  With  a  few  vessels  Hunyady  broke  through  the  chain  of 
barques  by  which  Mohammad  had  barred  the  Save,  and  entered  the 
besieged  city.  Though  the  defenders  were  far  inferior  in  number  and 
equipment,  yet  by  valour  and  cunning  they  defeated  all  the  efforts  of  the 
enemy  and  at  last  forced  the  whole  army  to  retreat  in  confusion,  and 
with  tremendous  losses,  amounting  to  more  than  50,000  killed  and 
wounded,  300  guns,  and  27  war-boats.    In  the  first  hour  of  delight  the 


70 


Conquest  of  Servia 


[1457-8 


victors  overrated  the  importance  of  their  achievement ;  they  fancied 
that  the  Turk  was  almost  crushed  and  that  but  little  was  wanting  to 
drive  him  from  Europe.  It  could  be  done,  wrote  Hunyady  in  a  letter 
to  the  Pope,  "  if  Christendom  were  to  rise  up  against  him."  But  there 
was  no  chance  of  such  a  rising,  and  in  a  few  days  Christendom  lost  her 
ablest  champion,  Hunyady  himself  (August,  1456).  Hungary,  crippled 
by  domestic  feuds,  without  a  leader  in  whom  men  trusted,  receiving  no 
support  from  Germany  in  consequence  of  the  hatred  between  King 
Ladislaus  and  the  Emperor,  could  not  follow  up  her  victory.  Presently 
Ladislaus  died  and  Hunyady's  son,  Matthias  Corvinus,  a  lad  of  sixteen 
years,  came  to  the  throne  (January,  1458). 

Meanwhile  Mohammad  was  taking  measures  for  the  subjection  of 
Servia.  He  was  helped  b}^  its  domestic  circumstances.  After  a  struggle 
for  the  succession  to  the  crown,  the  government  devolved  upon  a  woman, 
Helena,  the  widow  of  the  despot  George's  youngest  son ;  and  she  took 
the  strange  impolitic  step  of  placing  the  country  under  the  protection  and 
overlordship  of  Pope  Calixtus,  who  had  vowed  his  energies  to  the  abolition 
of  the  Turk.  But  this  act  alienated  the  boyars,  who  liked  the  interference 
of  the  Catholic  no  better,  or  even  less,  than  the  rule  of  the  infidel.  In  1457 
Mahmud  Pasha  (Beglerbeg,  or  Governor,  of  Rumelia)  had  overcome  all 
Servia ;  in  1458  Mohammad  came  himself,  captured  Semendra  by  treachery, 
and  received  the  voluntary  submission  of  many  of  the  boyars.  It  is  said 
that  200,000  inhabitants  were  carried  from  the  land,  whether  to  be 
trained  for  military  service,  or  to  be  settled  in  other  parts  of  the  empire. 

On  the  death  of  Hunyady  only  a  single  great  warrior  was  left  to  fight 
for  the  cause  of  Christendom  —  "standing  almost  alone,  like  a  strong  wall," 
said  Pope  Calixtus;  —  but  it  was  as  much  as  his  strength  could  compass  to 
defend  his  own  land.  This  was  George  Castriotes,  the  Albanian,  whom 
we  are  accustomed  to  designate  as  Scanderbeg, — a  name  which  always 
reminds  us  that  he  had  been  brought  up  in  the  faith  of  Islam  and  held 
high  office  under  Murad  II,  before  he  returned  to  his  own  religion  and 
his  own  people.  Beneath  the  supremacy  of  his  masterful  and  daring 
spirit,  the  Albanian  folk,  which  in  the  regions  of  northern  Epirus  preserved 
the  old  lUyrian  language,  was  raised  into  transient  greatness.  For  a  brief 
space,  an  united  Albanian  nation  lifted  up  its  voice  amid  the  roar  of  the 
world's  tide,  and  admiring  Europe  applauded.  In  the  warfare  on  the 
Illyrian  hillsides,  Scanderbeg  was  almost  invariably  successful ;  and  a 
defeat  which  he  suffered  at  the  Albanese  fortress  of  Belgrade,  through  an 
indiscreet  concession  (1456),  was  avenged  in  the  following  year  by  a  great 
victory  over  Mohammad's  able  general  Hamsa,  who  was  himself  taken 
prisoner.  Mohammad  was  glad  to  make  a  truce  for  a  year,  and 
Scanderbeg  was  persuaded  to  cross  over,  a  second  "Alexander"  of 
Epirus,  to  Apulia,  to  help  the  Spaniard  Ferdinand  of  Naples  to  drive 
out  the  French  (1461).  On  the  Albanian  chief's  return,  new  discom- 
fitures forced  Mohammad,  intent  on  more  pressing  enterprises,  to  seek  a 


1456-67] 


Wars  with  Albania;  Scanderheg 


71 


permanent  peace;  and  the  Sultan  acknowledged  Scanderheg  as  the 
absolute  sovereign  of  Albania  (April,  1463). 

But  the  peace  was  broken  before  the  year  was  out.  It  was  the 
Albanian  w^ho  violated  the  contract,  under  the  importunate  pressure  of 
the  Pope  and  the  Venetian  Republic.  He  reopened  hostilities  by  a  raid 
into  Macedonia ;  and  in  1464  he  won  a  crushing  victory  over  a  Turkish 
army  under  Balaban  (an  Albanian  renegade).  His  successes  decided 
Mohammad  to  take  the  field  himself  at  the  head  of  a  mighty  host  and 
lay  siege  to  Kroja,  the  Albanian  capital  (1465).  The  last  exploit  of  the 
hero  was  to  render  this  expedition  fruitless.  Failing  to  storm  the  place, 
Mohammad  retreated,  leaving  Balaban  to  starve  it  out;  but  before  he 
left  the  country  he  massacred  some  thousands  of  Albanian  families  whom 
he  discovered  in  their  refuge  in  the  valley  of  Chidna.  Having  no  forces 
sufficient  to  relieve  Kroja,  Scanderheg  visited  Rome,  hoping  to  obtain 
effectual  help  from  Pope  Paul  II.  He  obtained  a  little  money  and  much 
good-will.  On  his  return  to  Albania  he  found  that  some  Venetian  troops 
had  come  to  his  aid,  and  he  was  now  able  to  act.  But  fortune  relieved 
Kroja.  A  chance  blow  wounded  Balaban  mortally,  and  the  blockading 
army  immediately  retreated,  leaving  Albania  in  a  state  of  terrible  devas- 
tation. The  athlete  of  Christendom,"  as  Scanderheg  was  called,  died 
a  year  later  at  Alessio,  recommending  his  son  and  his  country  to  the 
protection  of  Venice  (January,  1467).  For  Venice  his  death  was  a  seri- 
ous event,  as  he  was  the  "  buffer  "  between  the  Ottoman  power  and  her 
possessions  on  the  lower  Adriatic,  such  as  Scodra  and  Durazzo.  Hence- 
forward she  would  have  to  do  her  own  work  here. 

Bosnia,  which  had  borne  its  part  in  the  fatal  battle  of  Kosovo  field 
(1389),  was  inevitably  drawn  into  the  vortex.  The  catastrophe  of  this 
land  received  a  peculiar  character  from  its  religious  condition.  The 
mass  of  the  people,  high  and  low,  was  firmly  devoted  to  the  Patarine  or 
Bogomilian  tenets,  which  Catholics  and  Greeks  branded  as  Manichaean- 
ism.  It  is  one  of  that  series  of  religions  which  range  from  Armenia  to 
Aquitaine,  including  Albigensians  at  one  extremity  and  Paulicians  at 
the  other,  all  apparently  descended  from  the  ancient  "  heresies  "  of 
Adoptianism.  But  the  Catholics  were  eager  to  crush  the  heresy ; 
Franciscan  missionaries  worked  with  all  their  might  in  the  land;  and 
some  of  the  kings  embraced  Catholicism.  In  1412  the  Bogomils 
threatened  to  Turcise,  and  in  1415  they  executed  the  threat,  fighting 
at  Usora  against  Hungary.  When  King  Stephen  Thomas  embraced 
Catholicism  (1446),  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Hungary  hoped  that  the 
false  doctrines  would  be  extirpated.  In  the  south  of  the  Bosnian 
kingdom  was  the  large  vassal  state,  practically  independent,  which  had 
grown  up  out  of  the  lordship  of  Chlum.  The  voivod  of  this  country  was 
Stephen  Vukcic,  and  in  1448  he  received  from  the  Emperor  the  title  of 
"  Duke  (Jlerzog)  of  St  Sabas  ";  whence  the  complex  of  his  lands  derived 
the  name  of  Herzegovina^  the  Duchy.     His  daughter  married  Stephen 


72 


Dealings  with  Bosnia 


[1453-63 


the  King;  but  Stephen  the  Duke  remained  true  to  the  national  faith. 
He  seems  to  have  entered  into  a  sort  of  vassal  relation  to  Mohammad ; 
for,  when  he  makes  peace  with  his  neighbour  Ragusa  in  1454,  we  find 
him  undertaking  not  to  attack  it,  save  at  the  command  of  the  "  Great 
ruler  the  Sultan  of  Turkey."  On  the  fall  of  Constantinople  the  Bosnian 
King  offered  tribute ;  but  Hunyady's  feat  at  Belgrade,  and  the  success  of 
Scanderbeg  in  the  south,  raised  up  King  Stephen's  drooping  hopes  and 
heartened  him  to  refuse  the  payment  (1456).  Before,  however,  any  re- 
sults ensued  from  his  change  of  attitude,  he  made  peace  again  (1458)  ;  his 
object  was  to  have  his  hands  free  for  laying  hold  of  Servia.  In  the  diet 
of  Szegedin  the  Hungarian  King  agreed  that  the  despot's  son,  Stephen 
Tomasevic,  should  become  despot  of  Servia  and  actual  ruler  of  the  little 
northern  strip  of  Servia  that  was  not  in  Turkish  power.  The  position 
here  depended  entirely  on  holding  the  key-fortress  of  Semendra.  But 
the  inhabitants  of  this  place  were  reluctant  to  submit  to  the  Bosnian 
prince  imposed  upon  them;  and  when  in  the  next  year  Mohammad 
appeared  with  an  army,  they  opened  their  gates  to  him.  A  cry  of 
mortification  at  the  fall  of  this  bulwark  arose  in  Hungary  and  Italy,  and 
the  disaster  was  attributed  to  the  corruption  and  cowardice  of  Stephen 
Tomasevic.  The  Hungarian  king  Matthias  Corvinus  never  forgave  him; 
but  the  evidence  seems  to  show  that  the  surrender  was  the  act  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  done  in  his  despite. 

Two  years  later  King  Stephen  Thomas  died,  hampered  in  his  struggle 
with  the  Turk  by  his  feuds  with  his  vassal  and  father-in-law,  the  ruler 
of  Herzegovina,  and  with  the  Ban  of  Croatia,  and  above  all  by  the 
estrangement  in  religion  between  himself  and  his  folk.  The  storm  broke 
upon  his  son  Stephen,  who,  having  apparently  convinced  Pope  Pius  II  of 
his  innocence  in  the  loss  of  Semendra,  was  crowned  by  the  Pope's  Legate, 
and  reconciled  with  the  Hungarian  monarch.  Meanwhile  the  anti- 
national  policy  of  the  kings  was  producing  its  effect.  The  oppressive 
measures  adopted  by  them,  at  the  instigation  of  the  Pope  and  Hungary, 
towards  the  Patarenes,  alienated  many  of  that  sect,  who  fled  into  Turkey, 
or  remaining  in  the  country  acted  as  spies  for  the  Sultan,  while  some 
actually  embraced  Islam.  Mohammad  resolved  to  reduce  Bosnia  to 
complete  subjection.  When  he  sent  an  embassy  to  demand  tribute, 
King  Stephen,  taking  the  envoy  into  a  treasure-chamber,  said,  **Here  is 
the  tribute ;  but  I  have  no  mind  to  send  it  to  the  Sultan."  "It  is  a  fine 
treasure  to  keep,"  replied  the  envoy,  "  but  I  know  not  whether  it  will 
bring  you  luck ;  I  fear,  the  reverse."  When  however  Stephen  failed  to 
gain  any  aid  from  Venice  or  from  Ragusa  (itself  trembling  at  the  danger 
of  a  Turkish  attack),  and  heard  of  the  equipment  of  a  great  Turkish 
army,  he  repented  his  boldness,  and  sent  to  Mohammad  to  offer  the 
tribute  and  ask  for  a  truce  for  fifteen  years.  His  ambassadors  found 
the  Sultan  at  Hadrianople.  The  historian  of  the  Bosnian  war,  Michael 
Konstantinovic,  who  was  in  service  of  the  Turks,  was  there  at  the 


1463-4,  1483]  Conquest  of  Bosnia,  and  of  Herzegovina  73 


time ;  and,  hidden  behind  a  chest,  he  overheard  the  conversation  of  two 
pashas  who  were  in  the  confidence  of  Mohammad.  They  arranged  that 
the  demands  of  the  Bosnian  King  should  be  granted,  and  the  envoys 
dismissed  on  the  Saturday ;  but  on  the  following  Wednesday  the  army 
was  to  start  and  overwhelm  Bosnia,  before  any  aid  from  Hungary  or 
elsewhere  could  reach  it.  So  it  came  to  pass ;  and  though  Michael 
privately  informed  the  Bosnian  ambassadors  of  the  perfidious  intentions 
of  the  Sultan,  they  would  not  believe  him.  Having  occupied  the  district 
of  Podrinje,  Mohammad  attacked  the  royal  residence,  the  mighty  fortress 
of  Bobovac ;  and  here  again  the  special  condition  of  Bosnia  affected  the 
course  of  events.  The  defender.  Prince  Radak,  was  secretly  a  Patarine, 
though  he  had  feigned  to  accept  Catholicism ;  and  he  betrayed  the  town 
to  the  Turk.  The  Turk  rewarded  him  by  decapitation;  —  a  strange 
policy  on  the  part  of  a  conqueror  whose  interest  it  was  to  encourage  such  ^ 
treacheries.  Jajce  in  the  west  of  the  land  capitulated,  and  the  King,  who 
had  fled  to  Kliuc,  surrendered  to  Mahmud  Pasha,  receiving  from  him  a 
written  guarantee  for  his  life  and  freedom.  The  lands  directly  under 
the  Bosnian  Crown  were  soon  subdued,  Stephen  commanding  the  captains 
of  his  castles  to  yield ;  and  Mohammad  marched  southward  to  subdue 
the  Duchy  and  Ragusa.  But  in  this  difficult  country  he  made  little 
way ;  and,  on  failing  to  take  the  capital,  Blagaj,  he  abandoned  the 
enterprise.  It  was  the  Sultan's  policy  to  put  to  death  all  rulers  whom 
he  dethroned;  and,  in  order  to  release  him  from  the  obligation  of 
keeping  a  promise  which  he  had  not  authorised,  a  learned  Persian 
mufti  with  his  own  hand  beheaded  the  Bosnian  King.  It  is  said 
that  Mohammad  carried  off  30,000  boys  to  be  made  into  Janissaries, 
besides  100,000  other  captives.  The  Catholics  who  were  left  fled  from 
the  country ;  and  to  prevent  its  utter  dispeoplement,  Mohammad  gave 
the  Franciscans  a  safeguard,  allowing  the  Christians  free  exercise  of  their 
religion.    Henceforward  the  Franciscan  influence  was  predominant. 

King  Matthias  Corvinus  made  a  vigorous  attempt  to  rescue  Bosnia ; 
and  in  the  year  1463  he  drove  many  of  the  Ottoman  garrisons  out.  But 
he  had  not  made  timely  preparations  for  encountering  the  return  of 
Mohammad,  who  in  the  next  spring  (1464)  came  to  recover  Jajce,  the 
most  important  stronghold  of  all.  The  hard-pressed  phice  was  relieved 
by  a  Hungarian  force  ;  but  at  the  end  of  the  year  Matthias,  who  was 
besieging  another  fort,  was  constrained  by  Mahmud  Pasha  to  retreat. 
Nothing  more  was  done  for  Bosnia.  A  strip  in  the  north,  with  a  few 
fortresses  including  Jajce,  remained  in  the  power  of  Hungary,  and  gave 
the  title  of  "  King  of  Bosnia  "  to  the  voivod  of  Transylvania ;  but  the 
land  as  a  whole  had  passed  under  Muslim  rule.  Herzegovina  was  made 
fully  subject  nearly  twenty  years  later  (1483).  All  the  Slavonic  powers 
of  the  Balkan  peninsula  were  thus  gathered  into  the  Asiatic  empire, 
except  the  tributary  republic  of  Ragusa  and  a  part  of  the  principality  of 
Montenegro,  whose  recesses  afforded  a  refuge  to  many  of  those  who 


74  Montenegro, — Submission  of  Athens  [i456 


saved  themselves  from  the  wreckage  of  the  neighbouring  countries. 
Stephen  Crnoievic,  the  maker  of  Montenegro,  had  spent  his  life  in 
defending  his  country  against  Mohammad's  father,  Murad,  and  had 
fought  hand  in  hand  with  Scanderbeg.  He  died  in  1466.  His  son  Ivan 
the  Black  continued  the  struggle  with  indomitable  spirit,  though  the 
waves  seemed  to  be  closing  over  his  head  when  to  south  of  him  Albania 
was  thrown  open  to  the  Turk  by  the  death  of  Castriotes  and  Bosnia 
was  conquered  in  the  north.  When  the  Venetians  abandoned  Scodra 
to  Mohammad  (1479),  the  very  key  of  Montenegro  seemed  to  have  been 
surrendered ;  and  so  desperate  appeared  the  outlook  that  Ivan  burned 
Zabljak,  the  city  which  his  father  had  founded,  near  the  upper  end  of 
the  lake  of  Scodra,  and  went  up  to  lofty  Cetinje,  which  has  ever  since 
remained  the  capital  of  the  only  Slavonic  princes  of  the  peninsula  who 
never  bowed  the  knee  to  Asiatic  lords.  Ivan  the  Black  was  more  than 
a  heroic  patriot.  To  him  belongs  the  distinction  of  having  established 
(at  Obod)  the  first  Slavonic  printing  press,  from  which  the  earliest  books 
in  Cyrillic  character  were  issued  (1493). 

Meanwhile  Greece  had  been  conquered,  except  a  few  forts  which 
still  remained  to  Venice.  The  Duchy  of  Athens,  which  had  passed  in 
the  previous  century  to  the  Florentine  merchant  family  of  the  Acciajoli, 
was  won ;  the  last  Duke,  Franco,  surrendered  the  Acropolis  to  Omar 
son  of  Turakhan  in  1456.  When  Mohammad  visited  the  city,  two 
years  later,  he  was  amazed  at  the  beauty  of  its  buildings  and  the  hand- 
some quays  of  the  Piraeus,  and  cried :  "  Islam  owes  a  debt  to  the  son  of 
Turakhan."  Subsequently  Franco  was  privately  strangled,  on  account  of 
a  plot  of  some  Athenians  to  restore  him.  But,  on  the  whole,  Athens 
had  reason  to  be  pleased  with  the  change  from  the  rule  of  Catholic 
princes  to  that  of  the  unbelievers.  The  administration  of  justice  and 
the  collection  of  the  tribute  were  assigned  to  local  officers,  and  the  only 
new  burden  was  the  tribute  of  children. 

The  Peloponnesus  was  misgoverned  by  the  two  brothers  of  the  last 
Roman  Emperor,  Thomas  and  Demetrius,  worthless  and  greedy  despots, 
whose  rule  was  worse  than  the  worst  Turkish  tyranny.  Thomas, 
notorious  for  his  cruelty,  resided  at  Patras,  and  oppressed  the  western 
part  of  the  peninsula;  Demetrius,  distinguished  by  his  luxury,  ruled 
over  the  east,  and  his  seat  was  in  the  rocky  fortress  of  Mistra,  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Taygetus,  three  miles  west  of  Sparta.  The  court  officials, 
who  were  the  ministers  of  their  oppression,  were  detested  throughout 
the  land,  which  was  further  distracted  by  the  hatred  between  the  Greek 
inhabitants  and  the  Albanian  shepherds,  who  had  come  down  and 
settled  here  in  the  previous  century,  after  the  fall  of  the  Servian  empire. 
The  invasion  of  the  Turks  in  1452  had  desolated  the  land  and  given  the 
Albanian  herds  a  wider  range  ;  the  Greek  peasants  overcrowded  the 
towns,  and  the  most  thriving  traders  began  to  emigrate.  The  Albanians 
deemed  that  the  right  moment  had  come  for  making  the  Morea  an 


1454-60] 


Conquest  of  the  Morea 


75 


Albanian  state ;  perhaps  they  were  encouraged  by  the  fame  and  success 
of  Scanderbeg.  But  there  was  no  Scanderbeg  among  them  to  unite  and 
keep  them  together ;  they  could  not  agree  upon  a  leader  of  their  own 
race ;  and  they  selected  Manuel  Cantacuzenus  (a  noble,  of  the  family 
which  had  given  an  emperor  to  the  East-Roman  throne)  who  was  now 
ruling  informally  over  the  hillsmen  of  Maina  in  Taygetus.  He  adopted 
the  Albanian  name  of  Ghin,  and  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
insurgents.  By  themselves  the  despots  would  have  been  unable  to  hold 
out  in  their  strong  places ;  but  they  appealed  to  Mohammad,  to  whom 
after  the  fall  of  Constantinople  they  had  become  tributary;  and,  when 
the  governor  of  Thessaly  marched  into  the  peninsula,  the  rebels  sued 
for  peace  (1454).  The  Albanians  received  favourable  terms ;  for  it  was 
Ottoman  policy  to  preserve  them  as  a  make-weight  to  the  Greeks. 
But  the  Morea  was  far  from  being  tranquillised.  Four  years  later 
Mohammad  in  person  led  an  army  thither  to  restore  order,  and  captured 
and  garrisoned  the  Acro-Corinth.  The  enmity  of  the  two  brothers 
Palaeologus  led  to  new  miseries.  They  took  up  arms  against  one 
another,  Thomas  posing  as  the  champion  of  Christendom  against  the 
Turks ;  and  Mohammad  decided  that  an  end  must  be  made  of  Greek 
rule  in  the  Peloponnese.  In  1460  he  descended  for  the  second  time, 
and  he  did  not  hold  his  hand  when  policy  urged  cruelty.  Thus  when 
the  indwellers  of  Leondari  (a  place  on  the  northern  extremity  of 
Taygetus,  overlooking  Megalopolis)  abandoned  their  town  and  took 
refuge  in  the  hills  in  the  citadel  of  Gardiki  —  an  ill-omened  place  where 
thirty-seven  years  before  Turakhan  had  built  pyramids  of  Albanian 
heads  (1423)  —  Mohammad  followed  the  luckless  people  to  this  sequestered 
fort,  and  on  their  surrender  they  were  all  gathered  together  and  slain, 
six  thousand  of  them.  At  Calavryta  a  renegade  Albanian  chief  who 
had  been  in  Turkish  service  was  sawn  in  two.  Here  and  elsewhere 
thousands  were  reduced  to  slavery.  Demetrius  had  submitted  without 
a  blow  at  Mistra ;  Thomas  fled  to  Corfu  and  ended  his  life  at  Rome  as 
a  pensioner  of  the  Pope.  It  was  thus  that  the  Morea  became  perhaps 
the  most  miserable  province  in  the  Turkish  realm  ;  nor  can  there  be  any 
doubt  but  that  Mohammad  deliberately  intended  this  to  be  its  fate.  He 
unpeopled  and  desolated  it,  so  that  it  might  present  no  allurements  to  a 
foreign  invader  and  have  no  spirit  to  be  restless.  Six  maritime  places 
still  belonged  to  Venice  :  —  Argos,  Nauplia  and  Thermisi  in  the  east,  and 
Coron,  Modon  and  Navarino  in  the  west,  to  which  we  must  add  Aegina. 
The  little  town  of  Monemvasia,  which  Frankish  speech  corrupted  to 
Malvoisy,  on  the  rocky  east  coast  of  Laconia,  held  out  for  four  years, 
in  the  name  of  Thomas  Palaeologus,  and  then  placed  itself  under 
the  protection  of  Venice  (1464). 

The  withdrawal  of  Genoa  from  the  field,  and  the  conquest  of  the 
Morea  and  Bosnia,  followed  by  the  death  of  Scanderbeg,  devolved  the 
whole  defence  of  the  coasts  of  the  Illyrian  peninsula  and  the  Aegean 


76  Plans  to  organise  a  Crusade  [i453-5 


upon  the  republic  of  St  Mark.  New  Phocaea  and  the  northern  islands 
(Lemnos,  Imbros,  Samothrace,  Thasos)  had  been  successively  conquered 
(1456-7)  ;  and  in  1462  Lesbos,  which  had  become  a  very  nest  of  pirates 
from  Spain  and  Sicily,  was  annexed  to  the  Turkish  dominion.  Its  last 
Genoese  lord,  Nicolo  Gattilusio,  was  strangled ;  one-third  of  the  in- 
habitants were  enslaved,  one-third  deported  to  augment  the  population 
of  Constantinople,  and  the  rest,  the  poorest  and  the  worst,  were  left  to 
till  the  land  and  gather  in  the  vintage.  As  bases  for  maritime  war  in 
the  Aegean,  Venice  still  possessed  Negroponte,  Candia,  together  with 
Nauplia  ("  Romanian  Naples  "),  and  had  command  of  the  islands  com- 
posing the  Duchy  of  Naxos. 

The  inevitable  war  broke  out  in  1463,  and  its  first  scene  was  the 
Morea.  Single-handed,  Venice  was  scarcely  equal  to  the  work,  and  the 
delay  of  ten  years  made  the  task  more  arduous. 

Never  was  there  a  moment  at  which  a  common  effort  of  the  Christian 
powers  of  Europe  was  more  imperatively  needed ;  never  a  moment  at 
which  such  an  effort  was  less  feasible.  The  monarchs  were  not  blind 
to  the  menace  of  the  new  and  deadly  ecumenical  force  which  was  hurled 
within  range  of  their  kingdoms ;  they  discerned  and  owned  the  peril ; 
but  internal  policy  and  the  consolidation  of  their  power  at  home  so 
wholly  absorbed  their  interest,  that  nothing  less  than  a  Turkish  advance 
to  the  Upper  Danube  or  the  Rhine  would  have  availed  to  stir  them 
into  action.  The  Emperor  Frederick  III  had  not  remained  unmoved 
by  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  but  his  strained  relations  with  Hungary 
as  well  as  the  affairs  of  the  Empire  hindered  him  from  stretching  a 
hand  to  save  Servia.  Yet  at  his  side  was  a  man  who  fully  realised  the 
jeopardy,  and  conceived  the  project,  to  which  he  devoted  himself  heart 
and  soul,  of  stirring  up  the  princes  of  Europe  to  wage  a  holy  war  against 
the  infidel.  This  was  Aeneas  Sylvius,  bishop  of  Siena.  He  utters  his 
idea  immediately  after  the  fall  of  the  City  in  a  letter  to  Pope  Nicholas  V : 
"  Mohammad  is  among  us  ;  the  sabre  of  the  Turks  waves  over  our  head  ; 
the  Black  Sea  is  shut  to  our  ships ;  the  foe  possess  Wallachia,  whence 
they  will  pass  into  Hungary  —  and  Germany.  And  we  meanwhile  live 
in  strife  and  enmity  among  ourselves.  The  Kings  of  France  and 
England  are  at  war  ;  the  princes  of  Germany  have  leapt  to  arms  against 
one  another ;  Spain  is  seldom  at  peace,  Italy  never  wins  repose  from 
conflicts  for  alien  lordship.  How  much  better  to  turn  our  arms  against 
the  enemies  of  our  faith !  It  devolves  upon  you,  Holy  Father,  to  unite 
the  kings  and  princes,  and  urge  them  to  gather  together  to  take  counsel 
for  the  safety  of  the  Christian  world." 

A  vain  idea,  inappropriate  to  the  conditions  of  the  age,  but  which  was 
to  hover  in  the  air  for  man}^  years  to  come  and  inspire  abundance  of 
useless  talk  and  empty  negotiations !  The  urgent  words  of  Aeneas  and 
a  letter  of  the  Emperor  roused  the  Pope  to  an  action  which  neither  of 
them  had  contemplated;  he  issued  a  bull  imposing  a  tithe  for  a  war 


1454-5]  Obstacles  to  a  Crusade.  —  Diets. 


77 


against  the  infidel, — thus,  as  Aeneas  himself  owned,  seeking  to  cure  one 
evil  by  another. 

The  chief  interest  perhaps  of  the  efforts  made  by  Nicholas  and  his 
successors  to  bring  about  an  European  peace,  for  the  sake  of  driving 
back  the  Turk  and  recovering  Constantinople,  lies  in  the  measure  which 
they  suggest  of  the  distance  which  the  world  had  travelled  since  the  age 
of  the  Crusades.  In  the  eleventh  and  in  the  twelfth,  even  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  a  religious  sentiment  could  stir  the  princes  and  the  peoples  of 
Europe  to  go  forth,  not  to  avert  a  danger,  but  to  rescue  a  holy  place  of 
pilgrimage.  But  in  the  fifteenth,  though  the  unbeliever  had  won  his 
way  into  Europe,  had  reached  the  Danube  and  threatened  the  Adriatic, 
the  imminent  danger  to  Christendom  left  Christendom  lukewarm. 
Except  religious  zeal,  there  was  no  force  which  could  compel  an 
European  effort.  With  the  growth  of  humanism "  the  old  kind  of 
religious  enthusiasm  had  passed  away.  Pope  Nicholas  himself  illustrated 
the  change  of  things  since  the  days  of  Urban  II,  when,  at  the  very  time 
of  his  proclaiming  a  Crusade,  he  privately  sent  agents  to  the  East,  to 
rescue  from  the  deluge  all  Greek  manuscripts  they  could  lay  hands  on. 

There  were  however  special  reasons,  besides  the  general  lukewarmness, 
that  accounted  for  the  failure  of  the  first  papal  efforts.  Nothing  could 
be  effectually  done  without  the  co-operation  of  Venice ;  and  Venice,  as  we 
saw,  made  on  her  own  account  an  advantageous  treaty  with  Mohammad. 
The  Emperor,  who  professed  to  support  the  idea  of  a  Crusade,  was 
hindered  from  energetic  action  by  his  ill  relations  with  Hungary.  The 
demand  for  money,  which  might  have  enabled  the  Pope  to  organise  an 
armament,  was  highly  unpopular.  And  not  the  least  serious  impediment 
was  the  intolerance  which  divided  the  Catholics  from  the  Greek  Church, 
and  prevented  them  from  feeling  any  true  pity  for  the  forlorn  prospects 
of  their  fellow-Christians  in  Greece  and  Servia,  or  any  sincere  desire  to 
save  them.  It  was  futile  for  Aeneas  Sylvius  to  say  that  the  Greeks  were 
not  heretics,  but  only  schismatics ;  they  were  generally  regarded  as  worse 
than  infidels.  The  only  prince  who  might  have  been  ready  to  make 
sacrifices,  if  any  common  action  had  been  organised,  was  Duke  Philip 
of  Burgundy.  In  the  spring  of  1454  a  diet  was  held  at  Ratisbon,  but  the 
essential  business  was  deferred  to  a  second  diet  at  Frankfort  in  the 
autumn;  and  it  came  to  a  third  at  Wienerisch-Neustadt  (February, 
1455).  Aeneas  Sylvius  was  persuasive  and  eloquent;  but  the  meetings 
had  no  result.  At  the  two  later  diets  the  appeals  of  John  of  Capistrano 
produced  a  sensation  from  which  much  was  hoped.  Like  Peter  the 
Hermit,  he  possessed  the  faculty  of  stirring  the  common  folk  in  open-air 
assemblies.  On  the  death  of  Pope  Nicholas,  the  papal  chair  was  filled  by 
a  Spaniard,  Calixtus  III  (March,  1455),  who  seemed  to  have  no  less 
burning  zeal  for  the  holy  war  than  John  of  Capistrano  and  Aeneas 
himself.  He  made  a  solemn  vow  to  dedicate  all  his  strength  to  the 
recovery  of  Constantinople  and  to  the  extermination  of  the  "  devilish 


78       Council  of  Mantua,  —  Fall  of  Trehizond  [1458-61 


sect "  of  Mohammad.  For  three  and  a  half  years  he  wrought  and  hoped, 
but  with  all  his  efforts  could  do  no  more  than  send  a  few  ducats  to 
Scanderbeg,  or  float  a  few  galleys  to  harass  the  shores  of  the  eastern 
Aegean.  He  was  succeeded  by  Aeneas  Sylvius,  under  the  name  of 
Pius  II  (August,  1458).  While  the  West  had  been  talking,  Mohammad 
had  been  advancing;  and  in  a  great  Council,  assembled  with  much  trouble 
at  Mantua  (1459),  Pius  said :  "Each  of  his  victories  is  the  path  to  a  new 
victory  ;  he  will  conquer  the  kings  of  the  West,  abolish  the  Gospel,  and 
ultimately  impose  the  law  of  Mohammad  on  all  peoples."  The  insincere 
attitude  of  the  Venetians  frustrated  any  results  that  might  have  been 
brought  about  by  the  assembly  at  Mantua.  These  fruitless  diets  and 
councils  are  a  dull  and  dead  page  in  history;  but  they  represent  the  efforts 
of  the  European  states  to  discuss  the  same  Eastern  Question  which  we 
have  seen  them  deal  with  in  our  own  day  at  the  Congress  of  Berlin. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  policies  for  the  western  enemies  of  Mohammad 
was  to  enter  into  communication  with  his  enemies  in  the  orient  and 
attempt  to  concert  some  common  action.  Such  negotiations  had  been 
set  on  foot  by  Popes  Nicholas  and  Calixtus.  The  last  two  sovereigns  of 
the  dynasty  of  the  Grand  Comneni  of  Trehizond,  who  were  now  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Roman  Empire,  John  IV  and  David,  had  endeavoured 
to  organise  an  alliance  of  the  principalities  of  Asia  Minor  and  Armenia, 
and  to  gain  the  support  of  Persia.  It  was  upon  Uzun  Hasan,  prince  of 
the  Turcomans  of  the  White  Sheep,  that  they  above  all  relied.  In  1459 
David  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  announcing  the  conclusion  of  such 
a  league,  and  expressing  the  conviction  that,  if  East  and  West  were  to 
strike  together  now,  the  Ottoman  could  be  abolished  from  the  earth. 
But  the  league  availed  not  David,  when  two  years  later  Mohammad  came 
to  destroy  the  empire  of  Trehizond  (1461),  and  Uzun  Hasan  left  him  in 
the  lurch.  He  surrendered  on  the  offer  of  favourable  treatment;  but  he 
was  not  more  fortunate  than  the  King  of  Bosnia ;  he  and  his  family  were 
afterwards  put  to  death.  At  the  same  time  Mohammad  seized  Genoese 
Amastris,  and  likewise  Sinope,  an  independent  Seljuk  state ;  and  thus  he 
became  master  of  the  whole  southern  board  of  the  Pontic  sea. 

It  was  about  this  time  (1460)  that  Pope  Pius  indited  a  most  curious 
letter  to  Mohammad,  proposing  that  the  Sultan  should  embrace  Chris- 
tianity, and  become,  under  the  patronage  of  the  Roman  see,  "  Emperor 
of  the  Greeks  and  the  East."  A  little  thing,  he  wrote,  only  a  drop  of 
water,  will  make  you  the  greatest  of  mortals ;  be  baptised,  and  without 
money,  arms,  or  fleet  you  will  win  the  greatest  lordship  in  Christendom. 
Had  this  chimerical  proposal  been  seriously  meant,  it  would  argue  in 
Aeneas  an  almost  incredibly  fanciful  and  unpractical  mind;  but,  when  we 
find  that  he  himself  composed  Mohammad's  answer,  we  may  infer  that  the 
letter  was  written  as  a  rhetorical  exercise,  and  never  intended  to  be  sent. 

The  prospect  looked  brighter  in  1463,  when  the  breach  at  length 
came  between  Venice  and  the  Sultan.  An  offensive  and  defensive  alliance 


1463-70]       Venetian  War;  fall  of  Negroponte 


79 


was  concluded  between  the  Pope,  Venice,  and  the  King  of  Hungary ;  the 
Duke  of  Burgundy  joined  it.  The  co-operation  of  Venice  seemed  a 
security  that  business  was  meant  at  last.  The  Pope,  though  he  was 
advanced  in  years,  resolved  to  lead  the  Crusade  himself ;  Ancona  was  ap- 
pointed as  the  m us te ring-place  ;  and  thither  streamed  from  all  countries 
bands  of  poor  and  ill-furnished  people,  drawn  by  the  hope  of  booty  (1464). 
But  neither  the  Venetian  vessels  which  were  to  transport  them  to  Greece, 
nor  the  princes  who  were  to  lead  them,  appeared  ;  and  Ancona  and  the 
whole  country  round  about  groaned  under  their  excesses.  When  Pius 
arrived  in  June,  he  found  but  the  remnant  of  a  disbanded  rabble ;  and, 
overcome  with  disappointment,  this  victim  of  an  idea  out  of  season  fell 
ill  and  died. 

Venice,  unlike  the  Pope,  was  in  contact  with  realities.  The  war  had 
broken  out  in  Greece  by  the  Turkish  capture  of  Argos,  which  a  Greek 
priest  betrayed.  The  Venetians  laid  siege  to  Corinth,  and  built  a  wall 
— the  old  "Six-mile"  wall  —  across  the  Isthmus;  and  had  they  been 
directed  by  a  brave  and  competent  commander,  they  would  have  captured 
the  key  of  the  Morea.  But,  disheartened  by  defeat  in  some  small  en- 
gagements with  Omar  Pasha  who  had  marched  up  from  the  south  of  the 
peninsula  to  raise  the  siege,  they  abandoned  the  defence  of  the  Isthmus, 
before  Mahmud  Pasha,  the  grand  vezir,  arrived  with  an  army  from  the 
north  (1463).  Their  failure  at  this  favourable  tide  put  a  term  to  their 
chances  of  recovering  ground  in  the  Peloponnesus.  An  ineffectual  mari- 
time war  was  prosecuted  for  the  next  six  years  (1464-9)  ;  and  then  the 
great  blow  to  Venetian  power  was  struck.  At  the  beginning  of  June 
1470  a  fleet  of  108  large  galleys  and  nearly  200  small  sail,  commanded  by 
Mahmud,  set  sail  for  the  Euripus,  and  by  land  Mohammad  himself  led 
an  army  probably  numbering  about  80,000.  The  usual  size  of  his  armies 
seems  to  have  been  from  80,000  to  100,000,  though  they  are  generally 
set  at  far  larger  figures  by  the  vanity  of  his  defeated  foes.  The  Sultan 
had  resolved  to  rob  Venice  of  her  most  valuable  station,  the  strong  fort 
of  Chalcis  or  Egripos  (which  the  Latins  further  corrupted  to  Negroponte, 
with  an  allusion  to  the  bridge  which  connected  it  with  the  mainland). 
Against  this  great  double  armament  Venice  had  nothing  ready  to  oppose 
but  the  strength  of  the  well-provisioned  city's  walls,  the  resolution  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  thirty-five  galleys  which  were  in  the  Aegean  under 
Nicold  da  Canal e.  This  captain  could  not  venture  to  guard  the  Straits 
against  the  far  superior  squadron  ;  but,  had  he  remained  hard  by,  he  might, 
it  was  thought,  have  effectually  impeded  Mohammad's  construction  of  a 
bridge  of  boats  from  the  mainland  to  the  shore  of  the  island.  But  he 
sailed  away  to  beat  up  reinforcements  in  Crete.  The  siege  operations 
lasted  for  four  weeks.  In  a  final  storm  Mohammad,  apparently  aided  by 
treachery,  took  the  city  in  the  teeth  of  a  desperate  defence  (July  12). 
All  the  Italians  who  survived  the  conflict  were  executed;  the  Greeks 
were  enslaved.    At  this  crisis  Canale  covered  himself  with  shame.  He 


80 


Venetian  War;  fall  of  Kroja 


[1471-8 


had  returned  to  the  Euripus ;  his  small  squadron  was  within  sight  of 
the  city ;  the  garrison  was  signalling  to  him ;  and  he  made  no  effort  to 
save  the  place.  If  he  had  broken  the  boat-bridge,  as  Hunyady  had  done 
at  Belgrade,  he  would  probably  have  rescued  Negroponte ;  it  was  his 
plainest  duty  to  try,  and  Venice  punished  him  for  his  faineanee.  After 
the  fall  of  its  bulwark,  the  whole  island  passed  into  Turkish  hands. 

The  event  created  in  the  West  little  less  consternation  than  the  fall 
of  Constantinople  itself.  Pope  Paul  II  and  old  Cardinal  Bessarion  were 
fluttered ;  and  Sixtus  IV  (who  succeeded  in  1471),  in  conjunction  with 
Ferdinand  of  Naples,  accomplished  something  more  considerable  than  the 
western  powers  had  yet  done.  They  sent  a  number  of  galleys  to  join 
Pietro  Mocenigo,  an  able  seaman  whom  Venice  had  chosen  captain  of  her 
fleet.  At  Samos  in  1472  Mocenigo  commanded  85  vessels,  of  which  48 
were  furnished  by  Venice  and  her  dependencies,  18  by  the  Pope,  17  by 
Ferdinand,  and  2  by  Rhodes  :  an  armament  notable  as  the  greatest  that 
the  combination  of  Christian  powers  at  this  time  achieved.  The  Venetian 
admiral,  who  had  taken  on  board  a  number  of  Albanian  stradioti,  con- 
ducted a  war  of  raids  with  skill,  swooping  down  and  plundering  Passagio, 
a  trading-town  over  against  Chios ;  burning  Smyrna ;  pillaging  the 
quays  of  Satalia,  then  a  mart  of  the  oriental  spice-trade  ;  helping  the  royal 
house  of  Cyprus.  One  brilliant  feat  was  wrought  by  a  Sicilian,  who 
venturing  into  the  Dardanelles  with  six  companions  fired  the  Turkish 
arsenal  of  Gallipoli,  and  expiated  his  daring  by  a  cruel  death.  Such 
warfare  was  highly  agreeable  to  the  mercenaries  who  were  paid  on  the 
system  of  receiving  a  part  of  the  booty ;  but  it  was  hopelessly  ineffectual, 
and  Venice  recognised  that  war  must  be  waged  by  land.  The  scene  was 
shifted  to  Albania,  where  Scanderbeg's  legacy  had  fallen  to  Venice.  Here 
all  turned  on  the  possession  of  Scodra  (Scutari),  the  key  of  Albania,  which 
had  the  same  kind  of  strategic  significance  as  Negroponte  or  Acro-Corinth. 
The  Sultan  was  determined  to  secure  it,  and  Sulayman,  governor  of 
Rumelia,  laid  siege  to  it  in  1474.  He  was  repelled  by  its  brave  defender 
Antonio  Loredano  ;  and  the  stress  of  need  which  the  inhabitants  endured 
was  shown,  the  moment  the  siege  was  raised,  by  their  general  rush  for 
the  gates  to  quench  their  thirst  in  the  waters  of  the  Bojana.  In  1477 
the  Turks  renewed  their  designs  in  this  quarter  by  besieging  Kroja,  and 
at  the  same  time  their  light  cavalry  (akindje)  harassed  Venice  in  the  north 
by  overrunning  Friuli.  The  garrison  of  Kroja,  reduced  to  eating  their 
dogs,  and  receiving  no  aid  from  Venice,  submitted  in  the  ensuing  year, 
and  Mohammad  advanced  to  the  second  siege  of  Scodra.  The  Venetian 
republic  was  hard  pressed.  In  these  days  its  yearly  revenue  did  not  touch 
100,000  ducats ;  nor  could  the  Venetians  at  this  moment  expect  aid 
from  other  powers  ;  Ferdinand  of  Naples  was  actually  intriguing  with 
the  Turk,  and  Friuli  was  exposed  to  the  inroads  of  the  infidels 
from  Bosnia  ;  the  plague  was  raging  in  the  lagoons.  Unable  to  relieve 
Scodra,  Venice  resolved  to  make  peace  and  consented  to  hard  conditions, 


14T0-80]    Peace  with  Venice;  capture  of  Otranto 


81 


resigning  Scodra  and  Kroja,  Negroponte,  Lemnos  and  the  Mainote  dis- 
trict in  Laconia.  She  agreed  to  pay  a  yearly  sum  of  10,000  ducats  for 
free  commerce  in  the  Ottoman  dominions,  and  recovered  the  right  of 
keeping  as  before  a  Bailo  (consul)  at  Constantinople  (January,  1479). 

This  peace  was  agreeable  neither  to  the  Pope  nor  to  Hungary.  King 
Matthias  Corvinus  fancied  that  he  was  born  and  trained  to  be  a  champion 
against  the  infidel.  But  other  occupations  prevented  this  remarkable 
ruler  from  achieving  much  in  this  direction.  His  greatest  feat  was  the 
capture  of  Szab^cs,  a  fortress  on  the  Save  built  by  Mohammad  (1476). 
He  was  fain  to  follow  up  this  success,  but  wars  with  the  Elector  Albrecht 
of  Brandenburg  distracted  him  during  the  next  years,  and  nothing 
further  was  effected  until  in  1479  his  generals  inflicted  a  crushing 
defeat  upon  a  Turkish  army  in  Transylvania. 

Venice  now  held  nothing  on  the  Albanian  coast  but  Durazzo,  Anti- 
vari,  and  Butrinto;  while  the  Turks,  in  possession  of  Albania,  began  to 
push  forward  to  the  Ionian  Islands  and  Italy.  Zante,  Cephalonia,  and 
Santa  Maura  belonged  to  the  Neapolitan  family  of  Tocco,  with  the  title 
of  "  Count  of  Cephalonia  and  Duke  of  Leucadia."  Mohammad  seized 
these  three  islands  (1479) ;  but  an  agreement  in  1485  gave  Zante  to 
Venice,  who  paid  a  tribute  for  it  to  the  Porte. 

The  condition  of  Italy  at  this  juncture  allured  Mohammad  across 
the  Adriatic.  The  King  of  Naples  was  at  war  with  Florence  and 
was  nursing  ambitious  designs  of  making  himself  lord  of  all  Italy,  and 
Venice  watched  his  proceedings  with  the  deepest  suspicion.  It  is  a 
disputed  question  whether  Venice  urged  the  Ottoman  Sultan  (as  suc- 
cessor to  the  Byzantine  emperors)  to  lay  claim  to  southern  Italy ;  but 
at  all  events  in  1480  Mohammad  sent  an  armament  under  Kedyk 
Ahmad,  and  Otranto  fell  at  once.  The  commandant  and  the  arch- 
bishop were  sawn  in  two  —  the  favourite  Ottoman  mode  of  intimidation 
at  this  time.  From  the  surrounding  land  some  people  were  transported 
as  slaves  to  Albania.  But  the  Turks  made  no  progress.  Want  of  pro- 
visions hampered  them,  and  presently  Ferdinand  arrived  with  an  army 
and  confined  the  invaders  to  Otranto.  But  help  was  urgently  needed ; 
for  it  was  known  that  the  Sultan  would  come  himself  next  year  with 
an  overwhelming  force.  Except  a  few  troops  and  galleys  sent  from 
Spain  by  Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  no  help  came.  The  situation  was, 
however,  unexpectedly  saved.  Mohammad's  attention  was  diverted  by 
the  more  pressing  necessity  of  conquering  Rhodes ;  and  then  his  sudden 
death  delivered  Rhodes  and  Italy  alike. 

Throughout  the  years  of  the  Venetian  war  Mohammad  had  been 
busy  and  fortunate  elsewhere,  in  the  east  and  in  the  north.  Of  the 
small  principalities  which  had  sprung  up  after  the  collapse  of  the 
Seljuk  power  in  Asia  Minor,  only  that  of  Caramania  (Lycaonia  and 
Isauria  with  parts  of  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  and  Cilicia)  still  remained 
independent.    The  death  of  its  lord,  Ibrahim  (1463),  was  followed 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


6 


82 


Battle  of  Terdshan 


[1473 


by  a  war  among  his  sons,  which  gave  Mohammad  an  opportunity.  The 
capture  of  Konia  (Iconium)  and  Caraman  (Laranda)  secured  him  the 
rule  of  the  whole  land  except  Seleucia  on  the  south-eastern  coast,  and 
he  assigned  this  important  province,  which  he  systematically  dispeopled, 
to  his  youngest  son  Mustafa.  This  conquest,  following  upon  that  of 
Trebizond,  brought  on  the  inevitable  struggle  with  the  rival  oriental 
monarch,  Uzun  Hasan  the  Turcoman.  He  had  extended  his  sovereignty 
from  the  Oxus  to  the  limits  of  Caramania,  and  a  large  part  of  Persia 
was  under  his  dominion.  Caramania  was  a  useful  "  buffer-state."  Uzun 
Hasan  wrote  to  Mohammad  demanding  the  cession  of  Trebizond  and 
Cappadocia,  and  complaining  of  the  execution  of  King  David  Com- 
nenus.  Mohammad  promised  to  meet  him  at  the  head  of  an  army. 
The  Turcoman  invaded  Caramania  to  restore  the  dethroned  princes 
and  took  Tokat  (1471)  ;  but  in  the  next  year  Mustafa  defeated  him 
in  a  hard-fought  battle  by  the  shores  of  Lake  Caralis.  The  decisive 
battle  was  fought  in  1473  (July  26)  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  near 
Terdshan.  Mustafa  and  his  brother  Bayazid  led  each  a  wing  of  their 
father's  army,  and  were  opposed  respectively  to  the  two  sons  of  Uzun 
Hasan.  The  strife  swayed  long,  before  it  was  decided  by  the  Ottoman 
artillery.  Mohammad  wrote  himself :  "  The  fight  was  bloody,  costing 
me  the  bravest  of  my  pashas  and  many  soldiers;  without  my  artillery, 
which  terrified  the  Persian  horses,  the  issue  would  have  been  longer 
doubtful."  The  significance  of  this  victory,  of  which  Mohammad  pro- 
bably thought  more  than  of  all  his  achievements  except  the  capture 
of  Constantinople,  lay  in  its  securing  Caramania  and  Asia  Minor.  He 
was  now  free  to  follow  out  his  schemes  of  conquest  in  Europe. 

The  Roumanians  north  of  the  Danube  had  long  ago  been  entangled 
in  the  ecumenical  struggle.  Mirtschea  the  Great,  prince  of  Wallachia, 
who  by  astute  diplomacy  steered  his  way  between  Hungary  and  Poland, 
had  fought  for  Christendom  in  the  disastrous  battles  of  Kosovo  (1389) 
and  Nicopolis  (1396),  but  was  obliged  to  submit  to  the  suzerainty  of 
Mohammad  I  (1412).  After  his  death  civil  wars  between  pretenders 
desolated  and  demoralised  the  principality  for  forty  years,  until  (1456)  a 
strong  man  came  to  the  helm  in  the  person  of  Vlad  IV.  The  princes  of 
Wallachia  and  of  Moldavia  were  elected  by  the  people  out  of  the  princely 
families ;  but  they  had  unlimited  power,  being  the  supreme  judges,  with 
control  over  the  life  and  death  of  their  subjects,  and  the  complete  disposal 
of  the  public  revenue.  Thus  only  a  steely-hearted,  resolute  man  was 
wanted  to  restore  order ;  and  Vlad  accomplished  this  by  a  policy  of 
relentless  severity  which  has  handed  him  down  to  history  under  the  name 
of  the  Devil  or  the  Impaler.  Having  assured  his  throne  and  established 
friendly  relations  with  his  neighbours  Moldavia  and  Hungary,  he  defied 
the  Turk  by  refusing  the  tribute  of  children  which  Wallachia  paid  like 
other  subject-lands.  Mohammad  sent  an  envoy,  Hamza  Pasha,  accom- 
panied by  2000  men,  with  secret  instructions  to  seize  Vlad's  person. 


1457-76]    Roumanian  Wars.  —  Conquest  of  Caffa  83 


But  the  Wallachian  overreached  them,  and  impaled  them  all ;  then 
crossing  the  Danube,  he  laid  waste  the  Turkish  territory.  In  1462 
Mohammad  arrived  at  the  head  of  an  army,  bringing  with  him  Radu, 
Vlad's  brother,  to  take  the  place  of  the  latter.  Like  Darius,  he  sent  a 
fleet  of  transports  to  the  Danube  to  carry  the  army  across.  Vlad  with- 
drew his  forces  into  the  deep  oak-forests,  which  formed  a  natural  forti- 
fication. One  night  he  penetrated  in  disguise  into  the  Turkish  camp, 
hoping  to  slay  Mohammad ;  but  he  mistook  the  tent  of  a  general  for 
that  of  the  Sultan.  By  his  address  and  boldness  he  seems  to  have 
inflicted  a  serious  repulse  on  the  invaders;  but  he  was  presently  attacked 
on  the  other  side  by  Stephen,  the  prince  of  Moldavia.  After  his  divided 
army  had  sustained  a  double  defeat,  he  fled  to  Hungary,  and  his  brother 
Radu  was  enthroned  by  the  Turks. 

The  stress  of  the  struggle  now  devolved  upon  the  northern  princi- 
pality of  Moldavia,  and  there  too  a  strong  man  had  arisen.  In  1456 
Peter  Aron  gave  tribute  to  the  Turk,  but  this  prince  was  overthrown 
in  the  following  year  by  Stephen  the  Great.  At  first  Stephen  did  not 
rise  to  his  r61e  of  a  champion  against  the  unbelievers.  He  set  his  desire 
on  securing  the  fortress  of  Kilia  (near  the  mouth  of  the  Danube),  which 
belonged  to  Hungary  and  Wallachia  in  common,  and  he  actually  urged 
Mohammad's  invasion.  But  he  failed  to  win  Kilia  at  this  moment,  and 
his  capture  of  it  three  years  later,  when  Wallachia  belonged  to  the 
Turk,  was  an  act  of  hostility  to  Mohammad.  Five  years  later  he  in- 
vaded Wallachia,  dethroned  Radu,  and  set  up  in  his  stead  La'iot,  a 
member  of  the  Bassarab  family  which  has  given  its  name  to  Bessarabia. 
At  this  time  Mohammad  was  occupied  with  other  things,  but  the  con- 
flict would  come  sooner  or  later,  and  Stephen  stirred  himself  to  knit 
alliances  and  form  combinations  to  east  and  to  west.  He  was  in  com- 
munication with  Venice,  with  the  Pope,  with  Uzun  Hasan.  The  victory 
of  Terdshan  left  Mohammad  free  to  throw  an  army  into  Moldavia  under 
the  command  of  Sulayman  Pasha.  Stephen,  reinforced  by  contingents 
sent  by  the  Kings  of  Poland  and  Hungary,  gained  at  Racova  (on  the 
Birlad  stream)  a  great  victory  —  the  glory  of  his  reign  —  which  entitles 
him  to  a  place  near  Hunyady  and  Scanderbeg  (1475).  But  a  new 
element  was  brought  into  the  situation  in  the  same  year  by  the  simul- 
taneous expedition  which  was  sent  against  the  Genoese  settlements 
of  the  Crimea.  Caffa  capitulated — 40,000  inhabitants  were  sent  to 
Constantinople ;  and  its  fall  was  followed  by  the  surrender  of  Tana 
(Azov)  and  the  other  stations.  Mohammad  could  now  launch  the 
Tartars  of  this  region  against  Moldavia  on  the  flank ;  and  next  year 
(1476)  this  befell.  Unassisted  by  Poland  or  Hungary,  who  were  each 
suspicious  of  his  relations  with  the  other ;  attacked  by  the  Wallachian 
prince  whom  he  had  himself  enthroned ;  assailed  on  the  other  side  by 
the  Tartars,  —  Stephen  was  worsted  with  great  loss  by  a  Turkish  army 
led  by  the  Sultan,  who  had  come  to  avenge  the  shame  of  Racova,  in  a 


84         Siege  of  Rhodes, — Death  of  Mohammad  [i480-l 


forest  glade  which  is  called  the  Place  of  Battles  (Rasboieni).  But  he 
rallied,  and  Mohammad  retired  without  subduing  the  country.  Eight 
years  after  this  the  Turks  seized  the  two  fortress-keys  of  Moldavia  —  Kilia 
and  Tschetatea  Alba  (1484).  Before  his  death,  Stephen  made  a  vain 
attempt  to  form  an  East-European  league  against  the  infidel  —  embracing 
Moscow  and  Lithuania,  Poland  and  Hungary.  But  his  experience  con- 
vinced him  that  the  struggle  was  hopeless,  and  on  his  death-bed  (1504) 
the  advice  which  he  gave  to  his  son  Bogdan  was  to  submit  to  the 
Turkish  power.  On  the  accession  of  the  Sultan  Selim  (1512)  Moldavia 
submitted,  paying  a  yearly  sum  to  the  Porte,  but  keeping  the  right  of 
freely  electing  her  own  princes. 

The  war  with  Venice  and  the  struggle  with  Uzun  Hasan  had  hin- 
dered Mohammad  from  concentrating  his  forces  upon  the  subjugation 
of  Rhodes,  where  the  Knights  of  St  John  maintained  an  outpost  of 
Christendom.  On  the  conclusion  of  the  Venetian  peace  he  began  pre- 
parations for  a  serious  attack  on  Rhodes,  and  in  1480  Masih  Pasha 
sailed  with  a  considerable  fleet  and  laid  siege  to  the  town.  The  whole 
of  Europe  had  been  aware  that  the  blow  was  coming,  and  much  had 
been  done  to  meet  it.  The  defence  devolved  upon  the  Grand-Master 
of  the  Order,  Peter  d'Aubusson,  a  man  "  endued  with  a  martial  soul," 
who  had  learned  "  the  mappes,  the  mathematicks,"  as  well  as  the  art 
of  war,  "but  history  was  his  principal  study."  The  Turks  were  aided 
by  the  local  knowledge  of  a  German  renegade,  and  their  guns,  of 
immense  size  for  that  age,  created  a  sensation.  They  had  sixteen 
bombards,  64  inches  long,  throwing  stone  shot  9  and  11  inches  in 
diameter.  But  the  siege  lasted  two  months,  before  they  forced  an 
entry  into  the  outer  parts  of  the  city.  In  the  terrible  mellay  which 
ensued  the  valour  of  the  knights  pressed  the  Turks  backward,  and  at 
this  moment,  when  the  chance  of  success  depended  on  heartening  the 
troops  to  recover  their  lost  ground,  Masih  Pasha,  in  foolish  confi- 
dence that  the  day  was  won,  issued  an  order  that  no  soldier  should 
touch  the  booty,  since  the  treasures  belonged  to  the  Sultan.  Thus 
deprived  of  a  motive  for  fighting,  the  Turks  fled  to  their  camp,  and 
their  general  raised  the  leaguer.  But,  after  this  shame  dealt  to  his 
arms,  Mohammad  could  not  let  the  island  continue  to  defy  him. 
He  equipped  another  armament  and  resolved  to  lead  it  in  person. 
But  even  as  he  started  he  fell  sick  and  death  overtook  him  (May  3, 
1481) :  an  event  which,  as  it  proved,  meant  a  respite  of  forty 
years  to  the  Latin  lords  of  Rhodes.  The  deeds  of  Mohammad 
show  best  what  manner  of  man  he  was :  a  conqueror  who  saw  in 
conquest  the  highest  statesmanship,  but  who  also  knew  how  to  con- 
solidate and  organise,  and  how  to  adapt  the  principles  of  Islam 
to  political  dealings  with  Christian  States.  We  have  portraits  of 
him  painted  both  by  pen  and  brush.  Contrary  to  the  precepts  of 
his  religion,  he  had  his  picture  painted  by  Gentile  Bellini,  and  is 


1481] 


Accession  of  Bayazid  II 


85 


the  first  great  Mohammadan  sovereign  of  whose  outward  appearance 
we  have  such  evidence.  The  pale,  bearded  face,  set  on  a  short,  thick 
neck,  was  marked  by  a  broad  forehead,  raised  eyebrows,  and  an  eagle 
nose. 

The  situation  and  prospects  of  the  Ottoman  empire  seemed  changed 
on  the  death  of  the  conqueror.  The  prosperity  and  growth  of  that 
empire  depended  wholly  on  the  personality  of  the  autocrat  who  ruled 
it;  and  the  two  sons  whom  Mohammad  left  behind  were  made  in  a 
different  mould  from  their  vigorous  father.  Bayazid  the  elder,  who  was 
governor  of  the  province  of  Amasia,  was  a  man  of  mild  nature  who 
cared  for  the  arts  of  peace,  and  would  have  been  well  contented  to  rest 
upon  the  conquests  which  had  been  already  achieved,  and  to  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  the  labours  of  his  fathers.  Jem,  governor  of  Caramania,  was 
a  bright,  clever  youth,  endowed  with  a  distinguished  poetical  talent ;  he 
might  easily  have  been  lured  into  a  career  of  military  ambition,  but 
perhaps  he  hardly  possessed  the  strength  and  steadfastness  necessary 
for  success.  When  Bayazid  reached  Constantinople,  on  the  news  of 
his  father's  death,  he  found  that  the  Janissaries  had  begun  a  reign 
of  terror  in  the  city.  They  had  slain  the  Grand  Vezir,  who,  being 
disposed  to  espouse  the  cause  of  Jem,  had,  according  to  a  common 
practice  in  such  cases,  concealed  the  Sultan's  death ;  and  they  had 
plundered  the  habitations  of  the  Jews  and  Christians.  They  favoured 
the  claims  of  Bayazid,  and  were  tranquillised  when  they  had  exacted 
from  him  a  pardon  for  their  outbreak  and  an  increase  of  their  pay. 
Meanwhile  Jem  —  who  claimed  the  throne  on  the  ground  that,  though 
the  younger,  he  was  born  in  the  purple  —  had  advanced  to  Brusa,  and 
was  there  proclaimed  Sultan.  But  he  was  willing  to  compromise. 
Through  his  great-aunt  he  made  a  proposal  to  Bayazid  that  they 
should  divide  the  empire  —  Bayazid  to  rule  in  Europe,  and  he  in 
Asia.  The  question  at  stake  was  not  merely  a  personal  one,  the 
extent  of  Bayazid's  sovereignty,  but  the  integrity  and  power  of  the 
Ottoman  empire.  Moreover,  it  involved  a  direct  violation  of  one  of 
the  fundamental  canons  of  Islam :  that  there  shall  be  only  one  supreme 
Imam.  Bayazid's  decision  accordingly  influenced  the  history  of  the  world. 
He  refused  to  accept  Jem's  offer ;  "  the  empire,"  he  said,  "  is  the  bride 
of  one  lord."  The  rival  claims  were  settled  by  the  award  of  battle  in 
the  plains  of  Yenishehr,  where  the  treachery  of  some  of  Jem's  troops  gave 
the  victory  to  Bayazid.  The  defeated  brother  fled  to  Cairo,  and  his 
attempt  in  the  following  year  to  seize  Caramania  in  conjunction  with 
an  exiled  prince  of  that  country  was  repelled.  Then  he  sought  refuge 
at  Rhodes ;  his  chances  of  success  lay  in  the  help  of  the  Christian 
powers  of  Europe. 

Jem  arrived  at  Rhodes  under  a  safe-conduct  from  the  Grand-Master 
and  the  Council  of  the  Knights,  permitting  him  and  his  suite  to  remain 
in  the  island  and  leave  it  at  their  will.    But  it  was  soon  felt  that  it 


86 


Adventures  of  Jem  Sultan 


[1482-95 


was  not  safe  to  keep  the  precious  person  of  the  prince  at  Rhodes,  so 
near  the  realm  of  Bayazid,  who  was  ready  to  resort  to  any  foul  means 
of  seizing  or  destroying  him ;  and  Jem  and  the  Grand-Master  agreed  that 
France  would  be  the  best  retreat,  pending  the  efforts  which  they  hoped 
would  be  made  to  restore  him.  To  France,  accordingly,  Jem  sailed 
(September,  1482).  After  his  departure,  the  Knights  concluded  first  a 
treaty  of  peace  with  Bayazid  for  the  Sultan's  lifetime,  and  secondly  a 
contract  by  which  he  agreed  to  pay  them  45,000  ducats  a  year,  in  return 
for  which  the  Grand-Master  undertook  to  maintain  and  guard  Jem  in 
such  a  way  as  to  cause  no  inconvenience  to  the  Sultan.  In  an  age  when 
the  violation  of  engagements  was  regarded  as  justifiable,  and  was  even  in 
certain  cases  recommended  by  the  heads  of  the  Church,  there  is  no  more 
shameless  instance  of  perfidy  than  this.  D'Aubusson  had  guaranteed 
Jem  his  freedom,  and  undertaken  to  espouse  his  cause ;  he  now  took 
Bayazid's  money  to  be  Jem's  jailor.  His  conduct  could  not  even 
be  defended  on  the  plea  of  the  interests  of  religion,  which  in  those  days 
were  often  furthered  by  dishonesty  and  bad  faith ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  a  treachery  to  the  cause  of  Christendom,  to  which  Jem's  ambitions 
—  according  to  the  letters  which  D'Aubusson  himself  wrote  to  the 
western  powers  —  furnished  so  unique  an  opportunity  against  its  foe. 
For  six  years  Jem  was  kept  a  prisoner  in  France,  being  constantly 
removed  from  one  castle  to  another  by  his  Rhodian  guards,  and  making 
repeated  attempts  to  escape,  which  were  always  frustrated ;  while  the 
Pope,  the  King  of  Naples,  and  the  King  of  Hungary  were  each  seeking 
to  induce  D'Aubusson  to  deliver  the  prince  into  his  hands.  At  length 
Innocent  VIII  came  to  an  arrangement.  The  concession  of  various 
privileges,  and  a  cardinal's  hat  for  D'Aubusson,  persuaded  the  Knights, 
who  were  already  anxious  to  rid  themselves  of  a  charge  which  involved 
them  in  troublesome  relations  with  both  Bayazid  and  the  Sultan  of 
Egypt.  Another  series  of  negotiations  was  required  to  obtain  from 
Charles  VIII  permission  for  Jem  to  leave  France ;  and  not  till  March 
1489  did  the  Turkish  prince  arrive  at  Rome.  Pope  Alexander  VJ,  who 
succeeded  Innocent  in  1492,  and  who  was  threatened  by  the  invasion  of 
Charles  VIII,  affected  the  most  friendly  relations  with  Bayazid  and  had 
recourse  to  him  for  money  and  other  support.  In  1494  the  document 
containing  this  Pope's  instructions  to  his  envoy,  together  with  letters 
from  Bayazid,  was  intercepted  at  Sinigaglia,  in  the  possession  of  Turkish 
envoys  who  had  landed  at  Ancona  and  were  on  their  way  to  Rome. 
The  compromising  papers  were  taken  to  Charles  VIII  at  Florence,  and 
the  Pope's  treachery  to  Christendom  was  exposed.  One  of  the  Sultan's 
communications  to  the  Pope  is  significant.  Considering — wrote  Bayazid 
in  Latin,  a  language  with  which  he  was  well  acquainted — that  sooner  or 
later  Jem  must  die,  it  would  be  well,  for  the  tranquillity  of  his  Holiness 
and  the  satisfaction  of  the  Sultan,  to  hasten  a  death  which  for  him 
would  be  life;  and  therefore  he  implored  the  Pope  to  remove  Jem 


1499-1503] 


Venetian  War 


87 


from  the  vexations  of  this  life  and  send  him  to  a  better  world.  For 
the  dead  body  of  the  prince  he  promised  300,000  ducats,  with  which 
the  Pope  might  buy  estates  for  his  sons.  Charles  VIII  advanced  to 
Rome,  and  the  terms  which  he  made  with  Alexander  VI  comprised  the 
transference  of  Jem  into  his  own  power.  Jem  accompanied  the  King 
southward,  but  he  was  in  ailing  health,  and  at  Capua  became  so  ill  that 
he  could  go  no  further.  He  was  taken  in  a  litter  to  Naples,  and  died 
there  in  high  fever  (February,  1495).  The  Venetians,  who  were  the 
first  to  inform  the  Sultan  of  his  brother's  end,  wrote  in  a  pointed  way 
that  he  had  died  a  natural  death ;  but,  as  it  was  their  policy  at  this 
moment  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Pope,  this  testimony  does  not 
weigh  much  in  deciding  the  question  whether,  as  was  certainly  believed 
at  the  time,  Jem's  health  was  undermined  by  a  deliberate  system  of 
intoxication.  The  insufficiency  of  our  material  compels  us  to  leave  the 
question  open  ;  but  the  circumstances  are  at  least  suspicious,  and  in 
any  case  the  French  were  innocent. 

Thus  for  thirteen  years  the  western  powers  held  Jem  as  a  menace 
over  the  head  of  the  Turkish  Sultan ;  but  this  singular  episode  did  not 
affect  the  course  of  Turkish  history.  A  second  ruler  like  Bayazid, 
Machiavelli  thought,  would  have  rendered  the  Ottoman  power  innocuous 
to  Europe.  The  temper  of  the  man  was  displayed  at  once  not  only  by 
the  abandonment  of  the  Rhodian  expedition,  but  by  a  reduction  of 
tribute  granted  to  Ragusa,  and  by  a  modification  in  Venice's  favour 
of  the  treaty  which  had  recently  been  concluded  with  that  republic 
(1482).  His  reign  was  marked  indeed  by  raids  on  Croatia  and  the 
Dalmatian  coast,  by  intermittent  hostilities  with  Hungary,  by  incursions 
into  Moldavia  and  even  into  Poland ;  but  the  only  serious  war  was  with 
Venice,  which  broke  out  in  1499  after  twenty  years  of  peace.  In  that 
interval  the  republic  had  acquired  the  island  of  Cyprus  (1489)  and 
extended  her  influence  in  the  Aegean,  and  the  Sultan  at  last  deemed 
it  time  to  check  her  course.  Active  naval  preparations  in  the  Turkish 
arsenals  stirred  the  alarm  of  Venice  ;  but  the  Porte  lulled  her  suspicions 
by  furnishing  her  envoy,  Andrea  Zancani,  with  a  document  which 
renewed  and  confirmed  the  peace.  An  experienced  Venetian  resident 
at  Constantinople,  Andrea  Gritti  by  name,  well  acquainted  with  Turkish 
methods,  pointed  out  to  Zancani  that  the  document  was  drawn  up  in 
Latin,  not  in  Turkish,  and  was  therefore  not  considered  binding  by  the 
Porte  ;  but  Zancani,  unable  to  induce  the  Porte  to  give  him  a  new  deed 
in  Turkish,  omitted  to  explain  the  matter  to  the  authorities  at  home. 
Gritti's  surmises  were  true.  Suddenly  the  Sultan  threw  him  and  all  the 
other  Venetians  at  Constantinople  into  prison,  and  presently  sent  forth  a 
fleet  of  270  sail.  Its  destination  was  Lepanto.  It  was  intercepted  by  a 
Venetian  squadron  of  about  half  that  strength,  hastily  got  together,  off 
the  coast  of  Messenia  ;  but  the  brave  seaman  Antonio  Loredano  failed 
in  his  attack  and  perished  himself.    Besieged  by  land  and  sea,  Lepanto 


88         Relations  toith  Persia;  Ismail  the  Soft  [l502 


fell ;  and,  after  its  fall,  the  Turks  made  a  terrible  incursion,  through 
Carniola  and  Friuli,  into  the  Venetian  territory,  advancing  as  far  as 
Vicenza.  The  next  object  of  Bayazid  was  to  drive  Venice  out  of  the 
Morea ;  and  when  she  sued  for  peace  he  demanded  the  cession  of  Modon, 
Coron,  and  Nauplia.  To  this  she  would  not  consent ;  but  in  the  following 
year  Modon  was  besieged  by  Bayazid  himself,  and  the  garrison,  seeing 
that  they  could  not  hold  out,  set  the  place  on  fire  and  perished  in  the 
flames.  Hereupon  Coron,  Navarino,  and  Aegina  capitulated,  and  nothing 
was  left  to  the  republic  but  Nauplia,  which  boldly  and  successfully 
defied  the  foe.  But  the  Venetian  fleet  suddenly  bestirred  itself,  re- 
captured Aegina,  and,  reinforced  by  a  Spanish  armament  under  the 
greatest  captain  of  the  day,  Gonzalo  of  Cordova,  conquered  Cepha- 
lonia.  These  successes  were  followed  up  by  neither  side  in  1501 ;  and 
when  Venice  conquered  Santa  Maura  in  1502,  a  peace  ensued.  Santa 
Maura  was  given  back  ;  Cephalonia  remained  to  Venice ;  Lepanto  and 
the  places  captured  in  the  Morea  were  kept  by  Turkey.  In  the  same 
year  in  which  this  peace  was  concluded  (1503)  a  treaty  for  seven  years 
was  made  between  the  Porte  and  Hungary ;  this  was  intended  to  include 
all  the  powers  of  Europe  —  France  and  England,  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
Naples,  the  Pope  and  the  various  States  of  Italy,  Rhodes  and  Chios, 
Poland,  and  Moldavia. 

From  this  moment  for  the  next  seventeen  years  Europe  had  some 
respite  from  the  Eastern  Question.  There  was  incessant  fear  of  what 
the  Turk  might  do  next,  incessant  talk  of  resisting  him,  incessant  nego- 
tiations against  him  ;  but  there  was  no  actual  war ;  almost  no  Christian 
territory  was  won  for  Islam,  and  no  Christian  territory  won  back  for 
Europe.  The  attention  of  the  Sultan  was  drawn  eastward ;  where  he  had 
to  reckon  with  a  new  power ;  for  the  lordship  of  Persia  had  once  more 
changed  hands.  The  decline  of  the  Turcomans  of  the  White  Sheep  was 
clearly  shown  in  the  circumstance  that  on  the  death  of  Uzun  Hasan  nine 
dynasts  (not  to  speak  of  rival  claimants)  succeeded  in  twenty-four  years. 
Murad,  the  last  of  these,  succumbed  to  the  power  of  Ismail,  a  sheikh  of 
Ardabil,  who  traced  his  descent  to  the  Prophet.  The  decisive  battle  was 
fought  at  Shurur  in  1502  ;  and,  from  his  new- won  capital  at  Tavriz, 
Ismail  advanced  to  the  conquest  of  Persia  and  Khorasan.  The  history 
of  modern  Persia  begins  with  Ismail,  the  first  Shah  —  the  first  of  the 
Safavid  dynasty  which  endured  till  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
(1736).  He  called  himself  a  Safavi,  from  Safi,  an  ancestor  illustrious 
for  piety ;  and  hence  to  contemporary  Europe  he  was  known  as  the  Sofi. 

A  collision  between  the  new  Persian  power  and  the  Turks  was 
rendered  inevitable  by  religious  fanaticism.  To  orthodox  Sunnites  like 
the  Ottomans,  the  heresy  of  the  Shiites  is  more  obnoxious  than  the 
infidelity  of  the  Giaours,  who  are  altogether  outside  the  pale  ;  and,  when 
Bayazid  discovered  that  the  Shiite  doctrines  were  being  propagated  and 
taking  root  in  certain  parts  of  his  Asiatic  dominion,  he  took  steps  to 


1511-12] 


Rebellions  of  Bayazid^s  sons 


89 


check  the  evil  by  transporting  suspected  persons  to  Greece.  The  Shah 
Ismail  then  came  forward  as  the  protector  of  the  Shiites,  and  called  upon 
the  Turkish  Sultan  to  allow  adherents  of  that  belief  to  leave  his  realm. 
But,  though  the  Shah  is  said  to  have  insulted  the  Sultan  by  giving  the 
name  of  Bayazid  to  a  fattened  swine,  war  did  not  break  out  in  Bayazid's 
days.  The  Persian  monarch  showed  his  anticipation  of  trouble  by 
entering  into  negotiations  with  the  western  powers,  as  Uzun  Hasan  had 
done  before ;  and  a  Persian  embassy  was  welcomed  at  Venice  thougt 
the  Signory  openly  declared  that  there  was  no  intention  of  breaking 
the  peace  :  two  years  before  they  had  given  up  Alessio  in  Albania,  in 
order  to  avoid  a  breach. 

On  the  side  of  the  south  too,  Bayazid's  dominions  had  been  threatened. 
The  Mamluk  Sultan  of  Egypt,  Sayf  ad-Din  (1468-95),  had  espoused 
the  cause  of  J  em,  to  whose  mother  he  had  given  an  asylum ;  had 
interfered  in  the  affairs  of  Sulkadr,  a  small  Turcoman  lordship  in 
Cappadocia;  and  had  asserted  authority  in  the  regions  of  Lesser 
Armenia,  —  even  as  in  ancient  days  the  Ptolemies  had  thrown  out  an 
arm  to  grasp  Cilicia.  Tarsus,  Adana,  and  other  places  passed  under 
Egyptian  rule,  and  in  1485  war  openly  broke  out  between  the  Mamluk 
and  the  Ottoman  Sultans.  An  important  victory  was  won  by  the 
Egyptian  in  1488  ;  but  a  peace  was  patched  up  in  1491,  and  lasted 
during  the  rest  of  Bayazid's  reign. 

The  tremendous  earthquake  which  sent  a  thrill  through  the  world  in 
1509  laid  Constantinople  in  ruins ;  the  Sultan  himself  fled  to  Hadria- 
nople.  But  an  oriental  autocrat  in  those  days  could  rebuild  quickly ; 
and  with  a  host  of  workmen,  worthy  of  a  Pharaoh  or  a  Babylonian  King, 
Bayazid  restored  the  city  in  a  few  months.  The  last  days  of  the  old 
Sultan  were  embittered  by  the  rebellion  and  rivalry  of  his  sons,  Ahmad, 
Corcud,  and  Selim.  He  destined  Ahmad  as  his  successor,  and  thought 
of  abdicating  the  throne  in  his  favour ;  but  Selim,  a  man  of  action  and 
resolution,  was  determined  that  this  should  not  be.  From  the  province 
of  Trebizond  of  which  he  was  the  governor,  he  marched  to  Europe  at  the 
head  of  an  army,  and  appearing  at  the  gates  of  Hadrianople,  demanded 
to  be  assigned  an  European  province.  He  wished  to  be  near  the  scene 
of  action  when  the  moment  came.  He  demanded  too  that  his  father 
should  not  abdicate  in  favour  of  Ahmad.  Both  demands  were  agreed  to. 
But  at  this  juncture  news  arrived  that  Corcud  had  revolted;  and 
thereupon  Selim  seized  Hadrianople.  This  was  too  much.  His  sire  took 
the  field  and  defeated  him  in  a  battle ;  and  he  fled  for  refuge  to  the 
Crimea.  But  the  cause  of  Ahmad  was  not  won.  The  Janissaries,  whose 
hearts  had  been  captivated  by  the  bold  stroke  of  Selim,  broke  out  in 
mutiny  and  riot  when  Ahmad  drew  nigh  to  take  possession  of  the 
throne,  and  were  pacified  only  by  a  pledge  from  Bayazid  that  this 
design  should  not  be  carried  out.  Ahmad  thereupon  sought  to  get 
Asia  Minor  into  his  power ;  Corcud  intrigued  at  the  same  time  for 


90 


Selim  L  —  Battle  of  Chaldiran 


[1514 


his  own  hand;  and  finally,  in  the  spring  of  1512,  Selim  advanced 
from  the  Crimea  to  the  Danube,  and,  supported  by  the  Janissaries,  who 
would  brook  no  opposition,  forced  Bayazid  to  abdicate  (Aj)ril  25).  A 
month  later  the  old  Sultan  died,  poisoned,  it  can  hardly  be  questioned, 
by  order  of  his  son.  It  Avas  not  to  be  expected  that  Ahmad  would 
submit ;  he  seized  Brusa ;  but  Selim  crossed  over  to  Asia,  drove  him 
eastward,  and  deprived  him  of  the  governorship  of  Amasia.  Next  year 
Ahmad  made  another  attempt,  but  was  defeated  in  battle  at  Yenishehr 
and  executed.  Corcud  had  not  dared  to  take  the  field;  but  in  con- 
sequence of  his  intrigues  he  was  likewise  put  to  death.  The  next 
victims  were  the  Sultan's  nephews,  children  of  other  brothers  who  had 
died  in  the  lifetime  of  their  father.  Thus  Selim  put  into  practice  a 
ruthless  law  which  had  been  enacted  by  the  policy  of  Mohammad  II, 
that  it  was  lawful  for  a  Sultan,  in  the  interests  of  the  unity  of  the 
realm,  which  was  the  first  condition  of  its  prosperity,  to  do  his  brothers 
and  their  children  to  death. 

The  spirit  of  Selim  I  was  very  different  from  that  of  his  father.  He 
was  resolved  to  resume  the  old  paths  of  forward  policy  from  which  the 
studious  temper  of  Bayazid  had  digressed,  and  to  follow  in  the  way  of 
Mohammad  the  Conqueror.  Yet  he  was  also  unlike  his  grandfather. 
He  revelled  in  war  and  death ;  all  his  deeds  seem  prompted  rather  by 
instinct  than  by  policy.  Mohammad  seems  almost  genial  beside  this 
gloomy  and  restless  soul.  Selim  the  Grim  delighted  in  cruelty,  but  he 
was  extremely  moderate  in  pleasure ;  like  his  father  and  uncle  he  was 
highly  cultivated.  He  raised  the  pay  of  the  Janissaries,  —  this  was  the 
meed  of  their  support ;  but  he  soon  showed  that  he  was  resolved  to  be 
their  master.  The  truth  is  that  the  Janissaries  were  an  institution  ill 
compatible  with  a  peace  policy ;  amenable  to  the  discipline  of  war,  they 
were  a  perpetual  danger  for  a  pacific  ruler. 

The  collisions  with  Persia  and  Egypt,  which  menaced  the  reign  of 
Bayazid,  actually  came  to  pass  after  the  accession  of  Selim.  The  Shah, 
Ismail,  had  given  an  asylum  to  the  sons  of  Ahmad,  and  had  made  an 
incursion  into  the  eastern  districts  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  (1513). 
But  the  fundamental  cause  of  the  Persian  war  was  religious  antagonism; 
it  was  a  struggle  between  the  great  Sunnite  and  the  great  Shiite  power. 
It  was  stamped  with  this  character  by  a  sweeping  act  of  persecution  on 
the  part  of  Selim,  who,  seizing  40,000  Shiites,  killed  some  and  imprisoned 
others ;  and  the  mutual  attitude  of  the  rival  superstitions  was  shown  in 
a  high-flown  letter  which  Selim,  when  he  took  the  field  (1514),  indited 
to  his  enemy.  He  marched  into  the  dominions  of  Ismail,  and  the 
decisive  battle  was  fought  in  the  plain  of  Chaldiran,  lying  further  east 
than  the  field  which  had  seen  the  struggle  of  Mohammad  with  Uzun 
Hasan.  The  Ottomans  were  again  successful ;  on  this  occasion  too  their 
superiority  in  artillery  told ;  and  Tavriz  fell  into  the  hands  of  Selim. 
In  the  following  year  Sulkadr  was  annexed;  and  in  1516  Northern 


1516-7]   Conquest  of  Syria  and  Egypt — Tlie  Caliphate  91 


Mesopotamia  (including  among  other  cities  Amida,  Nisibis,  Dara,  and 
Edessa)  was  conquered  and  became  a  province  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

This  conquest  led  to  designs  on  Syria  and  Egypt,  a  sufficient 
pretext  being  found  in  the  alliance  between  the  old  Mamluk  Sultan 
Kansuh  Ghuri  and  the  Shah  Ismail.  The  Mamluk  army  awaited  the 
invader  at  Aleppo ;  and  Selim,  here  again  conspicuously  superior  in 
artillery,  won  a  victory  which  decided  the  fate  of  Syria  (1516).  The  old 
Sultan's  successor  Tumanbeg  was  defeated  in  an  equally  disastrous  battle 
at  Reydaniya  near  Cairo  (January,  1517).  Thus  Syria  and  Egypt  were 
brought  once  more  under  the  authority  of  the  lords  of  Constantinople,  to 
remain  so  actually  or  formally  till  the  present  day.  The  conquest  of 
Egypt  was  followed  by  the  submission  of  Arabia  to  the  Sultan's  sway. 

The  same  year  which  saw  the  conquest  of  the  Nile  country  witnessed 
an  important  exaltation  of  the  dignity  of  the  Ottoman  ruler.  The 
Ottoman  princes  had  been  originally  Emirs  under  the  Seljuks,  and,  even 
after  they  had  become  the  strongest  power  of  the  Mohammadan  world, 
though  they  might  demean  themselves  as  Caliphs,  they  had  no  legal 
claim  to  be  considered  its  heads.  It  is  one  of  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  Islam  that  all  Muslims  shall  be  governed  be  a  single  Imam, 
and  that  Imam  must  be  a  member  of  the  Koreish,  the  tribe  of  the 
Prophet.  At  this  time  the  Imamship  was  in  the  hands  of  a  shadow, 
Mohammad  Abu  Jafar,  of  the  race  of  Hashim,  who  kept  up  the 
semblance  of  a  court  at  Cairo.  The  last  of  the  Caliphs  of  the  Abbasid 
line,  he  resigned  the  Caliphate  to  the  Sultan  Selim.  This  formal 
transference  is  the  basis  of  the  claims  of  the  Sultans  of  Turkey  to  be  the 
Imams  or  supreme  rulers  of  Islam,  though  they  have  not  a  drop  of 
Koreish  blood  in  their  veins.  The  translation  of  the  Caliphate  was 
confirmed  by  the  recognition  which  Selim  received  at  the  same  time 
from  the  Sherif  of  Mecca,  who  sent  him  the  keys  of  the  Kaaba,  thus 
designating  him  as  the  protector  of  the  Holy  Places. 

The  Imam,  according  to  the  Ottoman  code  of  Mohammadan  law,  has 
authority  to  watch  over  the  maintenance  of  the  laws  and  the  execution 
of  punishments ;  to  defend  the  frontier  and  repress  rebels ;  to  raise 
armies  and  levy  tribute ;  to  celebrate  public  prayer  on  Fridays  and  in 
Bairam ;  to  judge  the  people ;  to  marry  minors  of  both  sexes  who  have 
no  natural  guardians  ;  and  to  divide  the  spoils  of  war.  He  is  thus 
supreme  legislator  and  judge,  the  religious  head  of  the  State,  the 
commander-in-chief,  and  he  possesses  absolute  control  of  the  finances. 
His  ecumenical  authority  rests  on  a  verse  of  the  Koran:  whoever  dies 
without  acknowledging  the  authority  of  the  Imam  of  his  day  is  dead 
in  ignorance.  The  Imam  must  be  visible  to  men ;  he  cannot  lurk  in  a 
cave  like  the  Mahdi,  for  whose  coming  the  heretical  Shiites  look.  It  is 
discreetly  provided  that  the  Imam  need  not  be  just  or  virtuous,  or  the 
most  eminent  man  of  his  time  ;  it  is  requisite  only  that  he  should  be 
able  to  enforce  the  law,  defend  the  frontiers,  and  sustain  the  oppressed. 


92 


Selim  succeeded  hy  Solyman 


[1520 


Moreover  the  wickedness  and  tyranny  of  an  Imam  would  not  necessitate 
or  justify  his  deposition. 

The  brilliant  conquests  of  Selim  in  the  East  alarmed  the  powers  of 
the  West ;  "  returning  powerful  and  proud,"  such  a  monarch  as  he  was  a 
terrible  menace  to  Europe.  Leo  X  had  thrown  himself  with  zeal  into 
the  project  of  a  Crusade  ;  for  the  experience  of  sixty  years  of  futilities 
had  not  killed  that  idea.  In  1517  he  issued  a  bull  imposing  a  truce  of 
five  years  on  Christendom,  in  order  that  the  princes  of  Europe  might 
march  against  the  Infidels.  His  hopes  rested  chiefly  on  the  young 
French  King,  Francis  I,  who,  after  the  victory  of  Marignano,  had  met 
him  at  Bologna  and  discussed  with  him  the  Eastern  Question.  A  letter 
of  Francis,  written  soon  after  that  interview,  breathes  the  spirit  of  a 
knight-errant  dedicating  his  youth  and  strength  to  a  holy  war.  But 
though  Francis  was  in  earnest,  religious  enthusiasm  was  not  his  moving 
inspiration  or  his  guiding  idea.  His  project  w^as  that  the  three  great 
powers  of  Europe — the  Empire,  France,  and  Spain — should  conquer  the 
Turkish  realm  and  divide  it  amongst  them  in  three  equal  parts.  Thus 
the  Eastern  Question  began  to  enter  upon  its  modern  phase  —  assuming 
a  political  rather  than  a  religious  aspect ;  and  the  significance  of  the 
oriental  policy  of  Francis  I  was  that  he  definitely  formulated  the  doc- 
trine, now  a  commonplace  of  politics,  that  Turkey  is  a  spoil  to  be  parted 
among  the  great  powers  of  Europe.  The  new  conception  of  the  French 
King  was  indeed  more  likely  to  lead  to  practical  results  than  had  been 
the  arguments  of  Aeneas  Sylvius  and  his  successors ;  and  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  composed  a  memoir  of  suggestions  on  the  conduct  of  the 
proposed  war.  But  his  death  in  1519  changed  the  situation,  dis- 
concerting the  plan  of  the  European  powers  ;  and  the  favourable  hour 
for  a  common  enterprise  against  the  Turk  had  passed.  Men  were 
indeed  still  painfully  afraid  of  the  designs  of  the  formidable  Sultan. 
The  logic  of  geography  determined  that  after  the  acquisition  of  Egypt 
the  next  enterprise  of  Selim  should  be  the  conquest  of  Rhodes,  which 
lay  right  in  the  track  of  communication  between  Egypt  and  Constan- 
tinople. He  made  preparations  accordingly  for  the  destruction  of  the 
"  dogs  "  of  Rhodes.  But  when  his  fleet  and  army  were  ready,  he  was 
smitten  down  by  the  plague  (September  21,  1520),  having  in  his  short 
reign  done  as  much  as  ,any  of  the  Sultans  for  the  extension  and  prestige 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

On  his  death  Europe,  full  of  apprehensions  for  the  fate  of  Rhodes, 
breathed  securely  ;  but  the  feeling  of  relief  was  premature.  The  rumour 
had  spread  that  his  son  and  successor  was,  in  complete  contrast  to  his 
father,  of  a  quiet  unaggressive  nature,  and  might  prove  another  Bayazid. 
But  these  auguries  were  ill-based ;  for  the  youth  who  mounted  the  throne 
was  Solyman  (Sulayman)  the  Lawgiver,  known  to  the  West  as  Solyman 
the  Magnificent,  in  whose  reign  Turkey  climbed  to  the  summit  of  its 
power  and  glory.    He  was  as  strong  as  his  father,  a  soldier  as  well  as  a 


1521-2]        Fall  of  Szabdcs.  —  Siege  of  Rhodes  93 


statesman ;  but  his  mind  was  well  balanced ;  he  felt  none  of  Selim's 
grim  delight  in  war  and  butchery.  Perhaps  no  contemporary  sovereign 
in  Christendom  was  so  unfeignedly  desirous  or  so  sincerely  resolute  to 
administer  evenhanded  justice  as  Solyman.  His  reign  began  without 
bloodshed ;  he  was  lucky  enough  to  have  no  brother  or  nephew  to  remove ; 
the  only  trouble  was  a  rebellion  in  Syria,  which  was  promptly  crushed. 

The  wave  which  had  flowed  eastward  under  Selim  turns  westward 
again  under  Solyman.  He  had  been  viceroy  in  Europe  during  his 
father's  absence  in  the  orient,  and  he  had  occasion  to  observe  the 
intolerable  situation  on  the  north-western  frontier,  where  there  was 
continuous  friction  with  the  Hungarian  kiflgdom.  On  this  side  he  could 
not  feel  safe,  so  long  as  the  key-fortresses  of  Belgrade  and  Szabacs  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  Hungarians ;  these  places  must  be  captured  whether  as 
a  base  for  further  advance  or  as  the  bulwarks  of  a  permanent  frontier. 
Envoys  were  sent  to  King  Louis  demanding  tribute ;  he  replied  by 
murdering  the  envoys.  When  this  news  arrived,  the  Sultan's  thought 
was  to  march  straight  on  Buda ;  but  his  military  advisers  pointed  out 
that  he  could  not  leave  Szabacs  in  his  rear.  The  operations  on  the  Save 
were  protracted  during  the  whole  summer  (1521).  Szabacs  was  taken 
under  the  eye  of  the  Sultan  himself,  and  a  few  days  later  Semlin  was 
captured  by  his  generals.  But  Solyman  was  compelled  to  recognise  that 
Belgrade  must  also  be  secured,  and  after  a  difficult  siege  it  was  taken, 
through  treachery.  Solyman  kept  a  diary  of  the  campaign,  so  that  we  can 
read  his  doings  day  by  day.  Other  fortresses,  such  as  Slankamen  and 
Mitrovic,  fell  into  his  hands ;  and  thus  the  gates  of  Hungary  were  fully 
unlocked,  whenever  he  chose  to  pass  in.  As  yet  he  did  not  press  on  to 
Buda.  A  more  urgent  task  lay  before  him  in  another  quarter,  —  the 
conquest  of  Rhodes. 

Where  Mohammad  had  failed,  his  great-grandson  was  to  succeed. 
Belgrade  had  fallen,  Rhodes  was  now  to  fall.  The  pirate-ships  of  the 
Rhodian  Knights  were  a  pest  to  the  eastern  waters  of  the  archipelago 
and  the  Asiatic  coasts  ;  and  not  only  was  it  imperative  for  the  Sultan 
that  his  line  of  communication  with  Egypt  should  be  cleared  of  the 
corsair  nest,  but  it  was  in  the  interest  of  public  order  that  the  island 
should  be  annexed  to  the  Turkish  realm.  The  lords  of  Rhodes  had  to 
depend  entirely  on  themselves,  without  aid  from  the  west.  The  first 
principle  of  Venetian  policy  at  this  time  was  to  keep  on  good  terms  with 
the  Turk.  The  Signory  had  congratulated  Selim  on  his  conquests,  and 
had  transferred  to  him  the  tribute  for  Cyprus  previously  paid  by  them  to 
the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  They  had  congratulated  Solyman  on  his  accession, 
and  of  all  foreigners  they  had  the  most  advantageous  commercial 
position  in  the  Ottoman  realm.  They  were  therefore  careful  to  lend  no 
countenance  to  Rhodes.  In  summer  1522  the  main  army  of  the  Turks 
under  Solyman  himself  marched  across  Asia  Minor  to  the  Carian  coast, 
and  a  fleet  of  about  300  ships  carried  select  troops.    In  all,  the  Turkish 


94 


Fall  of  Rhodes 


[1522 


army  was  about  200,000  strong,  including  60,000  miners  from  Wallachia 
and  Bosnia.  The  Grand-Master,  L'Isle  Adam,  had  made  all  possible 
preparations.  An  iron  chain  locked  the  harbour ;  and  outside  it  a  boom 
of  timber  floated  from  the  windmill  tower  at  the  north-east  point  of 
the  harbour  to  Fort  St  Nicholas,  which  stood  at  the  end  of  a  mole  on 
the  north-west  side.  The  houses  beyond  the  walls  were  demolished,  to 
deprive  the  foe  of  shelter  and  supply  stones  for  new  defences.  The 
precaution  was  taken  of  removing  the  slaves  from  the  powdermills; 
freemen  were  set  to  work  there  day  and  night.  The  first  great  assault 
(in  September)  was  repelled  with  such  enormous  loss  that  Solyman 
resigned  himself  to  the  tactics  of  wearying  the  garrison  out.  In 
December,  as  the  ammunition  of  the  besieged  was  failing,  the  Grand- 
Master  agreed  to  surrender.  Free  departure  within  ten  days  was  con- 
ceded to  all  the  Latin  Knights ;  any  who  chose  to  remain  in  the  island 
were  to  be  free  from  taxes  for  five  years,  were  not  to  be  subject  to  the 
child-tribute,  and  were  to  enjoy  free  exercise  of  their  religion.  Hostages 
were  exchanged,  and  Solyman  withdrew  his  army  some  miles  from  the 
walls  to  allow  the  garrison  to  depart  in  peace.  But  it  was  hard  to  keep 
the  Turkish  troops  under  control,  and  on  Christmas-day  a  body  of 
soldiers  burst  in  and  sacked  the  city.  The  majority  of  the  Knights 
sought  refuge  in  Crete,  to  find  eight  years  later  an  abiding  home  in 
Malta. 

By  the  capture  of  the  two  bulwarks  of  Christendom  which  had  defied 
the  conqueror  of  Constantinople,  the  young  Sultan  established  his  fame. 
Belgrade  and  Rhodes  fallen,  as  Pope  Adrian  wrote,  "  the  passages  to 
Hungary,  Sicily,  and  Italy  lie  open  to  him."  There  was  as  much  cause 
for  alarm  in  the  West  as  there  had  been  on  the  captures  of  Negroponte 
and  Scodra.  But  the  conqueror  could  not  immediately  follow  up  his 
victories.  Now,  as  often,  events  in  the  eastern  dominions  of  the  Sultan 
procured  a  respite  for  his  western  neighbours.  A  revolt  in  Egypt  and 
disquiet  in  Asia  Minor  claimed  Solyman's  attention,  and  not  till  the 
fourth  year  after  the  fall  of  Rhodes  could  he  march  on  Buda,  "  to  pluck 
up  "  in  the  words  of  a  Turkish  historian  "  the  strong-rooted  tree  of  evil 
unbelief  from  its  place  beside  the  rose-bed  of  Islam."  Sooner  or  later, 
this  expedition  was  inevitable ;  but  it  may  have  been  hastened  by  a 
year  or  two  through  the  action  of  one  of  the  Christian  powers. 

After  the  sudden  disaster  of  Pavia  (February,  1525)  Francis  I,  a 
captive  in  his  enemy's  hands,  looked  abroad  for  succour,  and  the  only 
European  power  he  could  discern  strong  enough  to  bear  effectual  help 
was  the  Turk,  to  whose  extirpation  he  had  devoted  himself  some  years 
before.  No  scruple  was  felt  in  appealing  to  the  common  foe.  The  French 
King's  mother  dispatched  an  ambassador  to  Solyman  with  rich  presents  ; 
but  in  passing  through  Bosnia  he  and  his  companions  were  slain  and 
robbed  by  the  sanjak-heg.  A  second  envoy,  with  a  letter  written  by  the 
King  himself  in  his  captivity  at  Madrid,  suggesting  that  the  Sultan  should 


1525-6]       Francis  I  and  the  Eastern  Question  95 


attack  the  King  of  Hungary,  arrived  safely  at  Constantinople.  Without 
committing  himself  Solyman  returned  a  gracious  answer  in  this  style : 

"  I  who  am  the  Sultan  of  Sultans,  the  Sovereign  of  Sovereigns,  the 
distributor  of  crowns  to  the  monarchs  of  the  surface  of  the  globe,  the 
shadow  of  God  on  the  earth,  the  Sultan  and  Padishah  of  the  White  Sea, 
the  Black  Sea,  Rumelia,  Anatolia,  Caramania,  Rum,  Sulkadr,  Diarbekr, 
Kurdistan,  Azerbijan,  Persia,  Damascus,  Aleppo,  Cairo,  Mecca,  Medina, 
Jerusalem,  all  Arabia,  Yemen,  and  other  countries  which  my  noble 
ancestors  (may  God  brighten  their  tombs)  conquered  and  which  my 
august  majesty  has  likewise  conquered  with  my  flaming  sword.  Sultan 
Sulayman  Khan,  son  of  Sultan  Selim,  son  of  Sultan  Bayazid  ;  you  who 
are  Francis,  King  of  France,  you  have  sent  a  letter  to  my  Porte  the 
refuge  of  sovereigns ; "  then  he  heartens  the  captive,  and  observes,  "  night 
and  day  our  horse  is  saddled,  and  our  sword  girt  on." 

This  was  the  first  embassy  of  a  French  King  to  the  Porte,  the 
beginning  of  France's  oriental  politics.  It  was  naturally  the  interest 
of  the  Sultan  to  cultivate  friendly  relations  with  the  western  neighbours 
of  Germany  and  the  Empire.  But  Francis  hardly  looked  beyond  the 
immediate  emergency ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  1526,  when  he  won  his 
freedom  by  the  treaty  of  Madrid,  he  undertook  to  help  the  Emperor 
in  an  expedition  against  the  Turks.  The  efforts  of  the  Popes  mean- 
while to  organise  a  Crusade  had  failed,  as  before.  Adrian  had  pro- 
claimed a  holy  truce  for  three  years ;  the  Minorites  had  dreamed  of  an 
army  of  crusaders  furnished  by  all  the  monasteries  of  Europe  "  for  the 
confusion  and  destruction  of  the  Turks."  The  Reformation  reacted  on 
the  Eastern  Question.  The  mere  fact  that  the  Roman  See  continuously 
and  consistently  exhorted  to  a  Crusade  was  to  the  adherents  of  the  new 
religious  movement  an  argument  against  a  Turkish  war.  Luther  himself 
announced  the  principle,  that  to  resist  the  Turks  was  to  resist  God,  who 
had  sent  them  as  a  visitation.  At  a  safe  distance,  this  was  a  comfortable 
doctrine.  But  some  years  later,  when  the  visitation  drew  nigh  to  the 
heart  of  Germany  itself,  the  Reformer  was  somewhat  embarrassed  to 
explain  away  his  earlier  utterances. 

The  diffusion  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformers  seems  to  have  been 
one  of  the  causes  which  slackened  and  weakened  the  resistance  of 
Hungary  to  the  Ottoman  invasion.  But  the  main  cause  was  that  King 
Louis  was  not  competent  as  ruler  or  as  leader ;  he  had  not  the  trust  of 
his  kingdom,  and  he  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  opposition  and 
dilatoriness  of  the  Diet.  The  transactions  of  the  Diet  during  the  crisis 
are  a  melancholy  comedy:  the  King  and  the  councillors  severally 
disclaiming  any  responsibility  for  consequences  of  the  coming  invasion 
and  the  safety  of  the  realm.  Help  from  his  neighbours  Louis  could  not 
expect.  Venice  had  congratulated  Solyman  on  the  capture  of  Rhodes, 
and  was  still  on  most  friendly  terms  with  him;  Poland  had  just 
concluded  a  peace  with  him.    The  distant  kingdoms  of  England  and 


96 


Hungarian  War  ;  battle  of  Mohdcs  [i526 


Portugal  promised  subsidies,  but  it  was  on  his  brother-in-law  Charles  V 
that  Louis  depended.  Charles  sent  reinforcements,  but  they  came  too 
late,  two  days  after  the  decision  of  the  campaign.  The  most  competent 
general  the  Hungarians  could  have  chosen  would  have  been  John 
Zapolya,  the  voivod  of  Transylvania,  but  he  was  not  trusted.  The 
command  devolved  upon  Louis  himself  in  default  of  a  better  man  ;  and 
at  the  start  want  of  money  rendered  it  difficult  to  mobilise.  It  was 
decided  to  defend  the  line  of  the  Save,  but  when  it  came  to  the  point 
the  lukewarmness  of  the  magnates  caused  this  plan  to  be  abandoned. 
The  only  really  energetic  man  in  the  land  was  Archbishop  Tomory,  who 
did  what  he  could  to  make  defensible  Peterwardein,  the  chief  fortress  of 
the  Danube  between  the  mouths  of  the  Drave  and  the  Save. 

The  Sultan  set  out  towards  the  end  of  April  with  an  army  of  100,000 
and  300  cannons ;  and  his  diary  chronicles  the  heavy  rainfalls  which 
made  his  advance  painful  and  slow,  so  that  he  did  not  reach  Belgrade  till 
July  9,  when  he  was  joined  by  his  infantry  (the  Janissaries),  which  had 
been  transported  up  the  Danube  by  a  flotilla.  Ibrahim,  the  Grand 
Vezir,  had  been  sent  forward  to  take  Peterwardein,  and  it  was  in 
Turkish  hands  before  the  end  of  July.  After  the  fall  of  this  bulwark, 
a  bloody  sword  was  carried,  according  to  custom,  throughout  the 
Hungarian  land,  summoning  men  to  help  their  country  in  the  hour  of 
her  utmost  jeopardy.  Zapolya  was  waiting  uncertain  what  to  do. 
Receiving  a  command  from  the  King  to  join  the  army  he  obeyed  slowly, 
but  only  reached  Szegedin  on  the  Theiss,  where  he  remained.  There  is 
not  the  least  proof  that  he  was  acting  in  collusion  with  the  Turk ;  the 
most  that  can  be  said  is  that  he  was  secretly  pleased  at  the  embarrassing 
situation  of  King  Louis.  The  Hungarian  army  advanced  to  Tolna,  and 
all  told  they  were  perhaps  fewer  than  30,000.  It  was  now  a  question 
whether  the  line  of  the  Drave  should  be  held ;  but  while  the  Hungarians 
were  deliberating,  the  Turks  had  crossed  that  river  at  Essek  (August 
20-21).  The  Chancellor  Broderith  gave  the  counsel  to  fall  back  to 
Buda,  but  messages  from  Tomory  (at  Neusatz)  urged  the  King  to  give 
battle  in  the  plain  of  Mohdcs  (south  of  Tolna)  where  he  had  taken  up  a 
position.  On  August  29  the  Turks  were  known  to  be  not  far  off,  and  the 
Hungarians  spread  out  their  two  lines  —  a  long  thin  line  of  foot  in  front, 
flanked  by  cavalry,  and  a  rear  line  mainly  of  cavalry.  The  plan  was 
that  the  foot  should  open  the  attack  all  along  the  line,  and  when  their 
attack  began  to  tell,  the  horse  should  charge.  In  the  afternoon  the 
Rumelians  who  formed  the  vaward  of  the  Turks  became  visible ;  they 
had  no  intention  of  fighting  that  day,  and  were  about  to  camp.  The 
Hungarian  centre  and  left  attacked  and  dispersed  them ;  the  cavalry 
then  struck  in,  and  rode  forward  stimulated  by  the  first  easy  success. 
But  nothing  save  a  freak  of  chance  could  have  averted  the  discomfiture  of 
the  Christian  army;  for  the  battle  was  controlled  by  no  commander,  and 
the  divisions  acted  independently.   The  cavalry  were  beaten  back  by  the 


1529] 


March  of  Solyman  upon  Vienna 


97 


steady  fire  of  the  enemy ;  and  the  Hungarian  right  wing,  when  the 
Turks  spread  out  leftwards  and  rounded  on  its  flank,  retired  towards  the 
Danube.  Twenty  thousand  of  the  Hungarian  army  were  killed.  The 
King  escaped  from  the  field,  but  in  crossing  a  brook  his  horse  slipped  on 
the  bank  and  he  was  drowned.  The  Sultan  advanced  and  took  possession 
of  Buda,  but  he  did  not  leave  a  garrison ;  he  was  not  yet  prepared  to 
annex  Hungary.  His  army  was  somewhat  demoralised,  and  grave  news 
came  of  troubles  in  Asia  Minor. 

John  Zapolya  was  crowned  King,  November  10,  supported  by  a  large 
party ;  and  his  rivalry  with  Ferdinand,  the  late  King's  brother-in-law, 
who  claimed  the  throne,  determined  the  course  of  the  following  events. 
At  first  things  looked  ill  for  Zapolya.  Ferdinand  drove  him  out  of 
Buda  back  to  Transylvania,  and  was  himself  crowned  at  Stuhlweissenburg 
(November,  1527).  Then  Zapolya  turned  for  help  to  the  Sultan;  who 
after  protracted  parleys  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  him 
(February,  1528).  Ferdinand  also  sent  ambassadors  ;  but  they  pleaded 
in  vain,  and  were  even  detained  under  arrest  at  the  suggestion  of  some 
Venetian  envoys.  On  the  other  hand  Francis  I  concluded  a  treaty  with 
Zapolya,  who  promised  that  if  he  died  without  male  heir  the  crown  of 
Hungary  should  descend  to  the  French  King's  son,  the  Duke  of 
Orleans.  No  French  prince  was  destined  ever  to  sit  on  the  Hungarian 
throne ;  but  before  half  a  century  had  passed  a  grandson  of  Francis  was 
to  wear  the  crown  of  Poland,  and  the  political  idea  was  the  same. 

One  of  the  results  of  the  victory  of  Mohacs  was  the  consolidation 
of  Ottoman  rule  in  the  north-western  countries,  Bosnia  and  Croatia. 
Jajce,  which  had  so  long  defied  the  Sultans,  was  at  last  taken  (1528),  and 
many  other  fortresses  of  less  note.  Early  in  1529  it  was  known  that 
Solyman  was  preparing  for  a  grand  expedition  northwards  in  that  year. 
Germany  was  alive  to  the  danger.  Luther  changed  his  attitude  and 
acknowledged  the  necessity  of  war  against  the  Turks,  while  he  insisted 
that  all  the  disasters  which  had  befallen  Christendom  from  Varna  to 
Mohacs  had  been  due  to  the  interference  of  Popes  and  bishops  — 
language  which  the  deeds  of  Archbishop  Paul  Tomory  of  Kalocsa,  the 
defender  of  southern  Hungary,  might  have  been  held  to  belie. 

Solyman  marched  northwards  —  we  can  again  follow  his  movements  in 
his  own  diary  —  at  the  head  of  an  immense  army,  set  at  250,000  men,  an 
exaggerated  figure.  King  John  met  him  on  the  field  of  Mohacs,  and  the 
crown  of  St  Stephen  on  this  occasion  passed  for  safe  keeping  into  the 
possession  of  Solyman,  who  never  gave  it  back.  Buda  was  easily  taken, 
and  the  host  advanced  up  the  Danube,  avoiding  Pressburg,  against 
Vienna.  The  garrison  numbered  22,000 ;  the  walls  were  not  strong ; 
and  Charles  V,  who  ought  to  have  hastened  to  the  defence  of  the 
eastern  mark,  was  in  Italy.  Ferdinand  waited  in  terrible  anxiety  at 
Linz.  He  believed  that  it  was  the  purpose  of  Solyman  to  winter  in 
Vienna  and  spend  three  years  in  the  subjugation  of  Germany.  The 


98         The  Ottoman  constitution;  codes  of  law 


garrison  of  Vienna  in  the  meanwhile  made  suitable  arrangements  for 
encountering  the  storm.  The  houses  outside  the  walls  were  levelled,  the 
streets  within  torn  up,  buildings  unroofed.  The  city  was  surrounded  on 
September  26  and  the  operations  began  with  mining.  But  the  difficulty 
of  procuring  provisions  and  the  approach  of  winter  rendered  the  army 
impatient ;  and,  when  successive  attempts  at  storming  had  been  repelled 
with  grave  loss  (October  9-12),  it  was  decided  to  retreat  after  one  more 
effort  —  especially  as  help  was  approaching,  about  60,000  men  from 
Bohemia,  Moravia,  and  Germany.  A  half-hearted  attack  closed  the 
episode  of  the  first  siege  of  Vienna,  and  at  midnight  the  signal  was  given 
for  a  retreat  which  was  marked  by  every  horror.  On  December  16, 
Solyman  records,  he  returned  "  fortunately  "  to  Stambul.  He  had  failed 
in  Austria,  but  Hungary  lay  at  his  feet,  and  John  Zapolya,  though  not 
a  tributary,  was  absolutely  dependent  on  his  support. 

The  Ottoman  State  is  marked  off  from  the  rest  of  Europe  by  a  legal 
and  political  system  which  is  based  entirely  on  religious  foundations. 
In  Christian  countries  religion  has  frequently  modified  the  principles  of 
secular  law ;  but  in  Turkey  the  problem  of  legislators  has  been  to  relax 
or  adjust  the  interpretation  of  the  canons  of  Islam,  so  as  to  permit  it 
to  take  its  place  among  European  States,  and  to  establish  a  modus 
Vivendi  with  neighbouring  unbelievers.  Under  Mohammad  II  a  general 
code  of  law  called  the  Pearl "  was  drawn  up  by  the  Molla  Khusrev  in 
1470  ;  but  this  was  superseded  by  Ibrahim  Haleby  of  Aleppo,  who  in 
the  reign  of  Solyman  compiled  a  code  which  he  named  "  the  Confluence 
of  the  Seas"  (^Multeka-ul-ubhar).  The  sources  from  which  these  codes 
were  compiled  are  four:  the  Koran;  the  Sunnas  (the  sayings  of  the 
Prophet  which  depend  on  early  tradition,  and  inferences  from  his 
actions  and  his  silences) ;  the  "  apostolic  laws (explanations  and 
decisions  given  by  the  Prophet's  apostles  and  chief  disciples  in  theo- 
logical and  moral  matters)  ;  and  the  Kiyas  (canonical  decisions  of  "  the 
four  great  Imams,"  who  lived  in  the  eight  and  ninth  centuries). 

One  of  the  universal  duties  of  Islam  on  which  the  code  of  Ibrahim 
does  not  fail  to  insist  was  the  conquest  of  the  unbelievers ;  they  must  be 
converted  to  Islam,  subjected  to  tribute,  or  destroyed  by  the  sword. 
The  fulfilment  of  this  religious  duty  was  the  end  and  purpose  of  the 
Ottoman  power,  to  which  its  institutions  were  designed  and  excellently 
adapted.  Under  the  autocratic  will  of  one  man,  possessing  religious  as 
well  as  secular  supremacy,  and  holding  a  sovereignty  which  the  Sacred 
Book  forbade  to  be  divided,  the  whole  forces  of  the  State  could  be 
directed  to  the  execution  of  his  policy.  And  these  forces  were  organised 
in  such  a  way  that  they  could  move  swiftly  and  promptly  at  his 
command.  The  two  features  of  this  organisation  were  a  feudal  system 
of  a  peculiar  kind,  and  the  slave  tribute. 

The  main  part  of  the  Turkish  army  was  the  feudal  levy  of  cavalry 


Military  establishment 


99 


(the  sifahis).  When  a  new  country  was  conquered,  it  was  parcelled  out 
into  a  number  of  larger  fiefs  called  ziamets  and  smaller  called  timars, 
which  were  assigned  to  Ottoman  horse-soldiers  in  reward  for  military 
service  in  the  past  and  with  the  obligation  of  military  service  in  the 
future.  The  holder  of  each  fief  was  bound  to  supply  one  or  more 
mounted  soldiers,  according  to  the  amount  of  its  value.  In  the  time  of 
Solyman  the  total  number  of  the  levy  of  the  sipahis  is  said  to  have 
amounted  to  130,000.  A  number  of  districts  or  "  sabres  "  was  constituted 
as  a  sanjak  or  "  standard,"  under  the  authority  of  a  sanjakheg  ("  sanjak 
lord  ")  ;  and  sanjaks  were  combined  into  larger  districts  (eyalayets)  under 
heglerhegs  ("lords  of  lords").  All  these  governors  were  subject  to  the 
two  great  heglerhegs  of  Europe  and  Asia  (Rumelia  and  Anatolia), 
military  and  administrative  powers  being  combined.  When  the  word  of 
the  Sultan  flew  forth  to  summon  the  army  to  war,  there  was  no  delay; 
the  horse  of  the  sipahi  was  always  ready  at  a  moment's  notice ;  all  the 
sabres  rallied  round  the  sanjak ;  the  sanjaks  gathered  to  the  mustering 
place  appointed  by  the  heglerheg^  and  there  awaited  further  orders.  The 
feudal  system  of  the  Turks,  founded  by  Othman,  remodelled  by 
Murad  I  (1375),  differed  from  the  feudal  systems  of  the  West  in  this 
one  important  respect,  that  the  fief  of  the  father  did  not  necessarily 
descend  to  the  son;  each  man  had  to  win  a  right  to  a  fief  by  his 
own  valour.  But  on  the  other  hand,  only  the  son  of  a  feudal  tenant 
could  become  a  feudal  tenant.  This  provision  was  a  safeguard  of  the 
military  effectiveness  of  the  system ;  and  it  must  also  be  remembered 
that  the  Ottoman  tenants  were  still  nomads  in  spirit,  and  had  not 
developed  the  instincts  of  a  settled  agricultural  population. 

Such  a  levy  was  almost  equivalent  to  a  standing  army ;  but  there 
was  also  a  standing  army  in  a  precise  sense,  —  an  establishment  of  paid 
troops,  recruited  from  captive  children  who  were  robbed  from  hostile  or 
subject  Christian  countries  and  educated  in  Islam.  A  strict,  but  not 
cruel,  discipline  trained  some  of  them  to  be  foot-soldiers ;  while  others, 
under  an  equally  severe  regime^  served  in  the  seraglio ;  thence  rising 
gradually  to  offices  of  state,  or  being  drafted  into  the  brilliant  corps  of 
the  paid  mounted  soldiery  who  were  the  bodyguard  of  the  Sultan. 
The  Turks  had  one  enlightened  principle  of  education :  they  observed 
carefully  the  particular  qualifications  of  the  individual  youth,  and 
adapted  his  work  to  his  powers.  Those  of  the  Christian  children  —  taken 
every  five  years  or  oftener  as  a  tribute  from  the  subject  population  — 
who  had  not  the  finer  qualities  which  marked  them  out  for  service  in 
the  palace,  were  set  to  all  kinds  of  hard  work ;  but  their  stern  discipline 
seems  to  have  been  compatible  with  acts  of  petulance  and  outrage  in 
the  city.  In  this  preliminary  stage  they  were  called  ajami  oghlanlars. 
At  the  age  of  about  twenty-five  they  were  enrolled  among  the  yani 
chart  (new  soldiery),  whose  name  we  have  corrupted  into  Janissaries. 
The  Janissaries,  organised  by  the  great  Sultan  Orchan,  constituted  the 


100 


The  Janissaries,  —  Spirit  of  fatalism 


infantry  of  the  Ottoman  army,  and  at  the  beginning  of  Soly man's  reign 
they  numbered  only  about  12,000 ;  yet  this  small  body  often  decided 
battles  ;  they  had  won  Kosovo  and  Varna,  and  had  never  been  known  to 
flee.  All  except  men  of  Christian  birth,  thus  trained  from  childhood, 
were  jealously  excluded  from  the  corps,  which  was  under  the  command 
of  the  Aga  of  the  Janissaries,  one  of  the  highest  officers  of  the  realm. 
The  fundamental  laws  which  regulated  their  discipline  were  absolute 
obedience  to  the  commanders,  abstinence  from  luxury,  modest  attire, 
fulfilment  of  the  duties  of  Islam.  They  were  unable  to  marry  or 
exercise  any  trade,  or  leave  their  camp.  It  is  clear  that  the  existence 
of  such  a  body  of  warriors  was  in  itself  a  constant  incentive  or  even 
compulsion  to  warlike  enterprises ;  and  peacefully  inclined  sultans  like 
Bayazid  II  were  unpopular  with  the  Janissaries,  who  were  more  fanatical 
in  fighting  for  Islam  even  than  men  of  Muslim  race.  Without  any 
bonds  of  family  or  country,  they  were  the  creatures  of  the  Sultan,  in 
turn  imposing  their  yoke  on  him.  Scanderbeg's  tenacious  devotion  to 
the  memory  of  his  father  and  the  Albanian  mountains  was  an  isolated 
exception. 

Against  an  army  thus  disciplined  and  organised,  propelled  by  the 
single  will  of  an  able  ruler,  Europe  without  unity  could  do  nothing. 
The  sipaMs  were  still  the  restless  herdsmen  of  the  waste,  impatient  of 
tillage,  eager  to  go  forth  where  there  was  fighting  and  plunder ;  only 
standing  forces  of  mercenary  troops  could  have  availed  against  them, 
and  such  forces  would  have  cost  enormous  sums  of  money,  which  were  not 
to  be  raised.  The  fanaticism  of  the  Mohammadan  faith,  though  not  so 
tempestuous  as  in  the  first  century  of  the  Hijra,  could  still  kindle  and 
incite ;  and  it  was  habitual ;  the  Turks  needed  no  John  of  Capistrano 
for  the  preaching  of  a  holy  war.  The  insidious  doctrine  of  fatalism, 
which  holds  the  minds  of  oriental  nations,  fosters  some  of  the  qualities 
which  make  a  soldier  a  useful  instrument;  but  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  though  kismet  pervades  the  Turkish  spirit  it  is  not  an  article  of 
Mohammadan  belief.  The  doctrine  of  predestination  applies  only  to 
the  spiritual  state  and  the  future  life,  —  a  point  at  which  Islam  and 
Calvinism  meet ;  but  it  does  not  apply  to  secular  and  political  matters, 
in  which  freewill  has  full  play.  But  notwithstanding  the  true  doctrine, 
the  Turkish  nation  believes  in  kismet^  and  regards  murmurs  of  discontent 
against  existing  circumstances  as  irreligious ;  and  this  attitude  of  mind, 
which  sustains  the  soldier  in  the  hour  of  jeopardy,  has  helped  to  keep 
the  Ottomans  far  behind  in  the  march  of  civilisation  —  hindering  them, 
for  instance,  from  taking  the  ordinary  precautions  against  plague  or  fire. 

But  an  organisation  admirably  designed  for  its  purpose  was  useless 
without  brains  to  wield  it.  Everything  depended  on  the  strength  and 
capacity  of  the  Sultan;  and,  if  there  had  been  any  means  of  securing 
a  series  of  successors  equal  in  ability  to  the  Murads  and  Mohammads, 
to  Selim  I  and  Solyman  the  Lawgiver,  the  Ottoman  State  need  not  have 


Administration  of  justice,  —  Grand  Vezirate  101 


declined.  The  succession  of  exceptionally  great  rulers  lasted  in  the 
Ottoman  line  longer  than  such  successions  usually  last ;  but  after 
Solyman  their  character  changed;  and  even  in  his  reign  the  first 
symptoms  of  decline  appeared,  and  those  inherent  vices  in  the  organi- 
sation which  demanded  constant  precautions  began  to  emerge.  The 
discipline  of  the  Janissaries  was  undermined,  when  the  law  which  forbade 
their  marrying  was  relaxed  ;  and  the  feudal  system  was  corrupted  by  the 
assignation  of  fiefs  to  others  than  the  sons  of  feudal  tenants,  who  had 
served  in  war.    But  this  decline  lies  outside  our  present  range. 

In  the  theoretical  morality  of  Islam  nothing  is  of  higher  importance 
than  justice  and  the  protection  of  the  oppressed ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
under  the  early  Ottoman  rulers  the  administration  of  justice  was  better 
in  Turkey  than  in  any  European  land ;  the  Mohammadan  subjects  of 
the  Sultans  were  more  orderly  than  most  Christian  communities  and 
crimes  were  rarer.  Under  Mohammad  II  there  were  two  supreme 
cadiaskers,  or  military  judges,  one  for  Europe  and  one  for  Asia  (the 
conquests  of  Selim  added  a  third  for  Syria  and  Egypt) ;  all  the  cadis 
(judges)  of  the  empire  were  subordinate  to  them.  From  the  sentences  of 
the  judges  men  could  always  appeal  to  the  mufti  or  sheikh-ul- Islam, 
who  was  the  religious  oracle  and  interpreter  of  the  law ;  holding  the 
position  of  head  of  the  Ulema  (that  is,  all  the  litterati).  But  he  was  not 
a  religious  authority  independent  of  the  caliph  ;  the  caliph  could  depose 
him.  He  had  no  executive  power;  he  could  not  enforce  his  pronounce- 
ments (fetvas) ;  but  their  authority  was  recognised  as  morally  binding, 
and  the  mufti  took  care  not  to  endanger  his  position  by  issuing  sentences 
which  would  run  counter  to  the  Sultan's  known  will. 

It  was  Mohammad  II  who  defined  the  position  of  the  Grand  Vezir 
as  the  Sultan's  representative  and  regent.  The  Grand  Vezir  received  the 
right  of  using  the  Sultan's  seal  and  of  holding  a  divan  or  State  council 
in  his  own  palace,  which  was  called  the  High  Porte.  It  was  a  position 
of  which  the  political  importance  necessarily  varied  according  to  the 
character  of  the  ruler.  But  it  is  not  till  the  reign  of  Solyman  that  the 
Grand  Vezir  attains  the  plenitude  of  his  power.  In  1523  Solyman 
raised  to  the  Grand  Vezirate  his  friend  Ibrahim,  a  Greek  who  had  been 
captured  by  corsairs,  and  in  the  following  year  married  him  to  his  own 
sister.  Ibrahim  associated  with  his  master  more  as  a  friend  and  equal 
than  any  Vezir  with  any  Sultan  ;  they  were  bound  together  by  youthful 
friendship  and  common  tastes.  Ibrahim,  says  a  contemporary  Venetian 
report,  is  "  the  heart  and  breath  "  of  the  Padishah,  who  does  nothing 
without  consulting  him  ;  he  is  learned,  fond  of  reading,  and  knows  his 
law  well.  In  1529,  before  setting  out  for  Hungary,  Solyman  increased 
his  salary  to  60,000  ducats  and  made  him  commander-in-chief 
(serasker)  of  the  army  :  "  all  that  he  says  is  to  be  regarded  as  proceeding 
from  my  own  pearl-raining  mouth."  This  delegation  of  supreme  mili- 
tary command  is  an  innovation  not  in  the   spirit  of   Orchan  or 


102     Finances,  — 


Condition  of  Christian  subjects 


Mohammad,  and  is  a  premonition  of  the  new  paths  along  which  the^ 
empire  is  about  to  travel.    It  is  a  significant  fact,  that  no  sooner  has 
the  Vezirate  reached  a  high  elevation,  than  the  influence  of  the  harem 
begins  to  make  itself  felt  for  the  first  time  in  Ottoman  history,  —  and  as 
an  influence  hostile  to  the  Vezir. 

The  income  of  the  Ottoman  State  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century  was  probably  about  four  million  ducats  ;  and  it  went  on 
increasing  with  new  conquests  till,  towards  the  middle  of  the  century, 
it  seems  to  have  approached  ten  millions.  The  head  of  the  financial 
administration  was  the  Defter dar  of  Rumelia,  to  whom  those  of  Anatolia 
and,  afterwards,  of  Aleppo,  were  subordinate.  About  three-fifths  of 
the  revenue  were  produced  by  the  hharaj  or  capitation  tax,  levied  on  all 
unbelieving  subjects  with  the  exception  of  priests,  old  men,  and  children 
under  ten.  It  does  not  seem  to  have  been  oppressive,  it  was  generally 
paid  with  docility  ;  and  the  duties  on  exports  and  imports  were  so 
reasonable  that  commerce,  which  was  mainly  in  the  hands  of  Christians, 
was  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  worst  feature  in  the  fiscal  system  of 
the  Turks  was  the  stupid  method  employed  in  levying  the  land-tax 
(incident  on  all  landowners  without  distinction  of  creed),  which  might 
amount  to  much  more  than  a  tithe  of  the  produce.  The  farmer  was  not 
allowed  to  begin  the  harvest,  until  the  tax-gatherer  was  on  the  spot  to 
watch  over  the  interests  of  the  treasury,  and  he  was  forbidden  to  collect 
the  produce  until  the  fiscal  portion  was  set  aside.  Apart  from  the 
incidental  waste  of  time  and  injury  to  the  crops,  the  inevitable  con- 
sequence of  this  system  has  been  that  agriculture  has  never  improved ; 
certain  primitive  methods  of  work  are  prescribed  by  the  law,  and  these 
and  no  others  must  be  followed  under  the  tax-officer's  eye.  Another 
weak  point  in  the  financial  system  has  been  the  depreciation  of  the 
coinage,  a  process  which  had  set  in  at  least  as  early  as  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

Until  the  empire  began  to  decline  and  the  system  became  established 
of  leaving  the  provinces  to  be  exploited  by  officials  who  had  paid  heavy 
sums  for  their  posts,  the  condition  of  the  subject  Christian  population  as 
a  whole  was  perhaps  more  prosperous  under  Turkish  rule  than  it  had 
been  before.  The  great  oppression  was  the  tribute  of  children,  but  even 
this  was  thought  to  have  some  compensations.  Greeks,  Albanians,  and 
Servians  rose  to  the  highest  positions  in  the  State.  Christians  and 
Jews  were,  as  a  matter  of  policy,  suffered  to  exercise  their  religions 
freely  —  a  toleration  which  might  indeed  at  any  moment  be  withdrawn. 
In  nothing  had  Mohammad  shown  astuter  statesmanship  than  in  his 
dealings  with  the  Greek  Church.  He  knew  the  "  Romaic  "  language 
well,  and  had  sounded  the  nature  of  the  Greeks  of  that  age  ;  he  was 
well  aware  how  they  were  absorbed  in  narrow  theological  interests, 
utterly  divorced  from  the  principles  of  honour  and  rectitude,  which  they 
were  always  willing  to  sacrifice  in  order  to  gain  a  victory  for  their  own 


The  Greek  Clmrch  under  Ottoman  rule  103 


religious  party.  He  saw  that  the  Greek  Church  under  a  Patriarch 
appointed  by  the  Sultan  would  be  a  valuable  engine  of  government, 
placing  in  the  Sultan's  hands  a  considerable  indirect  influence  over  the 
laity.  It  was,  further,  his  policy  to  favour  the  Greek  Church,  in  view 
of  the  crusading  plans  of  the  Latin  powers ;  for,  though  the  Roman 
pontiffs  of  this  period  showed  themselves  able  to  rise  to  the  higher 
conception  of  the  unity  of  Christendom,  the  bigoted  hatred  existing 
between  the  Latin  and  Greek  Churches  went  far  towards  paralysing  the 
sympathies  of  the  Catholic  countries.  Mohammad  aimed  at  fostering 
this  ill-feeling,  and  he  was  thoroughly  successful ;  the  supremacy  of  the 
infidel  Sultan  seemed  more  tolerable  than  the  supremacy  of  the  heretical 
Pope.  Naturally  Mohammad  chose  for  the  Patriarchate  one  of  those 
who  were  opposed  to  the  union  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches: 
George  Scholarios,  a  man  of  learning  and  bigotry,  who  had  thrown 
whatsoever  obstacles  he  could  in  the  way  of  the  Emperor  Constantine's 
forlorn  defence  of  Constantinople.  On  his  election  George  took  the 
name  of  Gennadios.  A  church  in  the  city  was  assigned  to  him,  and  the 
Sultan  guaranteed  that  he  and  his  bishops  should  be  exempt  from 
tribute  and  enjoy  their  former  revenues.  But  the  internal  dissensions 
and  intrigues  of  the  Greek  clergy  and  laity  rendered  the  position  of 
the  Patriarch  so  difficult,  that  in  a  few  years  Gennadios  resigned.  His 
successors  were  equally  helpless ;  and  after  the  fall  of  Trebizond  (1461) 
the  struggle  between  the  Trapezuntine  and  the  Cons  tan  tinopolitan 
Greeks,  each  anxious  to  secure  the  Patriarchate  for  a  man  of  their  own, 
made  matters  worse.  A  wealthy  Trapezuntine,  named  Simeon,  com- 
passed his  own  election  by  paying  a  thousand  ducats  to  the  Sultan; 
and  this  was  the  beginning  of  a  system  of  unveiled  simony  which  has 
lasted  in  the  Greek  Church  to  our  own  times.  This  payment  was 
increased  at  subsequent  elections ;  afterwards  a  yearly  contribution  to 
the  treasury  was  promised  ;  but  it  is  important  to  observe  that  these 
tributes  were  not  originally  imposed  by  the  Sultans,  but  were  voluntarily 
offered  by  the  intriguing  Greeks.  The  policy  of  Mohammad,  who  was 
solicitous  to  repeople  Constantinople,  had  the  effect  of  gathering  thither 
a  multitude  of  Greek  families  of  the  better  class,  who  might  otherwise 
have  sought  refuge  in  foreign  lands.  Settled  in  the  quarter  of  the 
Phanar,  in  the  north  of  the  city,  they  were  known  as  Phanariots,  and 
came  to  be  reputed  a  class  of  clever,  unprincipled  intriguers. 

We  have  followed  the  expansion  of  Turkey  up  to  the  eve  of  its 
greatest  splendour  and  widest  extent.  Subsequent  pages  will  tell  how 
the  Ottomans  advanced  westwards  by  sea,  and  how  the  Austro-Spanish 
monarchy  set  limits  to  their  expansion  both  in  the  north  and  in  the 
south. 


CHAPTER  IV 


ITALY  AND  HEE,  INVADEES 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  Italy  presented  the 
appearance  of  comparative  calm.  Frederick  III,  in  spite  of  the  motto 
attributed  to  him,  "  Alles  Erdreich  ist  Oesterreich  untertan,"  took  no 
step  to  assert  imperial  claims  in  Italy.  Conciliar  storms  had  blown 
over.  The  condottieri  had  been  tamed;  secure  for  the  most  part  in 
their  little  tyrannies  they  drew  the  pay  of  some  neighbouring  State, 
and  spent  it  on  luxury,  literature,  and  art.  If  war  was  on  foot,  its 
bitterness  was  mitigated,  at  any  rate  to  the  soldier,  by  every  courteous 
device.  The  clash  of  party  strife  was  seldom  heard,  for  most  cities  had 
bought  internal  peace  at  the  price  of  liberty. 

Italy  possessed  her  own  State  system,  her  own  great  powers,  intent 
on  preserving  a  balance  of  forces,  her  own  alliances,  triple  or  dual.  At 
first  the  north  Italian  powers  had  their  own  league  ;  later  the  alliance  of 
Milan,  Florence,  and  Naples,  promoted  and  sustained  by  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici,  kept  in  check  the  vigilant  ambition  of  Venice,  still  almost  at 
the  height  of  her  power  and  pride.  The  smaller  powers,  Mantua,  Ferrara, 
and  the  tyrants  of  the  Papal  States,  in  constant  dread  of  their  covetous 
neighbours,  leant  for  support  on  one  or  other  of  the  great  powers,  and 
did  what  in  them  lay  to  preserve  the  balance.  After  the  brilliant  raid 
of  John,  the  Angevin  duke  of  Calabria,  Ferrante,  the  bastard  of  Aragon,. 
ruled  Naples  in  comparative  peace.  The  revolt  of  his  barons  was 
stamped  out,  without  regard  for  faith  or  mercy,  as  befitted  a  man  of 
that  age.  The  seizure  of  Otranto  by  the  Turks  in  1480  was  a  warning 
of  external  danger  that  may  have  assisted  to  preserve  the  peace,  al- 
though all  projects  of  united  and  offensive  resistance  to  the  advancing 
Mohammadans  came  to  nothing.  The  equilibrium  was  unstable,  but  on 
the  whole  it  was  preserved. 

The  death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  in  1492,  soon  followed  by  that 
of  Innocent  VIII,  marks  a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  Italy.  It  is 
easy  to  attach  too  much  importance  to  such  casual  incidents,  but  they 
may  at  least  delay  or  hasten  the  inevitable  course  of  events.  And  in 
Lorenzo  was  removed  the  conscious  guardian  of  the  peace  of  Italy^ 

104 


Naples 


105 


while  the  successor  of  Innocent,  Rodrigo  Borgia,  was  neither  fitted  nor 
inclined  to  play  a  pacific  part.  This  then  is  the  moment  to  survey 
the  scene  of  our  drama,  to  name  our  chief  dramatis  personae,  and  to 
unfold  our  plot. 

Three  of  our  protagonists,  Venice,  Florence,  the  Holy  See,  have  their 
own  place  for  separate  treatment  in  this  volume.  Nor  is  this  the 
occasion  to  dwell  on  the  petty  politics  of  the  many  tyrants  of  the 
Romagna  and  central  Italy.  Naples,  however,  and  Milan  require  some 
introduction. 

The  kingdom  of  Naples,  though  still  styling  itself  kingdom  of  Sicily, 
had  been  separated  from  its  island  namesake  since  the  Sicilian  Vespers, 
when  the  Angevin  successors  of  the  Suabian  kings  were  driven  from  the 
Trinacrian  island.  In  1435  this  Angevin  dynasty  died  out,  and  its 
inheritance  fell  to  Alfonso  of  Aragon,  the  King  of  insular  Sicily.  On 
his  death  in  1458  the  island  kingdom  had  remained  attached  to  Aragon, 
while  Naples  had  been  devised  to  his  bastard  Ferdinand  or  Ferrante.  The 
political  characteristics  of  the  Neapolitan  kingdom  mark  it  off  sharply 
from  the  rest  of  Italy.  Here  had  survived,  though  in  a  debased  form, 
the  feudal  economy  which  had  long  since  disappeared  further  north. 
Here  no  elusive  ideal  of  municipal  liberty  mocked,  amid  the  realities  of 
party  strife,  the  citizens  of  independent  cities.  Great  feudatories  ground 
down  their  vassals  with  all  the  ingenuity  that  a  new  commercial  and 
industrial  wisdom  inspired.  The  King,  himself  a  feudatory  and  tributary 
of  the  Holy  See,  was  master  of  Naples  and  its  castles,  and  of  certain 
royal  dues  and  domains,  but  for  the  rest  hung  on  the  good- will  of  a 
score  of  almost  independent  princes.  Ferrante,  greedy,  capable,  and 
ruthless,  had  done  much  to  change  all  that.  He  had  devised  a  system 
of  commercial  monopolies  exercised  for  the  royal  benefit,  which  had 
considerably  increased  his  revenues.  The  barons'  war  had  restored  to 
him  by  confiscation  a  part  of  the  toll  that  his  commercial  partners  had 
levied  on  his  profits,  and  had  crushed  the  greatest  family  of  the  kingdom, 
the  princely  house  of  San  Severino.  His  relations  to  the  papacy  had 
been  unfriendly,  even  warlike,  but  on  the  whole  he  had  succeeded  in  with- 
holding his  tribute  without  losing  his  fief.  But  dangers  now  threatened 
him  at  home  and  abroad.  At  home,  though  feared,  he  was  hated.  His 
son  Alfonso,  the  partner  of  his  many  cruel  and  treacherous  acts,  was 
equally  detested.  Zealous  enemies  were  working  against  him,  especially 
at  the  Court  of  France.  The  de  facto  ruler  of  Milan  had  wronged  him 
in  the  person  of  his  grand-daughter.  The  illegitimate  son  of  an  usurper, 
he  held  his  crown  by  no  hereditary  right,  and  rumours  came  from  beyond 
the  Alps  that  a  stronger  claimant  was  astir. 

The  State  of  Milan,  created  by  the  vigour  of  the  house  of  Visconti, 
and  recognised  as  a  duchy  in  1395  by  the  Emperor  Wenceslas,  had 
fallen  in  1450  to  the  house  of  Sforza,  whose  founder,  the  great  con- 
dottier  e,  had  risen  from  the  plough.    Francesco,  the  first  Sforza  duke, 


106 


Milan  and  Ludovico  Sforza 


was  succeeded  in  1466  by  his  son  Galeazzo  Maria,  who  was  assassinated 
in  the  Church  of  San  Stefano  in  1476,  leaving  a  young  son,  Gian 
Galeazzo,  then  about  eight  years  old.  The  government  was  carried  on 
by  his  mother.  Bona  of  Savoy,  in  the  name  of  the  infant  and  in  her  own. 
But  dissensions  soon  arose  between  the  regent  and  her  brothers-in-law. 
In  the  first  encounter  Bona  and  her  chief  counsellor,  Cicco  Simonetta, 
were  victorious,  and  the  brothers  of  Galeazzo  Maria  were  obliged  to 
leave  the  city.  But  before  long  Ludovico,  the  ablest  of  the  sons  of 
Francesco  Sforza,  took  advantage  of  the  rivalry  between  Tassino,  the 
favourite  of  the  duchess,  and  Simonetta,  to  procure  his  own  readmission. 
The  fall  and  execution  of  Simonetta  followed,  and  from  1479  the  real 
government  of  Milan  lay  in  the  hands  of  Ludovico,  whose  power  was 
further  secured  in  1480,  when  he  seized  the  person  of  the  young  duke 
and  the  duchess  was  obliged  to  leave  Milan.  Henceforward  the  rule  of 
Ludovico  was  not  seriously  challenged.  The  young  duke  was  a  prisoner, 
and  Ludovico  managed  everything  in  his  name.  Nor  was  the  condition 
of  the  unfortunate  young  man  improved  even  after  his  marriage  to 
Isabella,  the  grand-daughter  of  the  King  of  Naples. 

Thus  at  the  time  when  our  story  begins,  the  whole  force  and  policy 
of  Milan  was  moved  at  the  will  of  one  man.  Ludovico,  called  the 
Duke  of  Bari  from  the  Neapolitan  fief  he  owned,  and  known  from  his 
complexion  as  the  Moor,  made  a  great  impression  on  the  men  of  his 
time.  He  was  a  master  of  every  political  art  as  then  understood  by 
Italian  statesmen.  By  his  wisdom  he  had  risen,  and  by  it  he  aspired  to 
dominate  Italy.  Mistakes  he  made,  no  doubt,  as  for  instance  in  marrying 
his  nephew  to  the  Neapolitan  princess.  But  his  versatile  and  unscrupulous 
intelligence,  well  served  by  his  agents  with  information  from  every  Court, 
was  never  at  a  loss  for  an  expedient  to  meet  a  difficulty.  His  weakness 
was  partly  the  weakness  of  his  school  of  statesmanship,  in  which  good 
faith  and  consistency  were  not  valued  as  political  qualities.  A  more 
serious  defect  was  the  lack  of  courage  and  nerve  which  he  showed  under 
the  stress  of  danger.  His  munificence  towards  artists  and  men  of  letters, 
his  luxurious  and  noble  ostentation,  while  they  tended  no  doubt  to 
diminish  his  unpopularity,  proved  a  heavy  burden  on  his  finances,  and 
increased  the  weight  of  his  exactions. 

The  State  over  which  he  ruled  was  one  of  the  richest  of  Italy.  His 
annual  revenue  was  estimated  at  700,000  ducats,  about  the  same  sum  as 
Ferrante  raised  from  Naples.  The  Dukes  of  Milan,  though  frequently 
embarrassed,  again  and  again  surprise  us  by  the  enormous  sums  of  which 
they  disposed.  Thus  Ludovico  was  able  to  give  to  Maximilian  with 
his  niece,  Bianca  Maria,  no  less  a  sum  as  dowry  than  400,000  ducats. 
Only  Venice  had  more  ample  resources  ;  and  the  fixed  charges  on  the 
Venetian  treasury  were  heavier  than  Milan  had  to  bear.  The  Duke  of 
Milan  controlled  Genoa  and  her  navy,  which,  although  no  longer  a 
match  for  that  of  Venice,  could  be  employed  with  great  effect  on  the 


France  and  Italy 


107 


western  seaboard  of  Italy.  Through  the  Genoese  his  influence  extended 
over  the  chief  part  of  Corsica,  whence  on  occasion  good  foot-soldiers 
could  be  drawn.  But  the  military  strength  of  Milan,  like  that  of  the 
other  Italian  States,  left  much  to  be  desired.  While  good  infantry  was 
scarce,  the  inferior  infantry  was  very  bad ;  and  the  brilliant  troops  of 
mercenary  horse,  on  which  principal  reliance  was  put,  were  untrust- 
worthy and  unused  to  serious  war.  Moreover  the  old  party  animosities 
still  survived  in  Milan  ;  and,  if  policy  prompted,  Guelf  could  still  be 
roused  against  Ghibelline.  Again,  the  Sforza  rule  had  not  yet  received 
imperial  confirmation,  and  the  claims  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  were  a 
permanent  and  a  serious  menace. 

With  full  consciousness  of  their  own  weakness,  and  sincere  mutual 
distrust,  the  Italian  powers  had  watched  the  growth  of  France.  French 
intervention  in  Italy  was  no  new  thing.  While  her  strength  was  yet 
immature,  France  had  given  one  race  of  kings  to  Naples,  and  had 
endeavoured  to  give  another.  Charles  VII  had  driven  the  English  from 
France,  and  before  his  death  Genoa  had  asked  and  received  French 
protection  and  a  French  governor.  Louis  XI  found  that  Genoa  had 
revolted,  but  was  too  wise  to  waste  his  resources  on  distant  enterprises, 
and  gave  no  material  aid  to  the  ill-fated  quest  of  John  of  Calabria  as  a 
pretender  to  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  Louis  devoted  his  whole  energy  to 
the  union  of  France  under  his  absolute  rule  ;  but  he  never  lost  sight  of 
the  affairs  of  Italy.  The  powers  of  Italy  abased  themselves  before  him 
in  rivalry  to  win  his  favour.  He  answered  them  impartially  with  good 
words  and  maintained  them  in  slavish  expectation  of  good  services. 
Thus  the  French  King  came  to  be  more  and  more  regarded  as  the  arbiter 
of  Italian  fortunes.  The  presents  made  to  his  ambassadors  and  courtiers 
and  their  reception  when  they  visited  Italy  assisted  to  foster  the  belief 
that  Italy  was  rich,  disunited,  and  helpless,  an  easy  prey  to  a  militant 
monarchy.  There  was  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  successor  of  Louis 
would  be  hampered  by  his  difficulties  or  inclined  to  his  reserve. 

The  leagues  formed  among  themselves  by  the  Italian  States  served  to 
prevent  the  undue  aggrandisement  of  any  one  State  at  the  expense  of  the 
others.  But  no  such  partial  alliance  could  stand  up  against  the  French 
King,  in  view  of  the  suspicion,  —  almost  the  certainty,  —  that  the  other 
powers  would  join  the  invaders,  and  that  the  members  of  the  alliance 
itself  could  not  be  trusted.  The  union  of  Italy  against  a  foreign  foe  was 
almost  unthinkable.  Charles  VIII  had  hardly  come  to  the  throne  when 
the  Signoria  of  Venice  approached  his  government  with  the  proposal 
that  the  conquest  of  Milan  and  of  Naples  should  be  at  once  undertaken. 
This  treacherous  act,  if  treachery  can  be  imputed  where  there  is  no 
mutual  assurance  of  good  faith,  is  explained  by  the  position  of  Venice, 
then  engaged  in  a  single-handed  struggle  with  almost  the  whole  of  Italy. 
But  it  proved,  if  proof  was  needed,  that  a  French  invasion,  whatever  its 
pretext,  would  find  allies  in  the  peninsula. 


108 


French  claims  to  Milan  and  Naples 


Ludovico  deserves  the  doubtful  credit  of  having  been  the  first  to  bring 
his  goods  to  market.  French  ambition  had  two  excuses  for  intervention 
in  Italy.  The  first  was  the  claim  of  Orleans  to  Milan,  resting  on  the 
marriage  of  Valentina  Visconti  to  the  first  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  on  the 
marriage  contract  of  Valentina,  confirmed  by  Clement  VII,  in  which  her 
right  to  succeed  to  her  father  in  default  of  male  heirs  was  recognised. 
There  seems  also  to  have  been  a  will  of  Gian  Galeazzo  Visconti,  securing 
the  succession  to  her  male  issue  in  default  of  the  direct  male  line ;  but 
Ludovico  alone  knew  of  this  and  caused  all  known  copies  to  be  destroyed. 
Legal  objections  might  be  urged  against  all  these  grounds  of  claim,  but 
they  were  good  enough  to  support  a  dynastic  war.  Louis  of  Orleans 
had  in  1491  recovered  his  favour  at  Court,  and  it  was  not  impossible  that 
Milan  would  be  made  the  object  of  the  French  attack.  Milan  lay 
dangerously  near  to  France,  and  strategically  was  much  less  difficult  of 
access  than  Naples.  On  the  other  hand  Charles  might  well  be  unwilling 
to  aggrandise  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  his  nobles,  a  possible  heir  to 
the  throne,  who,  though  reconciled,  had  not  long  ago  been  in  arms 
against  his  King.  It  was  Ludovico's  natural  policy  to  endeavour  to 
divert  this  danger  from  himself. 

The  second  French  pretext  was  the  claim  to  Naples,  resting  on 
similar  grounds,  and  similarly  open  to  cavil.  J oanna  I,  Queen  of  Naples 
of  the  first  Angevin  line,  had  no  heirs  of  her  body.  The  lawful  heir 
was  Charles  of  Durazzo,  descended  from  the  younger  son  of  Charles  II 
of  Naples.  Being  at  enmity  with  Charles  of  Durazzo,  Joanna 
adopted  her  remote  cousin  Louis,  Duke  of  Anjou  by  the  second 
creation.  Charles  and  his  descendants  had  successfully  defended  their 
rights  against  Louis  and  his  heirs,  until  their  line  also  died  out  in 
Joanna  II.  The  latter,  in  order  to  defend  herself  against  the  attacks 
of  Louis  III  of  Anjou,  adopted  Alfonso  of  Aragon  as  her  heir.  When 
later  Alfonso  wished  to  make  himself  master  of  Naples  without  waiting 
for  Joanna's  death,  Joanna  revoked  this  act  of  adoption,  adopted 
Louis  III,  and  on  her  death  (1435)  made  his  brother  Ren^  her  heir.  Thus 
Alfonso,  who  seized  the  kingdom,  was  legally  only  a  successful  usurper ; 
and  all  the  claims  which  Louis  I  derived  from  the  adoption  of  Joanna  I, 
together  with  the  claims  of  the  house  of  Durazzo,  were  united  in  the 
person  of  Ren^,  who  more  than  once  tried  to  recover  his  heritage.  The 
rights  of  Rend  passed  in  1481,  through  his  nephew  the  Count  of  Maine, 
by  will  and  also,  though  not  so  certainly,  by  succession,  to  Louis  XI> 
and  after  him  to  Charles  VIII.  Sixtus  IV,  although  he  refused  to 
consider  the  application  of  Charles  du  Maine  for  the  investiture  of 
Naples,  in  1482,  moved  by  different  thoughts,  urged  Louis  to  undertake 
the  conquest  of  the  kingdom,  "  which  belongs  to  him."  At  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  VIII  there  was  some  talk  of  putting  forward 
Rene  of  Lorraine,  a  descendant  through  the  female  line  of  the  house  of 
Anjou,  as  claimant  to  the  kingdom,  but  these  proposals  seem  never 


1492] 


France  and  Ludovico 


109 


to  have  been  serious,  and  cannot  be  said  to  impair  the  rights  of 
Charles  VIII. 

Thus  there  were  two  paths  open  to  the  ambition  of  the  French  king, 
when  freed  from  the  prudent  tutelage  of  his  sister  Anne.  The  head  of 
the  young  monarch  was  filled  with  chimerical  dreams.  His  domestic 
troubles  had  been  satisfactorily  composed.  His  standing  force  of 
cavalry,  fitted  alike  for  the  shock  of  battle,  for  scouting  and  skirmishing, 
and  for  missile  tactics,  was  full  of  military  enthusiasm  and  wanted  work. 
His  artillery  was  far  ahead  of  any  other  in  Europe.  His  infantry  was 
less  satisfactory,  but  could  be  strengthened  from  abroad.  He  had 
himself  but  lately  come  to  man's  estate  and  was  eager  to  prove  himself 
a  man  and  a  king.  At  his  Court  were  the  Neapolitan  exiles,  especially 
the  San  Severino  princes,  eager  to  press  on  him  a  definite  plan  of  conquest. 
He  was  estranged  from  the  wise  counsellors  who  had  kept  him  so  long  in 
leading-strings.  Supple  courtiers  and  men  of  business,  Etienne  de  Vesc, 
and  Guillaume  Bri^onnet,  were  at  his  side,  ready  to  find  means  for  the 
execution  of  any  scheme  that  pleased  their  royal  master  and  promised  to 
them  incidental  profits.  The  crown  of  Sicily  carried  with  it  the  crown 
of  Jerusalem,  thus  suggesting  at  once  and  facilitating  an  ulterior  project 
of  crusade ;  and  Europe  needed  a  crusade. 

The  Moor  was  probably  the  first  among  the  Italian  princes  to  see 
that  French  intervention  in  Italy,  so  often  talked  of,  had  at  length 
become  a  real  danger.  He  approached  the  King  of  France  in  1491,  and 
received  from  him  in  the  name  of  his  nephew  the  investiture  of  Genoa, 
which  had  been  similarly  granted  to  Francesco,  his  father,  by  Louis  XI. 
In  1492  he  obtained  the  renewal  of  the  alliance  formerly  enjoyed 
by  his  father,  thus  recovering  the  position  of  favour  which  his  elder 
brother  had  lost  through  his  indiscreet  leanings  towards  Charles  the 
Bold. 

The  Milanese  embassy  of  unusual  magnificence  that  soon  afterwards 
visited  France  had  no  compromising  instructions.  Its  object  was  to  win 
the  French  courtiers  by  presents,  to  make  all  vague  assurances  of  general 
devotion,  and  to  secure  if  possible  the  protection  of  the  King  for  the 
Duke  of  Bari  himself.  In  all  this  it  succeeded.  Whatever  may  have 
been  spoken  of  in  private  —  and  Commines  suggests  that  the  most 
important  topics  were  discussed  —  it  is  probable  that  no  promises  were 
made  which  Ludovico  could  not  afterwards  disavow.  Yet  it  is  clear 
that  he  desired  to  secure  a  safeguard  for  himself,  not  only  against 
France,  but  also  against  Naples.  For  his  relations  with  that  country 
were  less  than  cordial.  The  King  of  Naples  could  hardly  acquiesce 
permanently  in  the  humiliation  of  his  grand-daughter,  which  Isabella 
herself  deeply  resented.  Hitherto  he  had  been  hampered  by  war  with 
the  Pope,  but  peace  was  concluded  at  the  end  of  1491.  Ludovico 
looked  to  France  to  protect  him  against  Naples ;  he  hoped  to  achieve 
this  end  without  armed  French  intervention  ;  but  in  any  case,  if  invasion 


110 


Piero  de^  Medici,  —  Alexander  VI 


[1492 


occurred,  he  was  determined  that  Naples  and  not  Milan  or  the  Duke  of 
Bari  should  be  the  victim. 

The  events  of  the  next  two  years  illustrate  the  unstable  nature  of 
Italian  policy  and  Italian  alliances.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  died  in  April, 
1492,  while  the  Milanese  embassy  was  at  Paris.  The  choice  before  his  son 
Piero  was  a  difficult  one.  It  was  the  traditional  policy  of  Florence  to 
keep  up  intimate,  almost  subservient,  relations  with  France,  where  the 
commercial  and  financial  interests  of  the  Medici  Bank  were  important, 
but  on  the  other  hand  to  prevent,  if  possible,  active  foreign  interference 
in  Italy.  These  two  aims  were  probably  now  no  longer  to  be  reconciled ; 
and  Piero  sacrificed  the  first  without  attaining  the  second.  Following, 
as  it  seems,  the  counsels  of  Virginio  Orsini,  his  wife's  cousin,  he  drew 
closer  to  Naples,  thus  alarming  and  alienating  Ludovico,  who  soon 
afterwards  concluded  an  alliance  with  Venice  and  Rome.  Piero  rejected 
all  overtures  from  France ;  and  the  opening  campaign  was  preceded  by 
the  expulsion  of  the  Medici  agents  from  French  territory. 

The  accession  of  Alexander  VI  in  August,  1492,  seemed  at  first  a 
great  good  fortune  for  Ludovico ;  for  his  brother,  the  Cardinal  Ascanio 
Sforza,  was  reputed  to  have  supreme  influence  with  the  new  pontiff.  A 
little  matter,  the  sale  by  Franceschetto  Cib5,  son  of  the  late  Pope, 
of  two  places  in  the  Patrimonio,  Anguillara  and  Cervetri,  to  Virginio 
Orsini,  the  friend  of  Piero  and  captain  general  of  Naples,  assisted  the 
secret  endeavours  of  Ascanio  to  animate  the  Pope  against  Naples  and 
Florence.  The  league  of  the  Pope  with  Milan  and  Venice,  and  an  indirect 
encouragement  of  France  in  her  plans  against  Naples,  were  results  of 
this  ill-feeling.  But  the  dread  of  a  General  Council,  of  which  Charles  had 
rashly  spoken,  may  have  inclined  Alexander  to  entertain  the  pressing 
solicitations  of  Ferrante,  supported  by  the  offer  of  an  advantageous 
marriage  for  one  of  Alexander's  sons  to  a  Neapolitan  princess.  The 
Pope  allowed  his  anger  to  be  appeased,  and  in  August,  1493,  returned 
an  evasive  answer  to  the  confident  request  of  Perron  de  Baschi,  the 
French  envoy,  for  the  investiture  of  Naples,  with  a  free  passage  and  the 
supply  of  provisions  for  French  troops.  After  the  death  of  Ferrante  in 
January,  1494,  Alexander  confirmed  the  investiture  to  his  son  Alfonso, 
and  in  February  he  solemnly  warned  the  French  King  against  disturbing 
the  peace  of  Christian  Italy. 

Leagued  with  Savelli,  Colonna,  and  Orsini,  the  fiery  Cardinal  Giuliano 
della  Rovere,  afterwards  Pope  Julius  II,  was  consistent  only  in  his  opposi- 
tion to  Alexander.  So  long  as  the  Pope  was  hostile  to  Naples,  Giuliano 
supported  Ferrante,  and,  retiring  from  Rome,  he  occupied  his  strongly 
fortified  castle  at  Ostia,  a  standing  menace  to  the  city.  When  Naples 
was  reconciled,  he  returned  sulkily  to  Rome.  But  when  the  certainty  of 
the  invasion  was  established,  he  saw  his  opportunity  for  striking  a  blow,  left 
Rome  in  April,  1494,  and  joined  the  King  of  France  at  Lyons,  to  urge  upon 
him  the  necessity  of  a  Council,  with  a  view  to  the  deposition  of  Alexander. 


1492-4] 


Preparations  for  invasion 


111 


Before  the  French  King  took  the  final  step,  it  had  been  necessary  for  him 
to  surmount  serious  difficulties.  The  marriage  of  Charles  with  Anne  of 
Britanny  had  involved  France  in  hostilities  with  a  league  of  powers.  On 
the  north,  Henry  VII  descended  and  laid  siege  to  Boulogne.  England  was 
bought  off,  by  the  treaty  of  Etaples  (November,  1492),  with  an  exorbitant 
money  ransom,  which  caused  Henry  VII  to  forget  that  he  had  ever  felt 
himself  threatened  by  the  presence  of  the  French  in  Britanny.  On  the 
south  France  was  menaced  by  the  recently  consolidated  and  extended  king- 
doms of  Aragon  and  Castile.  Their  neutrality  was  purchased  (January, 
1493)  by  the  retrocession  without  indemnity  of  the  counties  of  Roussillon 
and  Cerdagne,  on  the  northward  slope  of  the  Eastern  Pyrenees,  pledged  in 
1462  to  Louis  XI  by  John  of  Aragon  for  300,000  crowns.  Maximilian, 
King  of  the  Romans,  had  not  only  been  robbed  of  his  Breton  marriage, 
but  had  also  a  claim  under  the  treaty  of  Arras  to  the  restitution  of 
Franche  Comt^  and  Artois,  with  some  minor  places,  part  of  the  heritage 
of  Charles  the  Bold.  Under  that  treaty  these  provinces  had  been  given 
to  France  as  the  dowry  of  Maximilian's  daughter,  whom  Charles  had 
now  repudiated.  In  the  war  which  followed  this  double  wrong  Maxi- 
milian had  achieved  partial,  though  for  him  unusual,  success.  His  honour 
was  satisfied,  moreover  he  was  now  deserted  by  his  allies.  He  could  the 
more  willingly  accept  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Senlis  (May,  1493), 
which  gave  him  in  effect  almost  all  there  was  left  to  give.  The  oppor- 
tunity offered  by  this  reconciliation  Ludovico  was  not  slow  to  seize. 
With  the  consent  of  France  he  gave  to  Maximilian  the  hand  of  his  niece, 
Bianca  Maria,  with  her  more  than  princely  dowry.  In  the  following 
year  Maximilian,  who  had  in  the  interval  succeeded  to  the  empire, 
redeemed  his  obligation  by  bestowing  on  Ludovico  the  investiture  of 
Milan,  a  little  before  the  opportune  death  of  Gian  Galeazzo. 

The  heavy  price  that  Charles  was  paying  for  a  free  hand  in  Italy 
must  have  shown  Ludovico  that  the  expedition  was  probable,  and  by  the 
end  of  the  year  he  knew  for  certain  that  it  was  imminent.  He  could  no 
longer  hope  to  withdraw  from  the  alliance  he  had  sought.  On  the  other 
hand  his  own  position  was  extremely  dangerous.  By  the  end  of  1493  it 
was  clear  that  Florence,  Rome,  and  Naples  were  against  him.  Venice 
maintained  a  watchful  neutrality.  A  rapid  advance  on  Milan  or  Genoa, 
or  both,  might  have  overthrown  his  precarious  rule.  It  was  his  task  to 
amuse  his  enemies  with  fair  words,  delusive  proposals,  and  treacherous 
promises  until  the  time  for  action  was  past.  Meanwhile  the  French 
King  delayed.  Warlike  preparations  had  been  in  progress  since  1492. 
In  1493  Charles  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  Sicily  and  of  Jerusalem. 
Additional  taxes  and  forced  loans  were  exacted  to  raise  the  necessary 
funds,  royal  domains  were  sold,  and  the  revenues  pledged  in  advance. 
At  the  beginning  of  1494  the  Neapolitan  ambassadors  were  dismissed. 
On  the  6th  of  March  Charles  entered  Lyons  to  press  on  the  mobilisation 
in  person.    In  the  same  month  the  composition  of  the  proposed  force 


112 


Openiyig  of  the  War 


[1494 


was  fixed.  1,900  French  lances,  six  men  to  a  lance,  were  to  be  supple- 
mented by  1,500  Italian  lances,  four  men  to  a  lance,  making  with  1,200 
mounted  arblasters  a  total  force  of  18,600  horsemen,  though  a  propor- 
tion of  these  were  grooms  and  servants.  The  hailli  of  Dijon,  Antoine 
de  Bessey,  was  sent  to  raise  6,000  Swiss.  French  infantry,  Picards, 
Gascons,  Dauphinois,  and  infantry  to  be  raised  in  Italy,  with  a  few 
German  Landsknechte^  were  to  make  up  a  total  of  22,000  foot.  Of  this 
force,  about  one-fourth  was  to  be  transported  by  sea  from  Genoa,  and 
orders  were  sent  to  prepare  and  collect  a  sufficient  naval  armament.  It 
is  probable  that  ultimately  the  above  estimate  was  nearly  realised.  But 
everything,  especially  the  preparation  of  the  fleet,  was  retarded  for  lack 
of  money.  In  vain  Ludovico,  who  had  now  thrown  aside  all  hesitation, 
urged  through  his  agents  the  need  of  haste.  Inexperience,  incompetence, 
lack  of  good-will  in  the  royal  surrounding,  especially  it  would  seem  in 
Brigonnet,  everything  tended  to  dela3^  Toward  the  end  of  May  a  small 
instalment  of  troops  crossed  the  Alps.  The  Duke  of  Orleans,  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  fleet,  was  still  detained  at  Asti,  when  a  Neapolitan 
squadron  appeared  at  Genoa,  with  native  exiles  on  board,  in  hope  of 
exciting  a  rising.  The  stroke  failed,  but  the  danger  had  been  real,  and 
was  not  past.  However,  by  the  end  of  July  a  sufficient  fleet  had  been 
collected ;  Alfonso's  chance  was  gone.  On  the  19th  of  August,  Louis  of 
Orleans  took  up  his  command  at  Genoa,  and  on  the  8th  of  September 
the  first  collision  occurred.  The  Neapolitan  fleet  had  occupied  Rapallo, 
and  landed  4,000  men.  On  the  advance  of  the  French  fleet  the  enemy, 
stronger  in  numbers,  though  weaker  in  artillery,  sailed  off.  Their  post 
on  shore  was  attacked  by  land  and  cannonaded  from  the  sea.  The 
victory  rested  with  the  French  and  Genoese,  and  Italy  was  startled  at  a 
battle  in  which  the  shedding  of  blood  had  not  been  spared.  The  Swiss 
in  particular  had  shown  themselves  ruthless  and  bloodthirsty. 

Meanwhile  the  King  had  actually  crossed  the  Alps  by  the  Mont 
Gendvre,  his  heavy  artillery  being  sent  by  sea  to  Genoa.  In  Savoy, 
subject  to  French  influence  since  Louis  XI,  no  courtesy  or  facility  was 
denied  him.  The  Marquis  of  Montferrat  put  himself  and  his  lands  at 
the  King's  service.  At  Asti,  which  belonged  to  Orleans,  the  Dukes  of 
Bari  and  Ferrara  greeted  the  King;  and  the  news  of  the  victory  of 
Rapallo  was  brought.  Here  a  mild  attack  of  small-pox  delayed  the 
King  for  a  short  time,  and  the  general  disorganisation  was  increased  by 
an  access  of  fever  which  prostrated  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  The  King 
having  recovered,  it  was  determined  that  Louis  should  stay  behind  at 
Asti.  In  absolute  lack  of  money  the  King  had  to  raise  a  loan  by  the 
help  of  the  credit  of  Ludovico,  from  whom  much  more  liberal  assistance 
had  been  expected. 

The  King  of  Naples  had  caused  his  army,  strengthened  by  a  papal 
contingent,  to  advance  into  the  Romagna,  where  he  could  rely  on  Urbino 
and  Cesena.    The  attitude  of  Bentivoglio  at  Bologna,  and  of  Caterina 


1494]  Advance  to  Florence 


113 


Sforza  at  Imola  aiid  Forli  was  doubtful.  These  troops  were  opposed  by 
Milanese  under  the  Count  of  Caiazzo,  and  French  under  Aubigny ;  but, 
when  Charles  had  decided  to  advance  through  Tuscany,  the  operations 
in  Romagna  lost  their  meaning  and  the  allies  withdrew.  Charles  passed 
through  Pavia,  where  he  visited  Gian  Galeazzo.  At  Piacenza  he  heard 
of  the  young  duke's  death.  As  far  as  Pontremoli  he  marched  over 
Milanese  soil.  Thence,  descending  the  Apennines,  he  advanced  into 
Florentine  territory  and  attacked  Sarzana.  Had  Sarzana  and  Pietra 
Santa  been  strongly  defended,  the  country  at  this  point  presented  serious 
difficulties  to  an  advancing  army.  The  land  on  either  side  of  the  road 
was  marshy,  and  the  fortresses  were  well  capable  of  defence.  But  Piero, 
unsupported  and  unprepared,  had  at  length  determined  to  give  in.  He 
knew  that  there  were  many  in  Florence  who  were  favourable  to  France, 
and  hostile  to  himself.  Acting  on  his  own  responsibility,  while  Sarzana 
still  held  out,  he  came  to  the  French  camp  at  San  Stefano  and  surrendered 
everything,  —  Sarzana,  Pietra  Santa,  Pisa,  and  Livorno,  —  and  promised 
the  King  a  considerable  loan.  But  his  submission  came  too  late.  When 
he  returned  to  Florence,  he  found  the  palace  of  the  Signoria  closed  to 
him ;  the  city  rose  against  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  fly  with  his 
brother,  the  young  Cardinal  Giovanni. 

Nothing  now  remained  to  delay  Charles'  advance  to  Florence.  Into 
Lucca  the  King  made  a  triumphant  entry.  At  Pisa  he  was  received  with 
acclamations,  and  in  a  hasty  speech  was  understood  to  have  restored  its 
liberty  to  the  city,  where  he  left  a  small  garrison.  Finally,  on  the  17th 
of  November,  the  King  entered  Florence  with  8,000  horse  and  4,000 
infantry,  in  a  martial  array  such  as  never  had  been  seen  before.  The 
whole  city  received  him  with  eager  hopes  and  fervent  affection.  Before 
he  had  left,  however,  some  change  of  feeling  had  set  in.  The  behaviour 
of  the  French  soldiers  was  not  all  that  could  be  desired.  Wages  were 
in  arrear,  and  they  could  not,  if  they  wished,  pay  for  all  they  needed. 
But  to  women  it  is  admitted  that  they  did  no  wrong ;  and,  indeed,  the 
conduct  of  the  French  towards  non-combatants  throughout  these  wars 
compares  favourably  with  that  of  Italians,  Spaniards,  Germans,  or  Swiss. 
But  there  were  other  grievances.  Charles  had  put  off  all  negotiations 
until  after  his  entry.  The  deliberations  that  followed  were  not  always 
peaceful.  The  King  was  suspected,  and  not  wholly  without  cause,  of 
wishing  to  restore  Piero.  His  financial  demands  were  considered  exces- 
sive, and  even  after  abatement  still  remained  large.  He  insisted  on 
retaining  Pisa  and  Livorno,  Sarzana  and  Pietra  Santa,  till  the  end  of  the 
campaign.  But  the  freedom  of  Pisa  was  not  among  the  stipulations. 
A  French  envoy  was  to  be  present  at  all  deliberations  of  the  Signoria. 
In  the  discussions  which  ensued  bold  words  were  used.  The  Florentine 
Capponi  threatened  to  call  the  citizens  to  arms.  But  the  King  was  the 
stronger,  and  finally  his  principal  demands  were  accepted. 

The  whole  French  army  was  now  moving  on  Rome.  Aubigny  brought 

C.  M.  H.  I.  8 


114 


To  Rome  and  heyond 


[1494-5 


his  men  across  the  Apennines  into  Tuscany.  Montpensier  had  gone  on  with 
the  troops  from  Genoa.  The  heavy  artillery  had  been  disembarked  at 
Spezia,  and  was  following  the  King.  A  small  force  with  Giuliano  della 
Rovere  joined  the  Colonna  who  were  holding  Ostia.  The  position  of  the 
Pope  was  critical.  Rumour  ran  that  he  had  not  hesitated  to  call  in 
the  Turk  in  defence  of  Rome  and  Naples.  It  was  certain  that  he  was 
the  pensioner  of  Bayazid,  and  the  gaoler  of  his  brother,  Jem.  The 
simony  by  which  he  had  gained  the  triple  crown  and  the  scandals  of  his 
private  life  were  well  known,  and  even  exaggerated  by  report.  His 
bitterest  enemies  were  with  the  French.  Could  he  resist,  should  he  fly, 
should  he  await  the  King,  and  come  to  terms  ?  For  a  time  he  meditated 
resistance.  The  Duke  of  Calabria,  Ferrantino,  afterwards  king,  led 
his  army  into  Rome.  Alexander  arrested  the  cardinals  Ascanio  and 
Colonna.  Then  wiser  counsels  prevailed.  The  city  was  not  defensible. 
Ferrantino  was  dismissed,  the  cardinals  released,  and  on  the  last  day 
of  the  old  year  Charles  VIII  entered  Rome  with  the  consent  of  the 
Pope.  Even  in  the  strong  places  of  the  Orsini,  who  served  the  King 
of  Naples,  he  had  found  no  resistance. 

Reluctantly,  sullenly,  Alexander  came  to  terms.  The  King  was  to 
have  the  custody  of  Jem,  who  might  be  used  in  the  proposed  crusade 
to  stir  up  rebellion  against  Bayazid.  The  Cardinal  of  Valencia,  Cesare 
Borgia,  was  to  accompany  Charles,  nominally  as  legate,  really  as  a 
hostage.  The  Pope  promised  no  investiture  ;  indeed,  he  had  every 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  moderation,  perhaps  with  the  simplicity, 
of  his  visitor.    The  hostile  cardinals  were  bitterly  disappointed. 

On  the  28th  of  January,  1495,  the  King  left  Rome.  Meanwhile  his  lieu- 
tenants, advancing  in  the  Abruzzi,  had  occupied  Aquila.  The  Neapolitans, 
retreating,  had  laid  waste  the  country  before  him.  But  Alfonso,  conscious 
of  his  own  unpopularity,  and  tortured,  it  is  said,  by  remorse,  had  lost 
all  courage.  On  the  21st  of  January  he  resigned  in  favour  of  his  son 
Ferrantino,  an  amiable  youth,  free  from  all  complicity  in  the  crimes  of 
his  father  and  grandfather.  At  Velletri  the  King  of  France  received  his 
first  warning.  Envoys  from  Spain  reproached  him  with  the  injuries 
done  to  the  Holy  Father,  whereby  they  declared  the  treaty  of  Barcelona 
had  been  violated;  and  summoned  him  to  desist  from  his  enterprise, 
and  to  accept  the  mediation  of  the  Catholic  King.  The  same  day  the 
Cardinal  of  Valencia  escaped  from  the  French  camp.  The  best  answer 
to  such  indications  of  ill-feeling  was  success.  Ferdinand  lay  at  San 
German o  defending  the  line  of  the  Liris.  At  Monte  San  Giovanni  the 
strong  fortress  ventured  to  defy  the  French.  In  a  few  hours  the  place 
was  taken  by  assault  and  sacked.  The  advance  guard  of  the  French 
crossing  the  Liris  then  threatened  the  enemy's  flank  and  rear.  Ferrantino 
retreated  to  Capua.  Gaeta  surrendered;  and,  during  the  absence  of  the 
King  at  Naples,  Gian  Giacomo  Trivulzio  made  overtures  to  give  up 
Capua,  which  were  accepted.    At  Nola,  the  Orsini  captains,  Pitigliano 


1495] 


Charles  at  Naples,  —  Hostile  league 


115 


and  Virginio  Orsini,  were  captured.  At  Aversa  and  Poggio  Reale 
embassies  from  Naples  saluted  Charles,  offering  submission.  On  the  22nd 
of  February  Charles  entered  Naples.  Ferrantino,  who  had  destroyed  the 
chief  part  of  his  fleet,  still  held  the  detached  Castel  dell'  Uovo  with  five 
ships,  and  retired  on  the  following  day  to  Ischia,  leaving  garrisons  in  the 
fortresses.  The  last  of  these  surrendered  under  the  French  fire  on  the 
22nd  of  March. 

Charles  was  thus  master  of  the  capital,  and  the  more  distant  provinces 
showed  willingness  to  accept  his  rule.  He  showed  a  praiseworthy  desire 
to  win  the  good-will  of  his  new  subjects,  remitting  taxes,  as  he  says,  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  200,000  ducats.  A  general  amnesty  to  those 
who  had  served  the  Aragon  kings,  restoration  of  property  to  the  Angevin 
exiles,  even  the  recognition  of  slavery  as  then  existing,  proved  his  desire 
to  respect  all  rights.  But  impatient  of  business,  given  up  to  pleasure,  in- 
dolently desirous  to  satisfy  all  petitioners,  he  not  only  squandered  the  royal 
domain,  but  created  almost  as  many  grievances  as  he  bestowed  favours. 
No  serious  attempt  was  made  to  settle  the  government  on  a  firm  basis. 

The  project  of  a  crusade  had  received  a  grave  blow  in  the  death  of 
Jem,  which  took  place  at  Naples.  The  Archbishop  of  Durazzo  undertook 
to  organise  a  rising  in  Albania,  but  the  project  was  frustrated  by  his 
accidental  arrest  at  Venice.  Charles'  own  position  was  too  doubtful  to 
allow  any  more  determined  effort.  Since  his  refusal  to  confer  Sarzana 
and  Pietra  Santa  upon  Ludovico,  the  latter  had  been  intriguing  against 
his  ally.  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  had  sent  to  Sicily  the  great  captain 
Gonzalo  de  Cordova  with  a  fleet,  ostensibly  for  defensive  purposes. 
Venice  was  arming,  as  she  said,  against  the  Turk.  Maximilian  was  afraid 
that  the  successes  of  Charles  in  Italy  might  lead  him  to  claim  the  Imperial 
Crown.  Negotiations  took  place  at  Venice  resulting  in  a  league  between 
the  Pope,  the  Roman  King,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Venice  and  Milan, 
for  the  protection  of  the  confederates  against  the  aggression  of  other 
powers  then  possessing  states  in  Italy.  The  league  purported  to  be 
defensive,  but  was  in  reality  offensive.  Florence  alone,  still  friendly  to 
France  and  relying  on  her  good  offices  to  recover  Pisa,  was  not  a  party  to 
it.  The  transaction  was  communicated  to  Commines,  French  ambassador 
to  Venice,  on  the  1st  of  April.  Charles  was  soon  informed  of  the  danger 
rising  in  his  rear,  but  did  not  leave  Naples  till  the  21st  of  May. 

Fortunately  for  the  invader,  Louis  of  Orleans  was  still  at  Asti  with  a 
handful  of  troops.  In  a  few  days  he  had  collected  2,000  men.  The 
Duke  of  Bourbon,  the  wise  vicegerent  of  the  King  in  France,  was  pressed 
to  send  aid,  for  the  troops  of  Milan  threatened  an  attack,  if  the  place  was 
not  surrendered.  But  Ludovico,  timid  as  usual,  allowed  the  moment  to 
pass.  Reinforcements  soon  put  Asti  in  a  position  for  defence,  and 
secured  for  the  King  his  line  of  retreat.  Meanwhile  Ludovico  was 
celebrating  the  investiture  of  Milan,  which  he  had  at  length  permission 
to  proclaim.    In  June  Louis  was  in  a  position  to  occupy  the  city  of 


116 


Battle  of  Fornovo 


[1495 


Novara  by  the  invitation  of  the  citizens;  shortly  after,  the  citadel 
surrendered.  Ludovico  was  paralysed  ;  it  is  thought  that  if  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  had  marched  on  Milan  he  would  have  met  no  serious  resistance. 

Meanwhile  the  King  had  left  Naples  with  some  1,200  French  lances, 
4,000  Swiss,  and  2,000  Gascon  arblasters.  The  other  half  of  his  army, 
partly  Italians,  was  left  with  Montpensier,  the  viceroy,  to  deal  with 
Ferrantino,  who  had  recently  landed  in  Calabria  with  Spanish  aid.  On 
reaching  Rome,  the  King  found  the  Pope  had  fled  to  Orvieto.  Florence 
Charles  avoided,  since  the  Florentines  claimed,  and  he  was  determined  to 
refuse,  the  surrender  of  the  fortresses,  especially  of  Pisa.  At  Pisa  he 
found  himself  equally  unable  to  satisfy  the  Pisans.  At  Spezia,  against 
all  sound  advice,  he  detached  500  horse  and  2,000  foot  to  operate  against 
Genoa  with  the  aid  of  the  fleet  and  the  Genoese  exiles.  But  he  had 
the  forethought  to  send  on  a  force  to  occupy  Pontremoli,  which  capitu- 
lated. The  Swiss,  violating  the  terms  of  the  surrender,  sacked  and 
burned  the  place,  destroying  valuable  stores. 

The  possession  of  Pontremoli  gave  the  French  access  to  the  pass. 
Beyond  the  summit  lay  the  army  of  the  League.  The  chief  part  of  the 
army,  about  40,000  strong,  was  in  Venetian  pay,  and  commanded  by  the 
Marquis  of  Mantua.  Beside  men  at  arms  there  were  some  thousands  of 
Stradioti^  the  ferocious  light  cavalry  of  Albania.  The  chief  part  of  the 
forces  of  Milan  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Novara,  but  a  Milanese 
contingent  was  present.  Over  the  steep  pass  the  Swiss,  in  sign  of 
penitence  for  their  late  excesses,  dragged  by  hand  the  heavy  cannon,  each 
ordinarily  drawn  by  thirty-five  horses ;  and  French  nobles,  notably  la 
Tr^mouille,  did  not  disdain  to  work  beside  them.  At  Fornovo  the 
French  vanguard  came  into  touch  with  the  Stradiot  advanced  posts,  and 
halted.  The  rest  of  the  army,  coming  up,  encamped  for  the  night  in 
great  lack  of  provisions.  Negotiations  were  opened  for  a  free  passage, 
but  came  to  nothing.    The  next  day  the  French  advanced. 

At  Fornovo  the  valley  of  the  Taro  is  of  moderate  width.  On  the 
right  bank  were  posted  the  allies  and  there  was  their  fortified  camp. 
The  French  resolved  to  cross  the  river,  and  to  force  their  way  along  the 
left  bank.  The  river  had  been  much  swollen  by  a  thunderstorm  during 
the  night  and  rain  was  still  falling.  Thus  the  French  army,  having  once 
successfully  effected  its  crossing,  which  it  did  undisturbed,  was  partly 
protected.  The  vanguard  was  expected  to  bear  the  main  weight  of  the 
attack,  and  included  the  bulk  of  the  artillery,  with  3,000  Swiss,  and  a 
strong  body  of  men-at-arms.  This  body,  moving  on  too  fast,  became 
separated  from  the  rest  of  the  arm}^,  and  had  only  to  sustain  a  trifling 
charge  of  the  Milanese  horse  under  the  Count  of  Caiazzo.  Little  use  was 
made  on  either  side  of  the  artillery.  The  main  attack  was  made  by  the 
Marquis  of  Mantua.  Though  it  was  originally  directed  on  the  centre, 
the  necessity  to  deviate  for  a  ford  made  it  really  an  attack  on  the  rear 
under  Louis  de  la  Tr^mouille.    The  King's  main  battle  then  wheeled 


1495-6] 


The  French  driven  out 


117 


round  and  took  up  a  position  to  the  left  of  the  rear  guard,  facing  to  the 
rear.  Fortunately,  the  baggage,  which  was  moving  along  the  hills  and 
away  from  the  river,  attracted  the  Stradiots,  and  diverted  them  from 
serious  work.  The  Italian  horse,  who  charged  the  King's  rear  and 
centre,  were  outflanked  and  soon  put  to  flight,  and  were  pursued  to  the 
ford  from  which  they  came.  More  than  half  the  army  of  the  allies  never 
came  into  action,  but  the  whole  of  it  was  thrown  into  confusion  and 
many  fled.  The  rout  was  partly  stopped  by  the  King's  prisoners 
Pitigliano  and  Virginio  Orsini,  who  escaped  during  the  battle.  But 
another  attack  was  out  of  the  question,  and  the  French  even  thought  of 
assuming  the  offensive.  Perhaps  a  well-timed  charge  by  the  Marshal  de 
Gi^  with  the  vanguard  might  have  turned  the  defeat  into  a  rout,  but 
the  French  had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied.  They  were  able  after  a  rest 
to  march  off  during  the  night,  and  reached  Asti  on  the  15th  of  July 
practically  unmolested.  The  Venetians  claimed  the  victory,  but  the 
fruits  of  victory  were  with  the  French. 

At  Asti  the  King  found  things  in  forlorn  case.  The  expedition 
against  Genoa  had  failed.  The  French  fleet  was  captured  in  Rapallo 
by  a  superior  Genoese  force  and  all  the  plunder  of  Naples  was  lost.  The 
Duke  of  Orleans  was  besieged  at  Novara,  and  his  garrison  were  at  the 
last  pinch.  Bessey  was  sent  in  haste  to  raise  a  fresh  force  of  Swiss,  but 
by  the  time  they  arrived,  20,000  strong,  Novara  had  capitulated  on  easy 
terms,  and  Ludovico  showed  himself  inclined  for  peace.  Louis  of  Orleans 
was  anxious  to  use  the  Swiss  against  Milan,  but  Charles,  perhaps  dis- 
gusted with  the  shifting  fortune  of  war,  concluded  at  Vercelli  a  separate 
peace  with  Ludovico,  and  on  the  15th  of  October  he  crossed  the  Alps. 

Milan  was  left  in  statu  quo^  except  that  the  Castelletto  of  Genoa  was 
left  for  two  years  as  a  pledge  of  good  faith  to  France  in  the  hands  of  the 
Duke  of  Ferrara.  Venice  had  profited  by  the  trouble  of  Naples  to  acquire 
four  ports,  Monopoli,  Trani,  Brindisi,  and  Otranto,  on  the  easterly 
coast  of  Apulia.  Florence  was  by  agreement  to  receive  back  her  towns, 
but  the  corrupt  disobedience  of  French  lieutenants  gave  Pisa  to  the 
Pisans,  Sarzana  to  the  Genoese,  and  Pietra  Santa  to  Lucca.  In  Naples 
the  first  descent  of  Gonzalo  had  not  been  fortunate.  His  army  was 
defeated  at  Seminara  by  a  band  of  Swiss.  But  Ferrantino,  nothing 
daunted,  presented  himself  at  Naples  with  his  fleet.  Repulsed  at  first,  a 
chance  gave  him  the  advantage,  and  his  supporters  gained  the  town. 
Montpensier,  Yves  d'All^gre,  and  Etienne  de  Vesc  were  shut  up  in 
the  Castel  Nuovo.  The  Provinces,  North  and  South,  rose  against  the 
French.  The  Colonna  left  them.  Aubigny  with  difficulty  held  out 
against  Gonzalo  in  Calabria.  Montpensier  in  despair  concluded  a 
conditional  capitulation,  and,  when  Precy  failed  to  relieve  him,  aban- 
doned the  city  of  Naples.  In  February,  1496,  all  the  castles  of  Naples 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  Aragonese.  The  French  still  held  Ariano,  Gaeta, 
and  a  few  other  posts.    In  July  Precy  and  Montpensier  surrendered  to 


118 


Expedition  of  Maximilian 


[1496 


Gonzalo  and  Ferrantino  at  Atella.  The  chief  part  of  the  French  prisoners, 
including  Montpensier,  succumbed  to  the  climate  and  to  disease.  Aubigny 
gave  up  the  struggle  in  Calabria.  On  the  death  of  Ferrantino,  October  6, 
1496,  Federigo,  his  uncle,  succeeded.  Soon  after  (November  19)  Gaeta, 
the  last  important  stronghold  of  the  French,  surrendered.  The  King  of 
France  still  meditated  another  expedition,  and  concluded,  towards  the 
end  of  1497,  an  alliance  with  Aragon  for  a  joint  conquest.  Five  months 
later  an  accident  cut  short  his  life.  The  only  son  of  his  marriage  with 
Anne  of  Britanny  had  died  in  infancy.  His  successor,  Louis  of  Orleans, 
inherited  his  plans  of  conquest,  but  with  a  difference. 

The  fear  of  a  new  French  invasion,  increased  by  the  league  concluded 
with  France  in  1496  by  the  majority  of  the  Swiss  cantons,  worked  upon 
Italian  nerves.  The  restless  Ludovico  first  took  the  alarm,  and  ap- 
proached the  Venetian  Signoria.  It  was  agreed  to  call  in  the  King  of 
the  Romans,  who  responded  to  the  call.  Maximilian  agreed,  like  a  mere 
condottiere^  to  take  the  pay  of  the  league,  which  was  composed  as  in  1495, 
with  the  addition  of  Henry  VII  of  England.  In  July,  1496,  a  conference 
was  held  at  Mais  in  the  Tyrol,  near  the  frontier.  The  members  of  the 
league  gave  diplomatic  support,  but  none  were  ready  to  give  material 
help,  except  Milan  and  Venice ;  and  even  these  doled  out  their  pittance 
with  a  chary  hand.  Maximilian  had  a  name  to  sell,  but  few  men  and 
less  money  to  back  it.  The  imperial  Estates  and  the  much  discussed 
imperial  subsidy  afforded  no  help.  However,  some  Swiss  were  enrolled, 
and  Maximilian  raised  a  few  horsemen  from  his  own  subjects  and 
personal  adherents.  By  the  end  of  September  a  small  army  had  collected 
around  the  Roman  King  at  Vigevano  in  the  Milanese. 

The  league,  such  as  it  was,  still  lacked  a  plan.  The  Duke  of  Milan 
was  anxious  to  secure  the  north-western  frontier.  Gian  Giacomo  Tri- 
vulzio  was  at  Asti  with  700  French  lances  threatening  Milan.  Savoy 
under  its  new  duke,  Philippe  de  Bresse,  was  intimately  linked  with 
France.  Montferrat  was  governed  in  the  same  interest.  The  Marquis 
of  Saluzzo  was  a  French  vassal.  To  conquer  Asti,  to  coerce  the  other 
north-western  powers,  great  and  small,  and  so  to  secure  the  Alpine 
passes,  was  an  intelligible  plan,  though  it  carried  risks  and  difficulties. 
But  Venice,  by  this  time  reassured  against  the  fear  of  an  immediate 
invasion,  was  unwilling  so  far  to  strengthen  her  neighbour  and  ally. 
Her  real  wish  was  that  Maximilian  should  retire.  Failing  that,  there 
was  one  enterprise  that  Venice  could,  tolerantly  though  not  cordially, 
support.  Florence  alone  of  the  Italian  powers  was  still  friendly  to 
France.  Florence  was  at  war  with  Pisa,  where  Venice  had  troops,  and 
on  which  she  had  designs.  Against  Florence  the  blow  must  be  directed, 
aided  by  Venetian  galleys  and  Genoese  ships.  Maximilian  readily  fell  into 
this  plan,  which  he  further  enriched  with  fantastic  additions,  scheming  to 
capture  the  vessels  returning  from  Naples  with  the  French  prisoners,  to 
invade  Provence,  and  join  hands  with  a  Spanish  force  from  Roussillon, 


1498] 


Accession  of  Louis  XII  of  France 


119 


and  with  Germans  from  the  Rhine.  Meanwhile  a  part  of  Maximilian's 
army  and  a  Venetian  contingent  were  needed  to  protect  the  north-west. 

Delays  were  many,  but  at  length  the  allied  force  moved  from  Genoa, 
partly  by  land,  partly  by  sea.  It  was  now  October,  and  the  autumnal 
gales  imperilled  and  impeded  the  naval  force.  The  land  forces  suffered 
equally  from  heavy  rains.  At  length  Maximilian  reached  Pisa.  The 
united  army  reached  the  total  of  about  2,500  horse  and  4,000  foot.  With 
this  inadequate  power,  ill-provided  with  heavy  artillery,  Maximilian,  him- 
self literally  penniless,  determined  to  undertake  the  siege  of  Livorno,  the 
last  outlet  of  Florence  to  the  sea.  The  Venetian  and  Genoese  fleet 
moved  up  and  occupied  the  harbour,  while  Maximilian  directed  the  land 
attack.  The  town  was  in  evil  case,  supplies  short,  the  garrison  weak 
and  demoralised.  But  aid  was  promptly  sent  from  Florence,  and  on  the 
29th  of  October  a  French  squadron  sailed  in,  favoured  by  a  stormy  wind 
which  prevented  the  allied  fleet  from  offering  opposition.  A  fortnight 
later,  while  the  Genoese  were  disputing  the  orders  of  the  King,  the 
Frenchmen  sailed  out  again,  leaving  500  soldiers  and  abundant  stores. 
The  weather,  rainy  and  cold,  discouraged  and  incapacitated  the  besiegers. 
Discipline  was  bad,  and  money  scarce.  Maximilian  therefore  determined 
to  raise  the  siege,  and  discussed  the  chances  of  a  direct  attack  on 
Florence.  Soon  that  was  also  given  up,  and  he  left  hurriedly  for 
Lombardy,  perhaps  disturbed  by  rumours  of  an  attack  upon  his  line  of 
retreat.  By  the  beginning  of  December  he  was  at  Pavia.  Here  he 
heard  that  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  had  concluded  a  truce  with  France. 
Alarmed  perhaps  for  his  own  hereditary  dominions  and  for  the  empire, 
certainly  disgusted  with  all  he  had  seen  and  suffered  in  Italy,  Maximilian 
hurried  across  the  Alps,  there  to  expend  his  desultory  vigour  in  other 
plans,  fruitless  indeed  and  unpractical,  but  none  more  fantastic  and 
fruitless  than  the  enterprise  of  Pisa. 

If  Louis  of  Orleans  had  had  his  own  way,  the  expedition  of  1494 
would  have  been  directed  against  Milan.  A  year  later  he  would  have 
seized  the  welcome  opportunity  to  punish  Ludovico  for  his  treachery. 
What  the  jealousy  of  Charles  had  perhaps  prevented,  Louis  XII  found 
himself  in  a  position  to  carry  out.  On  his  accession  he  took  the  title  of 
Duke  of  Milan  in  addition  to  that  of  King  of  Sicily  ;  and  a  full  year  was 
spent  in  diplomatic  and  military  preparations.  The  treaty  with  England 
was  renewed.  A  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Catholic  Kings  of  Aragon 
and  Castile  (July,  1498),  in  which  no  mention  was  made  of  the  King  of 
Naples.  Though  Louis  could  not  secure  the  neutrality  of  Maximilian, 
he  was  able  to  win  his  son  Philip,  ruler  of  the  Low  Countries,  by  some 
concessions  in  Artois.  With  the  Swiss  the  French  King  contracted  a 
league  (March,  1499),  by  which  the  cantons  stipulated  to  supply  the 
King  with  men  at  a  fixed  rate  of  pay,  and  received  in  return  an  annual 
pension  of  20,000  florins,  and  a  promise  of  pecuniary  or  other  assistance 
in  their  own  wars.    The  powers  of  Italy,  except  Milan  and  Naples,  were 


120 


He  prepares  to  invade  the  Milanese  [1498-9 


individually  approached,  and  Venice,  already  on  bad  terms  with  Milan 
over  the  question  of  Pisa,  after  long  deliberations  accepted  in  February, 
1499,  an  agreement  for  the  partition  of  Milan.  Venice  was  to  receive 
Cremona  and  the  territories  east  of  the  Adda  as  her  share,  and  promised 
a  contribution  of  100,000  ducats  to  the  French  expenses  in  the  joint 
war.  The  Pope  was  seeking  a  rich  marriage  for  his  son  Cesare,  who  had 
decided  to  lay  down  his  dignity  of  Cardinal.  Repulsed  in  Naples,  he 
turned  the  more  willingly  to  France.  Louis  purchased  his  divorce  from 
Jeanne  of  France,  and  papal  support  in  his  war,  by  the  gift  to  Cesare  of 
the  hand  of  Charlotte  d'Albret,  and  of  the  duchy  of  the  Valentinois. 
The  marriage  was  celebrated  in  May,  1499,  at  Blois.  Florence,  aggrieved 
though  she  was  by  the  Venetian  support  of  Pisa,  dared  not  promise  aid 
to  Milan,  and  secretly  professed  her  friendship  for  France.  The  powers 
of  the  north-western  frontier  of  Italy  were  all  won  for  the  invaders. 

Meanwhile  Ludovico  had  not  been  idle.  At  every  court  his  envoys 
met  the  ambassadors  of  France,  and  fought  an  unequal  diplomatic  fight. 
Maximilian  was  friendly,  but  he  was  engaged  during  the  crisis  in 
unsuccessful  warfare  with  the  Swiss.  He  took  Ludovico's  money,  but 
gave  him  no  material  aid.  Naples,  reduced  to  famine  by  the  ravages  of 
war,  was  benevolent  but  helpless.  The  smaller  powers,  Mantua,  Ferrara, 
Bologna,  jealous  as  they  were  of  Venice,  were  yet  more  afraid.  They 
gave  willingly  good  words,  but  took  no  compromising  step.  The  Marquis 
of  Mantua  indeed,  after  much  haggling,  accepted  a  condotta  from  Ludo- 
vico, but  was  careful  not  to  carry  out  its  obligations.  One  ally  Ludovico 
had,  or  at  least  professed  to  have,  —  the  enemy  of  Christendom,  the  Turk, 
who  did  much  harm  to  Venice  during  and  after  the  war  of  Milan,  and 
even  raided  Friuli  and  the  march  of  Treviso.  But  Ludovico  was  not  to 
gain  by  this. 

Thrown  thus  upon  his  own  resources,  he  was  in  fact  beaten  before  the 
war  began.  His  frontier  was  long,  and  not  naturally  defensible.  He 
had  to  fear  attacks  from  every  side.  The  spring  and  summer  of  1499 
were  spent  in  feverish  attempts  to  organise  defence.  A  large  number  of 
infantry  was  raised  in  the  Milanese,  and  distributed  in  the  strong  towns 
and  on  the  frontiers.  A  few  Swiss  and  Germans  were  hired.  Efforts 
were  made  to  collect  mercenary  horse,  with  moderate  success ;  but  the 
most  important  contingent,  that  promised  from  Naples  under  Prospero 
Colonna,  was  detained  at  home.  Much  labour  was  spent  on  the  frontier 
fortresses.  Alessandria  in  particular  was  thought  to  have  been  made  very 
strong.  The  brothers  San  Severino,  in  whom  the  Duke  had  complete 
confidence,  were  put  in  the  chief  commands,  and  returned  favourable 
reports  to  their  master.  The  Duke  flattered  himself  that  his  State  could 
hold  out  for  a  time  even  against  the  overwhelming  odds.  If  time  were 
allowed,  the  powers  of  Germany  might  be  set  in  motion. 

Far  more  methodical  and  effective  were  the  measures  taken  beyond 
the  Alps.    Louis  had  improved  the  administration  of  the  finances,  and 


1499]  The  Duchy  of  Milan  occupied  121 


there  was  money  to  spare.  The  companies  of  regular  cavalry  (ordon- 
nanees^  were  recruited,  and  in  great  part  remodelled.  Not  less  than 
1,500  lances  were  at  the  King's  disposal  for  the  invasion,  besides  the 
forces  employed  in  watching  Burgundy  and  the  other  frontiers.  Some 
6,000  Swiss  foot  were  enrolled.  The  total  infantry  reached  the  sum  of 
17,000.  The  artillery  was  finer,  more  numerous,  and  better  equipped 
than  that  of  Charles  VIII.  At  length  about  the  10th  of  August  this 
army  was  concentrated  at  Asti.  The  chief  command  was  given  to  Gian 
Giacomo  Trivulzio,  a  Milanese  exile,  who  had  left  the  service  of  the 
King  of  Naples  for  that  of  France.  The  Venetians  were  at  the  same 
time  in  readiness  to  advance  on  the  eastern  frontier. 

The  French,  after  capturing  the  strong  place  of  Annone,  where  they 
massacred  the  garrison,  occupied  Valenza,  Tortona,  and  some  places  of 
less  importance,  and  then  (August  25)  closed  in  upon  Alessandria,  which 
was  held  in  strength  by  Galeazzo  San  Severino.  Galeazzo  could  not  rely 
on  his  troops,  inferior  as  they  were,  and  ill-paid.  His  communications 
were  threatened.  Faithful  himself,  he  could  not  trust  his  own  brothers. 
On  the  fourth  day  after  the  invading  army  had  encamped  before  the  town, 
Galeazzo  and  his  principal  officers  took  to  flight,  and  the  city  at  once  fell 
to  the  French.  This  was  practically  the  end  of  the  war.  On  the  30th 
of  August  there  were  some  signs  of  disquiet  in  Milan.  The  Duke's 
treasurer  Landriano  was  killed  in  the  street.  On  the  2nd  of  September 
Ludovico  quitted  Milan  with  his  treasure,  still  considerable,  and  made 
his  way  by  Como  and  the  Valtellina  into  Tyrol.  The  castle  of  Milan, 
entrusted  by  the  Duke  to  his  most  trusted  friend,  Bernardino  da  Corte, 
was  sold  by  him  to  the  French  for  the  equivalent  of  some  150,000 
ducats.  No  further  opposition  was  made.  No  duchy  was  occupied  by 
the  French  on  the  west  of  the  Adda,  by  Venice  to  the  east.  Beyond 
the  Po,  Parma  and  Piacenza,  with  their  dependent  territory,  submitted 
without  resistance  to  the  French. 

Louis  now  resolved  to  cross  the  Alps  to  take  possession  of  his  new 
acquisition.  On  the  6th  of  October  he  made  his  solemn  entry  into 
Milan,  accompanied  by  a  brilliant  following  of  cardinals,  princes,  and 
ambassadors.  After  spending  about  a  month  in  regulating  the  affairs  of 
his  duchy,  he  returned  to  France,  leaving  Trivulzio  in  supreme  command. 
With  him  was  associated  a  Senate  consisting  of  the  Chancellor  and 
seventeen  councillors,  partly  French,  and  partly  Italian.  Its  functions 
were  both  administrative  and  judicial.  The  task  of  Trivulzio  was 
difficult.  He  was  himself  the  head  of  the  Guelf  party,  and  secure  of 
Guelf  support,  but  he  had  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  the  Ghibellines, 
many  of  whom  had  deserted  the  cause  of  Ludovico,  and  accepted  the 
new  regime.  The  inhabitants  of  the  duchy,  impoverished  by  the  exac- 
tions of  Ludovico  made  for  the  war,  hoped  for  some  remission  of 
taxation.  But  the  expenses  of  the  army  of  occupation  were  heavy, 
trade  and  industry  were  interrupted,  and  it  was  found  impossible 


122 


Return  of  Ludovico 


[1500 


materially  to  reduce  the  imposts.  The  French  soldiers  were  quartered 
on  the  inhabitants,  discipline  was  seriously  relaxed,  and  there  were  many 
grave  causes  of  complaint.  The  arrogance  of  Trivulzio  gave  general 
offence ;  his  administrative  incapacity  was  conspicuous ;  his  personal 
greed  was  notorious.  Supported  by  the  knowledge  that  Ludovico  was 
approaching,  the  nobles  and  people  of  Milan  armed,  and  before  the  end 
of  January,  1500,  Trivulzio's  position  was  clearly  untenable.  On  the 
3rd  of  February  he  retired  with  the  French  army  from  a  city  barricaded 
and  in  open  revolt,  leaving  a  sufficient  garrison  in  the  castle  under 
Saint-Quentin. 

Meanwhile  Ludovico  in  the  Tyrol  had  succeeded  in  procuring  a  truce 
between  Maximilian  and  the  Swiss  (September  22).  With  the  aid  of 
Maximilian,  more  valuable  in  the  Tyrol  than  elsewhere,  and  by  the 
expenditure  of  a  part  of  his  hoard,  he  gradually  collected  a  force. 
1,500  men-at-arms  reached  him  from  Burgundy ;  the  mercenary  Swiss 
accepted  his  pay;  finally  he  beat  up  a  motley  army  of  some  20,000  men. 
While  Ludovico  advanced  from  Bormio,  Galeazzo  came  by  Aosta  through 
Savoy  with  a  considerable  body  of  Swiss.  Ligny  attempted  to  resist 
at  Como,  but  his  strength  was  insufficient.  Trivulzio  ordered  him  to 
retreat  on  Milan.  Thence  the  French  retired  to  Novara,  and  Mortara, 
where  they  were  joined  (February  13)  by  Yves  d'AU^gre  with  the  lances 
and  infantry  that  Louis  had  lent  to  Cesare  for  the  conquest  of  Imola  and 
Forli.  Other  scattered  forces  having  come  in,  the  French  could  now  hold 
their  own  until  the  arrival  of  reinforcements. 

On  the  5th  of  February  Ludovico  re-entered  Milan,  greeted  by  en- 
thusiastic shouts  of  "  Moro,  Moro."  His  partisans  showed  some  zeal  in 
subscribing  to  replenish  his  partly  exhausted  treasury;  but  the  most 
extreme  measures  were  needed  to  supply  the  necessary  funds.  Even 
the  treasures  of  the  churches  were  not  spared.  Such  resources  could 
suffice  for  a  time,  but  before  the  end  of  March  they  showed  signs  of 
failure.  While  vain  efforts  were  made  to  reduce  the  Castle  of  Milan, 
Ludovico  advanced  with  his  army  by  Pavia  to  Vigevano,  which  he 
captured  with  its  castle,  and  thence  after  some  desultory  warfare  he 
moved  against  Novara  (March  5),  where  was  Yves  d'All^gre  with  a 
sufficient  garrison,  still  further  strengthened  a  day  or  two  later.  But 
the  inhabitants  were  hostile,  and  provisions  scarce,  so  that  the  French 
were  obliged  to  accept  a  favourable  capitulation  (March  21). 

Here  ended  Ludovico's  successes.  On  the  23rd  of  March  la  Tremouille 
reached  Mortara  with  500  men-at-arms  and  good  artillery.  Trivulzio 
was  by  this  time  not  only  hated  but  distrusted  by  his  companions,  and  a 
new  and  trusted  leader  was  worth  as  much  as  the  new  troops.  On  the 
3rd  of  April  a  large  body  of  Swiss  joined  the  French  under  Antoine 
de  Bessey.  The  French  army  was  now,  though  perhaps  not  equal  in 
numbers,  superior  in  quality  to  that  of  Ludovico.  In  his  army  discon- 
tent caused  by  want  of  pay  was  general,  and  desertions  were  frequent. 


loOO] 


The  French  reconquer  Milan 


123 


There  were  Swiss  in  both  armies,  and  it  was  likely  that  they  would  refuse 
to  fight  against  their  countrymen.  The  French  levy  had  official 
authority ;  the  French  chests  were  full.  Thus  when  the  French  army 
moved  forward  against  the  Milanese  at  Novara,  almost  the  whole  ducal 
army  abandoned  him.  Further  resistance  was  impossible.  Ludovico 
attempted  to  escape  in  disguise  among  the  Swiss,  but  was  detected  and 
became  a  prisoner  (April  10).  His  captivity  was  only  terminated  by  his 
death.  His  brother  Ascanio  was  captured  by  the  Venetians  and  handed 
over  later  to  the  French.  The  sons  of  Ludovico  were  safe  in  Germany. 
The  little  son  of  Gian  Galeazzo  fell  into  the  hands  of  France. 

For  the  reorganisation  of  the  duchy  the  King  sent  his  own  right  hand, 
the  Cardinal  of  Rouen,  Georges  d'Amboise.  Trivulzio  was  superseded 
in  the  civil  government  by  Charles  d'Amboise,  Seigneur  de  Chaumont, 
the  Cardinal's  nephew,  and  in  the  military  command  by  Aubigny. 

With  the  completed  conquest  of  Milan  French  predominance  in  the 
peninsula  was  established.  Venice  was  content  to  accept  the  situation 
for  the  present,  and  to  make  use  of  her  powerful  friend,  who  sent  ships 
to  co-operate  in  her  war  with  the  Turks  during  the  years  1499-1501. 
The  Pope  was  fain  to  lean  on  France.  French  troops  assisted  Cesare  in 
the  conquest  of  Imola  and  Forli  and  afterwards  served  him  against 
Rimini,  Pesaro,  and  Faenza.  His  further  conquests  were  limited  by 
French  sufferance.  When  he  threatened  Bologna  or  Florence,  he  was 
warned  off  by  their  august  protector.  In  the  enterprise  of  Naples, 
Cesare  followed  the  French  banner  as  a  willing  ally,  almost  as  a  subject. 
During  the  time  of  Ludovico's  success  several  of  the  Italian  States  had 
given  him  help,  or  shown  him  good- will.  After  his  fall,  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  the  Marquis  of  Mantua,  Bentivoglio  of  Bologna,  and  others, 
were  forced  to  pay  compensation  to  France  for  their  incautious  actions. 
Florence  reaped  the  reward  of  her  more  correct  behaviour,  when  the 
King  sent  Beaumont  with  French  troops  to  assist  the  Florentines  against 
Pisa.  The  failure  of  the  expedition  brought  Florence  into  temporary 
disgrace,  but  later  she  was  allowed  to  buy  her  pardon.  Thus  in  Lom- 
bardy,  in  Tuscany,  in  the  Papal  States,  there  was  no  power  that  did  not 
accept  as  a  fact  the  predominance  of  France. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  Louis  aimed  at  converting  predominance 
into  sovereignty.  But  he  was  determined  to  conquer  Naples,  and  he 
hoped  that  an  occasion  would  offer  to  establish  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen 
as  Pope.  These  ends  achieved,  he  might  be  content  with  the  substance, 
while  the  Emperor  still  enjoyed  the  shadow.  Meanwhile  no  great  effort 
would  be  required  to  keep  Maximilian  in  check.  But  with  regard  to 
Naples  Louis  had  in  Aragon  a  more  dangerous  rival.  Naples  had  been 
a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Sicily,  and  Sicily  was  owned  by  Aragon. 
Moreover  Alfonso  of  Aragon  had  been  de  facto  King  of  Naples,  and  had 
established  there  the  ruling  race  of  kings.  These  claims  were  not  con- 
vincing, but  neither  were  Louis'  claims  beyond  possibility  of  question. 


124  Joint  conquest  of  Naples  [1501 


Nor  could  the  King  of  Sicily  remain  a  tranquil  spectator,  while  his 
neighbour  and  relative  was  displaced  by  a  new  and  aggressive  power. 
Louis  determined  to  compromise,  and  (November,  1500)  concluded  at 
Granada  a  secret  treaty  with  Aragon  for  a  joint  conquest  of  Naples, 
conceding  to  Ferdinand  a  fair  half  of  the  kingdom,  and,  provisionally, 
the  provinces  of  Apulia  and  Calabria. 

Strengthened  by  this  compact,  Louis  was  free  to  move.  In  May, 
1501,  his  army  was  ready  in  Lombardy.  With  the  certainty  of  Spanish 
aid,  1,000  lances,  4,000  Swiss,  and  6,000  French  infantry  were  held 
sufficient.  The  command  was  divided  between  Aubigny,  the  Count  of 
Caiazzo  (Francesco  di  San  Severino),  and  the  Duke  of  Valentinois.  A 
fleet  under  Ravenstein  was  operating  on  the  coast  from  the  convenient 
base  of  Genoa.  Federigo  relied  on  help  from  Sicily,  where  was  the  great 
Gonzalo,  who  had  recently  returned  from  a  successful  expedition  against 
the  Turks,  and  who,  acting  under  orders,  was  careful  not  to  undeceive 
him.  The  first  news  of  the  coalition  came  to  Naples  from  Rome,  where 
in  June  Alexander  issued  a  bull  depriving  Federigo  of  his  throne  and 
confirming  the  partition  already  arranged  between  the  Kings  of  France 
and  Aragon.  In  July  the  French  army  reached  Capua,  which  was  held 
by  Fabrizio  Colonna  with  a  sufficient  force.  But  the  French  artillery 
soon  made  a  practicable  breach,  and,  while  terms  of  surrender  were  being 
discussed,  the  French  were  admitted  into  the  town,  which  they  sacked 
with  every  circumstance  of  cruelty  and  outrage.  There  was  no  further 
resistance.  On  August  2  Federigo  retired  to  Ischia,  and  after  a 
time  decided  to  accept  the  asylum  offered  to  him  by  Louis,  who  provided 
him  with  a  rich  endowment  and  an  honourable  position  in  France.  On 
August  4  French  garrisons  occupied  the  castles  of  Naples,  and  la  Palice 
was  sent  to  hold  the  Abruzzi.  Louis  d'Armagnac,  Duke  of  Nemours, 
was  appointed  viceroy  of  the  newly  acquired  kingdom. 

Meanwhile  Gonzalo  without  difficulty  occupied  his  master's  share  of 
the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  was  joined  by  Prospero  and  Fabrizio  Colonna, 
whose  family  was  about  this  time  expelled  from  their  possessions  in 
papal  territory,  while  Cesare,  their  bitterest  enemy,  was  leagued  with  the 
French.  Only  at  Taranto  was  there  considerable  resistance.  Here  lay 
Federigo's  son,  Ferrante.  The  town  was  strong,  but  a  siege  by  sea 
and  land  compelled  it  after  a  stout  resistance  to  come  to  terms  (March, 
1502).  Gonzalo  promised  his  liberty  to  Ferrante,  but  the  Spanish  King 
disregarded  the  promise,  and  caused  the  young  prince  to  be  sent  in 
custody  to  Spain. 

The  treaty  of  Granada  had  not  been  so  carefully  drawn  as  to  exclude 
all  possibility  of  doubt.  France  was  to  have  the  Abruzzi,  the  Terra  di 
Lavoro,  Naples,  and  Gaeta,  while  Spain  received  Apulia  and  Calabria. 
But  nothing  was  said  about  the  province  of  the  Capitanata,  lying  between 
Apulia  and  the  Abruzzi,  about  the  Basilicata,  lying  between  Calabria  and 
Apulia,  or  about  the  two  Principati,  lying  between  the  Basilicata  and 


1502-3] 


France  and  Spain  at  war 


125 


t-he  Terra  di  Lavoro.  Yet  the  clause  stipulating  that  the  incomes 
of  the  two  shares  should  be  approximately  equal  might,  with  a  little 
good-will,  have  pointed  the  way  to  an  equitable  settlement.  The  main, 
difficulty  turned  on  the  question  of  the  Capitanata.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  barren  Abruzzi  depended  on  the  corn-lands  of  the  Capitanata  for 
their  food-supplies.  The  flocks  that  wintered  in  the  plains  were  driven 
in  summer  to  the  mountain  pastures,  from  Apulia  proper  into  the 
Southern  Apennines,  and  from  the  Capitanata  into  the  Abruzzi,  toll 
(dogana)  being  taken  from  them  on  the  way  for  the  King  of  Sicily. 
The  treaty  settled  that  "  the  dogana  of  Apulia  "  should  be  collected  by 
the  commissaries  of  Spain  and  equally  divided  between  the  kings.  The 
French,  supported  by  recent  administrative  usage,  denied  that  the 
Capitanata  was  part  of  Apulia,  and  claimed  it  as  a  necessary  complement 
of  their  own  share. 

No  satisfactory  agreement  was  reached  on  these  dangerous  points, 
although  the  question  was  referred  to  the  kings  for  decision.  At  Troia 
in  the  Capitanata,  at  Tripalda  in  the  Principato  ultra^  collisions  took 
place.  Finally,  in  July  open  war  broke  out.  Louis  about  the  same  time 
visited  the  Milanese,  and  apparently  purchased  the  neutrality  or  support 
of  Cesare  by  giving  him  a  free  hand  in  the  Romagna,  and  even  against 
Bologna.  Reinforcements  were  sent  to  the  French,  and  the  Spaniards 
were  driven  from  Cerignola,  and  then  from  Canosa  (August,  1502). 
Gonzalo  was  obliged  to  concentrate  at  Barletta  on  the  northerly  coast 
of  Apulia,  holding  also  Taranto.  The  indecision  of  the  French  leaders 
saved  the  great  captain.  While  they  were  occupying  unimportant  places 
in  Apulia  and  Calabria,  and  watching  Gonzalo  at  Barletta,  the  time  for 
a  crushing  blow  went  by.  The  Venetians  sent  provisions  if  not  money 
to  Barletta.  Reinforcements  were  sent  into  Calabria  from  Sicily.  In 
March,  1503,  a  fresh  army  reached  Reggio  from  Spain.  In  April  3,000 
Landskneclite  were  sent  by  Maximilian  from  Trieste  to  Barletta. 
Gonzalo  had  already  shown  that  he  was  to  be  feared,  when  he  fell  upon 
la  Palice  at  Ruvo,  defeated,  and  captured  him.  On  hearing  that  Aubigny 
had  been  routed  at  Seminara  in  Calabria,  he  was  able  to  take  a  vigorous 
offensive.  He  left  Barletta  with  the  chief  part  of  his  troops  and  seized 
Cerignola.  The  French  generals  decided  to  strike  a  despairing  blow. 
They  attacked  Gonzalo's  army  in  a  fortified  position  at  Cerignola,  and 
were  completely  defeated,  Nemours  being  killed.  The  news  determined 
All^gre  to  evacuate  Naples  except  the  castles,  and  to  retire  to  Gaeta. 
On  the  16th  of  May  Gonzalo  entered  the  capital.  Prospero  Colonna 
was  sent  to  subdue  the  Abruzzi,  while  the  great  engineer,  Pedro  Navarra, 
employed  the  newest  resources  of  military  art  against  the  castles  of 
Naples.  In  a  short  time  they  were  made  untenable.  At  Gaeta  how- 
ever the  French,  strengthened  by  reinforcements  from  Genoa,  repulsed 
the  conquerors ;  while  Louis  d' Ars  still  held  Venosa  with  a  remnant  of 
the  army  defeated  at  Cerignola. 


126 


Louis  attempts  to  reconquer  Naples 


[1503 


At  the  very  crisis  of  the  war  Louis  had  been  entangled  in  a  futile 
negotiation.  Since  the  end  of  1500  Philip,  Archduke  of  Austria,  had 
been  busying  himself  with  the  double  object  of  securing  his  dominions  in 
the  Netherlands  against  France,  and  of  obtaining  for  his  infant  son,  the 
Duke  of  Luxemburg,  afterwards  Charles  V,  additions  by  marriage  to 
those  vast  possessions  to  which  he  was  already  heir  presumptive.  The 
outcome  of  these  efforts  was  a  contract  of  betrothal  at  Lyons  (August, 
1501)  between  Charles  and  Claude,  the  daughter  of  Louis  XII :  a  pro- 
visional treaty  at  Trent  between  Maximilian  and  Louis  (October,  1501) 
agreeing  to  this  marriage,  and  stipulating  the  investiture  of  Milan  for 
Louis :  an  interpretation  of  the  same  arranged  between  Philip  and  Louis 
in  December  of  the  same  year  at  Blois,  but  never  accepted  by  Maximilian : 
and  finally  a  treaty  concluded  by  Philip  with  Louis  at  Lyons  (April  5, 
1503),  in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  by  which  the  whole  of  the 
kingdom  of  Naples  was  to  be  given  to  the  infant  pair.  This  last  treaty 
was  never  ratified  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  who  asserted  that  Philip 
had  exceeded  his  powers,  and  Gonzalo  paid  no  heed  to  it.  But  Louis 
showed  less  prudence.  Relying  on  the  treaty,  he  deferred,  in  the  critical 
month  of  April,  the  despatch  of  a  body  of  troops  which  he  had  ready 
in  Genoa.  It  is  true  that  the  threatening  movements  of  the  Swiss,  to 
whom  Louis  was  obliged  at  this  moment  to  cede  Bellinzona,  gave  an 
additional  reason  for  delaying  what  had  been  already  too  long  delayed. 

The  disasters  and  humiliation  of  the  year  called  for  a  great  effort. 
The  French  raised  three  armies,  one  of  which  was  directed  on  the  Spanish 
frontier  of  Navarre  and  another  against  Roussillon,  while  the  third  was  in- 
tended for  the  recovery  of  Naples.  The  Italian  expedition  was  entrusted 
to  la  Tr^mouille.  The  northern  powers  of  Italy  remained  to  all  appear- 
ance faithful.  Ferrara,  Mantua,  Bologna,  Florence  furnished  contingents. 
In  August  the  French  were  beginning  to  move.  The  Pope  and  Cesare 
vacillated  long  between  the  parties,  but  at  the  crisis  they  were  both 
stricken  down  by  illness,  and  on  the  18th  of  August  the  Pope  expired. 
The  ambassadors  and  the  cardinals  succeeded  in  freeing  the  town  from 
the  armed  men  of  rival  factions,  Orsini,  Colonna,  Cesare ;  but  Gonzalo 
was  at  Castiglione,  and  the  French  advanced  guard  at  Nepi,  so  that  the 
election  took  place  as  it  were  under  the  shadow  of  war.  It  wisely  ended 
by  giving  the  prize  to  neither  of  the  foreign  nations.  The  new  Pope, 
Pius  III  (Francesco  Piccolomini),  treated  Cesare  with  indulgence  and  left 
him  in  a  position  to  bargain  with  both  Spain  and  France.  However,  his 
final  adhesion  to  the  latter  power  proved  to  be  of  little  value,  while  both 
Orsini  and  Colonna  were  thereby  driven  into  the  arms  of  Spain. 

The  French  advance  was  delayed  by  the  illness  of  la  Tr^mouille, 
whose  place  was  ultimately  taken  by  the  Marquis  of  Mantua.  Finally 
they  moved  forward  by  the  Latin  Way,  which  was  blocked  by  Gonzalo, 
holding  San  Germane,  Aquino,  and  Roccasecca.  Joined  by  All^gre, 
from  Gaeta,  they  attacked  Roccasecca,  but  were  beaten  off  and  obliged 


1603-7]      Defeat  of  the  French,  and  settlement 


127 


to  retire  to  Ceprano  (October,  1503).  They  then  determined  to  move 
southwards,  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Garigliano,  hoping  to  be  able  to 
advance  by  the  Appian  Way.  On  the  Garigliano  the  two  armies  con- 
fronted each  other  for  weeks.  The  French,  vexed  in  the  marshy  land  by 
rainy,  wintry  weather,  deprived  of  supplies  and  of  pay  by  the  dishonesty 
of  commissariat  officers,  were  in  bad  case,  but  hardly  in  worse  than  their 
opponents.  Having  bridged  but  failed  to  cross  the  river,  the  French  drew 
back  a  little,  scattering  themselves  over  a  somewhat  wide  area  for  better 
provisioning.  Discipline  was  bad,  and  the  Marquis  of  Mantua,  insulted 
by  his  troops,  withdrew  from  the  command.  At  length  in  the  last  days 
of  December,  the  vigilance  of  the  enemy  being  relaxed,  Gonzalo  crossed 
the  Garigliano  higher  up,  and  fell  upon  the  French,  disunited  and 
unprepared.  A  complete  rout  followed.  The  artillery  was  hurriedly 
embarked  on  boats  and  sent  round  by  sea.  The  men  fled  in  disorder  for 
Gaeta,  pursued  to  the  gates  of  the  town  by  the  victorious  Spaniards 
and  Italians.  During  several  days  afterwards  parties  of  fugitives  were 
straggling  into  Rome,  half  naked  and  half  starved.  Some  of  the  boats 
were  swamped,  and  in  one  of  them  perished  Piero  de'  Medici.  The 
French  captains  in  Gaeta  soon  surrendered:  nor  could  Louis  d'Ars  in 
Apulia  keep  up  the  hopeless  struggle.  Such  was  the  end  of  French 
lordship  in  Naples;  where  Gonzalo  now  held  unquestioned  sway,  dis- 
pensing the  royal  bounty  as  if  it  was  his  own,  and  encouraging  his  soldiers 
to  live  at  the  expense  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  fortune  of  war  had  decided  against  Louis.  He  was  fain  to  heal 
his  wounded  pride  by  new  treaties  of  marriage  which  recognised  his 
rights  and  promised  to  enrich  his  offspring  at  the  expense  of  France. 
By  the  treaty  of  Blois  with  Maximilian  (September,  1504),  Claude, 
already  heiress  of  Britanny,  was  to  receive  Milan  with  Genoa  and  Asti, 
the  duchy  of  Burgundy  with  Macon  and  Auxerre,  and  the  county  of 
Blois,  as  a  dowry  on  her  marriage  with  Charles.  In  return  the  King  of 
the  Romans  conferred  upon  Louis  the  investiture  of  Milan  for  a  cash 
consideration.  A  separate  and  secret  treaty  stipulated  a  joint  attack  on 
Venice.  An  arrangement  made  at  Hagenau  (April,  1505),  between  the 
same  and  Archduke  Philip,  contemplated  the  addition  of  Naples  to  this 
ample  endowment.  But  in  October  of  this  year,  at  Blois,  Louis  preferred 
to  give  the  kingdom  of  Naples  as  a  dowry  to  his  relative,  Germaine  of 
Foix,  on  her  marriage  with  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  ;  and  Ferdinand  so  far 
recognised  the  rights  of  Louis  that  he  promised  a  compensation  of 
1,000,000  ducats,  and,  in  default  of  heirs  of  the  marriage,  the  reversion 
of  the  kingdom  to  the  Most  Christian  King.  It  was  settled  that  an 
amnesty  should  be  granted  to  the  barons  who  had  supported  the  Angevin 
cause,  and  that  restitution  of  property  should  be  made  as  far  as  possible. 
As  a  sign  of  restored  amity,  an  interview  took  place  at  Savona,  under  cir- 
cumstances of  unusual  trustfulness,  between  the  sovereigns  (June,  1507). 

Gonzalo,  who  on  this  occasion  received  extraordinary  marks  of 


128 


Ambition  of  Julius  II 


[1503-6 


confidence  and  admiration  from  both  the  Kings,  enjoyed  his  last  and 
most  memorable  moments  of  good  fortune.  His  master,  who  suspected 
his  ambition,  and  disapproved  of  his  methods  of  administration,  enticed 
him  by  the  promise  of  still  higher  honours  to  return  with  him  to  Spain. 
There  he  found  himself  deluded  and  disappointed.  The  wealth  which 
he  had  accumulated  in  his  master's  service  he  was  allowed  to  enjoy,  but 
his  days  of  public  activity  were  over. 

The  arrangements  mentioned  above  did  not  affect  the  actual  position 
of  Italian  affairs.  Indeed,  all  dispositions  depending  on  the  marriage  of 
Claude  and  Charles  were  rendered  void  by  the  decision  of  Louis  in  1506 
to  bestow  his  daughter's  hand  on  the  heir  presumptive  of  France,  Francis 
of  Angouleme.  The  years  following  the  disastrous  wars  of  Naples  were 
years  of  uneasy  watchfulness,  of  bewildering  arrangements  and  re-arrange- 
ments of  unstable  leagues  and  combinations,  of  mendacious  protestations 
of  friendship,  and  treacherous  provocations  addressed  to  jealousy  and 
greed.  The  inheritance  of  the  Duke  of  Valentinois  was  gathered  in 
by  his  enemies,  Orsini,  Colonna,  Venice,  and  Giuliano  della  Rovere, 
who  as  Julius  II  succeeded  the  short-lived  Piccolomini.  Cesare  himself, 
a  prisoner  in  Spain,  added  another  to  the  list  of  those  whose  trust 
in  Ferdinand  proved  their  ruin.  The  war  of  Florence  with  Pisa 
continued,  but  barely  interested  any  one  besides  the  belligerents. 
Gradually,  from  an  old  man's  passion,  as  from  live  fire  hidden  under 
blackened  embers,  infectious  energy  spread  through  Italy  and  through 
Europe.  Cesare  Borgia's  conquests  and  fall  had  brought  almost  all 
of  the  Romagna  and  the  March  of  Ancona  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  Holy  See.  The  ambition  of  Julius  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing 
less  than  the  whole  of  what  had  ever  been  claimed  by  the  successors  of 
Peter.  Venice  first  earned  his  hatred  by  refusing  to  give  up  Faenza  and 
Rimini,  which  she  had  occupied  after  the  death  of  Alexander.  The 
secret  treaty  of  Blois  gave  Julius  hopes  of  a  speedy  revenge.  But  that 
treaty  remained  without  effect,  and  Julius  had  to  wait,  exercising  a  violent 
self-restraint,  and  evincing  qualities,  not  natural  in  him,  of  patience, 
reticence,  and  duplicity.  Practising  simony  and  extortion  on  the  grand 
scale,  he  slowly  replenished  the  papal  treasury,  which  had  been  plundered 
by  Cesare  Borgia  on  Alexander's  death.  Then  (1506),  reckoning  that 
swift  and  sudden  action  might  reach  its  effect  before  either  Venice  or 
France  decided  to  offer  opposition,  he  struck  a  rapid  blow  at  two  usurpers 
of  St  Peter's  rights.  At  Perugia  Giampaolo  Baglione  made  complete 
submission.  Against  Bologna  the  French  themselves  sent  troops  to  aid 
the  Pope,  unwilling,  when  they  saw  he  was  in  earnest,  to  risk  the  loss 
of  his  friendship.  Giovanni  Bentivoglio  and  his  sons,  hopeless  of  suc- 
cessful resistance,  took  to  flight.  The  Pope  set  up  his  own  government 
in  the  town. 

While  still  at  Bologna,  Julius  heard  unwelcome  news.  In  Genoa 
French  rule  had  not  led  to  peace.    Genoa  had  always  been  noted  for  the 


1507] 


Campaign  of  Genoa 


129 


violence  of  its  civic  feuds,  which  had  largely  contributed  to  its  defeat 
in  the  commercial  race  with  Venice.  These  disputes  had  in  the  past 
centred  about  the  two  great  plebeian  families  of  Adorno  and  Campo- 
Fregoso.  The  quarrel  which  now  arose  was  a  quarrel  of  class  against 
class.  The  nobles  had  been  perhaps  unduly  encouraged  by  their  aristo- 
cratic French  rulers.  At  any  rate  it  seems  clear  that  they  were  guilty, 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  of  arrogant  and  injurious  conduct  towards 
the  common  people,  many  of  whom  were  in  their  own  esteem,  as  in  their 
wealth,  equal  to  the  nobles.  In  June  and  July,  1506,  matters  came  to  a 
head.  An  attack  was  made  on  the  nobles,  especially  on  the  powerful 
family  of  Fiesco.  Neither  Ravenstein  the  governor,  nor  his  deputy 
Rocquebertin,  showed  much  zeal  or  capacity  in  dealing  with  the  trouble. 
Matters  were  allowed  to  go  from  bad  to  worse.  At  first  the  common 
people  were  content  with  the  concession  of  two-thirds  of  the  public  offices, 
instead  of  the  half  share  hitherto  allowed  to  them.  Then  the  artisans, 
as  opposed  to  the  rich  plebeian  merchants  and  bankers,  more  and 
more  got  the  upper  hand.  Tribunes  of  the  people  were  appointed,  and 
finally  an  artisan,  a  dyer,  Paolo  da  Novi,  was  elected  to  be  Doge. 
Meanwhile  the  cities  on  the  sea-coast  were  taken  by  force  from  their 
noble  governors,  and  in  November  siege  was  laid  to  Monaco,  which  was 
held  by  the  noble  Grimaldi.  Five  months  the  siege  lasted,  while  in 
Genoa  the  French  garrison  was  obliged  first  to  vacate  the  Palace  and 
retire  to  the  Castle,  and  finally  carried  on  an  active  war  of  bombardment 
against  the  town.  Monaco  held  out  with  conspicuous  bravery  against 
great  odds,  until  relieved  in  March  by  Yves  d'Allegre. 

Julius  was  disturbed  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  victorious  sojourn  at 
Bologna  by  the  news  that  the  French  King  was  coming  in  person  with  a 
large  army  to  punish  his  rebellious  city.  Himself  a  native  of  Savona 
and  a  favourer  of  the  popular  party  in  Genoa,  the  Pope,  while  opposed 
to  the  coercion  of  Genoa,  feared  also  ulterior  designs  of  the  French  King. 
The  ambition  of  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen  was  well  known,  and  it  could 
only  be  satisfied  at  the  expense  of  the  existing  pontiff.  In  alarm  Julius 
withdrew  to  Rome,  where  he  followed  events  in  the  north  with  anxiety. 
The  King,  with  nearly  10,000  Swiss,  and  an  army  apparently  dispro- 
portionate to  his  task,  was  at  Asti  on  April  16,  1507.  His  troops  at 
once  moved  on  Genoa,  by  Buzalla.  The  command  of  the  army  was  in  the 
hands  of  Charles  d'Amboise.  On  the  25th  of  April  he  began  the  attack, 
ordering  the  capture  of  a  bastion  planted  on  the  highest  point  of  the 
hills  surrounding  Genoa,  and  commanding  the  whole  position.  The 
access  was  very  difficult,  and  the  Swiss  disliked  the  task.  However,  they 
were  shamed  into  doing  their  duty  by  a  troop  of  dismounted  men-at-arms 
who  advanced  to  the  assault.  When  the  place  at  length  was  reached 
the  Genoese  took  to  flight  without  further  resistance,  but  many  of  the 
assailants  were  wounded  on  the  way.  After  some  scattered  fighting,  that 
night  the  army  held  the  heights  overlooking  Genoa.    The  next  day 

C.  M.  H.  I.  9 


130 


Designs  against  Venice 


[1507 


envoys  were  sent  to  treat,  but  while  terms  were  being  discussed  warlike 
views  prevailed  within  the  town,  and  the  whole  force  of  Genoa  came  out 
to  fight.  They  were  enticed  to  attack  the  well-ordered  mass  of  the 
French  infantry,  and  driven  back  in  panic  to  their  walls.  The  next  day 
the  citizens  accepted  the  King's  terms  of  unconditional  surrender.  On 
the  28th  he  rode  into  the  town  with  drawn  sword,  cancelled  the  city's 
privileges,  imposed  on  them  a  fine  of  300,000  ducats,  ordered  a  new  castle 
to  be  built,  and  pay  for  a  garrison  of  2,000  foot  to  be  henceforth  pro- 
vided. While  imposing  on  Genoa  his  will  he  was  careful  to  preserve  it 
from  plunder  or  outrage.  Paolo  da  Novi  fled,  but  was  shortly  afterwards 
captured  and  put  to  death. 

The  fears  that  had  disturbed  Julius  when  he  heard  of  the  powerful 
expedition  against  Genoa  proved  vain.  Nothing  was  attempted,  if  any- 
thing had  been  imagined,  against  the  Holy  Father.  But  the  interview  at 
Savona  (June,  1507),  which  followed  shortly,  was  calculated  to  cause  him 
not  less  serious  alarm.  Ferdinand  had  sought,  but  had  not  received,  the 
investiture  of  Naples,  and  had  shown  his  resentment  by  avoiding  an 
interview  at  Ostia,  which  the  Pope  had  wished.  We  do  not  know  what 
the  Kings  may  have  discussed  at  Savona ;  the  secrecy  observed  at  the  time 
still  bafifles  the  curiosity  of  investigators.  There  was  grave  matter  for 
deliberation.  Maximilian,  the  inveterate  enemy  of  Louis,  and  the  rival 
of  Ferdinand  for  the  regency  of  Castile,  was  making  serious  prepara- 
tions for  a  descent  into  Italy,  with  the  ostensible  purpose  of  obtaining 
the  imperial  crown,  and  the  probable  intention  of  driving  the  French 
from  Milan.  Common  measures  may  have  been  considered  against 
this  common  foe ;  joint  action  against  Julius  may  also  have  been 
proposed.  But  the  document  from  Simancas  published  by  Maulde 
seems  to  prove  that  the  Kings  finally  decided  to  attempt  a  league  in 
which  Julius  and  Maximilian  should  be  included  as  friends.  The  care- 
ful exclusion  of  all  other  powers  from  the  projected  league  seems  to 
indicate  an  intended  victim,  to  whose  sacrificial  feast  all  four  could  be 
invited,  with  the  prospect,  if  not  the  certainty,  of  a  favourable  reply. 
The  oath  of  Louis  at  Savona  foreshadows  the  League  of  Cambray* 
Venice  is  not  mentioned,  but  no  other  solution  satisfies  the  conditions 
of  the  enigma. 

Venice  had  indeed  run  up  a  long  account  with  the  powers  of  Italy 
and  Europe.  Since  1495  she  had  held  Brindisi,  Otranto,  and  other 
ports  of  Apulia,  and  thus  mutilated  Ferdinand's  new  acquisition.  By 
treaty  with  France  and  by  older  conquest  she  held  the  eastern  portion 
of  the  duchy  of  Milan.  Against  Julius  she  held  Rimini  and  Faenza, 
as  well  as  her  earlier  possession,  Ravenna.  There  had  also  been  acri- 
monious discussion  about  the  right  of  collation  to  Venetian  prelacies, 
such  as  Vicenza  and  Cremona.  Maximilian's  imperial  rights  were 
ignored  in  Padua  and  Verona,  his  hereditary  rights  in  Friuli.  She 
had  recently  refused  to  Maximilian  free  passage  with  his  army  througk 


1508] 


League  of  Cambray 


131 


her  territory  for  his  coronation  at  Rome.  She  had  declined  to  renew 
her  league  with  France,  declaring  the  old  league  sufficient.  The  day 
of  reckoning  was  at  hand. 

If  such  a  league  as  that  of  Cambray  was  projected  at  Savona, 
Maximilian's  unconcerted  action  assisted  the  plan.  Enraged  at  the 
repeated  refusals  of  Venice  to  grant  him  a  free  passage,  he  attacked 
the  Republic  in  February,  1508.  The  fortunes  of  war  were  against 
him.  The  French  stood  by  their  ally.  Pitigliano  held  his  own  in 
the  Veronese,  while  Alviano  in  the  east  took  Gorz  and  Trieste  in  the 
hereditary  lands  of  the  enemy  and  threatened  a  further  advance.  The 
"elected  Roman  Emperor,"  as  he  now  called  himself,  was  fain  in  June 
to  conclude  for  three  years  a  humiliating  truce,  by  which  Venice  retained 
her  conquests.  In  this  truce  the  King  of  France  was  himself  included, 
and  he  wished  the  Duke  of  Gelders,  his  own  ally,  and  Maximilian's 
obdurate  enemy,  to  be  also  comprised;  but  Venice,  with  unusual  im- 
prudence, allowed  the  wishes  of  her  reputed  friend  to  remain  unsatisfied. 

This  inconsiderate  conduct  was  an  excuse,  if  not  the  reason,  for  the 
decided  adhesion  of  France  to  the  enemies  of  the  Republic.  We  catch 
glimpses,  during  the  eighteen  months  that  followed  the  meeting  of 
Savona,  of  the  negotiations  which  led  Maximilian  to  forget  all  the 
painful  associations  of  slight  or  wrong  connected  with  Milan,  Burgundy, 
Gelders,  and  Britanny.  His  new  rancour  against  Venice,  the  unsuccessful 
progress  of  the  war  in  Gelders,  the  influence  of  his  daughter  Margaret, 
anxious  to  protect  her  nephew's  dominions  in  the  Netherlands,  which 
were  now  entrusted  to  her  charge,  the  secret  and  cautious  instigations  of 
the  Pope,  —  all  urged  him  towards  the  league  at  length  concluded  at 
Cambray  in  December,  1508,  by  Margaret  and  the  Cardinal  of  Rouen. 
After  a  temporary  settlement  of  the  affairs  of  Gelders,  a  league  was 
there  secretly  compacted,  purporting  to  include  not  only  France  and 
the  Empire,  but  also  the  Pope  and  Aragon.  The  Cardinal  undertook 
to  answer  for  the  Pope  ;  no  one  spoke  for  the  King  of  Aragon,  but  it 
is  probable  that  a  secret  understanding  already  existed.  Each  power 
was,  by  the  united  action  of  the  league,  to  recover  the  places  held 
against  it  by  Venice.  Thus  Spain  would  recover  Monopoli,  Trani, 
Brindisi,  Otranto ;  the  Pope,  Ravenna,  Rimini,  Faenza,  and  smaller 
places  in  the  neighbourhood,  a  list  which  might  be  afterwards  ex- 
tended; Maximilian,  Verona,  Padua,  Vicenza,  Treviso,  Friuli,  and 
generally  all  places  held  or  usurped  by  Venice  from  Austria  or 
the  Empire  ;  while  France  was  to  receive  Brescia,  Bergamo,  Crema, 
besides  Cremona  and  the  Ghiara  d'  Adda,  ceded  to  Venice  as  her 
share  of  the  spoils  of  Ludovico  il  Moro.  The  Italian  powers  were 
to  open  the  war  by  the  1st  of  April,  1509,  and  Maximilian 
promised  to  join  them  within  the  space  of  forty  days.  The  investiture 
of  Milan  was  to  be  renewed  to  Louis  for  the  sum  of  a  hundred  thousand 
crowns,  still  due  under  the  earlier  bargain.    England  and  Hungary  were 


132 


Campaign  of  Agnadello 


[1509 


to  be  invited  to  join  the  unwieldy  coalition,  and  each  contracting  power 
was  given  four  months  for  naming  its  allies. 

Venice  had  long  been  aware  that  such  a  conspiracy  would  correspond 
to  the  Pope's  inmost  and  deepest  wishes,  and  that  similar  plans  had 
frequently  been  discussed  between  France  and  Maximilian.  She  may, 
notwithstanding,  have  relied  on  the  jealousies  and  hatreds  of  the  powers  for 
keeping  them  apart.  Something  of  the  truth,  however,  reached  her  soon 
after  the  meeting  of  Cambray.  Early  news  of  a  more  precise  order  came 
to  her  from  the  great  Gonzalo,  who  offered  his  services  to  the  Signoria. 
The  results  would  have  been  interesting  had  this  remarkable  offer  been 
accepted.  While  negotiations  were  carried  on  in  the  vain  hope  of  de- 
taching the  Pope  from  the  alliance,  all  preparations  were  hurried  for- 
ward for  resistance.  France  declared  war  on  the  7th  of  April ;  on 
the  27th  the  Pope  proclaimed  his  ban.  The  Venetians  had  more  than 
30,000  men  on  foot,  Italian  men-at-arms,  picked  infantry  from  Apulia 
and  Roraagna,  with  the  excellent  levies  from  the  Val  di  Lamone  under 
Dionigi  di  Naldi,  Stradiots  from  Illyria  and  the  Morea,  Sagdars  from 
Crete,  and  a  considerable  force  of  native  militia.  Of  the  allies,  the 
French  were  first  in  the  field,  opposed  on  the  Adda  by  the  Venetians 
under  Pitigliano  and  Alviano.  The  impetuous  character  of  the  latter 
was  ill-yoked  with  the  Fabian  strategy  of  his  colleague,  and  the  policy 
of  the  Signoria  was  a  compromise  between  the  two.  Alviano  proposed 
to  cross  the  Adda  and  take  the  offensive.  This  plan  having  been  set 
aside,  Pitigliano  determined  to  recover  Treviglio,  which  had  given  itself 
to  the  French.  The  place  was  captured  and  burned,  but,  owing  to  the 
delay  thus  caused,  the  Venetians  were  not  ready  to  prevent  the  French 
from  crossing  the  Adda  at  Cassano.  The  Venetian  orders  were  to  run 
no  unnecessary  risk.  Thus  the  French  were  allowed  to  capture  Rivolta 
undisturbed.  But  when  (May  14)  Louis  began  to  move  southwards 
towards  Pandino,  and  threatened  to  cut  off  Venetian  communications 
with  Crema  and  Cremona,  the  Venetians  hurried  to  anticipate  him. 
The  light  horse  were  sent  on  to  occupy  Pandino  and  Palazzo,  and  the 
main  force  followed  along  the  higher  ground,  while  the  French  moved 
by  the  lower  road  parallel  to  the  Adda.  Between  Agnadello  and 
Pandino  the  French  found  an  opportunity  to  attack  the  Venetian 
columns  on  the  march.  By  this  time  the  Venetian  army  was  spread 
over  some  four  miles  of  ground,  the  artillery  was  not  at  hand,  and 
Alviano,  who  was  not  present  when  the  fight  began,  was  only  able  to 
bring  into  action  a  small  portion  of  the  heavy-armed  horse  and  a  part 
of  the  infantry.  It  is  not  certain  whether  he  could  have  refused  battle, 
it  is  certain  that  he  did  not  expect  it.  Nor  is  it  clear  whether  the 
French  movement  on  Pandino  was  a  feint,  or  whether  their  attack  was 
an  afterthought,  when  the  movement  on  Pandino  had  failed.  It  is 
certain  that  the  French  were  able  to  throw  the  whole  weight  of  their 
force  on  a  part  of  the  Venetian  army.    Aided  however  by  the  higher 


1509]  Siege  of  Padua  133 

ground  and  the  vineyards  which  clothed  the  slope,  the  Venetians  held 
their  own  for  awhile,  and  even  gained  some  advantage.  But  when  the 
main  battle  of  the  French  came  up,  while  Alviano  received  no  further 
support,  the  day  was  lost.  The  losses  fell  chiefly  on  the  levies  raised 
by  conscription  from  the  Venetian  peasantry,  who  did  well.  Alviano's 
own  band  of  infantry  from  Brisighella  was  almost  annihilated.  He 
was  himself  captured,  fighting  desperately.  Pitigliano,  with  the  main 
body  of  men-at-arms,  was  able  to  retreat  in  good  order.  But  a  great 
part  of  the  army  was  broken  and  fled.  Thirty-six  pieces  of  ordnance 
were  left  behind  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Pitigliano 
at  Brescia  endeavoured  to  collect  and  reorganise  the  remnant  of  his 
army.  But  the  demoralisation  was  great,  and  the  troops  refused  to 
remain  with  the  colours,  deserting  in  numbers  as  soon  as  they  received 
their  pay. 

The  first  impulse  of  the  proud  Republic  was  to  bow  before  the 
storm.  France  was  allowed  to  occupy  Bergamo  and  Brescia,  Crema 
and  Cremona,  almost  unopposed.  The  visdomino^  whom  the  Signoria 
had  some  years  before  set  up  at  Ferrara  as  a  mark  of  suzerainty, 
was  driven  out.  The  restitution  of  the  towns  of  Romagna  and  other 
concessions  were  offered  to  the  Pope,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  Romagna 
was  actually  evacuated.  Verona,  Vicenza,  and  Padua  were  allowed  to 
give  themselves  up  to  emissaries,  real  or  pretended,  of  the  Emperor. 
Treviso  was  still  held,  but  the  recent  conquests  to  the  east  of  Venice 
were  given  up.  The  towns  in  Apulia  were  abandoned.  Meanwhile 
every  effort  was  made  to  strengthen  the  narrower  line  of  defence. 
Fresh  troops  were  raised,  and  money  and  stores  collected ;  while  on  the 
other  hand  attempts  were  made  to  open  negotiations  with  the  allies 
severally,  and  especially  with  the  Pope. 

Maximilian  had  appeared  at  Trent  in  June ;  but  as  his  forces  were  slow 
in  collecting,  the  Venetians  felt  strong  enough  in  July  to  re-establish 
themselves  in  Padua,  which  was  made  as  strong  as  possible.  Thus,  when 
at  length  in  August  he  was  ready  to  move,  the  first  thing  necessary 
was  the  recapture  of  this  fortress-city.  Supported  by  500  French 
lances  under  la  Palice,  and  an  army  that  seemed  to  contemporaries 
nothing  less  than  prodigious,  he  sat  down  to  besiege  the  town  in  the 
middle  of  August.  The  hostility  of  the  peasantry,  whose  hearty  loyalty 
furnishes  the  best  testimonial  to  Venetian  good  government,  caused  him 
much  difficulty,  and  his  heavy  guns  were  not  in  position  till  the  middle 
of  September.  Dissensions  arose  among  the  allies.  La  Palice  was  on 
the  worst  of  terms  with  Maximilian's  chief  military  adviser,  Constantin 
Areniti.  A  famous  legend  represents  Bayard  himself  and  the  French 
men-at-arms  as  unwilling  to  go  to  the  assault  on  foot  unless  accompanied 
by  the  German  nobles  and  gentlemen,  who  declined  to  derogate  so 
far.  Finally  the  siege  was  given  up  on  October  2.  Soon  afterwards  the 
Emperor  took  his  departure  to  the  Tyrol ;  the  French  retired  into  the 


134  Venice  reconciled  with  Julius  [wio 

Milanese,  and  the  Pope  withdrew  his  men.  Vicenza  speedily  returned 
to  Venetian  rule,  and  Verona  alone  of  the  more  important  places 
remained  in  imperial  hands. 

In  February,  1510,  the  Venetians  at  length  came  to  terms  with  the 
Pope.  His  conditions  were  hard,  but  they  were  accepted.  Venice 
recognised  in  full  the  immunities  of  the  clergy  and  the  papal  right 
to  provide  to  all  Venetian  benefices,  renounced  all  unauthorised  treaties 
concluded  with  towns  in  the  Papal  States,  abandoned  all  intention  of 
appealing  to  a  council  against  the  papal  bans,  and  conceded  free  navi- 
gation of  the  Adriatic  to  all  papal  subjects,  among  whom  Ferrara  was 
expressly  included.  In  return,  the  Pope  admitted  the  humble  request 
of  the  Republic  for  pardon,  and  promised  his  good  offices  in  future. 
The  Venetians  were  allowed  to  recruit  in  the  Papal  States,  where  they 
engaged  several  famous  condottieri^  among  others  Giampaolo  Baglione, 
and  Renzo  da  Ceri.  Thus  the  first  aim  of  Julius  was  secured.  He 
had  humiliated  the  Queen  of  the  Adriatic,  and  recovered  all  rights 
usurped  by  Venice  from  the  Holy  See.  He  was  now  at  liberty  to  turn 
his  attention  to  his  second  object,  the  expulsion  from  Italy  of  the 
"  Barbarians  "  —  in  the  first  place  of  the  French.  For  this  purpose  he 
hoped  to  win  the  aid  of  the  Emperor  and  of  Henry  VIII.  But 
abundant  patience  was  needed  before  this  could  be  brought  about. 
The  first  effect  of  the  Pope's  change  of  policy  was  rather  to  increase 
the  bitterness  of  Maximilian  against  the  Venetians,  so  that  he  tried  to 
induce  the  Turk  to  attack  them.  With  the  King  of  Aragon  Julius 
was  not  at  first  much  more  successful.  Ferdinand  accepted  the  investi- 
ture of  Naples,  but  showed  no  inclination  to  an  open  breach  with  the 
league.    There  remained  the  Swiss. 

The  Swiss  were  poor  and  ignorant,  their  general  Diet  ill-instructed 
and  impotent,  their  leading  men  needy  and  venal,  their  common  men 
ready  to  follow  any  liberal  recruiting  officer,  and  even  the  cantonal 
governments  lacked  coercive  force.  Thus  the  fine  military  qualities  so 
often  displayed  by  them  in  these  wars  had  hitherto  served  only  to  win 
the  mercenary's  pittance.  French  victories  would  have  been  impossible 
without  Swiss  aid;  French  disasters  had  fallen  mainly  on  the  Swiss. 
But  latterly  they  had  risen  to  a  higher  sense  of  their  own  value ; 
their  arrogant  behaviour  and  exorbitant  demands  had  begun  to  fatigue 
the  French  paymaster.  Relations,  which  had  never  been  easy,  had  now 
become  decidedly  unfriendly;  for  the  French  King  had  refused  the 
Swiss  terms,  and  discharged  his  unruly  levies,  intending  in  future  to 
draw  his  infantry  from  Germany,  the  Grisons,  and  the  Valais.  More- 
over the  ten  years'  treaty  of  1499  had  run  to  a  close,  and  Louis  showed 
no  great  eagerness  for  its  renewal. 

Already  in  1606-7  the  Emperor  had  tried  to  shake  the  Franco- 
Swiss  alliance,  and  lavish  expenditure  had  been  needed  to  neutralise 
his  infliuence.    For  the  expedition  against  Imperial  Genoa  it  had  been 


1510-11] 


The  Swiss  and  the  Pope 


135 


necessary  first  to  hoodwink,  afterwards  to  ignore,  the  Swiss  authorities. 
The  Swiss  who  fought  at  Agnadello  were  illicit  volunteers.  It  was  the 
task  of  Julius  to  turn  Swiss  dissatisfaction  to  his  own  ends,  and  for 
this  purpose  he  had  an  admirable  instrument  in  Matthaus  Schinner, 
Bishop  of  Sion.  A  man  of  energy  and  ambition,  plausible  and  ener- 
getic, the  enemy  of  France,  Schinner  was  early  in  1510  set  to  win  the 
Cantons  and  the  Diet  for  the  Pope,  and  a  defensive  alliance  was  con- 
cluded. In  July  the  Diet  was  asked  to  give  effect  to  this  agreement 
by  assisting  the  Pope  in  the  invasion  of  Ferrara,  which  persisted  in 
hostility  against  Venice.  To  comply  was  an  act  of  open  hostility  to 
France,  the  ally  of  Ferrara ;  moreover,  Ferrara  could  only  be  reached 
through  Milanese  territory.  However,  the  influence  of  Schinner  pre- 
vailed, and  10,000  men  set  out.  The  Diet  still  hesitated ;  French  gold 
was  at  work ;  Chaumont  d'Amboise  was  prepared  to  resist  any  attack 
on  the  Milanese ;  the  Swiss,  without  artillery  and  scant  of  victual,  did 
not  venture  to  advance  beyond  the  land  which  lies  between  Como 
and  the  Lago  Maggiore.  In  all  their  movements  they  were  closely 
followed  by  the  French,  and  finally  they  were  forced  to  retire  without 
having  effected  anything  (September).  During  the  winter  negotiations 
proceeded  between  the  Pope  and  the  Swiss,  the  latter  pressing  in  vain 
for  the  pay  of  the  troops  supplied.  Meanwhile  the  offers  of  the  King 
of  France  were  met  by  the  determined  opposition  of  the  Forest  Cantons, 
whose  antagonism  to  the  French  was  growing,  increased  by  measures 
directed  against  their  trade  with  Milan.  Maximilian,  on  the  other  hand, 
succeeded  in  concluding  (February,  1511)  a  defensive  treaty  with  a 
majority  of  the  Cantons  in  favour  of  his  duchy  of  Austria  and  his 
county  of  Burgundy.  Thus  the  greatest  powers  of  Europe  were  treating 
as  equals  with  the  league  of  peasants  and  burghers. 

Meanwhile  in  the  war  France  had  held  her  own.  An  attack  by 
sea  and  land  on  Genoa  failed  ignominiously.  The  efforts  directed  by 
Julius  against  Ferrara  led  only  to  the  capture  of  Modena.  Nor  did 
Louis  despise  ecclesiastical  weapons.  A  synod  of  French  clergy  at 
Tours  (September,  1510)  declared  the  King  justified  in  making  war 
on  the  Pope  in  defence  of  his  States  and  his  allies,  and  called  for  the 
summons  of  a  General  Council.  Embarking  on  this  plan  with  the 
support  of  the  Emperor,  the  King  was  able  to  attract  five  cardinals 
to  his  side,  who  not  long  after  issued  an  invitation  to  a  General  Council 
to  be  held  at  Pisa  in  September,  1511.  Pressing  on  at  the  same  time 
in  arms,  Chaumont  d'Amboise  threatened  Bologna,  where  the  Pope  lay 
ill.  The  danger  was  extreme;  but  the  unconquerable  vigour  of  the 
Pope  and  opportune  assistance  from  Venice  averted  the  worst.  Having 
repulsed  the  French,  the  Pope  urged  forward  his  schemes  against 
Ferrara ;  taking  the  field  himself  in  the  snows  of  winter,  he  occupied 
Concordia,  and  besieged  and  took  Mirandola  (January,  1511).  There 
his  successes  stopped.    Trivulzio,  who  assumed  the  command  after  the 


136 


Difficulties  of  France 


[1511-12 


death  of  Chaumont  (February,  1511),  recovered  Concordia  and  Miran- 
dola,  and  in  May  Bologna  was  abandoned  to  him.  The  Pope  retired  to 
Ravenna.  Misfortune  brought  with  it  dissension.  The  Pope's  nephew 
and  commander-in-chief,  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  charged  by  the  Pope's 
favourite.  Cardinal  Alidosi,  legate  of  Bologna,  with  the  blame  for  the 
loss  of  that  city,  and  unable  to  get  support  from  his  uncle,  fell  upon 
his  accuser  and  slew  him.  The  Pope's  fortunes  were  at  their  lowest 
ebb,  but  his  will  was  unshaken.  Returning  to  Rome,  he  met  the 
hostile  summons  to  a  General  Council  by  summoning  a  Council  of  his 
own  to  meet  at  the  Lateran  in  April,  1512.  For  material  help  he 
turned  to  Spain ;  but  in  the  crisis  of  discussion  fell  sick  almost  to 
death.  Baffling  his  enemies  by  a  complete  recovery,  he  fortified  himself 
against  them  by  concluding  with  Venice  and  Spain,  in  October,  1511, 
the  Holy  League  for  the  recovery  of  all  papal  territory.  It  was  soon 
afterwards  joined  by  Henry  VIII. 

The  Swiss  also  aided  the  papal  plans,  while  making  war  for  the  first 
time  on  their  own  behalf.  The  failure  of  1510  still  rankled,  and  the 
commercial  hostility  of  the  Forest  Cantons  together  with  the  hope  of 
Milanese  booty  predisposed  not  only  the  soldiers  of  fortune,  but  also 
the  governments,  to  warlike  action.  A  grievance  of  Schwyz  having  been 
lightly  treated  by  Louis,  the  Schwyzers  took  up  arms  (November,  1511) 
and  summoned  their  allies.  The  call  was  obeyed,  and  towards  the  end 
of  the  month  troops  were  collecting  on  the  old  marshalling  ground 
between  the  lakes.  Venetian  aid  was  solicited  and  promised.  Gaston 
de  Foix,  now  Governor  of  Milan,  was  menaced  at  the  same  time  on  the 
side  of  Parma  and  Bologna.  With  the  scanty  forces  at  his  disposal  he 
could  only  impede,  not  prevent,  the  advance  of  the  enemy  towards 
Milan.  But  there  the  Swiss  successes  ended.  They  were  unable  to 
undertake  the  siege  of  Milan.  No  help  came  from  Venice  or  the  Pope ; 
and  the  invaders  were  obliged  to  retreat,  which  they  did  in  great 
disorder. 

In  spite  of  this  second  rebuff,  the  opening  months  of  1512  saw  once 
more  the  King  of  France  and  the  other  powers  competing  for  the  favour 
of  the  Swiss.  The  King  of  France  was  unable  to  satisfy  their  inordinate 
demands.  Yet  his  need  of  an  ally  was  extreme.  The  English  and  the 
Spaniards  were  threatening  an  invasion  of  France.  Brescia  and  Ber- 
gamo had  been  recovered  by  Venice  (January,  1512).  The  forces  of 
the  Holy  League  were  menacing  Ferrara  and  Bologna.  Maximilian  was 
vacillating,  and  in  April  concluded  a  truce  with  the  Pope  and  Venice. 
Momentary  relief  was  brought  by  the  brilliant  and  brief  career  of  Gaston 
de  Foix,  Duke  of  Nemours.  Early  in  the  year  1512,  the  young  general 
repulsed  a  dangerous  attack  of  the  allied  forces  directed  against  Bologna, 
and,  on  hearing  of  the  fall  of  Brescia,  he  at  once  withdrew  from  Bologna 
all  the  forces  that  could  be  spared,  crossed  the  Mantuan  lands  without 
leave,  met  and  defeated  Giampaolo  at  Isola  della  Scala,  and  in  nine  days 


1512] 


Gaston  de  Foix 


137 


presented  himself  before  Brescia,  assaulted,  captured,  and  sacked  the  city. 
But  in  view  of  Maximilian's  change  of  front  it  was  urgent  to  achieve 
some  still  more  notable  success,  before  the  Germans  serving  in  the  French 
army  might  be  withdrawn.  Having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  induce  the 
Spanish  viceroy,  Ramon  de  Cardona,  to  give  battle  in  the  Romagna, 
Gaston  marched  against  Ravenna,  and  assaulted  the  town.  To  save  this 
important  place  the  forces  of  the  league  approached,  and  entrenched 
themselves  to  the  south  of  the  Ronco.  During  the  night  of  the  10th 
of  April  Gaston  threw  a  bridge  over  the  river,  and  on  the  following 
morning,  Easter-day,  he  led  his  troops  across  and  attacked  the  position 
of  his  enemies.  They  were  strongly  fortified.  On  the  left  they  were 
protected  by  the  river,  while  their  front  was  covered  by  a  line  of  armed 
waggons  guarded  by  the  infantry  of  Pedro  Navarra.  The  engagement 
opened  with  an  artillery  duel,  which  lasted  some  time  without  con- 
spicuous result,  until  Alfonso  d'Este,  seeing  an  opportunity,  led  round  his 
excellent  and  mobile  artillery  and  directed  it  against  the  enemy's  flank. 
The  fire  proved  so  galling  that  the  Italian  men-at-arms  left  their  breast- 
works to  attack  the  French.  After  the  hand-to-hand  engagement  had 
begun  between  the  cavalry  on  both  sides,  the  Germans  attacked  the 
Spanish  infantry  behind  their  waggon  wall,  and  a  desperate  battle  resulted 
in  a  French  victory.  The  Italian  men-at-arms  were  defeated  and  broken, 
and  Fabrizio  Colonna  was  captured  ;  but  the  Spanish  infantry  withdrew 
in  good  order.  The  French  commander,  rashly  charging  with  a  few 
horsemen  on  a  body  of  Spanish  foot  who  were  retreating  along  a  cause- 
way, was  unhorsed  and  killed.  Yves  d'AUegre  also  perished  in  the  en- 
counter.  Navarra  was  a  prisoner.   Ramon  de  Cardona  escaped  by  flight. 

The  complete  victory,  and  the  capture  of  Ravenna  on  the  following 
day,  were  dearly  bought  by  the  loss  of  so  vigorous  a  leader  as  Gaston 
de  Foix.  La  Palice,  who  found  himself  by  seniority  in  the  chief 
command,  was  not  qualified  to  make  the  most  of  a  great  victory,  or  to 
impose  his  authority  on  his  motley  army.  The  Pope  amused  the  King 
with  insincere  negotiations,  while  pressing  on  the  work  of  military 
reconstruction,  and  encouraging  with  Venetian  help  a  fresh  invasion  of 
the  Swiss.  Unable  to  induce  Venice  to  buy  peace  from  the  Emperor  by 
the  cession  of  Verona  and  Vicenza,  Julius  yet  succeeded  in  procuring  for 
her  a  truce.  The  Swiss,  who  began  to  move  in  May,  were  allowed  free 
passage  through  Tyrol  towards  Verona.  In  May  the  adhesion  of  Maxi- 
milian to  the  League  was  proclaimed,  though  prematurely,  by  Julius, 
and  in  June  the  German  infantry  was  ordered  to  leave  the  French  army. 
The  Council  of  Pisa  had  been  a  complete  failure,  and  when  removed  to 
Milan  fared  no  better.  The  Lateran  Council,  which  met  in  May,  1512, 
though  at  first  attended  mainly  by  Italians,  had  far  more  of  the  appear- 
ance, and  of  the  inner  conviction,  of  authority.  The  pressure,  which 
after  Ravenna  had  appeared  so  urgent  that  there  had  been  talk  of 
bringing  Gonzalo  into  the  field  as  chief  commander  of  the  Holy  League, 


138 


The  French  driven  from  Milan 


[1512 


was  relaxing.  The  French  were  without  a  consistent  policy.  La  Palice 
was  first  recalled  to  Milan,  and  then  ordered  into  the  Romagna  to  strike, 
if  possible,  a  decisive  blow.  Part  of  his  troops  had  been  disbanded  for 
financial  reasons;  others  had  been  sent  home.  His  enterprise  in  the 
Romagna  could  hardly  have  succeeded ;  but  while  yet  on  the  way  he  was 
recalled  for  the  defence  of  Milan. 

The  Swiss  Diet  had  in  April  determined  to  act  in  concert  with  the 
League.  The  effort  which  followed  was  national  and  imposing.  The 
Swiss  army,  not  less  than  20,000  strong,  was  mustered  at  Chur,  and  thence 
made  its  way  by  different  paths  to  Trent,  where  Venetian  emissaries 
welcomed  them.  The  Spanish  and  papal  army  was  advancing  to  occupy 
Rimini,  Cesena,  Ravenna,  and  threatening  Bologna.  The  Venetian  forces 
joined  the  Swiss  at  Villafranca  in  the  Veronese,  after  Schinner  had  with 
difficulty  dispelled  the  suspicions  and  satisfied  the  demands  of  these 
dangerous  allies.  La  Palice  had  garrisoned  the  most  important  places, 
and  lay  in  the  neighbourhood  ready  to  repeat  the  defensive  strategy 
which  had  proved  so  useful  in  1510  and  1511.  But  his  forces  were 
insufficient,  and,  on  his  retiring  to  Cremona,  they  were  still  further 
diminished  by  the  loss  of  4000  Landsknechte^  withdrawn  by  the  Emperor's 
command.  Thence  la  Palice  fell  back  to  Pizzighetone,  and  again  to 
Pavia,  whence,  a  few  days  after  the  arrival  of  the  enemy  on  the  14th 
of  June,  he  again  retreated,  not  without  difficulty.  Hereupon  the 
French,  abandoning  all  further  resistance,  made  for  the  Alps.  Meanwhile 
Trivulzio  had  evacuated  Milan.  Only  the  castles  of  Milan,  Cremona, 
and  Brescia,  and  the  Lanterna  of  Genoa  were  still  in  French  hands. 

It  remained  to  dispose  of  the  conquered  territory.  Julius  recovered 
without  difficulty  Ravenna,  Bologna,  and  the  rest  of  the  Romagna.  His 
commander,  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  easily  occupied  Reggio  and  Modena^ 
though  Alfonso  d'Este  refused  any  settlement  that  would  deprive  him  of 
Ferrara.  The  congress  of  allies  which  met  at  Mantua  in  August  made 
over  to  the  Pope  Parma  and  Piacenza,  to  which  he  had  at  best  a 
shadowy  claim.  The  Emperor  and  Ferdinand  would  have  been  glad 
to  give  Milan  to  their  grandson,  Charles;  but  the  Swiss  were  in 
possession  and,  supported  by  the  Pope,  made  their  will  good.  The 
duchy  was  given  to  Massimiliano  Sforza,  son  of  Ludovico,  who  in  return 
ceded  Locarno,  Lugano,  and  Domo  d'  Ossola  to  his  Swiss  protectors.  The 
Venetian  claims  were  left  unsettled.  Brescia  still  held  out.  The  Swiss 
claimed  Cremona  and  the  Ghiara  d'Adda  for  the  duchy.  The  Emperor 
demanded  Vicenza  and  Verona.  Florence,  who  in  1509  had  ended  her 
long  war  by  the  recovery  of  Pisa,  was  punished  for  her  support  of  France 
by  the  restoration  of  the  Medici,  effected  by  the  arms  of  Ramon  de 
Cardona,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Pope.  Julius'  policy  had  reached 
a  point  of  triumph.  Much  had  been  done  for  Rome,  and  something  for 
Italy;  but  much  yet  remained  to  do,  before  the  barbarians  could  be 
expelled. 


1513] 


Campaign  of  Novara 


139 


The  complicated  problems  had  not  been  solved,  and,  before  Julius* 
death  in  February,  1513,  new  difficulties  had  arisen.  In  order  to  secure 
the  recognition  of  his  Lateran  Council  by  Maximilian,  Julius  had  to 
make  at  least  a  show  of  sacrificing  Venice,  who  obstinately  refused  to 
give  up  Vicenza  and  Verona.  The  new  league  of  Pope  and  Emperor, 
compacted  in  November,  1512,  was  bound  to  suggest  the  reconciliation  of 
Venice  and  France,  and  before  the  year  was  out  overtures  were  made, 
which  in  March,  1513,  led  to  a  renewal  of  the  Franco- Venetian  league. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  question  of  Ferrara  was  not  decided,  and 
imperial  rights  conflicted  with  papal  pretensions  in  Parma  and  Piacenza, 
Modena  and  Reggio.  The  advance  of  the  Spanish  army  into  Lombardy, 
and  its  occupation  of  Brescia,  threatened  Italian  freedom  in  every  direc- 
tion. The  Swiss  had  been  called  into  Milan  as  deliverers  ;  they  remained 
as  masters.  These  problems  were  bequeathed  by  Julius  to  his  successor, 
Giovanni  de'  Medici  (Leo  X). 

During  the  period  of  the  Swiss  conquest  of  Milan  Louis  had  been  in 
great  straits.  The  English  had  landed  at  Guipuscoa  to  join  with  the 
Spaniards  in  invading  France,  and  although  the  only  result  was  the 
conquest  of  Navarre,  the  danger  had  been  serious.  The  retirement  of 
the  English,  and  a  truce  with  Ferdinand  on  the  Pyrenean  frontier,  re- 
lieved the  French  King,  and  the  Venetian  alliance  gave  him  strength. 
With  the  Swiss  it  was  impossible  to  come  to  terms.  But  the  dissatisfac- 
tion of  the  Milanese  with  the  costly,  oppressive,  and  disorderly  rule  of  the 
Swiss,  complicated  as  it  was  by  the  collateral  authority  of  the  Emperor's 
commissioners  and  of  the  Spanish  viceroy,  made  the  King  hopeful  of 
support  in  the  duchy.  In  April  the  army  of  France,  strengthened  by  a 
powerful  force  of  LandsJcnechte,  recruited  in  the  Emperor's  despite,  was 
ready  to  cross  the  Alps,  under  Louis  de  la  Tr^mouille  and  Trivulzio. 
The  Guelf  party  rose  to  receive  them.  In  May  the  Venetian  army  under 
Alviano,  now  at  length  released,  began  to  advance  and  occupied  the 
country  to  Cremona.  The  French  party  was  set  up  in  Genoa  by  the  aid 
of  a  French  fleet.  Cardona  remained  inactive  at  Piacenza.  At  the  end 
of  the  month  only  Novara  and  Como  remained  faithful  to  Sforza.  On 
the  third  of  J une  the  French  army  lay  before  Novara,  which  was  held  by 
the  Swiss.  After  a  fruitless  attack  on  the  town,  the  French  withdrew  to 
Trecate,  a  place  in  the  neighbourhood.  Meanwhile  Swiss  reinforcements 
had  reached  Novara,  and  on  the  6th  of  June  the  whole  force  swarmed 
out  to  attack  the  French.  Advancing  under  cover  of  a  wood  they  sur- 
prised the  French  outposts.  When  serious  business  began,  the  Swiss 
foot,  unsupported  by  horse  and  artillery,  carried  the  day  by  sheer 
force  and  fury.  It  is  said  that  8,000  fell  on  the  side  of  the  French, 
although  the  pursuit  was  ineffective  for  lack  of  horse.  All  the  artillery 
and  stores  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swiss.  Thus  Milan  was  once  more 
lost  and  won.  The  French  retreated  hastily  by  Vercelli,  Susa,  and  the 
Mont  Cenis.    The  power  of  Massimiliano,  or  rather  of  the  Swiss,  was 


140 


Accession  of  Francis  I 


[1515 


easily  restored  throughout  the  duchy.  The  Venetians  fell  back,  and 
their  recent  conquests  were  reoccupied  by  Cardona,  and  the  imperial 
troops,  who  inflicted  on  them  a  serious  defeat.  But  no  combination  of 
disasters  could  bend  the  Signoria  to  accept  the  Emperor's  terms. 

French  prestige  was  low  in  1513.  Henry  VIII  routed  the  famous- 
French  cavalry  at  Guinegaste  and  captured  Terouanne.  The  Swiss 
invaded  Burgundy  with  imperial  aid,  and  la  Tr^mouille  was  forced  to 
ransom  the  province  and  its  capital,  by  the  promise  to  surrender  Milan 
and  pay  400,000  crowns.  The  refusal  of  Louis  to  ratify  this  bargain 
hardly  improved  the  situation.  But  towards  the  end  of  the  year  he 
recovered  the  papal  friendship  by  recognising  the  Lateran  Council,  and 
abandoning  the  schismatic  cardinals.  The  remainder  of  his  reign,  until 
his  death  in  January,  1515,  was  spent  in  preparations,  military  and 
diplomatic,  for  the  recovery  of  his  lost  position  in  Europe.  Various 
marriage  arrangements  were  mooted,  of  which  only  one  came  into  effect, 
the  third  marriage  of  Louis,  with  Mary  the  sister  of  Henry  VIII.  The 
alliance  with  Venice  was  maintained;  with  the  rest  of  the  European 
powers  a  relation  ensued  of  precarious  hostility,  tempered  by  more  or 
less  insincere  offers  of  friendship. 

Thus  the  accession  of  Francis  of  Angouleme  found  France  prepared 
for  war,  and  secured  at  least  on  the  side  of  England.  The  gallant  young 
King  was  eager  for  the  paths  of  glory.  His  enemies  made  ready  to 
receive  him,  —  Ferdinand,  the  Swiss,  and  Maximilian  with  unequivocal 
hostility,  the  Pope  prepared  to  accept  a  profitable  compromise.  But 
Francis  could  not  pay  Leo's  price,  which  was  nothing  less  than  Naples 
for  Giuliano  de'  Medici.  Thus  of  the  Italian  powers  Venice  alone  stood 
on  his  side. 

The  lack  of  Swiss  foot-soldiers  was  supplied  partly  by  German  levies, 
partly  by  recruits  raised  by  Pedro  Navarra,  who  had  entered  French 
service,  on  the  frontiers  of  France  and  Spain.  The  ordonnances  were 
raised  to  4,000  lances.  Genoa  was  ready  to  join  the  French,  and  the 
Swiss,  alarmed  by  rumours,  sent  a  considerable  reinforcement  into  Milan, 
which  was  employed  to  occupy  Susa  and  the  Alpine  passes.  In  June 
and  July  a  further  and  larger  contingent  entered  the  Milanese.  Lack 
of  pay  and  provision  soon  made  itself  felt,  to  the  damage  of  discipline 
and  good-will.  However,  the  promise  of  papal  and  Florentine  help  eased 
the  situation. 

At  length  in  August  the  French  army,  more  powerful  than  any  that 
had  been  hitherto  raised  in  these  wars,  was  ready  to  move.  To  avoid 
the  passes  held  by  the  Swiss,  Trivulzio  led  the  bulk  of  the  army  by  an 
unknown  road  over  the  Col  d'Argenti^re,  while  another  force  advanced 
by  the  Maritime  Alps  towards  Genoa.  The  French  vanguard  surprised  by 
their  unexpected  arrival  a  body  of  Italian  horse  under  Prospero  Colonna, 
whom  they  defeated  and  captured  at  Villafranca  near  Saluzzo.  The 
Swiss,  surprised  and  disconcerted,  short  of  pay  and  provisions,  mistrustful 


1515] 


Campaign  of  Marignano 


141 


of  their  allies,  determined  to  retreat  by  Ivrea  to  Vercelli  and  wait  for 
reinforcements. 

Here  disunion  and  divergent  counsels  led  to  further  undecided  and 
unconcerted  movements  and  left  the  way  open  to  the  French,  who  only 
at  No  vara  met  some  slight  resistance.  But  reinforcements  came  across 
the  Alps  ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  September  considerable  bodies  of  Swiss 
lay  at  Domo  d'  Ossola,  Varese,  and  Monza,  unable  to  agree  on  any  plan 
for  joint  action  or  even  for  concentration.  Meanwhile  negotiations  were 
in  progress  at  Gallerate,  the  French  showing  themselves  ready  to 
make  considerable  money  grants,  and  offering  Sforza  compensation  in 
France.  On  the  9th  of  September  an  agreement  was  actually  sealed. 
Foremost  among  the  peace  party  were  the  towns  of  Bern,  Freiburg,  and 
Solothurn.  But  the  army,  now  at  length  partly  concentrated  at  Monza, 
was  ill-satisfied  with  the  terms,  and  especially  the  men  of  Uri,  Schwyz, 
and  Glarus.  These  determined  to  reject  the  treaty  and  move  on  Milan, 
where  the  party  favourable  to  France  had  recently  been  overthrown. 

At  this  moment  the  distribution  of  the  various  forces  was  as  follows. 
The  French  lay  at  Binasco,  the  Swiss  at  Monza ;  Alviano  near  Cremona ; 
Cardona  with  the  Spanish,  and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  with  the  papal 
army,  near  Piacenza.  Cardona  and  Lorenzo  with  good  reason  mistrusted 
each  other,  and  were  mistrusted  by  the  Swiss.  But  the  latter  were  at 
length  determined  by  the  influence  of  Schinner  to  reject  all  overtures 
for  peace,  and  advance  against  the  enemy.  On  the  10th  of  September 
the  Swiss  army  was  in  Milan.  Meanwhile  the  French  army  had  moved 
to  a  position  S.S.E.  of  Milan  near  Marignano,  in  order  to  be  in  easier 
touch  with  Alviano,  who  had  occupied  Lodi. 

The  Swiss  were  still  undecided  and  discordant.  Schinner  and  the 
enemies  of  peace  built  their  hopes  on  the  effects  of  a  casual  encounter, 
which  actually  took  place  on  September  13  and  precipitated  a  general 
engagement.  The  Forest  Cantons  led  the  way  to  the  attack,  the  others 
followed,  not  altogether  willing.  The  French  lay  encamped  along  the 
road  from  Milan  to  Marignano.  The  front  lay  near  San  Donato,  the 
rear-guard  between  San  Giuliano  and  Marignano.  The  camp  was 
strongly  fortified,  and  the  land  on  each  side  of  the  road  made  difficult 
by  irrigation  canals.  The  attack  began  late  in  the  day.  The  French  van- 
guard, in  spite  of  the  damage  caused  by  their  artillery,  was  thrown  into 
some  confusion,  and  the  Landshnechte  were  broken.  Then  the  centre 
received  the  assault,  but  withstood  it.  Night  fell  upon  the  combatants, 
and  the  struggle  was  renewed  with  earliest  dawn.  Order  had  been  in 
some  measure  restored.  It  was  indeed  a  battle  of  the  giants.  The  Swiss 
held  their  own  before  the  repeated  charges  of  the  heavy-armed  French 
horse,  and  had  developed  a  formidable  flank  attack  on  the  French 
rear-guard.  Secure  of  victory  they  had  sent  a  detachment  to  break  down 
a  bridge  in  the  enemy's  rear,  when  Alviano  came  up  with  a  part  of  the 
Venetian  horse,  and,  as  much  by  the  moral  as  by  the  material  effect  of  his 


142 


Results  of  the  Wars 


[1516 


arrival,  restored  the  tottering  fortunes  of  the  French.  Towards  mid-day 
the  defeated  army  withdrew  in  good  order  with  its  wounded  towards  Milan. 
The  pursuit  was  not  vigorous,  for  the  victors  were  exhausted,  and  their 
losses,  if  not  so  heavy  as  those  of  the  Swiss,  were  serious.  Two  days 
after  the  fight  the  Swiss  started  for  home,  since  no  money  was  forth- 
coming for  their  needs.  They  made  their  retreat  by  Como,  harassed  by 
Venetian  Stradiots. 

The  success  of  Francis  was  complete.  Cardona  withdrew  to  Naples. 
The  Pope  began  to  treat.  The  Swiss,  though  the  Forest  Cantons  were 
opposed  to  peace,  were  sick  of  a  league  which  had  left  all  the  hard  work 
to  them  and  did  not  even  supply  the  sinews  of  war.  Sforza  surrendered 
the  castles  of  Milan  and  Cremona  and  became  a  pensioner  of  France. 
In  December  the  Pope  and  King  met  in  Bologna,  and  conditions  were 
arranged  which  restored  peace  between  the  Holy  See  and  the  Most 
Christian  King.  But  the  claims  of  Venice  still  presented  difficulties,  and 
Maximilian  could  not  acquiesce  in  the  occupation  of  Milan.  The  Swiss 
League  was  seriously  divided.  Eight  Cantons  were  ready  for  a  peace, 
even  for  a  league  with  France,  but  five  were  eager  to  renew  the  struggle. 
With  the  aid  of  these  latter  Maximilian  invaded  Milan  in  March,  1516 ; 
but  the  Swiss  were  unwilling  to  fight  against  their  countrymen  in  French 
service,  and  finally  the  imperial  host  broke  up.  In  November  the  whole 
Swiss  League  concluded  an  everlasting  peace  with  Francis.  Early  in  the 
same  year  Ferdinand  had  died,  and  his  successor,  Charles,  was  not  for 
the  present  ready  to  take  up  his  heritage  of  hostility  to  France.  So  at 
Noyon  it  was  arranged  between  Charles  and  Francis  to  dispose  of  Naples 
by  way  of  marriage  (August,  1516)  ;  and  at  length,  in  December,  the 
Emperor  made  terms  at  Brussels,  which  closed  the  war  of  Cambray  by  a 
precarious  truce.  Soon  after  Verona  was  restored  to  Venice,  who  had 
in  the  interval  conquered  Brescia. 

Here  we  may  halt,  while  war  is  hushed  awhile,  to  glance  at  the  results 
of  all  these  years  of  strife.  France  is  established  temporarily  in  Milan, 
Spain  more  lastingly  in  Naples.  The  extent  of  the  papal  possessions  has 
been  increased,  and  the  papal  rule  therein  has  been  made  firmer  and 
more  direct.  A  close  alliance  between  the  Papacy  and  the  interests  of 
the  Medici  family  has  been  established.  Venice  has  recovered  all  her 
territory,  though  the  sacrifices  of  the  war  and  the  shifting  of  trade- 
routes  will  prevent  her  from  ever  rising  again  to  her  former  pride  of 
place.  The  short-lived  appearance  of  the  Swiss  among  the  great  and 
independent  powers  of  Europe  is  at  an  end.  The  international  forces  of 
the  West  have  assumed  the  forms  and  the  proportions  that  they  are  to 
retain  for  many  years  to  come. 

Little  has  been  accomplished  to  compensate  for  all  this  outpouring 
of  blood  and  treasure.  The  political  union  of  the  Italian  nation  is  as 
far  removed  as  ever.  Misfortune  has  proved  no  cure  for  moral  degene- 
ration.   Little  patriotism  worthy  of  the  name  has  been  called  out  by 


Effects  on  the  Renaissance 


143 


these  cruel  trials ;  the  obstinate  resistance  of  Pisa,  the  steadfastness  and 
endurance  of  Venice,  show  local  patriotism  at  its  best,  but  Italian 
patriotism  is  far  to  seek. 

Though  almost  every  province  of  Italy  has  been  devastated  in  its 
turn,  though  many  flourishing  cities  have  been  sacked,  and  the  wealth 
of  all  has  been  drained  by  hostile  or  protecting  armies,  literature, 
learning,  and  art  do  not  appear  at  first  to  feel  the  blight.  The  age 
of  the  war  of  Cambray  is  also  the  age  of  Bramante,  Michel  Angelo,  and 
Raffaelle.  Julius  II  is  not  only  the  scourge  of  Italy,  but  the  patron 
of  art.  The  greatest  or  at  least  the  most  magnificent  age  of  Venetian 
art  is  the  age  of  her  political  and  commercial  declension.  The  vigorous 
vitality  that  had  been  fostered  in  half  a  century  of  comparative  peace 
served  to  sustain  the  Renaissance  movement  through  many  years  of 
war  and  waste.  Peace  multiplies  wealth,  and  art  is  the  fosterchild  of 
wealth ;  but  wealth  is  not  its  true  parent.  No  statistician's  curve  can 
render  visible  the  many  causes  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  art.  The  definite 
decline,  which  is  perceptible  after  the  sack  of  Rome,  may  be  due  in  part 
to  economic  changes,  and  those  to  the  influence  of  war,  but  its  funda- 
mental causes  are  spiritual  and  moral,  and  elude  all  material  estimation. 

As  a  chapter  in  military  history  the  period  is  full  of  interest.  The 
individual  heroism  of  panoplied  knights  still  plays  its  part  amid  the 
shock  of  disciplined  armies  at  No  vara  or  at  Marignano.  Yet  in  all  the  » 
battles  and  campaigns  we  see  the  tactics  and  strategy  of  infantry  working 
towards  a  higher  evolution,  in  which  Swiss  and  German  and  Spaniard 
each  bears  his  part.  Hand  fire-arms,  though  constantly  employed, 
seldom  appear  to  influence  results.  On  the  other  hand  at  Ravenna  the 
skilful  use  of  artillery  determined  for  the  first  time  the  issue  of  an 
important  battle.  And  the  art  of  military  engineers,  especially  that  of 
mining,  shows  considerable  advance. 

War  plays  its  part  in  promoting  the  intercourse  of  nations  and  in 
spreading  the  arts  of  peace.  Captive  Italy  made  her  domination  felt,  not 
only  in  France,  but  also  in  Germany  and  Spain.  But  apart  from  this 
meagre  and  indirect  result  we  look  in  vain  for  any  of  the  higher  motives 
or  tendencies  that  sometimes  direct  the  course  of  armies  and  the  move- 
ment of  nations.  Greed,  ambition,  the  lust  of  battle,  the  interests  of 
dynasties,  such  are  the  forces  that  seem  to  rule  the  fate  of  Italy  and 
Europe.  Yet  amidst  this  chaos  of  blind  and  soulless  strife  the  scheme 
and  equilibrium  of  the  western  world  is  gradually  taking  shape. 


CHAPTER  V 


FLOEENCE  (I):  SAVONAROLA 

Had  Girolamo  Savonarola  died  before  the  French  invasion  of  1494 
he  would  scarcely  have  been  distinguished  above  other  missionary  friars, 
who  throughout  the  fifteenth  century  strove  faithfully  to  revive  the 
flagging  religion  of  Italy.  The  French  King  and  the  Italian  Dominican 
were  poles  asunder  in  character  and  aims,  yet  their  fortunes  were 
curiously  linked.  On  Charles  VIII's  first  success  Savonarola  became  a 
personage  in  history,  and  his  own  fate  was  sealed  by  the  Frenchman's 
death.  The  Friar's  public  career  was  very  short,  less  than  four  years  in 
all,  but,  apostle  of  peace  as  he  was,  it  was  a  truceless  war.  Nor  did  the 
grave  bring  peace.  Savonarola's  ashes  were  cast  into  the  running  Arno, 
yet  they  seem  to  be  burning  still.  Twenty  years  after  his  death  the  old 
passions  which  his  life  had  fired  blazed  up  in  Florence  yet  more  fiercely ; 
his  followers  held  the  town  against  Pope  and  Emperor  without,  against 
Medicean  and  aristocrat  within.  Until  this  very  day  Catholics  and 
Protestants,  Dominicans  and  Jesuits,  men  of  spiritual  and  men  of  secular 
temperament,  fight  over  Savonarola's  memory  with  all  the  old  zest  of  the 
last  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

San  Bernardino  and  Savonarola  were  both  missionary  friars ;  not  half 
a  century  divided  them ;  they  made  their  homes  in  neighbour  towns ; 
their  objects  were  similar  or  the  same ;  neither  could  claim  from  the 
other  the  palm  of  personal  holiness  or  unselfish  sacrifice.  Yet  how  very 
different  were  their  ends,  how  different  their  fate  in  after  history  !  The 
impersonal  symbol  of  the  one,  the  IHS,  is  set  in  its  blue  and  primrose 
disc  as  in  a  summer  sundown ;  the  stern  figure  of  the  other,  grasping  the 
crucifix,  stands  out  in  its  medal  against  a  lowering  sky  rent  by  the  sword 
of  an  avenging  God.  Why  is  the  preacher  of  madcap  Siena  an  admitted 
Saint,  and  why  does  the  merest  hint  of  the  canonisation  of  the  evangelist 
of  sober  Florence  convert  men  of  peace  into  fiery  controversialists 
throughout  Western  Europe  ? 

Savonarola's  early  life  was  as  uneventful  as  that  of  most  preaching 
friars.  His  grandfather,  a  Paduan,  was  a  physician  of  repute  at  the 
court  of  Ferrara ;  his  father  a  nonentity  even  for  the  hagiologist ;  his 

144 


Early  life  and  character  of  Savonarola 


145 


stronger  characteristics  have  been  attributed,  as  is  usual,  to  his  Mantuan 
mother.  He  thus  had  no  inheritance  in  the  keen,  rarefied  air  from  the 
Tuscan  mountains,  which  is  believed  to  brace  the  intellect  and  add  inten- 
sity to  the  imagination  of  the  dwellers  in  the  Arno  valley  ;  he  was  a  child  of 
the  north-eastern  waterlands,  more  sluggish  in  intellectual  movement  but 
swept  from  time  to  time  by  storms  of  passion.  Girolamo  refused  to 
enter  his  grandfather's  profession  for  which  he  was  brought  up;  he 
secretly  left  home  to  enter  the  Order  of  St  Dominic  at  Bologna.  He 
preached  later  at  Ferrara,  but  was  no  prophet  in  his  own  country, 
and  was  thence  ordered  to  Florence  to  join  the  convent  of  Lombard 
Dominican  Observantists  who  had  been  established  by  Cosimo  de'  Medici 
in  San  Marco.  Successful  in  teaching  novices,  he  failed  as  a  preacher 
until  he  found  his  natural  gift  of  utterance  among  a  more  simple,  less 
critical  congregation  at  San  Gimignano.  His  reputation  was  made  at 
Brescia,  and  it  is  noticeable  that  in  both  these  cases  the  fire  of  eloquence 
was  kindled  by  a  spirit  of  prophecy ;  the  people  were  spell-bound  by  the 
denunciation  of  wrath  to  come.  When  he  returned  to  Florence  he 
stood  on  a  different  plane ;  the  Florentines  always  gave  a  warm  welcome 
to  a  reputation.  In  the  following  year  (1491)  he  was  elected  Prior  of 
San  Marco.  As  this  convent  was  under  the  peculiar  patronage  of  the 
ruling  house  of  Medici,  Savonarola  was  in  a  position  to  become  a  leader 
of  Florentine  opinion. 

The  character  of  the  new  Prior  had  hitherto  offered  more  features 
of  interest  than  his  career.  He  had  been  an  unattractive,  unchildlike 
child,  shunning  his  playmates,  poring  over  books  often  far  beyond  his 
years.  He  had  no  love  for  pleasure,  for  which  Ferrara  and  its  rulers 
lived ;  there  is  a  tale  that  he  was  once  taken  to  the  palace  and  would 
never  again  cross  its  threshold.  His  peculiar  characteristic  was  an  over- 
powering sense  of  sin,  a  conviction  of  the  wickedness  of  the  world  and 
more  especially  of  the  Church.  He  must  have  seen  the  festivities  which 
greeted  Pius  II  on  his  way  to  open  the  Congress  of  Mantua ;  it  may  have 
struck  the  serious  child  that  they  ill  accorded  with  the  sacred  object  of 
the  Congress,  the  Crusade  against  the  infidel.  But  after  all,  the  Court 
of  Pius  II  was  relatively  decent.  At  all  events  in  the  most  youthful  of 
Savonarola's  writings  is  expressed  a  loathing  for  the  Court  of  Rome,  a 
belief  that  throughout  all  Italy,  and  above  all  at  Rome,  virtue  was  spent 
and  vice  triumphant.  The  tribute  which  solitude  exacts  from  those  who 
court  her  is  an  abnormal  consciousness  of  self.  In  Girolamo's  letter  to 
his  father,  excusing  his  flight  from  home,  he  urges  that  he  at  least 
must  save  himself.  In  his  boyish  poetical  tirade  against  the  Papacy,  it 
is  he  who  must  break  the  wings  of  the  foul  bird ;  in  praying  for  a  new 
passage  across  the  Red  Sea,  his  own  soul  must  traverse  the  waves  which 
flow  between  the  Egypt  of  Sin  and  the  Promised  Land  of  Righteousness. 

In  the  conventual  life  of  the  fifteenth  century  absolute  segregation  was 
fortunately  impossible.    Savonarola's  latent  sympathies  were  awakened 

C.  M.  H.  I.  10 


146 


Savonarola  at  Florence 


[1491 


by  contact  with  his  fellows.  He  had  the  gift  of  teaching  younger  men ; 
he  was  a  good  master.  Occasionally  in  his  later  sermons  he  would 
inveigh  against  the  futility  of  human  knowledge  ;  he  would  cry  that  a 
little  old  woman  who  held  the  faith  knew  more  than  did  Aristotle  and 
Plato.  Nevertheless  he  was  convinced  of  the  merits  of  education,  of  the 
power  of  human  reasoning.  Reason  justified  his  flying  from  his  home ; 
reason  supported  his  attack  upon  astrology ;  his  own  prophecies  found 
their  proof  in  reason.  His  farewell  letter  to  his  father  had  concluded 
with  the  plea  that  his  little  brother  might  be  taught,  in  order  not  to 
waste  his  time.  Hereafter  he  was  to  urge  the  Florentines  to  have  their 
children  taught  the  art  of  grammar,  and  that  by  good  masters.  The 
old-fashioned  Scholastic  dialectics  in  which  the  Dominicans  were  trained 
were  to  Savonarola  a  real  vehicle  of  thought ;  to  the  last  he  was  always 
thinking,  putting  everything  to  the  test  of  his  own  judgment;  page 
upon  page  of  his  sermons  form  one  long  argument.  Savonarola  was  in 
fact  eminently  argumentative.  If  the  coarse  and  tightly  compressed  lips 
betokened  obstinacy  and  self-assertion,  sympathy  shone  in  the  expressive 
eyes.  Savonarola  held  his  audience  with  his  eyes  as  well  as  with  his 
voice.  The  small  plain-featured  Lombard  with  the  awkward  gestures  and 
the  ill-trained  voice  was  early  loved  in  Florence  by  those  who  knew  him. 
Impatient  of  indifference  or  opposition,  his  sympathy  readily  went  out  to 
those  who  welcomed  him,  expanding  into  a  yearning  love  for  Florence, 
his  adopted  city,  and  her  people.  Sympathy  and  self-assertion  are 
perhaps  the  two  keys  to  his  character  and  his  career. 

Until  Savonarola  steps  into  the  full  light  of  history  the  tales  told  by 
his  early  biographers  must  be  received  with  caution.  The  temptation  to 
exaggerate  and  ante-date  is  with  hagiologists  and  martyrologists  of  all 
ages  irresistible.  The  atmosphere  of  asceticism  favours  imagination,  and 
the  houses  of  the  great  Religious  Orders  were  natural  forcing-beds  for 
legends  relating  to  their  members.  Such  legends,  serving  to  edification, 
will  be  welcome  to  all  but  dry  historians  who  are  more  perplexed  by  the 
unconscious  exaggerations  of  devotees  than  by  the  deliberate  falsehoods 
of  opponents.  Savonarola's  party  in  1497  destroyed  the  heads  of  the 
Medicean  group ;  after  the  Medicean  restoration  of  1512  his  name  was 
indelibly  stamped  on  the  popular  cause  which  had  been  overthrown ; 
above  all,  his  name  became  a  watchword  during  the  passionate  struggle 
of  the  Second  Republic.  What  then  was  more  natural  than  to  represent 
him  as,  from  the  moment  of  his  settlement  in  Florence,  promoting 
opposition  to  the  Medici  ?  The  stories  of  his  attitude  of  independence 
or  incivility  towards  Lorenzo  may  or  may  not  be  true.  The  sermon 
which  he  preached  before  the  Signoria  on  April  6,  1491,  has  been 
regarded  as  an  attack  upon  the  Medici.  It  is  rather  an  academic  lecture 
upon  civic  justice,  which  might  have  been  appropriately  preached  before 
any  European  magistracy.  Had  the  Friar  been  the  recognised  opponent 
of  the  ruling  house,  he  would  not  have  been  invited  to  address  the 


1491-2] 


Savonarola  and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 


147 


Signoria^  the  creatures  of  the  Medici.  Lorenzo,  at  the  request,  as  it  is  said, 
of  Pico  della  Mirandola,  had  summoned  him  back  to  Florence  ;  without 
Lorenzo's  favour  he  would  scarcely  have  been  elected  Prior.  Lorenzo 
was  all-powerful  both  at  Rome  and  Milan  ;  a  word  from  him  would  have 
relegated  the  preacher  against  tyranny  to  a  distant  Lombard  convent. 

For  Savonarola's  independence  at  this  period  there  are  two  scraps 
of  personal  evidence.  On  March  10,  1491,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Fra 
Domenico  that  magnates  of  the  city  threatened  him  with  the  fate  of  San 
Bernardino  of  Feltre,  who  had  been  expelled.  He  added,  however,  that 
Pico  della  Mirandola  was  a  constant  attendant  at  his  sermons  and  had 
subsidised  the  convent ;  now  Pico  was  one  of  Lorenzo's  most  intimate 
friends.  In  his  last  sermon  on  March  18,  1498,  Savonarola  stated  that 
Lorenzo  sent  five  leading  citizens  to  dissuade  him,  as  of  their  own  accord, 
from  his  prophetic  utterances  ;  he  replied  that  he  knew  from  whom  they 
came  :  let  them  warn  Lorenzo  to  repent  of  his  sins,  for  God  would  punish 
him  and  his :  he,  the  alien  Friar,  would  stay,  while  Lorenzo,  the  citizen 
and  first  of  citizens,  would  have  to  go.  For  this  tale  there  are  several 
good  authorities,  though  the  sermon  may  be  their  common  source  : 
Guicciardini,  the  best  of  them,  omits  the  Friar's  reply.  It  is  certain 
that  Lorenzo  took  no  further  measures ;  the  chronicler  Cerretani  ex- 
pressly affirms  that,  while  Lorenzo  lived,  Savonarola  was  entirely  quiet. 

It  is  well  known  that  Lorenzo  summoned  the  Dominican  to  his  death- 
bed at  Careggi.  This  has  been  represented  by  modern  writers  as  though 
it  had  been  a  strange  and  sudden  thought,  the  result  of  an  agony  of 
repentance.  But  no  act  could  have  been  more  natural.  Savonarola  was 
now  without  question  the  greatest  preacher  in  the  city ;  he  was  Prior  of 
Lorenzo's  own  convent,  in  the  garden  of  which  he  often  walked ;  the 
rival  divine  Fra  Mariano  da  Genazzano  was  not  in  Florence.  Lorenzo 
with  all  his  faults  was  no  lost  soul ;  he  had  a  singularly  sympathetic 
nature;  he  was  keenly  alive  to  religious  as  to  all  other  influences. 
Whom  should  he  better  call  from  Florence  to  Careggi  than  the  Friar 
whom  he  had  brought  back  from  Lombardy  ?  The  details  of  the  death- 
bed scene  as  related  by  the  Dominican  biographers  are  difficult  to  accept ; 
they  rest  on  third-hand  authority,  contain  inherent  improbabilities,  and 
are  contradicted  by  contemporary  evidence  both  direct  and  indirect. 
Neither  in  Savonarola's  writings,  nor  in  the  letters  of  Lorenzo,  Politian, 
or  Ficino,  nor  in  the  despatches  of  ambassadors,  is  there  any  statement  as 
to  the  Dominican's  alleged  hostility  to  the  powers  that  be.  Among  his 
devotees  were  numbered  Lorenzo's  two  chief  confidants,  Pico  and 
Pandolfini,  his  friend  and  teacher,  Marsilio  Ficino,  the  favourite  painter 
Botticelli,  and  the  youthful  Michel  Angelo,  who  had  lived  in  the  Medici 
palace  almost  as  a  son.  Giovanni  da  Prato  Vecchio,  the  financial  adviser 
who  did  much  to  make  the  Medicean  administration  unpopular  with  the 
masses,  was  Savonarola's  personal  friend. 

Later  writers,  living  under  the  terrorism  of  a  restoration,  neglected 


148  The  government  of  Piero  de^  Medici  [1492-3 


distinctions  between  the  stages  of  Medicean  rule ;  but  contemporaries  drew 
a  strong  line  between  the  veiled  and  amiable  despotism  of  Lorenzo  and  the 
overt  tyranny  of  his  son.  The  young  Piero,  they  said,  was  no  Medici,  no 
Florentine.  Born  as  he  was  of  an  Orsini  mother,  and  wedded  to  an  Orsini 
wife,  his  manners  were  Orsini  manners,  his  bearing  was  that  of  an  insolent 
Campagna  lordling.  With  some  of  the  purely  intellectual  gifts  of  his 
father's  house,  he  inherited  none  of  its  capacity  for  rule,  none  of  the 
sympathy  which  attracted  the  men  of  culture  and  the  men  of  toil,  none 
of  the  political  courage  which  could  avert  or  brave  a  crisis.  Savonarola's 
future  foe  was  a  brutal  athlete  who  had  angered  his  father  by  his 
youthful  brawls, — who,  in  Guicciardini's  phrase,  had  found  himself  at 
the  death  of  a  man  or  two  by  night.  He  and  his  disreputable  train 
would  all  day  long  play  ball  in  the  streets  of  Florence,  neglecting  the 
business  of  the  State,  disturbing  the  business  of  the  city.  The  weakness 
of  the  Medicean  system  stood  confessed.  An  accepted  monarchy  may 
survive  a  weak  and  wicked  ruler,  but  the  Medici  had  no  constitutional 
position,  and  were  unprovided  with  props  to  a  tottering  throne,  or  with 
barriers  to  keep  the  crowd  away.  Their  power  rested  only  upon  personal 
influence,  upon  the  interests  of  a  syndicate  of  families,  on  the  material 
welfare  of  the  middle  classes,  and  the  amusement  of  the  lower.  Even 
without  the  catastrophe  of  the  French  invasion  Piero's  government  must 
have  come  crashing  down. 

From  the  outset  of  Medicean  rule  there  had  been  a  seesaw  between 
monarchy  and  oligarchy.  The  ring  of  governmental  families  had  admit- 
ted, not  without  some  rubs,  the  superiority  of  Lorenzo  ;  they  showered 
upon  Piero  his  father's  honours,  but  were  not  prepared  to  concede  his 
power.  The  ruling  party  began  to  split  ;  the  bureaucratic  section,  the 
secretaries,  the  financial  officials,  necessarily  stood  by  the  ostensible  gov- 
ernment, and,  owing  to  the  traditional  maladministration  of  police  and 
finance,  determined  popular  feeling  in  its  disfavour.  The  leading  Medi- 
cean families,  the  younger  branch  of  the  House,  and  the  Rucellai  and  Sode- 
rini  connected  with  it  by  marriage,  began  to  shadow  forth  an  opposition. 

It  might  seem  as  if  Savonarola  must  now  have  chosen  his  side, 
but  of  this  there  is  little  sign.  Cerretani  relates  that  the  heads  of  the 
opposition,  fully  conscious  of  his  power  over  the  people,  tried  to  win 
him  but  completely  failed.  Savonarola  himself  has  absolutely  stated 
that  he  took  no  part  in  politics  until  after  Piero's  fall.  In  his  sermons 
there  is  a  passage  against  princes,  but  it  was  a  cap  that  would  fit 
royal  heads  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  and  was  intended,  if  for  any  in 
particular,  for  those  of  the  rulers  of  Naples  and  Milan. 

In  1492  and  1493  Savonarola  was  much  away  in  Lombardy.  It  has 
been  assumed  that  he  was  removed  from  Florence  by  Piero's  influence  ; 
but  of  this  there  is  no  evidence.  Savonarola's  journeys  were  in  full 
accordance  with  the  usual  practice  of  his  Order.  On  his  return  Piero  ener- 
getically aided  his  endeavour  to  separate  the  Tuscan  Dominican  convents 


1493-4]  Tuscan  Congregation  of  Dominican  Ohservantists  149 


of  stricter  observance  from  the  Lombard  Congregation  to  which  they 
had  previously  been  united.  The  effect  of  this  separation  would  be 
to  confine  Savonarola's  activity  to  Tuscany,  and  thus  to  give  him  per- 
manent influence  at  Florence.  Savonarola's  chief,  if  not  his  only  desire, 
was  to  restore  the  convents,  over  which  he  already  exercised  a  personal 
influence,  to  the  poorer  and  simpler  life  of  the  Order  as  founded  by 
St  Dominic ;  it  is  a  libel  to  suggest  that  he  had  ulterior  political 
motives.  The  separation  of  San  Marco,  which  had  been  definitely  re- 
founded  within  the  century  as  a  member  of  the  Lombard  Congregation, 
was  a  strong  measure  which  cast  reflection  on  the  discipline  of  the 
parent  body.  The  governments  of  Milan  and  Venice  resisted  the 
separation,  which  Piero  warmly  advocated.  Savonarola  became  for 
the  moment  a  figure  of  diplomatic  importance.  Alexander  VI  declared 
himself  against  the  separation ;  but  the  story  goes  that  when  the  Con- 
sistory had  separated,  the  Cardinal  of  Naples  playfully  drew  the  signet 
ring  from  the  Pope's  finger  and  sealed  the  brief  which  he  held  in  readi- 
ness. Piero's  action  makes  it  impossible  to  believe  that  Savonarola  had 
assumed  the  rdle  of  a  leader  of  political  opposition.  The  only  existing 
letter  from  the  Friar  to  Piero  expresses  warm  gratitude  for  his  aid. 
Nevertheless  the  perpetual  prophecies  of  impending  trouble  did  un- 
doubtedly contribute  to  political  unrest,  and  Nerli  ascribes  Piero's  fall 
in  some  measure  to  his  placing  no  check  upon  the  Friar's  extravagant 
utterances. 

At  the  moment  of  the  French  invasion  (September,  1494)  Savonarola 
was  no  politician,  but  a  hard-working  Provincial,  throwing  his  heart 
into  the  reform  of  his  new  Congregation.  This  was  no  easy  task,  for 
he  was  thwarted  by  the  particularist  traditions  of  the  larger  Tuscan 
towns,  where  the  Dominican  convents  resented  subordination  to  that 
of  the  hated  rival  or  mistress,  Florence  ;  they  would  more  willingly 
have  obeyed  a  distant  Lombard  Provincial.  At  Siena,  Savonarola's 
failure  was  complete  ;  the  convent  of  St  Catharine's  at  Pisa  was  only 
united  after  the  expulsion  of  the  majority  of  the  Friars.  The  new  Con- 
gregation contained  only  some  250  members,  whereas  at  the  recent  chap- 
ter at  San  Miniato  more  than  a  thousand  Franciscans  had  been  gathered. 

Meanwhile  all  Florence  was  entranced  by  the  eloquence  of  the 
Ferrarese  Friar.  What  was  the  secret  of  his  fascination  ?  It  consisted 
partly  in  the  contagious  force  of  terror.  Italy  had  long  been  conscious 
of  her  military  weakness,  of  her  want  of  national  unity.  For  fifty  years 
her  statesmen  had  nervously  played  with  or  warded  off  invasion ;  but, 
as  the  century  closed,  her  generals  were  provoking  the  catastrophe. 
Disaster  was  in  the  air,  and  this  atmospheric  condition  at  once  created 
the  peculiar  quality  of  Savonarola's  eloquence  and  the  susceptibility  of 
his  audience.  His  confident  forebodings  gave  definite  expression  to 
the  terror  which  was  in  every  heart,  terror  of  storm  and  sack,  of  fierce 
foreign  troopers  who  knew  not  the  make-believe  campaigns  of  Italy, 


150 


The  morality  of  Florence 


[1491-4 


of  antiquated  fortresses  crumbling  before  the  modern  French  artillery. 
The  audacious  attack  upon  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  also  fell  upon 
willing  ears.  Abuse  of  the  clergy  has  always  been  popular,  even  when 
ill-deserved ;  but  with  much  reason  Italy  was  ashamed  of  her  priesthood 
and  her  Pope.  The  moral  standard  of  the  clergy  was  absolutely,  and 
not  relatively,  lower  than  that  of  the  laity.  In  every  town,  therefore, 
Savonarola's  invectives  might  find  a  hearing ;  but  at  Florence  the  seed 
fell  upon  ground  peculiarly  well-prepared.  Florentine  wickedness  has 
often  been  painted  in  sombre  colours  to  render  her  prophet's  portrait 
more  effective.  Nothing  can  be  more  unjust,  more  contradictory  of 
Savonarola's  own  utterances.  His  permanent  success  was  due  to  the 
moral  superiority  of  Florence  over  other  Italian  capitals.  For  him, 
she  was  the  navel  and  the  watch-tower  of  Italy,  the  sun  from  which 
reform  should  radiate,  the  chosen  city,  the  new  Jerusalem.  Florence 
was  a  sober  God-fearing  State  after  a  somewhat  comfortable,  material 
fashion.  There  was  much  simplicity  of  life,  a  simplicity  observed  by 
travellers  down  to  the  eighteenth  century.  Private  letters  and  diaries, 
which  frankly  relate  such  scandals  as  occur,  testify  to  this.  Her  art  and 
literature  at  this  period  compare  not  unfavourably  with  those  of  modern 
days.  Accusations,  when  pressed  home,  usually  reduce  themselves  to 
the  lewd  carnival  songs;  but  t\iQ fetes  oi  the  city  were  altogether  ex- 
ceptional as  a  gross  survival  of  medieval  or  pagan  license.  Florentines, 
who  were  neither  prudes  nor  prigs,  looked  with  horror  on  the  corruption 
of  the  papal  Court.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  could  warn  his  young  Cardinal 
son  against  this  sink  of  iniquity.  The  youthful  Guicciardini  spoke 
of  the  simony  at  Rome  with  all  the  disgust  of  a  later  Lutheran,  and 
incidentally  mentions  the  character  of  Cardinal  Soderini  as  being 
"respectable  for  a  priest."  His  father  would  not  stain  his  conscience 
by  making  any  one  of  his  five  sons  a  priest,  notwithstanding  the  rich 
benefices  which  awaited  them.  The  Florentines  had  recently  been 
shocked  at  their  Milanese  visitors,  who  ate  meat  in  Lent.  The  rulers 
of  Florence  had  been  religious  men.  San  Marco  had  long  set  the 
standard  of  religion,  and  the  Medici  were  deeply  interested  in  its 
future.  Both  Cosimo  and  Piero  were  men  of  piety,  notwithstanding 
political  finesse  and  occasional  moral  lapses.  Lorenzo's  mother  was 
noted  for  her  piety;  her  spiritual  songs  are  among  the  city's  heir- 
looms. Lorenzo,  whatever  his  backslidings,  had  the  potentiality  of  a 
religious  nature.  Paganism  unabashed  found  scant  favour  at  Florence. 
Platonism  became  a  serious  religion,  shaking  off  the  slough  of  mate- 
rialism, and  searching  for  union  with  Christianity.  The  whole  city 
had  worshipped  Sant'  Antonino  ;  all  upper-class  Florence  had  lately 
been  moved  by  the  eloquence  of  Fra  Mariano  da  Genazzano,  an 
eloquence,  indeed,  of  the  polished,  artificial  type,  enhanced  by  cadence 
and  gesture,  garnished  with  classical  allusion  and  quotation.  Yet  this 
was  the  fashion  of  the  day,  and  in  matters  intellectual  Florence  was 


1494] 


The  preaching  of  Savonarola 


151 


at  fashion's  height.  The  vices  of  Florence  were  those  of  a  rich,  com- 
mercial city,  extravagance  in  clothes  and  furniture,  in  funerals  and 
weddings.  Young  bourgeois  might  think  the  brothel  and  the  tavern 
the  ante-chambers  of  gentility.  Men  of  all  classes  gambled  and  swore. 
Dowries  were  high,  and  it  was  becoming  difficult  to  marry.  Yet  in 
Florentine  society  there  was  a  healthy  consciousness  that  all  this  was 
wrong,  and  a  predisposition  in  favour  of  any  preacher  who  would  say  so. 

Savonarola's  sympathetic  nature,  when  once  he  had  learned  his 
method  and  his  manner,  touched  this  chord.  The  very  novelty  of  his 
style  was  a  merit  with  the  Athens  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  Floren- 
tines had  forgotten  the  careful  simplicity  of  San  Bernardino  of  Siena, 
his  fund  of  anecdote  and  his  playful  humour.  Preaching  was  either  too 
classical  or  too  grotesque.  Fra  Mariano  represented  the  former  school, 
and  there  are  hints  that  Savonarola's  other  rival,  Fra  Domenico  da 
Ponzo,  the  Franciscan,  was  an  exponent  of  the  latter.  The  new  preacher 
struck  a  middle  note,  captivating  Florence  by  his  directness,  his  natural- 
ness, his  fire.  He  abandoned  the  artificial  division  of  the  sermon  into 
parts,  a  survival  of  the  Roman  art  of  rhetoric ;  his  sermons  are,  indeed, 
lacking  in  composition ;  mystical  flights  often  soar  far  beyond  the  subject 
of  discussion.  There  are  contradictions  in  his  method,  which  receive 
curious  illustration  from  two  facts  of  his  early  life.  Letters  exist  from 
the  learned  Garzoni  of  Bologna,  which  rally  the  youth  on  his  revolt 
from  the  rules  of  Priscian,  while  his  first  teacher  at  Florence  lectured 
him  on  his  excessive  subtlety  in  argument,  and  forced  him  to  the 
simplicity  which  at  the  outset  he  exaggerated  to  a  childlike  yea " 
and  "nay."  Such  contradictions  are  explained  by  the  preacher's  im- 
pressionable nature ;  and  this,  combined  with  his  power  of  expression, 
produced  a  contagious  effect  upon  his  audience.  A  thorough  Dominican 
in  his  intellectual  dialectic  training  and  in  the  exposition  of  definite 
doctrine  in  his  tracts,  his  sermons  have  much  of  the  Franciscan  style. 
The  spirit  of  prophecy  linked  him  closely  to  the  Fraticelli  of  Monte 
Amiata,  the  believers  in  Abbot  Joachim,  and  through  them  to  the 
half-religious,  half-political  extravagances  of  Rienzi  in  the  second  stage 
of  his  development.  As  we  look  forwards,  it  seems  rather  the  apocalyp- 
tic preachers  of  early  Anabaptism  that  have  a  right  to  claim  him  as  a 
precursor,  than  the  Lutheran  divines.  His  enemies  actually  accused  him 
of  holding  the  Fraticelli  doctrine  of  Spiritual  Poverty.  This  he  directly 
denied,  but  he  approached  perilously  near  Wyclif's  theory  of  the 
Dominion  of  Grace,  which  was  in  popular  estimation  nearly  akin  to  it. 
So  again,  though  a  trained  Aristotelian  and  Thomist,  he  was  in  feeling  a 
Platonist ;  he  employed  his  Aristotelian  method  in  the  exposition  of  the 
relation  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  worlds.  This  mystical  quality 
won  him  the  early  favour  of  the  Neo-Platonists,  Pico,  Marsilio  Ficino, 
and  others  of  Lorenzo^s  circle.  On  the  other  hand  he  could  employ 
the  devices  by  which  popular  preachers  fixed  the  attention  of  their 


152 


The  preaching  of  Savonarola 


[1494 


congregation.  His  flights  of  eloquence  were  varied  by  homely  dialogues 
with  God  or  angels,  with  imaginary  enemies  or  timid  friends.  Above 
all  he  knew  his  Bible  by  heart,  and  next  only  to  this  Aquinas.  From 
the  Bible  he  always  took  his  start,  and  to  it  he  ever  led  his  hearers 
back.  This  it  is  which  gives  the  peculiar  tone  to  the  religion  of  the 
Piagnon%  which  carries  the  reader  from  the  benches  of  San  Marco  to  the 
Galloway  hillside. 

The  residuum  of  old-fashioned  simplicity  in  Florence  favoured  his 
desire  to  simplify  not  only  private,  but  religious  life.  The  fifteenth 
century  was  everywhere  marked  b}^  magnificence  in  ecclesiastical  ex- 
ternals, in  vestments  and  jewels,  in  banner,  pyx  and  crucifix,  in  chapels 
built  or  restored  by  private  families,  with  portraits  frescoed  and  arms 
embossed  upon  their  walls.  Church  music  had  been  elaborated;  the 
organist  had  become  a  personage,  and  might  aspire  to  be  a  knight; 
weary  men  repaired  to  the  Cathedral,  not  to  worship,  but  to  be  soothed 
by  the  music  of  Orcagna,  the  greatest  executant  of  his  day.  Against 
these  jewels  and  broad  phylacteries,  against  the  monuments  of  family 
pride,  against  the  substitution  of  sound  for  praise,  Savonarola  repeatedly 
inveighed.  One  of  his  few  humorous  passages  describes  the  solo-singer 
with  a  voice  like  a  calf,  while  the  choir  howled  round  him  like  little  dogs^ 
none  understanding  what  they  meant.  His  readers  can  still  picture 
the  abuses  of  society  at  church,  the  rows  of  gallants  lining  the  nave, 
the  ladies  in  their  lowest  and  longest  gowns  filing  between  them,  lending 
ear  to  unseemly  jests  and  doubtful  compliments.  Savonarola  would 
have  none  of  this ;  in  church  or  in  street  processions  he  kept  the  sexes 
separate. 

After  Lorenzo's  death  Savonarola's  sermons  became  more  outspoken. 
They  were  not  as  yet  political,  but  two  constant  features  might  easily 
assume  a  political  complexion  —  the  one  the  invectives  against  the 
Church,  the  other  the  prophecy  of  immediate  doom.  The  two  were  in 
close  connexion.  Not  only  the  Neapolitan  exiles,  but  Alexander  VI's 
enemy,  the  Cardinal  della  Rovere,  had  taken  refuge  in  France ;  the  French 
invasion  therefore  was  aimed  not  only  at  the  King  of  Naples,  but  also  at 
the  Pope,  whose  simoniacal  election  and  scandalous  life  added  fuel  to  the 
fire  of  Savonarola's  diatribe.  For  Charles  VIII  Naples  should  be  the 
stepping-stone  to  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem.  So  too  Savonarola  had 
fondly  dreamed  that  the  reform  of  the  Tuscan  Congregation  should  be 
the  pathway  to  the  possession  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  objects  of 
the  French  invader  and  the  Dominican  reformer  seemed  identical,  their 
enemies  the  same. 

Within  Florence,  too,  the  threatened  invasion  might  well  give  a 
political  bearing  to  Savonarola's  utterances.  Piero,  deserting  the  tra- 
ditions of  his  house,  had  abandoned  the  Milanese  alliance,  the  keystone 
of  its  policy ;  he  had  flouted  the  friendship  of  France,  the  Guelfic  ally  of 
centuries ;  under  Orsini  influence  he  had  flung  himself  into  the  arms  of 


1494] 


The  expulsion  of  Piero  de*  Medici 


153 


the  King  of  Naples.  The  great  Medicean  families  resented  this  light-of- 
love  diplomacy,  and  clung  to  the  Milanese  alliance.  The  populace  hated 
the  Neapolitan  dynasty,  after  having  endured  its  cruelty  as  an  enemy, 
and  its  insolence  as  a  friend.  The  whole  town  disliked  and  feared  the 
armed  opposition  to  the  formidable  hosts  of  France.  What  then  was  more 
natural  than  that  Florence  should  turn  to  Savonarola  for  his  guidance  ? 
Here  was  the  very  terror  from  the  north  which  he  had  predicted ;  the 
sword  that  should  strike  the  earth,  and  that  quickly ;  the  chastisement 
that  should  purge  Italy  of  sin  and  then  renew  the  world!  Who  could 
so  well  conjure  the  phantom  as  he  by  whom  it  had  been  raised? 

The  French  had  now  crossed  the  Apennines  and  were  besieging  the 
strong  Florentine  fortress  of  Sarzana.  Before  Piero  set  out  on  his 
fateful  journey  to  the  French  King,  discontent  found  expression  in  the 
very  Seventy,  the  stronghold  of  Medicean  power.  Diplomacy  had  been 
the  palladium  of  the  Medici.  Lorenzo  knew  this,  when  he  made  his 
perilous  voyage  to  cajole  the  King  of  Naples.  Piero  knew  it  when,  in 
conscious  imitation,  he  slipped  away  to  meet  the  King  of  France  before 
Sarzana.  He  wrote  himself,  that  he  was  being  dragged  to  sacrifice. 
Lorenzo's  success  had  saved  the  dynasty,  and  Piero's  failure  lost  it.  A 
crushing  defeat  could  have  sacrificed  no  more.  With  the  fortresses  of 
Sarzana,  Pietra  Santa,  Pisa  and  Leghorn  in  French  hands,  Florence  herself 
lay  at  the  mercy  of  Charles.  High  and  low  scorned  this  base  surrender 
by  one  who  had  no  commission  from  the  State.  Piero's  cowardice  gave 
courage  to  his  opponents.  Hitherto  they  had  stammered  and  stuttered 
in  criticising  his  proposals.  Now,  in  his  absence,  they  sent  envoys  to  the 
French  camp.  On  the  morning  after  his  return  the  very  magistrates, 
picked  from  the  adherents  of  the  house,  shut  the  wicket  of  the  Palazzo 
Puhhlico  in  his  face.  As  he  rode  sullenly  homewards,  the  crowd  shook 
their  caps  at  him;  the  boys  pelted  the  uncrowned  King  with  stones 
and  insulted  him  with  cat-calls.  His  adherents  of  the  lower  class  soon 
melted  from  his  side.  From  the  Palace  windows  issued  cries  of  '  People 
and  Liberty ' ;  from  the  piazza  were  brandished  nondescript  weapons, 
long  hung  up  to  rust.  Paolo  Orsini,  Piero's  cousin,  was  at  the  gates 
with  500  horse,  but  he  perceived  that  the  game  was  up,  and  Piero  fled ; 
the  dynasty  of  four  generations  had  fallen  without  stroke  of  sword. 
Piero's  young  brother,  the  Cardinal  Giovanni,  alone  showed  courage. 
He  rode  towards  the  Palace,  but  the  crowd  pushed  him  back.  Landucci 
saw  him  at  his  window  on  his  knees,  with  his  hands  clasped  in  prayer. 
"  I  was  much  moved  and  judged  that  he  was  a  good  young  man  and  of 
good  understanding."  A  little  later,  and  the  future  Leo  X  likewise 
fled,  disguised  as  a  Franciscan  friar.  Florence  had  let  slip  the  really 
dangerous  member  of  his  house,  for  whom  aristocrats  and  rabble,  saints 
and  sinners,  Piagnoni  and  Arrahhiat%  were  to  prove  no  match. 

Piero  had  in  the  first  instance  been  resisted  not  by  the  democracy  but 
by  the  aristocracy,  by  malcontent  members  of  the  Medicean  ring.  Young 


154 


Revolution  at  Florence 


[1494 


Jacopo  Nerli  had  closed  the  Palace  door  in  Piero's  face ;  yet  Jacopo's 
brothers  had  dedicated  the  editio  princeps  of  Homer,  printed  at  their 
expense,  to  Piero  as  a  boy.  A  few  of  the  loyal  Mediceans  fled;  the 
others,  with  the  veteran  statesman  Bernardo  del  Nero,  bowed  to  the 
storm.  To  the  conquerors  the  spoils !  The  aristocrats  intended  to 
replace  the  rule  of  a  single  house  by  an  oligarchy  of  a  group  of  houses. 
But  the  people  were  excited;  they  sacked  the  Medici  palace,  ably 
assisted  by  French  officers  already  in  the  town,  on  the  improbable 
pretext  that  the  Medici  bank  owed  them  money.  The  mob  then  burnt 
and  plundered  the  houses  of  Piero's  financial  agents,  but  were  drawn 
away  to  the  piazza^  where  all  ranks  were  shouting  People  and  Liberty. 
Lungs  pay  no  bills,  and  thus  coinage  and  taxation  are  apt  to  be  the  first 
victims  of  revolution.  The  aristocrats  felt  obliged  to  make  popular 
concessions.  Francesco  Gualterotti,  an  ardent  Savonarolist  to  the  end, 
sprang  on  the  ringliiera^  the  platform  projecting  from  the  Palace,  and  on 
the  Signorias  authority  declared  the  white  farthings  withdrawn  from 
circulation.  These  white  farthings,  the  Wood's  halfpence  of  the  Medi- 
cean  dynasty,  had  been  issued  to  replace  a  medley  of  base  and  foreign 
coins  of  varying  value.  But  the  State  made  its  profit,  for  all  duties  had 
to  be  paid  in  the  new  coinage,  which  stood  to  the  black  farthings  in  the 
relation  of  5  to  4.  Nevertheless  the  mob  was  still  idle  and  therefore 
dangerous;  shops  and  factories  were  closed;  the  artisans  restlessly 
roamed  the  streets;  the  French  officers  were  chalking  the  doors  for 
quarters ;  unmarried  girls  were  being  hurried  off  to  distant  convents  or 
country  cousins.  Prophecy  seemed  nearing  its  fulfilment.  Why  should 
men  work,  when  either  the  Millennium  or  the  Cataclysm  was  upon  them  ! 

Savonarola  was  not  in  Florence  when  Piero  was  expelled.  He  was 
chosen  on  November  5  as  one  of  the  envoys  who  were  sent  to  the  French 
King  at  Pisa.  This  was  his  entrance  into  history.  It  may  seem  surpris- 
ing that  he  should  have  been  elected.  Yet  a  better  choice  could  scarcely 
have  been  made.  Piero  Capponi,  one  of  the  leading  aristocrats,  had 
proposed  him  because  the  people  loved  him,  and  would  have  confidence  in 
his  embassy.  No  envoy  could  be  more  acceptable  to  Charles  VIII,  whose 
easy  victories  he  had  foretold,  whom  he  had  set  on  high  as  the  chosen 
instrument  of  God.  Errands  of  peace  had  long  been  among  the  express 
functions  of  the  Friars.  For  two  centuries  past  they  had  reconciled 
house  and  house  and  town  and  town  during  the  cruel  conflicts  by  which 
Italy  had  been  rent.  It  seemed  natural  enough  that  the  Dominican 
should  accompany  the  heads  of  the  aristocracy  in  their  mission  for  per- 
suading Charles  to  respect  the  liberties  of  Florence,  and  to  abandon  his 
intention  of  restoring  Piero.  Savonarola  now  or  later  won  the  respect 
of  the  French  King,  but  his  eloquence  could  not  shake  the  resolution 
to  make  no  terms  except  in  the  great  city. 

Before  Charles  VIII  moved  up  the  Arno,  two  great  events  had 
befallen  Florence.    The  Medici  had  been  expelled,  and  Pisa  was  in  full 


1494] 


Charles  VIII  in  Florence  155 


revolt.  The  lives  of  the  Florentine  envoys  and  officials  were  in  no  small 
danger.  When  Charles  VIII  at  length  entered  Florence,  Savonarola 
seems  to  have  taken  no  part  in  the  negotiations ;  the  hero  of  the  week 
was  not  the  Friar,  but  the  merchant,  statesman  and  soldier,  Piero  Cap- 
poni,  who  tore  the  draft  of  the  shameful  treaty  in  two  before  the  French 
King's  face,  crying,  "  Blow  your  trumpets  and  we  will  clang  our  bells." 
Yet  the  ultimate  conditions  were  sufficiently  humiliating,  for  all  the 
Florentine  coast  fortresses  were  left  in  French  hands,  and  the  city  was 
pledged  to  a  huge  subsidy.  She  had,  however,  at  least  escaped  the 
restoration  of  the  Medici,  although  she  was  forced  to  withdraw  the  price 
upon  their  heads.  The  main  desire  was  to  rid  Florence  of  her  dangerous 
guests.  The  treaty  was  signed  on  November  28 ;  but  on  the  29th  Charles 
showed  no  signs  of  stirring.  Then  it  was  that  Savonarola  went  to  warn 
him  that  it  was  God's  will  that  he  should  leave.  More  efficacious,  per- 
haps, were  the  arguments  of  the  Scotch  general  Stuart  d'Aubigni,  tvho 
had  led  a  French  corps  from  the  Romagna  into  the  Arno  valley.  He  very 
bluntly  told  the  King  that  he  was  wasting  time,  and  that  he  must  push 
on  to  Naples.  Thus  on  November  30  the  French  marched  out,  to  their 
hosts'  infinite  relief. 

The  next  task  was  the  reform  of  the  constitution.  The  Palace  bell 
summoned  a  Parlamento^  a  mass  meeting  of  the  people,  to  the  great 
piazza^  and  the  Signoria  from  its  platform  proposed  a  Balla,  or  pro- 
visional government.  The  Medicean  institutions,  the  Councils  of  the 
Hundred  and  of  the  Seventy,  and  the  Otto  di  Pratica^  a  standing  Com- 
mittee for  State  affairs,  which  had  already  been  suspended,  were  now  abol- 
ished, while  the  members  of  the  Otto  di  Balia^  the  Ministry  of  Justice, 
were  deposed.  A  board  of  Twenty  was  nominated  to  select  the  Signoria 
for  one  whole  year ;  under  the  title  of  the  Ten  of  War,  a  commission  was 
to  be  appointed  for  the  subjection  of  Pisa.  Within  the  year  a  register 
was  to  be  drawn  up  of  all  citizens  qualified  for  office,  and  at  its  expira- 
tion the  popular  traditional  practice  of  appointing  to  all  magistracies  by 
lot  should  be  resumed.  This  provisional  government  was  virtually  the 
substitution  of  oligarchy  for  monarchy ;  a  group  of  aristocrats  now  held 
the  power  which  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  had  striven  to  secure.  Nevertheless 
the  proposal  was  passed  by  acclamation  in  the  Parlamento^  and  confirmed 
by  the  two  older  Councils  of  the  People  and  the  Commune. 

It  was  impossible  that  such  a  piece  of  patchwork  should  stand  the 
wear  and  tear  of  a  restless  people.  The  Councils  of  the  Hundred,  and  of 
the  Seventy,  and  the  Otto  di  Pratica  had  been  successively  introduced, 
not  merely  for  family  or  party  purposes,  but  to  strengthen  administrative 
efficiency.  The  old  municipal  constitution  was  unequal  to  the  needs  of 
an  expanding  territory  and  of  complicated  international  relations.  This 
had  been  the  justification  for  the  rule  of  a  family,  or  of  groups  of 
families  who  had  no  official  place  in  the  Constitution,  of  the  Parte 
Guelfa,  the  Albizzi,  the  Medici.    All  the  really  operative  elements  in 


156 


Political  parties  in  Florence 


[1494 


the  State,  whether  official  or  non-official,  were  now  removed  ;  the  normal 
constitution  would  be  worked  by  twenty  individuals  with  no  coherence, 
and  not  much  experience,  divided  by  family  and  personal  rivalries. 
Oligarchies,  wrote  Aristotle,  fall  from  internal  divisions,  and  almost 
invariably  one  section  will  appeal  to  the  people  for  support  against  its 
fellows.  It  was  certain  from  the  first  that  this  would  happen  at  Florence, 
where  in  spite  of  monarchy  or  oligarchy  there  was  a  democratic  atmo- 
sphere, and  where,  in  the  absence  of  soldiers  or  efficient  police,  public 
opinion  could  at  any  crisis  find  expression.  Even  before  Piero's  fall 
some  of  the  aristocracy  had  paid  their  addresses  to  the  people.  And 
now  the  populace  was  in  a  dangerous  state ;  unsatisfied  with  fire  and 
plunder,  it  pleaded  for  blood;  none  had  been  let  in  Florence  since 
the  short  fever  of  the  Pazzi  plot.  The  oligarchs  sacrificed  one  of  the 
Medicean  government  officials,  Antonio  di  Bernardo,  who  was  hanged 
from  a  window  above  the  great  piazza.  His  hands  were  clean,  but  his 
origin  low,  his  manners  rough,  and  his  office  —  that  of  the  public  debt  — 
the  most  unpopular  in  Florence.  Others  were  condemned  to  imprison- 
ment for  life.  To  flatter  the  ingrained  love  of  equality,  the  Twenty 
nominated  insignificant  persons  to  the  chief  magistracy,  the  Gonfaloni- 
erate  of  Justice.  So  again,  men  of  no  repute  were  sent  on  important 
embassies ;  Ludovico  il  Moro  gibed  at  the  diplomatic  methods  of  the  new 
republic.  But  all  this  was  not  enough ;  the  oligarchs  must  satisfy  not 
only  the  populace  but  each  other,  which  was  indeed  impossible.  One  of 
the  cleverest,  the  most  experienced,  the  most  ambitious  aristocrats,  PaoP 
Antonio  Soderini,  had  been  excluded  from  the  Twenty,  probably  by  the 
influence  of  his  rival  Piero  Capponi.  On  the  death  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
he  had  tentatively  resisted  the  advance  of  the  monarchy,  but  when 
young  Piero  showed  his  teeth  he  shrank  from  the  encounter.  He  now 
intrigued  for  the  fall  of  the  Twenty ;  and  it  was  no  difficult  task  to 
make  the  provisional  government  impossible.  Soderini  had  just  returned 
from  an  embassy  to  Venice;  it  was  natural  that  he  should  sing  the 
praises  of  her  constitution.  The  cry  caught  up  in  the  street  was  echoed 
from  the  pulpit.  Soderini,  it  is  said,  first  persuaded  Savonarola  to 
advocate  a  popular  government  on  the  Venetian  model.  It  need  not  be 
assumed  that  Soderini  was  a  hypocrite.  He  was  virtuous  and  serious  ; 
but  virtue  and  sobriety  cast  fantastic  shadows  which  assume  the  forms  of 
ambition  and  intrigue. 

During  and  after  the  French  occupation  Savonarola  had  been  untir- 
ing in  preaching  for  the  poor,  especially  for  those  who  were  ashamed  to 
confess  their  poverty.  He  implored  the  idling  artisans  to  return  to  work. 
Unity,  peace,  and  mercy  were  his  perpetual  theme.  The  people,  however, 
threatened  to  extend  their  vengeance  from  the  financial  officials  to 
all  adherents  of  the  Medici.  The  more  moderate  aristocrats  became 
alarmed;  already  exiles  were  returning,  the  victims  of  themselves  or 
of  their  fathers ;  and  titles  to  property  confiscated  in  the  past  were 


1494] 


The  neiv  constitution 


157 


endangered.  The  exiles  might  well  bid  for  popular  support.  It  was  felt 
that  the  new  oligarchy,  the  Whites,  must  stand  by  the  Greys  (^Bigi)^  the 
families  who  still  had  Medicean  proclivities.  But  these  oligarchs  could 
not  stay  the  flood  of  popular  hatred ;  if  they  stemmed  it,  they  would  be 
swept  away  in  tiieir  turn.  Their  leader,  Piero  Capponi,  turned  for  aid  to 
Savonarola,  and  the  Friar  succeeded  where  others  must  have  failed.  Of 
all  his  claims  to  the  gratitude  of  his  adopted  city  this  is  the  strongest. 

Savonarola  now  fairly  entered  into  politics.  He  had  striven  as  a 
Ferrarese,  he  declared,  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Florentine  State ; 
but  God  had  warned  him  that  he  must  not  shrink,  for  his  mission  was 
the  creation  of  the  spiritual  life,  and  this  must  have  a  solid  material 
edifice  wherein  to  dwell.  To  his  political  sermons  he  summoned  the 
magistrates,  admitting  none  but  men.  He  sketched  not  only  the  form 
of  the  new  constitution  but  the  main  lines  of  legislation,  ethical  and 
economic.  Monarchy,  he  admitted,  might  be  the  ideal  government, 
but  it  was  unsuited  for  people  of  temperate  climates,  who  had  at  once 
too  much  blood  and  too  much  cleverness  to  bear  a  king,  —  unsuited 
above  all  to  high-spirited  and  subtle  Florentines,  for  whom  the  Venetian 
popular  government  was  the  natural  type.  He  suggested  that  the 
citizens  should  gather  under  their  sixteen  companies  (^gonfaloni)^  that 
each  company  should  draft  a  scheme,  that  of  these  the  sixteen  gon- 
faloniers should  select  four,  and  from  them  the  Signoria  should  choose 
the  best:  this,  he  assured  his  congregation,  would  be  after  the  Venetian 
model. 

In  official  circles  there  was  resistance,  but  popular  opinion  was  over- 
whelming. The  aristocrats  had  overthrown  the  Medici,  but  the  people 
claimed  the  spoils.  After  long  debate  the  several  magistracies,  the 
Sixteen  gonfaloniers,  the  Twelve  buonMomini^  the  Twenty,  the  Eight, 
and  the  Ten  of  War  each  presented  constitutions,  and  of  these  that  of 
the  Ten,  to  which  Soderini  belonged,  was  chosen.  The  old  Councils  of 
People  and  Commune  were  replaced  by  a  Grand  Council,  which  became 
the  sovereign  authority  of  the  State.  Membership  was  confined  to  those 
who  had  at  any  time  been  drawn  for  the  three  chief  offices,  the  Signoria^ 
the  Twelve,  and  the  Sixteen,  or  whose  ancestors  within  three  generations 
had  been  so  drawn :  the  age  limit  was  twenty-nine,  and  no  one  could  be 
a  councillor  who  had  not  paid  his  taxes.  A  small  number  of  citizens, 
otherwise  qualified,  above  the  age  of  twenty-four  was  admitted,  and  in 
each  year  twenty-eight  additional  members,  unqualified  by  office,  might 
be  elected ;  few  of  these,  however,  obtained  the  requisite  majority  of 
two-thirds  of  the  votes.  The  chief  function  of  the  Council  was  electoral. 
Electors  drawn  by  lot  nominated  candidates  for  the  more  important 
offices,  and  of  those  who  secured  an  absolute  majority  of  votes  he  who 
polled  the  highest  number  was  elected.  For  the  minor  offices  members 
of  the  Council  were  drawn  by  lot.  The  Council  chose  a  Senate  of  eighty 
members,  who  sat  for  six  months  but  were  re-eligible ;  their  duty  was  to 


158 


Floreyitine  imitation  of  Venice 


[1494 


advise  the  Signoria  and  to  appoint  ambassadors  and  commissioners  with 
the  army.  The  executive  remained  unchanged;  at  the  head  was  the 
Signoria^  the  Gonfalonier  of  Justice  and  the  eight  Priors,  holding  office 
for  two  months.  Its  consultations  were  aided  by  the  College,  the  Twelve 
and  the  Sixteen ;  the  Ten  of  War  and  the  Eight  of  Balia  continued  to 
exist.  Every  legislative  proposal,  every  money-bill,  every  question  of 
peace  and  war,  was  initiated  in  the  Signoria^  passed  through  the  College 
to  the  Senate  and  received  completion  in  the  Council.  This  was  expected 
to  number  about  3000  members,  and,  until  a  large  hall  in  the  Palace 
could  be  built,  it  was  divided  into  three  sections  which  sat  in  turn. 

This  was  a  bold  constitutional  experiment,  the  boldest  that  had  yet 
been  tried  at  Florence.  It  was  not  exactly  the  transplantation  of  an 
exotic  constitution  which  had  matured  under  different  conditions  of  soil 
and  climate,  but  rather  an  attempt  to  hybridise  the  Florentine  executive 
with  the  Venetian  elective  system.  To  all  Italian  statesmen  it  seemed 
clear  that  Venice  possessed  the  ideal  constitution,  but  the  essence  of  this 
perfection  was  not  so  obvious.  The  academic  explanation  was  that  it  was 
mixed,  combining  the  merits  of  monarchy,  aristocracy,  and  democracy. 
Consequently  Venice  could  serve  as  a  model  to  artists  of  very  different 
schools.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  convinced  of  the  weakness  of  the  Florentine 
system  for  diplomacy  and  war,  had,  in  creating  the  Seventy  and  the 
Committee  of  Eight,  looked  to  the  Senate  and  the  Ten,  which  were 
essentially  the  motive  powers  of  the  Venetian  constitution.  His  last 
political  act,  the  creation  of  a  haVia  of  Seventeen,  was  probably  another 
adaptation  of  the  Venetian  Ten,  applied  to  the  purposes  most  essential 
to  Medicean  power,  elections  and  finance ;  it  is  at  least  a  curious  coinci- 
dence that  the  so-called  Ten  consisted  really  of  seventeen  members.  His 
intention  is  believed  to  have  been  that  he  should  be  elected  life-Gonfa- 
lonier, or  Doge ;  this  would  have  legalised  his  irregular  position,  and 
given  him  permanent  influence  in  every  department.  Lorenzo,  however, 
while  making  a  selection  from  both  the  aristocratic  and  monarchical 
elements  of  his  model,  left  out  of  sight  its  broad  popular  basis.  At 
Venice,  the  Grand  Council  was  eminently  the  elective  body,  and  the 
electors  could  tolerate  the  supremacy  of  their  representatives.  Lorenzo 
had  entrusted  elective  fuuctions  above  all  to  oligarchical  councils  and 
committees. 

The  cry  of  the  Florentines  now  was.  People  and  Liberty.  Over- 
looking therefore  the  administrative  excellence  of  Venice,  they  gave 
exclusive  attention  to  the  Grand  Council,  which  had  been,  indeed,  rather 
the  declining  partner  in  the  Venetian  Constitution.  They  believed,  not 
unnaturally,  that  by  directly  interesting  a  large  number  of  citizens  in  the 
constitution  they  would  shake  off  once  for  all  the  extra-legal  influences, 
which  had  for  so  long  dominated  the  elections  and  through  them  the 
administration ;  thus  would  cease  the  curious  dualism  between  the  real 
and  the  apparent  government,  the  cause  of  some  oppression  and  much 


1494] 


Florentine  imitation  of  Venice 


159 


heart-burning.  There  was,  however,  this  great  difference,  that  at  Florence 
every  legislative  question  and  every  important  question  of  policy  ulti- 
mately came  before  the  Council,  whereas  at  Venice  almost  all  received 
their  decision  in  the  Senate.  Thus  while  at  Venice,  if  the  Ten  be 
momentarily  set  aside,  the  Senate  was  the  determining  body,  at  Florence 
it  exercised  little  weight  in  the  fortunes  of  the  coming  years,  and  was, 
indeed,  overshadowed  by  the  influence  of  the  Pratica,  an  excrescence  on 
the  constitution,  of  which  more  anon.  It  is  clear  from  this  alone  that  in 
diplomacy  and  war,  when  speed,  secrecy,  and  trained  experience  were 
required,  Florence  would  be  at  a  disadvantage.  At  Venice,  again,  the 
executive  was  more  highly  developed,  there  was  greater  differentiation. 
Each,  for  instance,  of  the  Savi  da  terra  firma  had  his  own  department, 
while  the  functions  of  the  board  differed  from  those  of  the  Savi  da  mar. 
At  Florence  the  Signoria  with  its  consultative  associates,  the  Twelve 
and  the  Sixteen,  had  undergone  no  process  of  evolution.  Even  between 
the  Signoria  and  the  two  chief  executive  committees,  the  Ten  and  the 
Eight,  there  was  no  clear  demarcation;  conflicts  of  authority  might  and 
did  arise.  Moreover,  Florence  had  no  trained  pilot ;  very  ordinary  seamen 
took  their  place  on  the  bridge  almost  in  turn.  The  Venetian  Doge  is  tradi- 
tionally called  a  figure-head,  but  this  metaphor  gives  a  false  impression 
of  his  relation  to  the  ship  of  State.  He  was,  it  is  true,  hemmed  in  by 
every  precaution  against  absolutism,  but  he  was  usually  elected  as  a 
citizen  of  high  position  and  long  experience.  Chosen  for  life,  he  sat 
among  officials  most  of  whom  were  elected  for  short  terms ;  he  was  in 
the  closest  touch  with  every  branch  of  the  administration ;  nor  did  his 
fortunes  depend  on  the  popularity  of  his  opinions.  His  influence  might 
not  be  obvious  but  it  was  all-pervading;  every  great  movement  in 
Venetian  policy  will  be  found  to  associate  itself  with  the  personality  of 
a  Doge.  How  different  was  the  position  of  a  Florentine  Gonfalonier  of 
Justice  elected  for  two  months,  and  welcomed  by  the  citizens  in  propor- 
tion to  his  insignificance !  Finally,  at  Florence  there  was  no  attempt  as 
yet  to  emulate  the  Venetian  judicial  system  with  its  three  courts  of  forty 
citizens,  and  its  admirable  supervision  of  local  justice  by  itinerary  com- 
missions from  the  capital.  It  was  this  organisation,  partly  representative 
and  popular,  partly  expert,  which  made  Venetian  justice  acceptable  to 
the  mainland  cities  and  respected  at  home.  Florence  was  left  with 
her  old  faulty  system,  at  once  weak,  cruel  and  partial,  inspiring 
neither  affection  nor  respect.  The  controlling  dynastic  power  was  now 
withdrawn  which  had  at  least  striven  to  give  some  efficiency  and  regu- 
larity to  justice.  This  was  certain  to  become  the  sport  of  the  political 
passions  of  the  moment. 

In  spite  of  these  defects  the  new  constitution  was  popular,  for  it 
gave  a  constant  interest  in  government  to  a  larger  number  than  had 
previously  been  the  case.  In  this  sense  it  may  be  termed  democratic ;  it  is 
frequently  called  the  Florentine  democracy  even  by  those  who  stigmatise 


160       Savonarola's  influence  on  the  constitution  [i494 


its  Venetian  model  as  a  narrow  oligarchy.  This  is  so  far  correct, 
that  the  more  democratic  features  of  the  model  had  been  adopted, 
while  the  Florentine  executive  retained  the  democratic  principle  of 
rapid  rotation,  of  ruling  and  being  ruled  in  turn.  The  term  nobility 
as  applied  to  the  ruling  class  at  Venice  created  some  little  difficulty ; 
it  was  explained  that  this  was  a  misnomer,  —  that  it  implied  only  an 
official  distinction,  involving  no  personal  rights  over  other  men.  Soderini 
indeed  declared  that  as  many  possessed  citizenship  at  Venice  as  were  fit 
to  enjoy  it  at  Florence.  The  origin  of  the  two  systems  was  more  alike 
than  the  Florentines  probably  knew.  At  the  date  of  the  "  Closing 
of  the  Grand  Council"  at  Venice  (1296)  a  reform  of  the  constitution 
had  become  imperative ;  and  then,  as  at  Florence  in  1494,  the  alternative 
lay  between  an  oligarchy  and  a  more  popular  form,  between  a  group 
of  families  and  a  considerable  section  of  the  citizens.  In  both  cases 
it  was  decided  in  favour  of  the  latter ;  in  both,  the  new  citizenship  had 
an  official  basis,  for  at  Venice  membership  of  the  old  Council  during 
several  generations  corresponded  to  the  Florentine  qualification  of  past 
office  in  the  three  greater  magistracies.  In  both,  all  classes  which  had 
not  previously  enjoyed  power  were,  subject  to  insignificant  exceptions, 
permanently  excluded.  There  was  however  this  important  difference, 
that  in  Florence  the  noble  houses  had,  since  the  Ordinances  of  Justice, 
been  disfranchised.  The  Medici  had  done  much  to  break  down  this 
antiquated  distinction,  but  many  families  still  remained  almost  outside 
the  State,  some  of  them  enjoying  great  social,  and  indirectly  no  little 
political  influence.  Hitherto  there  had  been  possibilities  of  recovering 
qualification  through  membership  of  the  Arts ;  this  avenue  was  now 
closed.  Hitherto  they  could  at  all  events  belong  to  the  Council  of 
the  Commune :  this  Council  was  now  abolished.  Thus,  a  wealthy  and 
influential  class  was  placed  in  inevitable  opposition  towards  the  new 
government. 

If  the  highest  class  lost  by  the  constitutional  change,  the  lower  classes 
did  not  gain.  There  was  no  extension  of  the  franchise  in  the  modern 
sense ;  no  new  class  obtained  a  share  in  government.  Citizenship  still 
depended  on  membership  of  the  Arti  (the  Greater  or  the  Less)  ;  in  each 
magistracy  the  former  were  represented  in  the  proportion  of  three  to 
one.  Even  in  the  Council,  a  little  consideration  will  show  that  the  same 
proportion  must  have  been  approximately  maintained,  unless  it  be  urged 
that  three  generations  of  a  poorer  class  will  produce  more  children  than 
three  of  a  richer.  Government  was  left,  as  before,  in  the  hands  of  the 
upper  middle  classes,  with  a  preponderance  in  favour  of  the  uppermost. 

The  name  of  Savonarola  has  been  indissolubly  connected  with  this 
constitution.  He  did  not  probably  first  propose  it,  nor  had  he,  as 
far  as  is  known,  any  share  in  drafting  its  actual  provisions.  But 
unquestionably  he  created  an  overpowering  public  feeling  in  its  favour. 
Henceforth  he  regarded  the  Grand  Council  as  his  offspring,  whose  life 


1495]  The  appeals  from  the  Six  Beans  161 


it  was  his  most  solemn  duty  to  safeguard.  His  influence  too  induced 
the  Twenty  to  resign  before  their  term  of  office  had  expired,  and  from 
June  10,  1495,  the  Council  assumed  full  sovereign  authority.  Even 
before  this  date  his  sermons  had  directly  affected  legislation.  The 
first  Act  carried  by  the  Council  was  an  amnesty  for  the  past ;  this  was 
followed  by  a  measure  granting  an  appeal  to  the  Council  to  any  citizen 
qualified  for  office,  who,  for  a  political  offence,  had  been  sentenced  by 
a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  Signoria  or  the  Eight.  This  question  of 
"appeal  from  the  Six  Beans  "  was  the  first  which  seriously  agitated  the 
new  republic,  and  ultimately  gravely  affected  Savonarola  and  his  party. 
The  Signoria  and  the  Eight  possessed  by  law  an  unlimited  power  of 
punishment.  This  they  were  usually  too  timid  to  exercise  on  their  own 
responsibility,  but  they  might  easily  be  made  the  tools  of  a  dominant 
faction  for  party  purposes.  Political  opponents  might  be  proscribed 
under  legal  forms  without  the  chances  afforded  by  delay  or  by  an  appeal 
to  popular  feeling.  Hence  this  appeal  to  the  Council  was  proposed  and 
was  warmly  debated  in  that  peculiar  Florentine  institution  termed  a 
Pratica. 

The  Pratica  was  no  formal  element  in  the  constitution  new  or  old, 
and  yet  so  strong  were  its  traditions  that,  when  in  later  years  the 
Gonfalonier  Piero  Soderini  preferred  to  consult  the  regular  magistracies, 
the  innovation  was  almost  regarded  as  unconstitutional.  The  upper 
magistracies  and  committees  sometimes  composed  the  Pratica^  but  on 
important  occasions  the  executive  added  a  considerable  number  of 
leading  citizens  and  legal  luminaries.  The  timid  executive  thus  widened 
the  area  of  responsibility,  and  obtained  a  preliminary  test  of  the  drift  of 
public  opinion.  A  Pratica  was  the  only  assembly  in  which  questions 
were  freely  debated ;  hence  it  somewhat  threw  into  the  shade  not  only 
the  Eighty,  but  the  Council  itself.  In  Savonarola's  career,  on  the  three 
most  critical  occasions,  the  interest  centres  in  the  debates  of  the  Pratica. 

The  final  vote  in  favour  of  appeal  was  large  both  in  the  Eighty  and 
the  Council,  but  during  the  discussion  the  result  had  seemed  very 
doubtful.  The  aristocrats,  who  had  hitherto  manipulated  the  Signoria^ 
could  show  that  such  a  measure  would  still  further  weaken  the  already 
feeble  executive.  A  section  of  them  had,  however,  become  aware  that 
henceforth  the  executive  would  be  wielded  by  the  people,  and  that,  after 
the  Medicean  leaders,  the  prominent  oligarchs  might  be  the  victims  of  a 
sudden  sentence :  delay  would  be  in  favour  of  men  of  position,  who  in 
the  Council  would  not  be  without  adherents.  On  the  other  hand  those 
who  were  irreconcilable  with  the  Medici  urged  that  the  executive 
was  the  sword  of  the  people,  and  that  to  blunt  its  edge  was  to  weaken 
the  people's  power.  Savonarola  had  previously  proposed  an  appeal, 
not  to  the  Council,  but  to  a  smaller  body.  He  seems  however  to  have 
attributed  no  importance  to  the  distinction,  and  preached  earnestly  in 
favour  of  the  government  proposal.  Against  the  Dominican  his  opponents 

C.  M,  H.  I.  11 


162 


Abolition  of  the  Parlamento 


[1495 


set  up  the  eloquent  Franciscan  Fra  Domenico  da  Ponzo,  and  the  populace 
flocked  from  San  Marco  to  Santa  Croce  and  back  again,  to  be  taught  its 
politics  from  the  pulpit.  The  triumph  of  the  government  was  complete, 
and  the  law  was  carried  \  time  only  could  show  whether,  amid  party 
passions,  it  would  be  observed.  Savonarola's  share  in  this  law  has 
recently  been  denied ;  but  contemporary  friends  and  enemies  ascribed 
to  him  its  initiation  and  success.  His  panegyrists  have  no  need  to  be 
ashamed  of  a  measure  which  rightly  gave  the  power  of  pardon  to  the 
sovereign  authority.  In  a  democracy,  wrote  Aristotle,  the  people  should 
have  the  power  of  pardoning,  but  not  of  condemning.  Savonarola's 
reputation  was  afterwards  injured,  not  by  the  law  of  appeal,  but  by 
the  failure  of  his  party  to  observe  it. 

In  a  kindred  proposal  to  pare  the  claws  of  the  executive,  Savonarola 
had  a  yet  more  direct  share.  From  the  pulpit  of  San  Marco  was  uttered 
the  death-warrant  of  the  primeval  Florentine  assembly,  the  Parlamento, 
This  was  a  curious  survival  of  the  old  municipal  life  of  a  comparatively 
small  city,  in  which  the  people  at  large  was  the  ultimate  resort  on  any 
change  of  government.  Under  altered  conditions  it  was  doubtless  an 
abuse.  Each  dominant  party  could  induce  the  Signoria^  which  was 
its  nominee,  to  summon  a  Parliament,  and  there  propose  measures  of 
greater  or  less  importance,  with  the  purpose  of  prolonging  or  enhancing 
its  own  authority.  By  this  simple  expedient  the  constitution  was  more 
than  once  suspended.  Savonarola  saw  that  a  single  Signoria  with  an 
aristocratic  or  Medicean  majority  might,  through  such  a  plehiscitey 
overthrow  in  an  hour  the  fabric  of  the  new  Republic.  On  no  political 
subject  was  his  language  more  intemperate.  There  was  now,  he  cried, 
no  need  of  Parliaments  :  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  was  vested  in  the 
Council,  which  could  make  every  law  that  the  people  could  desire : 
Parliament  was  the  robbery  of  the  people's  power.  He  warned  his 
congregation,  if  ever  the  bell  of  the  Palazzo  rang  for  Parliament,  to 
hack  to  pieces  every  Prior  that  stepped  upon  the  platform :  the  Gon- 
faloniers of  the  companies  must  swear  that  on  the  first  stroke  of  the 
bell  they  would  sack  the  Priors'  houses,  and  of  each  house  sacked,  the 
Gonfalonier  and  his  company  should  divide  the  spoils.  Within  sixteen 
days  of  Savonarola's  sermon  this  ferocious  proposal,  though  modified 
in  its  penal  details,  became  law.  Thus  the  middle  classes  deprived  the 
lower  of  even  the  semblance  of  a  share  in  government.  The  Parliament 
which  abolished  the  Medici  regime  had  shouted  away  its  own  existence. 
Hitherto  every  insignificant  halia  had  required  the  assent  of  this  popular 
assembly ;  but  the  sweeping  change  which  established  the  new  Republic 
had  never  received  its  sanction.  The  time  might  come  when  even  this 
faint  echo  of  the  people's  voice  might  be  regretted. 

In  these  two  deliberate  attempts  to  weaken  the  executive,  Savonarola 
was  probably  less  influenced  by  theoretic  democratic  considerations,  than 
by  feverish  anxiety  to  fend  off  the  immediate  danger,  a  recrudescence  of 


1495]       Savonarola  on  the  election  of  candidates  163 


party  strife  and  proscription  executed  under  legal  forms.  But  his  dislike 
of  the  rabble  as  a  political  power  was  genuine.  He  had  all  an  Italian's 
respect  for  family  ;  he  dwelt  with  complacency  on  the  fact  that  many  of 
his  novices  were  scions  of  the  best  Florentine  houses.  He  knew,  or  soon 
learned  to  know,  the  defects  of  a  weak  executive.  During  his  trial 
he  confessed  his  wish  to  imitate  yet  further  the  Venetian  constitution, 
by  the  appointment  of  a  Doge,  a  Gonfalonier  for  life.  After  his  death, 
this  very  method  was  adopted  from  sheer  despair  at  the  incompetence  of 
the  republican  administration.  So  again  he  opposed  the  most  durable 
democratic  principle  which  flattered  Florentine  love  of  equality,  election 
by  lot.  When  a  combination  of  aristocrats,  who  wished  to  discredit  the 
Council,  and  of  extreme  men,  who  would  carry  democratic  principles 
to  their  logical  conclusions,  strove  to  eliminate  nomination,  and  to 
substitute  a  bare  for  an  absolute  majority,  Savonarola  preached  against 
this  enfeeblement  of  administrative  efficiency. 

Savonarola  taught  his  congregation  that  every  vote  entailed  a  solemn 
responsibility ;  he  amplified  San  Bernardino's  warning  that  a  single 
bean  wrongly  given  might  prove  the  ruin  of  the  State.  The  elector, 
he  preached,  must  have  in  view  the  glory  of  God,  the  welfare  of  the 
community,  the  honour  of  the  State  :  he  ought  not  to  nominate  a  candi- 
date from  private  motives  nor  reject  one  who  may  have  wronged  him  : 
a  candidate  should  be  both  good  and  wise,  but  if  the  choice  lie  between 
a  wise  man  and  one  who  is  good  but  foolish,  the  interest  of  the  State 
required  the  former :  no  man  should  be  elected  to  an  office  by  way  of 
charity,  his  poverty  must  not  be  relieved  to  the  detriment  of  the  public 
service :  the  elector  should  not  from  temper  or  persuasion  vote  against  a 
candidate  or  throw  his  nomination  paper  on  the  ground,  nor  yet  support 
any  who  had  canvassed  him,  nor  ever  give  a  party  vote  :  in  cases  of  rea- 
sonable doubt  let  the  elector  pray,  and  then  without  looking  give  the 
black  bean  or  the  white,  for  God  would  guide  his  hand.  This  last  char- 
acteristic reference  to  divine  guidance  was  followed  by  a  remarkable 
instance  of  reliance  upon  miracle.  There  were  rumours  that  the  new 
great  hall  of  council  was  unsafe,  and  nervous  electors  feared  to  take 
their  seats.  Let  them  not  fear,  exclaimed  the  preacher,  for  if  the 
building  were  not  sound,  God  would  hold  it  up  ! 

On  the  expulsion  of  the  Medici,  their  financial  system  as  well  as 
their  constitution  was  cast  into  the  melting-pot.  The  progressive  tax 
on  all  forms  of  income,  which  had  been  their  favourite  expedient,  shared 
in  their  unpopularity.  Savonarola  was  prepared  not  only  with  a  consti- 
tution but  a  budget.  He  preached  that  direct  taxation  should  be 
limited  to  a  tenth  on  immovables,  and  that  this  should  be  levied  once 
only  in  the  year.  It  was  argued  that  such  a  tax  was  not  liable  to  the 
arbitrary  assessment  which  had  been  the  curse  of  Florentine  finance ; 
a  tax  on  land  was  easy  to  collect  and  had  solid  security  behind  it; 
it  entailed  no  inquisitorial  prying  into  credit,  it  suffered  merchant  and 


164 


Savonarola's  financial  schemes 


[1495 


artisan  to  ply  unhindered  those  occupations  which  made  the  wealth  of 
Florence  ;  for  she  was  poor  in  land  but  rich  in  commerce.  The  proposal 
became  law,  and  a  committee  of  sixteen  was  elected  to  assess  all  landed 
property  in  Florence  and  its  territory.  Apart  from  its  being  limited  to 
immovables,  the  new  tax  differed  from  its  predecessors  in  being  regarded 
technically  as  a  gift,  and  not  as  a  loan.  Extraordinary  taxes  had  previ- 
ously been  credited  to  the  tax-payer  in  the  State  debt  and  nominally 
bore  interest;  the  new  tax  was  subject  to  no  repayment. 

For  this  suggestion  Savonarola  has  won  the  fame  of  a  great  financier, 
and  it  is  true  that  the  tenth  had  a  long  life,  when  once  its  delicate 
youth  was  past,  for  it  formed  the  basis  of  taxation  under  the  Medici 
Grand-dukes.  Yet  the  proposal  was  neither  wise  nor  novel.  Taxes 
had  long  been  levied  on  revenue  from  land,  and  the  limitation  was 
but  a  return  to  earlier  practice.  The  wealth  of  Florence,  the  source 
of  luxurious  expenditure,  was  commerce ;  the  landed  classes  might  live 
in  easy  circumstances,  but  not  in  state  ;  yet  commerce  was  now  exempt. 
The  arbitrary  taxation  of  individuals  was  remedied  by  shifting  it  to  the 
shoulders  of  a  class.  The  new  tax  fell  hardly  on  the  nobles  who  were 
unrepresented  in  the  State ;  it  was  therefore  popular  with  the  ruling 
middle  classes,  who  were  jealous  of  their  social  influence.  The  French 
were  still  in  Italy,  while  Pisa  was  in  full  revolt,  and  Florentine  territory 
exposed  to  depredation.  Yet  the  source  of  income  taxed  was  that  which 
was  least  protected ;  the  lower  classes  would  necessarily  feel  the  pinch, 
for  the  impost  would  inevitably,  in  spite  of  State  regulation,  raise  the 
price  of  grain  and  oil  and  wine. 

Savonarola's  financial  scheme  was  predoomed  to  failure,  for  it  was 
totally  inadequate  to  its  purpose.  Even  the  assessment  was  not  com- 
pleted until  the  year  of  his  death,  and  then  only  for  the  inhabitants 
of  Florence.  The  Republic  from  the  first  resorted  to  the  old  tainted 
sources  of  supply  —  forced  loans  from  richer  and  less  popular  citizens ; 
it  still,  as  was  said  of  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  used  the  taxes  instead  of  the 
dagger.  The  arhitino^  an  impost  on  the  profits  of  trades  and  professions, 
reappeared;  and  the  duties  on  articles  of  consumption  rose  and  rose 
again.  Even  before  Savonarola's  death  it  was  proposed  to  restore  the 
progressive  tax,  which  could  be  levied  several  times  within  the  year.  The 
white  farthings,  the  withdrawal  of  which  had  been  the  first  concession 
to  the  populace,  were  reissued.  The  finances  were  incompetently  and 
extravagantly  administered ;  there  was  no  permanent  control,  no  sub- 
ordination of  private  to  public  interests.  Under  the  Medici  a  limited 
number  had  benefited  from  corruption ;  under  the  Republic  each  fresh 
group  which  came  into  momentary  power,  felt  bound  to  gratify  its 
adherents  by  the  superfluous  creation  of  commissaries  and  envoys.  It 
became  difficult  to  pass  money-bills  through  the  Council,  and  the  con- 
sequent delay  came  to  cost  the  State  a  hundred  times  the  sum  originally 
needed.    So  entire  was  the  decay  of  the  Florentine  marine,  that  towards 


1495]    Savonarola  on  the  relation  of  politics  to  ethics  165 


the  close  of  the  Pisan  War,  Florence  was  reduced  to  hiring  a  Genoese 
pirate  with  a  brigantine  or  two  to  blockade  the  outlets  of  the  Arno. 

The  defects  of  Florentine  justice  did  not  escape  Savonarola's  ken. 
His  recommendation  that  the  chief  commercial  court,  the  Mercatanzia^ 
should  be  reformed  by  means  of  a  representative  committee,  was  carried 
out  as  far  as  statute  went.  Politicians  however  continued  to  manipulate 
the  court  through  the  agency  of  its  permanent  secretary,  and  this  after- 
wards brought  about  a  split  in  the  liberal  party,  even  as  it  was  alleged  to 
have  caused  the  original  breach  between  Medici  and  Albizzi.  The  Friar 
also  proposed  a  new  criminal  court,  which  he  called  Ruota^  composed  of 
citizens  sufficiently  wealthy  and  well-paid  to  stand  above  fear  or  favour. 
A  Ruota  was  after  his  death  established,  but  bore  no  resemblance  except 
in  name  to  his  proposal,  which  was  undoubtedly  borrowed  from  the 
admirable  Venetian  courts  named  Quarantie,  When,  still  later,  a 
Quarantia  was  introduced  at  Florence,  it  was  a  mere  temporary  criminal 
commission  to  ensure  the  condemnation  of  the  over-mighty  subject. 

Savonarola's  political  programme  might  now  seem  complete,  but  he 
well  knew  that  the  constitution  was  not  perfect.  He  stated  plainly 
that  time  would  show  the  defects  and  make  them  good;  the  essential 
was  to  establish  the  local  popular  base  at  once.  Even  this  he  came  to 
see  might  need  amendment ;  in  a  remarkable  sermon  preached  in  1497, 
he  hinted  that  the  Grand  Council  itself  might  need  a  purge.  He  had 
to  learn  that  there  was  no  panacea  for  the  inherited  hysteria  of  a  State. 
Not  entirely  without  reason  the  hostile  chronicler  Vaglienti  wrote  that 
little  reliance  could  be  placed  in  what  the  Commune  of  Florence  did, 
since  what  was  done  to-day  was  undone  to-morrow ;  that  truly  Dante 
had  said 

Quante  volte  nel  tempo  che  rimembre 
Legge,  moneta  ed  ufficio  e  costume 
Hai  tu  mutato,  e  rinnovato  membre. 

Notwithstanding  Savonarola's  political  activity,  politics  were  for  him 
solely  subordinate  to  ethics.  The  form  of  government  was  not  an  end 
in  itself,  but  the  means  to  moral  purification ;  tyrants  must  be  expelled, 
not  because  they  were  oppressive,  but  because  they  were  morally  per- 
verting. He  preached  against  Cosimo  de'  Medici's  maxim  that  a  State 
could  not  be  governed  by  paternosters  :  the  more  spiritual  a  polity,  the 
stronger  it  was  :  where  there  was  grace,  there  were  unity,  obedience, 
sobriety,  and  therefore  strength :  riches  followed  grace  and  enabled  the 
citizens  to  help  each  other  and  the  Commune  in  times  of  need  :  in  a  State 
that  kept  its  word,  the  soldiers  were  braver  and  more  regularly  paid  : 
enemies  feared  the  city  that  was  at  unity  with  itself,  and  friends  more 
readily  sought  its  alliance.  For  Savonarola  the  State  was  coextensive 
with  the  citizens'  moral  and  religious  welfare.  His  aim  may  almost 
be  termed  a  system  of  State  socialism  applied  to  ethics  rather  than  to 
economics.    His  programme  was  set  out  in  four  clauses  —  the  fear  of 


166 


Savonarola  on  public  charity 


[1495-6 


God  —  the  common  weal  —  universal  peace  —  political  reform.  He  con- 
fessed that  Florence  had  begun  at  the  end,  but  hoped  that  she  would 
work  backwards.  Politics  and  ethics  were  so  closely  dovetailed,  that 
he  regarded  opposition  to  his  political  views  as  involving  sin ;  and  herein 
lies  his  justification  for  his  unmeasured  denunciation  of  his  opponents. 

The  Friar's  influence  upon  the  new  government  is  proved  by  its 
first  legislative  acts,  especially  by  the  terrible  penalties  attached  to 
unnatural  vice.  The  deadly  canker  of  Florentine  life  he,  like  other  friars 
before  him,  believed  to  be  gambling.  To  eradicate  this,  he  was  prepared 
to  violate  the  privacy  of  family  life,  destroy  individual  liberty,  and  make 
the  servant  an  informer  against  his  master.  Gambling  he  would  punish 
with  torture,  blasphemy  with  piercing  of  the  tongue.  The  dress  and 
the  hair  of  women  and  children  were  made  the  subject  of  legislation. 
The  establishment  of  monti  di  pietd,  State  pawnbroking  ofiices,  would 
'nowadays  be  regarded  as  an  economic  measure  ;  in  Savonarola's  eyes  it 
was  mainly  ethical,  a  form  of  State  charity  and  a  protest  against  usury ; 
indeed,  he  at  first  proposed  that  the  State  should  lend  free  of  interest.  His 
success  in  this  measure  proved  his  strength  ;  for  again  and  again  Fran- 
ciscans had  advocated  this  check  upon  usurious  Jews,  who  in  bad  seasons 
gained  a  hold  upon  the  poor.  Invariably  they  had  been  shown  the  city- 
gate  by  the  upper  citizens,  themselves,  as  was  believed,  not  averse  to 
usurious  interest.  Quite  of  late  Piero  de'  Medici  had  favoured  a  monte 
di  pietd^  but  had  found  the  opposition  insuperable.  Savonarola  was  no 
professed  Anti-Semite ;  he  expressed  in  print  his  sympathy  for  the 
Jews  and  his  desire  for  their  conversion  ;  but  for  all  that  he  virtually 
rid  Florence  of  them. 

His  enemies  accused  Savonarola  of  leading  the  poor  to  idle.  The 
general  sense  of  excitement  and  unrest  was  no  doubt  intensified  by 
prophecy.  Nevertheless  he  consistently  preached  the  gospel  of  labour 
for  rich  and  poor.  He  had  made  every  member  of  his  own  convent  toil 
for  its  support ;  from  the  pulpit  he  implored  artisans  to  return  to  work, 
and  the  employers  to  find  them  labour ;  to  give  work,  he  repeated,  was 
the  best  form  of  charity  ;  no  one  need  fear  starvation  who  lived  a  godly 
and  industrious  life.  The  rich,  he  preaclied,  should  labour  even  as  the 
poor  ;  he  denounced  the  princes  who  lived  on  their  subjects  without 
protecting  them,  the  wealthy  who  cornered  grain,  who  scraped  away  the 
wages  of  the  poor,  who  would  give  their  worn-out  shoes  in  lieu  of  money. 
But  in  the  financial  crisis  through  which  Florence  was  passing  an 
exhortation  to  work  was  not  enough ;  crowds  of  peasants  were  driven  into 
the  towns  by  war  and  famine ;  wages  must  be  supplemented  by  public 
and  private  charity.  Collections  were  raised  in  the  churches,  in  the 
processions,  at  the  street  corners,  by  house  to  house  visitation  ;  the 
government  was  urged  to  buy  up  grain  from  abroad,  to  open  a  relief 
office,  to  write  off  old  arrears  of  taxes. 

The  reform  of  the  public  holidays  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the 


1494-7]        The  mo7^al  reforms  of  Savonarola  167 


political  and  moral  revolution,  for  the  Medici  had  closely  associated 
themselves  with  these,  and  their  return  was  to  be  marked  by  a  revival  of 
the  old  magnificence.  Savonarola  knew,  as  all  earnest  reformers  know, 
that  such  holidays  not  only  contain  possibilities  of  irreparable  evil 
in  themselves,  but  taint  the  preceding  and  succeeding  months,  and 
permanently  lower  the  standard  of  national  purity  and  sobriety.  He 
insisted  on  the  suppression  by  the  State  of  the  horse-races,  the  bonfires 
and  allegorical  processions,  the  gross  carnival  songs,  which  would  have 
been  tolerated  at  no  other  season ;  in  the  country-towns  the  podestd 
was  to  forbid  the  public  dances.  His  enemies  accused  him  of  imposing 
total  abstinence  on  Florence ;  a  Sienese  satirist  has  jeered  at  Florentine 
teetotalism.  But  this  was  an  exaggeration,  based  apparently  on  recom- 
mendations for  a  short  fast  in  time  of  national  humiliation.  Savonarola 
was  aware  that  men  and  children  cannot  live  without  amusement,  and 
hence  the  processions,  the  religious  dances,  the  burning  of  the  vanities, 
which  have  become  so  celebrated.  Bands  of  urchins  had  been  wont  to 
stretch  poles  across  the  streets  and  levy  black-mail  upon  the  passers-by. 
The  proceeds  were  expended  on  a  supper,  while  faggots  and  brooms  were 
piled  around  the  pole,  and  the  stack  converted  into  a  bonfire,  after 
which  the  rival  bands  would  stone  each  other  throughout  the  night, 
leaving  some  dead  upon  the  square.  Savonarola  stopped  this  disgraceful 
custom ;  the  children  used  their  poles  with  offertory-bags  suspended  to 
collect  alms ;  and  marched  through  the  streets  in  thousands  bearing 
crosses  or  olive-branches.  These  bands  of  hope  were  organised  into  a 
moral  police.  Gamblers  fled  at  their  approach ;  they  freely  tore  veils, 
which  they  thought  immodest,  from  girls'  heads ;  no  lady  dared  flaunt 
her  finery  in  the  street.  They  visited  houses  to  collect  materials  for  the 
great  public  bonfires,  known  as  the  Burning  of  the  Vanities.  This  latter 
was  no  new  custom ;  it  had  been  a  common  practice  with  mission  friars ; 
so  lately  as  1493  Fr^  Bernardino  of  Feltre  had  made  a  bonfire  of  false 
hair  and  books  against  the  faith.  Savonarola's  bonfires  have  become 
more  celebrated,  because  they  replaced  the  great  public  feasts,  and  the 
process  of  collection  was  more  elaborate  and  inquisitorial.  All  the 
implements  of  gambling,  false  hair,  indecent  books  and  pictures,  masks 
and  amulets,  scents  and  looking-glasses  were  cast  into  the  flames.  It  is 
impossible  to  decide  whether  objects  of  permanent  value  were  destroyed. 
Savonarola  had  some  love  for  poetry  and  much  for  art ;  his  denunciations 
against  the  realism  of  contemporary  art  referred  usually  to  the  introduc- 
tion of  portraiture  or  of  nudities  into  sacred  subjects,  representations  of 
which  should  be  the  picture-books  by  which  to  teach  the  young  ;  among 
his  devotees  were  several  of  the  leading  artists.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
is  a  passage  which  urges  the  destruction  of  objects  representing  the 
pagan  deities.  Drawing  from  the  life  had  lately  been  the  chief  novelty 
in  the  development  of  Florentine  art ;  precisians  could  scarcely  as  yet 
accept  this  as  a  matter  of  course ;  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  among 


168  The  moral  reforms  of  Savonarola  [i494-7 


the  indecencies  were  included  scientific  studies  from  the  nude ;  two  of 
Savonarola's  artistic  followers,  Bartolommeo  della  Porta  and  Lorenzo  di 
Credi,  had,  as  is  known,  devoted  themselves  to  the  new  study,  and  yet  the 
examples  that  survive  are  extremely  rare.  In  literature  Burlamacchi, 
the  Friar's  biographer,  speaks  with  delight  of  the  destruction  of  Pulci 
and  Boccaccio ;  and  this  sacrifice  Savonarola's  own  sermons  might 
lead  us  to  think  possible.  The  idea  of  the  dances  was  perhaps  derived 
from  the  well-known  pictures  of  the  Dominican  artist,  Fra  Angelico. 
Three  rings  of  dancers,  novices  with  boys,  young  friars  with  young 
laymen,  priests  with  aged  citizens,  tripped  it  round  the  square  with 
garlands  on  their  heads.  Folly,  Savonarola  preached,  had  its  proper 
seasons  ;  had  not  David  danced  before  the  ark  ?  There  was  in  this  some 
fantastic  exaggeration  which  did  the  cause  of  righteousness  no  good ; 
all  Italy  laughed,  and  this  was  a  pity,  for  the  Florentines  were  of  all 
Italians  the  most  sensitive ;  they  were  too  clever  to  bear  ridicule. 

No  one  has  questioned  the  moral  transformation  wrought  by  Savona- 
rola. For  many,  no  doubt,  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  life ;  many 
resisted  the  disillusion  caused  by  the  tragic  circumstances  of  his  end. 
Nevertheless,  in  a  city  where  individual  liberty  was  highly  prized,  the 
methods  of  transformation  were  not  always  welcome.  Street  urchins  are 
no  trained  judges  as  to  what  luxuries  are  meet  food  for  flames ;  it  is  not 
surprising  that  young  bloods  jostled  the  boys  in  their  processions,  and 
threw  their  crosses  into  the  river.  The  savage  penalties  proposed  for 
gambling  affected  a  large  proportion  of  the  citizens ;  the  very  suggestion 
that  slaves,  who  turned  informers,  should  be  liberated  by  the  State,  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  many  a  fairly  decent  household.  All  satirists  and 
reformers  believe  that  their  own  is  an  age  of  decadence,  that  luxury  and 
vice  are  the  mushroom  growth  of  their  own  short  day.  Had  Savonarola 
read  his  Dante,  he  would  have  found  his  own  invectives  applied  to  the 
golden  age  of  Florence.  The  effective  scene-painting  of  sin  had  been 
the  task  of  generations  of  mission-friars.  But  in  Savonarola's  character 
there  had  been  from  childhood  an  element  that  was  at  once  morbid 
and  quixotic.  His  early  isolation  from  his  fellows,  his  vivid  imagination, 
his  premature  and  phenomenal  horror  of  sin,  his  knowledge  of  the  world 
through  the  confessional,  all  caused  him  to  exaggerate  the  wickedness  of 
his  time.  There  was,  moreover,  in  the  religious  exaltation  of  Florence 
an  element  of  hysteria.  The  oft-repeated  statement,  that  Savonarola 
broke  up  families  by  encouraging  married  women  to  enter  nunneries, 
rests  upon  a  single  passage  in  a  Mantuan  ambassador's  report,  which  has 
been  strangely  misunderstood.  But  it  would  seem  true  that  women 
would  rush  at  night  to  the  Cathedral  to  struggle  with  the  Friar's 
opponents,  and  that  they  saw  in  him  the  true  light  that  was  to  come 
into  the  world.  At  the  convent  of  Santa  Lucia  there  was  an  epidemic 
of  religious  mania  among  nuns  of  good  family ;  even  Savonarola  on  his 
trial  laughed  at  the  memory  of  one  who  snatched  away  his  crucifix  and 


1495-7] 


Piagnoni  and  Arrahbiati 


169 


so  belaboured  him  that  he  could  scarce  escape  her  clutches.  At  San 
Marco  there  was  a  case  of  hysteric  epilepsy,  while  there  can  be  small 
question  that  the  fastastic  visions  of  the  somnambulist  Fra  Silvestro 
obscured,  as  tim-e  went  on,  the  sounder  sense  of  Savonarola  himself. 

A  not  unnatural  reaction  against  the  new  puritanism  showed  itself 
whenever  Savonarola  temporarily  withdrew  or  lost  his  influence.  Then 
the  gambling-hells,  the  taverns,  the  brothels  drove  a  roaring  trade ;  and 
Savonarola's  death  was  followed  by  scenes  of  profanity  such  as  Florence 
had  never  before  witnessed.  It  was  a  necessary  result  of  the  fusion  of 
ethics  and  politics  that  the  reformer  regarded  opposition  to  his  political 
views  as  involving  sin.  Thus  the  dividing  line  in  politics  produced 
cleavage  in  morals  and  religion,  and  vice  versa.  Serious  political  oppo- 
nents became  confused  with  men  of  pleasure,  and,  indeed,  scents  and 
silks  and  sin  were  too  apt  to  be  the  outward  signs  of  the  party  loyalty 
of  the  Arrahbiati.  Florence  on  a  small  scale  prefigured  our  own 
Commonwealth  and  its  results. 

Although  Savonarola  seemed  for  a  time  all-powerful,  yet  from  the 
first  there  were  elements  of  opposition.  Florence  had  been  saved  from 
bloodshed  but  not  from  discord ;  as  the  chemist  Landucci  put  it,  some 
would  have  it  roast  and  others  liked  it  boiled  ;  "  there  were  those  who 
muttered,  "  this  dirty  friar  is  bringing  us  to  grief."  Parties  began  to 
shape  themselves.  It  was  scarcely  a  conflict  of  class  against  class,  though 
as  yet  Savonarola  could  usually  rely  upon  the  middle,  and,  perhaps,  upon 
the  lower  classes.  Most  of  the  aristocrats  who  had  been  instrumental 
in  Piero's  expulsion  were  opposed  to  the  Friar  who  had  robbed  them  of 
their  reward.  Less  moderate  than  their  leader  Piero  Capponi  were  the 
Nerli,  the  Pazzi,  the  younger  line  of  Medici,  and  the  clever  lawyer 
Vespucci,  the  more  pronounced  of  whom  were  nicknamed  Arrahbiati. 
But  Francesco  Valori,  a  leading  member  of  the  Twenty,  after  some 
hesitation  became  the  recognised  head  of  the  Savonarolists,  who  were 
christened  Piagnoni  (snivellers)  or  Colletorti  (wry-necks).  They  could 
boast  of  other  members  of  good  family,  who  before  or  afterwards  played 
leading  parts.  Such  were  Paol'  Antonio  Soderini,  Giovanni  Battista 
Ridolfi,  Luca  Albizzi,  Alamanno  and  Jacopo  Salviati,  and  Piero  Guicci- 
ardini,  the  historian's  father.  The  remnants  of  the  Medicean  party  lay 
low,  thankful  to  have  escaped  with  a  sound  skin,  or  attached  themselves 
to  the  other  groups.  The  Savonarolist  party,  writes  Parenti,  included 
many  Mediceans  who  had  owed  their  lives  to  him  ;  and  it  was  a  common 
accusation  against  the  Friar  that  he  was  a  secret  adherent  of  the  Medici. 

Family  solidarity  was  the  most  permanent  feature  of  Florentine 
life,  yet  so  intense  was  the  excitement  that  families  were  riven  asunder, 
father  standing  against  son  and  brother  against  brother  ;  the  Ridolfi, 
the  Salviati,  the  Soderini  were  divided.  It  was  said,  indeed,  that  Paol' 
Antonio  Soderini  made  the  family  fortunes  safe  by  inducing  his  son  to 
join  the  Compagnacci^  a  dining  club  of  young  bloods  and  swashbucklers 


170 


Loss  of  territory  by  Florence 


[1495 


irreconcilable  to  reform.  The  line  of  demarcation  was  as  much  ethical 
as  political.  Guicciardini  has  admirably  analysed  the  parties:  behind 
Capponi  were  ranged  aristocrats  who  hated  popular  government,  sceptics 
who  disbelieved  in  prophecy,  libertines  who  feared  molestation  in  their 
pleasures,  devotees  of  the  Franciscans  and  other  Orders.  Against  these 
Valori  led  an  equally  heterogeneous  force ;  serious  men  who  believed  in 
Savonarola's  prophecies  or  welcomed  his  good  works,  hypocrites  who 
drew  a  mantle  of  sanctity  round  secret  sin,  worldlings  whose  avenue  to 
popularity  and  office  lay  through  the  stronger  party.  The  outward  test 
was  foreign  policy.  Here  the  line  was  hard  and  fast.  The  Piagnoni 
steadfastly  looked  to  France  for  terrestrial  salvation.  The  Arrabbiati, 
in  the  phrase  of  the  Spanish  Pope  and  the  Austrian  Maximilian,  would 
be  "  good  Italians  "  ;  they  would  join  the  Italian  League  and  close  the 
Peninsula  to  the  foreigner ;  they  courted  the  Pope  and  the  Duke  of 
Milan,  whose  ambassador  Somenzi  became  the  receptacle  or  the  source 
of  all  the  scandal  and  intrigue  against  the  Friar.  It  was  certain  that 
sooner  or  later  foreign  politics  would  help  to  decide  the  issue.  All 
depended  on  the  realization  of  prophecies  as  to  the  recovery  of  Pisa. 
Florence  could  not  permanently  remain  in  isolation.  Prophecy,  un- 
fortified by  French  aid,  would  prove  a  stimulant  with  inevitable 
reaction. 

If  Savonarola,  in  Machiavelli's  words,  was  an  unarmed  prophet,  the 
chosen  city  was  a  weak  military  State.  The  rebellion  of  Pisa  tasked  her 
whole  strength  for  many  years  to  come.  When  Charles  VIII  retired  from 
Naples,  Savonarola  met  him  on  the  Florentine  frontier  at  Poggibonsi 
(June,  1495),  —  and  this  on  no  public  mission,  but  as  one  directly  inspired 
by  God.  The  King  was  threatened  with  the  condign  punishment  of 
heaven  if  he  did  not  behave  honestly  towards  Florence.  The  prophecy 
seemed  to  receive  fulfilment  in  the  death  of  the  King's  children,  but  this 
was  slight  consolation  to  the  injured  town.  Charles,  indeed,  avoided 
Florence,  but  he  demanded  the  third  instalment  of  his  subsidy,  and 
dismissed  the  prophet  with  vague  promises.  Indignation  was  already 
expressed  against  the  folly  of  clinging  to  France  at  the  instigation  of  a 
"  foreign  Friar."  "  Believe  now  in  your  Friar,"  men  cried,  "  who  declared 
that  he  held  Pisa  in  his  fist !  "  No  sooner  had  Charles  left  Italy,  than  the 
French  commandants,  corrupt  and  insubordinate,  sold  the  fortress  of  Pisa 
to  its  inhabitants,  and  Lorenzo  de'  Medici's  conquests,  Sarzana  and  Pietra 
Santa,  to  the  Genoese  and  Lucchese  respectively.  Beaumont,  governor 
of  Leghorn,  alone  restored  his  charge.  Thus  Florence  had  lost  her 
sea-board  from  the  mouth  of  the  Magra  to  the  Pisan  marshes,  while  the 
natural  road  northwards  was  blocked  by  unfriendly  States.  Nor  was  this 
all ;  in  the  far  south  Montepulciano  revolted  to  Siena,  whilst  beyond  the 
Apennines  the  protectorate  of  Faenza  was  abandoned  and  control  lost 
of  the  well-worn  route  to  the  Adriatic  by  the  Val  di  Lam  one.  On  the 
tableland  of  the  Mugello,  in  the  mountain  basin  of  the  Casentino,  in 


1494-1509] 


The  rebellion  of  Pisa 


171 


the  subject  city  of  Arezzo  and  all  down  the  Chiana  valley,  Florence  had 
to  fear  a  revival  of  local  autonomy  or  lingering  attachment  to  the  Medici. 
From  furthest  North  to  extremest  South,  from  the  Pisan  littoral  to  the 
backbone  of  the  Apennines,  the  State  was  threatened  with  disintegration. 
The  League,  which  in  March,  1495,  had  been  formed  against  the  French, 
took  Pisa  under  its  protectorate ;  Ludovico  il  Moro,  indeed,  soon  withdrew 
his  troops ;  he  had  no  wish  to  exasperate  the  Florentines.  His  aim 
was  the  erection  of  an  oligarchy  which  would  re-connect  the  chain  of 
Florentine-Milanese  alliance,  snapped  by  Piero.  But  Venice  had  come 
to  stay.  By  her  settlements  in  Romagna  and  Apulia  she  was  making 
the  Adriatic  a  mare  clamum ;  Pisa  should  be  a  stepping-stone  to  the 
monopoly  of  the  Tuscan  Gulf. 

The  Pisan  volunteers  were  now  stiffened  by  the  seasoned  mercenaries 
of  Venice,  whose  trained  engineers  strengthened  the  defences  which  her 
artillery  could  arm.  Her  incomparable  Stradiot  light-horse,  swimming 
rivers  and  treating  mountain  watercourses  as  highroads,  pushed  far  into 
Florentine  territory,  raided  down  the  line  of  the  modern  railway  towards 
Volterra,  wasted  the  rich  corn-lands  of  the  Elsa,  threaded  the  intricate 
hill  country  towards  the  Nievole,  endangering  Florentine  communications 
with  Pistoia.  In  1509  their  ubiquity  was  to  be  the  bugbear  of  the 
finest  French  and  Imperial  troops ;  it  is  small  wonder  that  they  caused 
embarrassment  to  the  inexperienced  Florentines.  Pisa  controlled  a  large 
territory ;  she  was  protected  to  west  and  south  by  stagnant  side- 
channels  of  the  Arno  and  miasmatic  marshes;  to  east  and  north-east 
lay  a  mass  of  tumbling  hills.  The  Pisan  peasantry  fought  desperately, 
and  every  hill-village  became  a  fortress.  Pisa  could  not  be  starved,  for 
the  sea  was  open  to  Genoese  and  Corsican  cornfactors ;  Lucca  afforded  a 
ready  market  for  the  sale  of  Pisan  property ;  through  Lucchese  and  Pisan 
hills  wound  convoys,  whose  local  knowledge  enabled  them  to  baffle  the 
vigilance,  or  utilise  the  somnolence,  of  the  Florentine  condottieri. 

Savonarola  staked  the  truth  of  his  inspiration  on  the  recovery  of 
Pisa ;  all  that  Florence  had  lost  should  be  restored,  and  much  that  she 
had  never  possessed  should  be  her  prize.  The  prophet's  reputation  would 
necessarily  rise  or  fall  with  every  turn  in  the  Pisan  war.  Amid  all  the 
new-born  enthusiasm  for  liberty  at  Florence  there  was  no  sympathy  for 
the  Pisans,  who  so  bravely  asserted  theirs.  Sympathetic  as  Savonarola 
was  by  nature,  while  he  had  not  been  born  to  a  share  in  the  old  Floren- 
tine hatreds,  not  a  word  escaped  his  lips  on  behalf  of  the  revolted  town. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  war  Florentines  of  the  upper  classes  felt  for  the 
ruined  peasantry  and  the  women  and  children  a  pity  which  they  scarcely 
dared  express ;  but,  when  at  this  earlier  stage  a  solitary  canon  of  the 
Cathedral  asserted  that  Pisa  had  a  right  to  liberty,  he  was  severely 
punished  by  the  Piagnone  government.  The  idea  of  liberty  stretched 
but  a  yard  beyond  the  four  quarters  of  Florence,  and  even  there  its 
currency  was  conditional  on  its  being  stamped  with  the  hallmark  of  her 


172 


Maximilian'^ s  failure  at  Leghorn 


[1496 


guilds  ;  in  the  new  constitution  no  reforms  bettered  the  condition  of 
her  extensive  territory. 

Charles  VIII  had  left  Italy  never  to  return,  but  the  autumn  of  1496 
witnessed  another  flying  royal  visit.  The  King  of  the  Romans  had  been 
induced  by  Milan  and  Venice  to  enter  Italy  in  favour  of  the  League.  He 
came,  however,  as  little  more  than  Ludovico  Moro's  condottiere  ;  he  had 
few  troops  and  less  money ;  "  he  had  sailed,"  as  the  saying  went,  "  with  a 
short  supply  of  biscuit  in  his  galley."  His  wider  schemes  shrank  to  the 
relief  of  Pisa.  In  welcoming  a  King  of  the  Romans  the  Pisans  felt  a 
glow  of  their  old  Ghibelline  enthusiasm.  They  had  thrown  the  Floren- 
tine lion  from  their  bridge  into  the  Arno,  and  a  statue  of  Charles  VIII 
was  reigning  in  its  place ;  they  now  served  the  French  king  as  they  had 
served  the  lion.  From  Pisa  Maximilian  sailed  to  take  Leghorn;  its 
capture  must  have  sealed  the  fate  of  Florence,  for  it  was  her  last  port, 
the  last  gate  open  to  her  French  allies.  But  Leghorn  was  stoutly  held. 
From  the  village  of  Impruneta  was  brought  to  Florence  the  sacred  figure 
of  the  Madonna,  and,  as  it  reached  the  Ponte  Vecchio,  a  horseman  brought 
the  news  that  a  storm  had  scattered  Maximilian's  ships,  and  that  a 
French  squadron  with  supplies  had  broken  the  blockade.  To  Florentine 
imagination,  kept  at  fever-heat  by  prophecy,  this  seemed  a  miracle 
wrought  by  Savonarola's  intercession ;  and  the  belief  became  a  certainty 
when  it  transpired  that  the  French  had  left  Marseilles  on  the  very  day 
on  which  the  Florentines  had  sent  to  Impruneta.  The  French  alliance 
recovered  its  popularity ;  Maximilian  hurried  back  to  Tyrol,  leaving 
Italy  to  wonder  or  to  laugh. 

Savonarola's  fame  was  doubled  by  the  salvation  of  Leghorn,  and  the 
close  of  the  year  1496  was  perhaps  its  zenith.  In  the  previous  spring  a 
group  of  aristocrats  of  secondary  importance  had  formed  an  electoral 
ring  to  reject  all  opposition  candidates.  This  in  Florence  was  a  criminal 
offence ;  they  were  condemned  by  the  Eight,  and  appealed  to  the  Council 
without  success,  while  their  leaders  were  sentenced  to  life  imprisonment. 
Then  died  Piero  Capponi,  shot  before  a  paltry  fortress  in  the  Pisan  hills. 
So  fierce  was  faction  that  the  people  rejoiced  at  Capponi's  death.  Yet 
he  was  the  hero  of  1494,  a  passionate  champion  against  French  and 
Medici,  the  most,  perhaps  the  only,  capable  soldier  and  statesman  in  the 
city.  Nor  was  he  an  uncompromising  opponent;  he  had  co-operated 
with  Savonarola  in  saving  the  Mediceans,  and  his  attitude  towards  the 
Friar  had  not  been  consistently  unfriendly.  But  marked  character  and 
high  ambitions  the  Florentine  love  of  equality  could  not  brook;  the 
ideal  was  a  citizen  who  did  everything  that  he  was  asked  to  do,  and 
nothing  very  ill  or  very  well. 

Capponi's  death  disorganised  his  party,  and  the  year  closed  with 
triumph  for  the  Piagnoni^  for  Francesco  Valori  was  elected  Gonfalonier 
for  January,  1497.  In  the  long  run  Valori's  leadership  was  no  blessing 
to  his  party,  but  as  yet  he  was  the  people's  darling.    One  of  the  few 


1496-7] 


Suffering  at  Florence 


173 


citizens  above  suspicion  of  corruption,  he  was  devoted  heart  and  soul  to 
the  service  of  the  State.  He  had  no  children ;  his  leadership  could  not 
found  a  dynasty.  It  mattered  little  to  humbler  citizens  that  he  was 
violent  and  eccentric,  that  his  tongue  was  biting  and  abusive,  and  his 
temper  impatient  of  contradiction  ;  inasmuch  as  the  victims  of  these 
qualities  were  their  opponents.  Valori  used  his  two  months  of  office 
without  stint  or  scruple  in  the  Piagnone  cause.  None  but  Valori's  partisans 
were  elected  to  salaried  offices,  or  allowed  to  address  the  Council ;  every 
measure  prepared  by  the  Valori  group  must  pass,  however  unpalatable 
to  the  public.  The  malcontents  who  had  not  paid  their  taxes  were 
excluded  from  the  Council ;  the  age-limit  was  lowered  to  twenty-four  in 
the  hope  that  younger  men,  who  had  not  tasted  the  loaves  and  fishes  of 
the  Medici,  would  favour  the  righteous  cause.  Many  of  the  Franciscans 
who  had  preached  against  Savonarola  were  summarily  expelled.  Severe 
penalties  were  imposed  upon  priests  and  gentry  who  should  hold  inter- 
course with  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  at  Rome. 

Valori  overshot  his  mark.  Under  the  existing  system  of  election  the 
composition  of  the  Signoria  would  immediately  reflect  the  current  of 
opinion  in  the  Council,  and  from  the  close  of  Valori's  term  of  office  there 
were  unmistakable  signs  of  reaction.  His  successor  was  Bernardo  del 
Nero,  who  had  succeeded  Capponi  in  the  leadership  of  the  aristocrats. 
This  had  a  peculiar  significance,  for  Bernardo  was  a  veteran  Medicean, 
opposed  indeed  to  Piero's  methods,  but  devoted  to  the  house.  The 
leaders  of  the  Bigi  had  been  regarded  with  as  much  hostility  by  the 
Arrahhiati  as  by  the  populace ;  but  on  Capponi's  death  the  former, 
having  no  chief  equal  in  talent  to  Valori,  had  turned  to  Bernardo.  The 
union  was  still  very  far  from  complete,  but  it  was  a  symptom  that  the 
oligarchy  might  be  driven  back  to  the  monarchy  for  shelter  against 
the  people.  Valori's  character  and  conduct,  which  even  alienated  other 
Savonarolist  leaders,  had  not,  perhaps,  been  the  only  cause  of  the 
reaction.  Pisa  seemed  as  far  as  ever  from  recapture ;  the  last  French 
troops  were  leaving  Italy ;  pitiless  rain  had  fallen  for  eleven  months,  and 
the  harvest  of  1496  had  been  a  total  failure.  In  the  early  months  of 
1497  people  dropped  dead  of  famine  in  the  very  streets.  The  govern- 
ment did  its  best  to  supply  grain  to  the  poor ;  but  once  and  again  women 
were  crushed  to  death  in  the  throng  that  besieged  the  relief-office. 
Plague  trod  on  the  heels  of  famine.  Savonarola's  sanguine  prophecies 
seemed  a  mockery  to  the  poor.  The  rest  of  Italy,  he  repeated,  would 
be  scourged,  but  Florence,  the  elected  city,  would  be  saved.  Now  that 
the  barbarian  had  retired,  Italy  had  resumed  her  normal  aspect ;  the 
Pope  and  the  tyrants  were  enjoying  their  escape ;  only  Florence  had 
suffered  from  the  flood,  only  Florence  was  shorn  and  starving. 

The  ruling  classes,  whether  Arrahhiati  or  Piagnoni^  were  so  occupied 
by  faction  that  they  forgot  the  possibility  of  a  Medicean  revival.  There 
was  no  Medicean  party,  no  appreciable  number  who  would  actively  move 


174 


Opposition  to  Savonarola 


[1497 


in  Piero's  favour ;  but  while  the  upper  classes  resented  Valori's  drastic 
methods,  the  poor  were  saying  that  under  the  Medici  they  had  been 
better  off.  The  hospitable  house  of  the  genial  Cardinal  was  open  to  all 
Florentines  who  visited  Rome  on  business  or  for  pleasure ;  Valori  had 
failed  to  check  this  practice,  which  slowly  but  surely  sapped  the 
republicanism  of  the  aristocracy.  A  handful  of  citizens  believed  that 
they  could  work  upon  the  general  discontent,  and  invited  Fra  Mariano, 
the  Augustinian,  to  Florence  to  preach  against  Savonarola  and  to  act  as 
intermediary  between  Piero  and  his  friends.  The  conspirators  relied 
upon  the  support  of  the  League.  Ludovico  il  Moro  indeed  drew  back, 
feeling  that  there  could  be  no  sure  friendship  between  himself  and  Piero. 
Venice  however  gave  support,  in  the  hope  of  procuring  the  cession  of 
Pisa.  Piero,  sanguine  as  all  exiles  are,  believed  that  indefinite  discontent 
with  the  Republic  implied  definite  loyalty  towards  himself,  and  with 
some  1300  troops,  led  by  the  Orsini  captain  Alviano,  moved  from 
Siena  upon  Florence ;  but  for  heavy  rain  he  might  have  surprised  the 
Porta  Romana  at  early  dawn  (April  29, 1497).  Bernardo's  term  of  office 
was  just  closing,  and  the  new  Signoria  was  hurriedly  elected  as  being 
more  trustworthy.  The  reported  Medicean  partisans  were  secured  in  the 
Palazzo  Puhhlieo^  the  gates  were  guarded,  the  condottieri  set  in  motion. 
Piero,  hearing  no  rumours  of  a  rising,  retired  upon  Siena.  No  favour 
had  been  shown  to  the  Medici,  but  few  obeyed  the  order  to  join  their 
companies ;  only  the  personal  enemies  of  Piero  took  up  arms,  and  that 
when  he  was  already  retreating.  The  citizens  at  large  were  too  in- 
different to  risk  their  interests,  when  either  aristocrats  or  Medici  might 
prove  victorious. 

The  Signoria  for  May  and  June,  1497,  contained  a  majority  of  Arrab- 
hiati  ;  and  Savonarola's  position  became  critical.  Under  pretext  of  the 
plague,  it  forbade  preaching  in  the  Cathedral  after  Ascension-day.  The 
Compagnacci  were  gaining  courage ;  they  openly  wagered  that  Savonarola 
should  not  preach  the  Ascension  sermon.  In  the  night  they  befouled 
the  cathedral  pulpit.  Savonarola,  undeterred,  began  to  preach,  when 
one  of  his  enemies  dashed  a  heavy  alms-box  to  the  ground.  Amid  cries 
of  "  Jesu,  J esu  !  "  the  terrified  congregation  rushed  to  the  doors,  while 
the  Compagnacci  shouted  and  hammered  on  the  desks.  The  brawlers, 
including  two  members  of  the  Eight,  the  very  Ministry  of  Justice,  made 
for  the  preacher,  but  were  beaten  off.  At  length  the  Piagnoni^  return- 
ing with  arms,  escorted  Savonarola  to  San  Marco ;  but  the  convent  was 
now  from  time  to  time  surrounded  by  a  howling  mob.  The  Piagnoni 
and  Arrabbiati  boys  stoned  each  other  in  the  streets,  and  even  an 
ex-Gonfalonier  forgot  his  dignity,  and  became  again  a  boy  and 
stone-thrower.  The  Gonfalonier  took  advantage  of  the  scandal  to 
propose  the  Friar's  dismissal  as  the  only  means  of  healing  these 
passionate  dissensions.  The  proposal  was  lost  by  a  single  vote ;  for 
five  of  the  Signoria  were  for,  and  four  against,  and  a  majority  of 


1497] 


The  Medicean  conspiracy 


175 


two-thirds  was  requisite.  The  government  had  a  heavy  responsibility 
to  face  ;  there  was  no  police  force  which  could  control  the  Compagnacci  ; 
unless  Savonarola  could  be  silenced,  civil  war  seemed  certain. 

Silence  was  soon  imposed,  not,  indeed,  from  Florence  but  from  Rome. 
In  June  arrived  the  brief  of  excommunication,  which  Savonarola  at  first 
obeyed.  Other  circumstances  contributed  to  lull  the  popular  excitement. 
The  plague  was  raging ;  all  who  had  the  means  left  the  city,  and  the 
younger  Dominicans  were  sent  to  the  hill  convents.  Either  the  violence 
of  the  Compagnacci  or  resentment  at  papal  interference  turned  the  tide 
of  feeling.  The  Signorie  until  the  close  of  1497  were  favourable  to 
Savonarola,  while  public  attention  was  diverted  to  an  incident  in  which 
he  had  no  direct  part.  Piero's  attempt  on  Florence  had  been  a  farce, 
but  its  sequel  was  a  tragedy.  In  August  a  disappointed  Medicean  agent, 
Lamberto  della  Antella,  disclosed  the  details  of  the  plot.  Several  leading 
citizens  were  arrested  and  others  fled.  It  was  proved  that  Bernardo 
del  Nero,  though  Gonfalonier,  was  privy  to  the  plot,  together  with  at 
least  two  members  of  his  Signoria^  one  of  whom,  Battista  Serristori,  was, 
curiously  enough,  a  pronounced  Savonarolist.  The  issue  finally  narrowed 
itself  to  the  fate  of  five  citizens,  whose  position  well  illustrates  the 
composition  of  the  Bigi.  Bernardo  had  not,  perhaps,  favoured  the 
conspiracy ;  he  would  have  preferred  an  oligarchy  with  the  younger  line 
of  Medici  at  its  head ;  but  he  had  information  of  the  plot  and  would 
not  betray  his  close  associates.  The  soul  of  the  attempt  was  Lorenzo 
Tornabuoni,  a  young  man  of  thirtyrtwo,  the  darling  of  Florentine 
society.  Closely  related  to  the  Medici,  he  was  well-nigh  ruined  by  the 
revolution,  but  above  all  feared  the  apparently  inevitable  oligarchy ;  for 
he  had  been  chief  among  the  dandies  who  had  been  the  personal  rivals 
of  Piero  de'  Medici's  cousins.  Of  the  others  Niccolo  Ridolfi  was  father- 
in-law  to  Piero's  sister,  and  hoped  for  high  position  under  a  Restoration  : 
Giannozzo  Pucci  belonged  to  the  parvenu  family  in  which  the  Medici 
had  long  found  their  cleverest  and  least  scrupulous  supporters :  Giovanni 
Cambi  was  ruined  by  the  Pisan  war,  for  he  had  speculated  in  the 
Medicean  syndicate  for  the  development  of  land  near  Pisa.  Money  had 
been  supplied  by  Lucrezia  Salviati,  Piero's  sister,  who  frankly  confessed 
that  she  wished  her  brother  back. 

The  executive  in  Florence  was  notoriously  timid  in  punishing 
criminals  of  high  family ;  the  term  of  office  was  so  short  that  vengeance 
might  speedily  overtake  the  judge.  Both  Signoria  and  Eight  hesitated 
to  sentence  the  conspirators,  and  threw  the  responsibility  on  a  large 
Pratica.  Here  opinion  was  almost  unanimous  in  favour  of  death, 
and  sentence  was  duly  passed ;  whereon  the  friends  of  the  accused 
demanded  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Council.  The  Signoria  was 
divided,  and  once  more  referred  the  question  to  a  Pratica.  This  meet- 
ing, with  less  unanimity  than  before,  reported  that  delay  was  dangerous 
and  that  the  safety  of  the  State  demanded  a  refusal  of  the  appeal.  Five 


176 


Execution  of  the  Medicean  conspirators  [i497 


of  the  Priors  refused  to  break  the  law,  but  were  threatened  with  personal 
violence  by  members  of  the  Pratica.  Valori,  thumping  the  ballot-box  on 
the  table,  swore  that  either  he  or  the  prisoners  should  die,  while  Carlo 
Strozzi  took  Piero  Guicciardini  round  the  waist  and  tried  to  throw 
him  from  the  window.  Two  of  the  five  Priors  were  intimidated,  and 
thus  the  appeal  was  rejected  by  six  beans,  Guicciardini  and  two 
colleagues  courageously  protesting  to  the  end.  On  the  same  evening 
the  sentenced  men  were  executed. 

The  appeal  would  certainly  have  failed;  it  was  merely  a  forlorn 
expedient  to  catch  at  the  chances  which  time  might  offer.  Yet  when 
popular  passion  had  cooled,  men  reflected  that  a  fundamental  law  of  the 
new  constitution  had  on  the  supreme  question  of  life  or  death  been 
broken,  and  this  threw  discredit  upon  those  concerned.  It  had  hardly 
been  a  part}''  issue.  Valori  and  his  Savonarolist  followers  shared  the 
attack  with  aristocrats  who  had  reason  to  fear  Piero's  restoration.  For  the 
defence  Vespucci  and  the  Nerli  were  most  active  because  they  regarded 
Bernardo  as  their  party  leader.  Others  were  moved  by  friendship  or 
relationship  or  the  fear  of  giving  the  people  a  taste  for  blood.  Piero 
Guicciardini,  who  throughout  was  opposed  to  extreme  measures,  was  a 
moderate  Savonarolist,  and  both  the  Priors  for  the  Lesser  Arts  originally 
supported  him.  Two  Savonarolist  diarists,  Landucci  and  Cambi,  re- 
gard the  sentence  as  cruel,  and  the  historian  Guicciardini  condemns  the 
refusal  of  appeal.  Of  Savonarola's  attitude  nothing  certain  is  known ; 
he  was  under  excommunication,  and  not  at  this  time  preaching.  After 
Piero's  fall  his  entreaties  had  saved  these  very  citizens  ;  the  law  of  appeal 
was  universally  regarded  as  his  peculiar  work.  In  the  course  of  his  own 
trial  he  confessed  that  he  should  have  preferred  Bernardo's  exile ;  that 
he  had  recommended  Lorenzo  Tornabuoni  to  Valori,  but  in  cold  terms 
such  as  he  was  not  wont  to  use  when  he  wished  his  requests  fulfilled. 

A  revulsion  in  public  sympathy  was  only  natural.  Ordinary  citizens 
had  from  the  first  resented  the  application  of  torture  to  the  best  blood 
of  Florence.  The  well-known  figure  of  the  bright  young  Tornabuoni 
was  soon  missed ;  men  remembered  the  brilliant  marriage-feast,  when  he 
had  led  home  the  pride  of  Florence,  the  beautiful  Giovanna  d'Albizzi. 
The  loss  of  territory  and  trade,  the  famine,  the  faction,  the  ferocity  of 
the  new  Republic  were  contrasted  with  what  men  began  to  call  the 
joyous  times  before  1494.  The  responsibility  for  the  judicial  crime  was 
fixed  upon  Valori ;  he  desired,  it  was  said,  to  lord  it  over  the  Council, 
and  he  struck  down  Bernardo  del  Nero  because  he  alone  was  sufficiently 
able  to  withstand  him.  He  would,  indeed,  gladly  have  saved  Tornabuoni ; 
but  then  his  own  rival  would  have  escaped.  The  practice  of  old  Roman 
proscription  had  prevailed  —  friends  must  be  sacrificed  that  enemies  might 
die.  Meanwhile  Valori  alone  profited;  until  the  close  of  1497  his  will 
was  law.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  had  been  called  a  tyrant  because,  after  his 
brother's  murder,  the  State  had  voted  him  an  escort  of  outriders.  The 


1495-7]  Savonarola  and  Alexander  VI  177 


dominant  republican  party  now  established  a  standing  guard  in  the 
Piazza  to  protect  itself,  and  there  it  stayed  until  Savonarola's  death. 

Henceforth  the  interest  of  Savonarola's  career  is  rather  ecclesiastical 
than  political ;  the  attack  upon  him  is  directed  not  from  Florence  but 
from  Rome.  Nevertheless  the  scourge  which  was  manufactured  in  the 
Vatican  was  composed  of  several  strands,  —  strands  social  and  consti- 
tutional, moral  and  religious,  personal  and  political,  —  all  twisting  in  and 
out  in  the  rope-walk  of  Italian  diplomacy.  Alexander  VI  has  rightly 
left  so  terrible  a  repute  that  every  act  of  his  is  exposed  to  a  sinister  inter- 
pretation. He  had,  perhaps,  no  positive  virtues,  but  he  was  not  entirely 
a  conglomerate  of  vices.  Abstemious  in  meat  and  drink,  he  had  an 
equable  temper;  a  healthy  animal,  he  was  not  irritated  by  personalities  ; 
scandal  has  few  terrors  for  those  who  habitually  live  in  sin.  Alexander 
was  not  cruel,  if  his  immediate  gratification  were  not  concerned  ;  in  his 
official  duties  he  had  been  regular  and  hardworking;  he  possessed  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  etiquette  and  business  of  the  Vatican,  nor  were 
the  ecclesiastical  interests  of  the  Christian  world  neglected.  It  would 
be  rash  to  assume  that  Alexander  VI  was  actuated  by  personal  hostility 
to  Savonarola,  although  such  hostility  would  have  been  only  human. 
Under  the  zealous  Popes  of  the  Catholic  Revival  Savonarola  would  have 
met  with  less  consideration,  had  their  ideas  and  his  been  found  in 
conflict. 

Alexander  VI  was  fully  conscious  that  he  would  not  a  second  time 
escape  so  lightly  from  the  consequences  of  a  French  invasion.  His 
personal  enemy.  Cardinal  della  Rovere,  was  influential  at  the  French 
Court  and,  together  with  Cardinal  Brissonet,  would  gladly  make  the 
Pope's  simoniacal  election  a  pretext  for  his  deposition.  He  was  thus 
the  natural  ally  of  Ludovico  il  Moro,  who  had  everything  to  fear  from 
French  vengeance ;  the  Duke's  brother.  Cardinal  Ascanio  Sforza,  was 
still  the  leading  figure  at  the  Vatican.  The  refusal  of  Florence  to 
abandon  the  French  alliance  and  join  the  Italian  League  kept  the 
peninsula  in  a  condition  of  nervous  agitation ;  it  was  known  that 
Savonarola's  party  looked  forward  to  a  new  invasion ;  it  was  guessed 
that  he  was  himself  corresponding  with  the  French  Court.  Thus  the 
Medici  plots  were  hatched  at  Rome,  but  the  Pope  had  no  special 
interest  in  the  Medici.  Ludovico,  as  has  been  seen,  was  definitely 
opposed  to  a  Medicean  restoration.  Alexander  VI,  on  the  other  hand, 
would  use  the  Medici,  as  he  would  use  any  other  instrument,  to 
embarrass  a  government  which  was  a  standing  danger  to  himself, 
although  it  might  be  impolitic  needlessly  to  exasperate  the  Republic, 
for  this  might  only  hasten  an  invasion. 

Savonarola's  relations  to  the  Pope  have  hitherto  been  left  unnoticed, 
because  until  the  summer  of  1497  they  had  little  effect  upon  his  action. 
They  had  opened  with  the  brief  of  July  21,  1495,  which  summoned  the 
Friar  to  Rome,  and  they  reached  a  climax  in  the  brief  of  excommunication. 

C.  M.  H.  I.  12 


178 


The  excommunication  of  Savonarola 


[l497 


The  points  of  attack  were  the  alleged  gift  of  prophecy,  the  public 
invectives  against  Rome  which  brought  the  Papacy  into  contempt,  and 
the  artifices  by  which  the  separation  of  the  Tuscan  Congregation  had 
been  obtained.  Savonarola  defended  himself  point  by  point  with  great 
ability.  He  excused  himself  from  visiting  Rome  on  the  plea  of  weak 
health,  which  was  forcing  him  to  abandon  the  pulpit,  and  of  the  danger 
from  Milanese  assassins  on  the  road.  He  submitted  his  doctrines  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Church,  referring  the  Pope  to  his  Compendium 
Revelationum  for  his  defence  of  prophecy ;  his  Holiness,  he  constantly 
repeated,  had  been  deceived  by  the  slanders  of  his  enemies.  Alexander 
vacillated ;  he  was  pressed  on  the  one  side  by  Ludovico  il  Moro  and  the 
Friar's  Florentine  enemies,  on  the  other  by  the  government  and  by  the 
several  Florentine  envoys,  all  personally  devoted  to  Savonarola.  He  was 
perhaps  genuinely  unwilling  to  take  a  decisive  step  against  one  whose 
holiness  he  respected ;  for  sinners  are  not  unable  to  value  saints.  In 
September,  1495,  he  adopted  an  obvious  method  of  removing  the 
Dominican  from  Florence  by  re-uniting  the  Tuscan  to  the  Lombard  Con- 
gregation. In  answer  to  Savonarola's  remonstrances  he  abandoned  this 
intention,  but  in  November,  1496,  he  ordered  the  union  of  all  the  Tuscan 
Dominican  convents  under  a  new  Tusco-Roman  Congregation.  Even 
this  brief  contained  no  patent  evidence  of  hostility.  The  papal  consent 
to  the  independence  of  the  Tuscan  Congregation  had  been  won  almost 
by  a  trick ;  the  Congregation  had  not  proved  an  entire  success,  owing  to 
the  resistance  of  the  larger  Tuscan  towns ;  even  the  union  of  the  convent 
at  Prato  had  only  just  been  effected,  and  not  without  difficulty.  The 
smallness  of  the  Congregation  virtually  confined  Savonarola's  ministra- 
tions to  Florence,  which  was  most  unusual.  No  previous  hostility 
existed  between  the  Roman  and  Tuscan  Dominicans,  like  that  which 
animated  the  latter  against  their  Brethren  of  Lombardy ;  the  new 
Vicar-General,  the  General,  and  the  Protector  of  the  Order  were  all  of 
them  Savonarola's  friends.  The  Roman  authorities  might  reasonably 
have  doubted  whether  his  temporary  withdrawal  from  the  city  would 
prove  an  unmixed  evil,  either  for  Florence  or  for  himself. 

To  this  brief  Savonarola's  reply  from  the  pulpit  was  almost  a  decla- 
ration of  war.  For  he  hinted  not  obscurely,  that  there  were  limits  to 
obedience ;  that  if  a  brief  of  excommunication  were  brought  into  the  city 
on  a  spear-head  he  should  know  how  to  reply ;  and  that  his  answer 
would  make  many  a  face  turn  pale.  His  Apology  of  the  Brethren  of 
San  Marco  was  a  formal  appeal  from  the  Pope  to  the  public.  Yet  of 
Savonarola's  resistance  Alexander  took  little  notice,  until  he  felt  assured 
that  there  were  signs  of  a  reaction  within  Florence.  Then,  he  launched 
his  brief  of  excommunication,  which  was  solemnly  read  between  lighted 
torches  in  the  Florentine  churches  on  the  evening  of  June  18,  1497. 
To  the  clauses  of  the  brief  which  condemned  Savonarola  for  disobedience 
in  not  visiting  Rome  and  for  doctrinal  heterodoxy,  he  could  readily  reply 


1497]  Savonarola  and  Alexander  VI 


179 


that  his  excuses  had  been  accepted,  and  that  his  doctrines  had  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  judgment  of  the  Church ;  in  further  proof  of  his  ortho- 
doxy he  now  composed  his  most  elaborate  work,  the  Triumphus  Crucis, 
a  noble  tract  on  which  his  reputation  as  a  theological  writer  mainly 
rests.  The  gist,  however,  of  the  brief  was  the  Friar's  resistance  to  the 
Tusco-Roman  Congregation,  to  which  charge  a  reply  was  not  so  easy.  If 
the  Pope  possessed  the  power  to  separate  the  Tuscan  from  the  Lombard 
Congregation,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  latter,  he  could  clearly  unite 
the  Tuscan  to  the  Roman.  But  Savonarola  was  not  daunted ;  in  letters 
addressed  to  the  public  he  opposed  a  non  volumus  in  the  form  of  a  non 
possumus,  protesting  that  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  compel  his  Brethren, 
and  that  they  were  fully  justified  in  their  resistance.  His  answer  implied 
that  the  Pope  had  no  powers  in  such  a  matter  of  discipline,  if  his  command 
were  contrary  to  the  wish  of  those  affected ;  he  forgot  that  in  1493  the 
union  of  St  Catherine's  at  Pisa  with  his  own  Congregation  had  been 
effected  against  the  declared  wish  of  the  great  majority  of  the  Brethren. 

The  brief  after  all  seemed  likely  to  fall  harmless.  It  was  doubtful 
how  far  the  Pope  was  yet  in  earnest;  more  than  a  month  had  elapsed 
between  the  dating  and  the  publication  of  the  sentence.  On  June  14 
occurred  the  mysterious  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gandia.  Alexander, 
in  his  passionate  grief  and  remorse,  initiated  a  project  of  reform  such  as 
Savonarola  would  have  welcomed.  It  was  a  moment  of  strange  conces- 
sions. The  excommunicated  man  wrote  a  letter  of  condolence  on  the 
death  of  the  Pope's  bastard,  tenderly  urging  him  to  lead  a  new  life, 
while  Alexander  assured  the  Florentine  ambassador  that  the  publication 
of  the  brief  had  never  been  intended;  the  belief  was  current  that  he 
would  willingly  withdraw  it,  if  only  the  Friar  would  come  to  Rome. 
From  July,  1497,  onw^ards  until  the  spring  the  Florentine  government 
and  its  envoys  pleaded  ceaselessly  for  pardon.  Testimonials  of  the 
Prior's  orthodoxy  v^ere  forwarded  by  the  Brethren  of  San  Marco  and  by 
five  hundred  leading  citizens  ;  Savonarola  himself  in  October  addressed 
a  humble  letter  to  the  Pope  praying  for  reconciliation.  For  six  months 
he  never  preached;  the  excitement  both  at  Rome  and  Florence  had 
subsided. 

On  Christmas-day  Savonarola  committed  his  first  act  of  open  dis- 
obedience. He  celebrated  mass  at  San  Marco,  and  then  led  a  solemn 
procession  round  the  square.  This  act  scandalised  many  zealous  sup- 
porters ;  but  from  Rome  it  provoked  no  violent  protest.  The  Pope's 
interest  was  political  ;  he  would  withdraw  his  brief  for  an  equivalent  — 
the  adhesion  of  Florence  to  the  League.  On  February  11, 1498,  Savonarola 
broke  silence.  He  preached  in  San  Marco  on  the  invalidity  of  the 
excommunication,  declaring  that  whosoever  believed  in  its  validity  was 
a  heretic  :  that  the  righteous  prince  or  good  priest  was  merely  an 
instrument  of  God  for  the  people's  government,  but  that,  when  grace 
was  withdrawn,  he  was  no  instrument  but  broken  iron  :  that  if  any  Pope 


180 


The  ordeal  of  fire 


[1498 


had  spoken  against  charity  he  too  was  broken  iron.  "  If,  O  Lord,"  he 
cried,  "  I  should  seek  to  be  absolved  from  this  excommunication,  let  me 
be  sent  to  hell ;  I  should  shrink  from  seeking  absolution  as  from  mortal 
sin."  This  sermon  contains  a  summary  of  his  correspondence  with  the 
Pope ;  Alexander,  he  concludes,  resembled  a  podestd  of  Brescia  who 
always  agreed  with  the  last  speaker  ;  he  was  like  the  king  at  chess, 
who  moved  backwards  and  forwards  from  square  to  square  whenever 
check  was  called. 

These  utterances,  followed  by  others  fully  as  audacious,  forced 
Alexander  to  a  resolution.  He  demanded,  under  pain  of  interdict, 
that  either  the  government  must  place  Savonarola  in  his  custody,  subject 
to  a  promise  that  he  should  not  be  hurt,  or  at  least  confine  him  to  his 
convent  and  prevent  his  preaching.  The  envoys  assured  the  Signoria 
that  the  Pope  was  now  in  earnest,  and  after  much  debate  Savonarola  was 
ordered  not  to  preach.  On  receiving  this  decision,  the  Friar  preached  his 
farewell  sermon;  he  was  willing  to  obey  the  State,  for  he  could  not  force 
virtue  upon  the  city  against  its  will.  This  sermon  contained  his  fiercest 
diatribe  against  the  Roman  Court ;  none  could  misunderstand  the  allu- 
sions to  Alexander's  concubines  and  children.  It  was  time  now,  cried 
the  preacher,  to  appeal  from  the  Pope  to  Christ ;  the  Power  ecclesiastic 
was  ruining  the  Church,  it  was  therefore  no  longer  Power  ecclesiastic, 
but  Power  infernal,  Power  of  Satan.  Henceforth,  if  Savonarola  was 
silent,  he  was  not  idle.  In  his  seclusion  he  prepared  an  appeal  to  a 
General  Council,  and  drafted  letters  calling  upon  the  European  princes 
to  depose  the  Pope,  who  was  no  Pope,  for  his  election  was  simoniacal,  he 
was  a  heretic  and  unbeliever,  since  he  disbelieved  in  the  existence  of  God 
—  the  deepest  depth  of  unbelief.  Had  his  cause  been  as  strong  in  Flor- 
ence as  of  yore,  had  succeeding  Signorie  been  as  bold  as  that  of  January, 
1498,  a  formal  schism  must  have  followed ;  and  who  can  say  that  the 
revolt  would  have  been  limited  to  Florence,  or  that  it  would  not  have 
overstepped  the  frontier  of  discipline  and  doctrine?  But  the  issue  was 
to  be  decided  by  internal  rather  than  by  external  politics,  and  the  final 
conflict  was  provoked  by  circumstances  almost  accidental. 

Savonarola's  brethren  were  still  preaching,  and  perhaps  exaggerating, 
the  apocalyptic  features  of  his  doctrine.  From  prophecy  to  miracle 
was  but  a  step ;  an  appeal  to  supernatural  agency  became  almost  a 
form  of  speech ;  it  was  boldly  asserted  that  miracle,  if  necessary,  would 
support  prophecy.  At  length,  on  March  25,  1498,  a  Franciscan  in 
Santa  Croce  threw  down  the  challenge ;  he  would  pass  through  fire  if 
Savonarola  would  do  likewise  :  he  knew  that  he  should  himself  be  burnt, 
but  the  Dominican  would  also  perish,  and  the  people  would  be  freed  from 
its  delusion.  Savonarola  was  averse  to  forcing  a  miracle  from  God;  the 
Court  of  Rome  expressed  its  abhorrence  at  this  tempting  of  the  Divine 
Power.  The  Government,  however,  yielded  to  popular  clamour  ;  it  was 
willing  to  clutch  at  any  remedy  for  the  civil  conflict,  which  was  wasting 


1498] 


The  ordeal  of  fire 


181 


the  life  of  Florence,  Above  all  the  Piagnoni  were  eager  for  the  ordeal ; 
the  more  zealous  offered  to  enter  the  fire  in  full  reliance  on  a  miracle, 
while  those  who  wavered  thought  that  the  prophet's  success  would  render 
his  cause  triumphant  or  his  failure  justify  secession. 

Neither  Savonarola  nor  the  Franciscan  challenger,  Francesco  da 
Puglia,  were  the  champions  of  their  Orders.  Domenico  da  Pescia, 
Savonarola's  right  hand,  represented  the  Dominicans,  and  Fra  Ron- 
dinelli  the  Franciscans.  The  painful  tale  of  the  ordeal  is  too  well 
known  to  bear  retelling  in  detail.  The  Franciscans  were  gathered 
in  the  Loggia^  and  the  huge  pile  was  laid  in  the  great  Piazza^  when 
the  Dominicans  entered  in  procession,  two  by  two,  amid  lines  of  torch- 
bearers,  followed  by  Fra  Domenico  bearing  the  Host,  and  his  Prior 
bearing  the  Crucifix.  Their  chant  "  Let  God  arise  and  let  his  enemies 
be  scattered  "  was  caught  up  by  the  faithful  on  every  side.  The  square 
was  free  but  for  the  armed  bands  of  the  government,  and  the  groups  of 
the  leading  supporters  of  each  party ;  but  every  window  and  every  roof 
was  dark  with  eager  onlookers,  hungering  for  miracles  or  horrors. 
Then  followed  the  unseemly  wrangles  between  the  Orders,  Franciscans 
insisting  that  Fra  Domenico  must  be  stripped  of  his  robes  for  fear  they 
should  be  enchanted,  Dominicans  refusing  to  send  their  champion  to  the 
flames  without  the  Host.  Then  came  the  drenching  thunderstorm,  and 
their  wrangles  again  till  eventide,  when  the  Signoria  dismissed  the 
Friars  to  their  convents.  The  Dominican  procession  reached  San  Marco 
amid  the  yells  and  threats  of  a  disappointed  mob. 

The  populace,  long  wavering,  had  made  up  its  mind.  Some  were 
angry  at  their  own  credulity,  others  at  the  proposal  to  endanger  the 
Holy  Sacrament.  Many  were  disgusted  at  losing  a  spectacle  for  which 
they  had  waited  wet  and  weary ;  others  had  hoped  that  the  Domini- 
can's death  by  fire  would  purify  the  State  from  faction.  Savonarola 
preached  to  his  disciples  that  he  had  won  the  victory;  but  in  their 
hearts  they  doubted  it,  for  they  gathered  to  defend  the  convent  in 
expectation  of  an  onslaught.  This  was  not  slow  in  coming.  On  the 
following  day,  Palm  Sunday,  the  Compagnacci  shouted  down  a  Domini- 
can preacher  in  the  Cathedral,  and  amid  cries  of  "  To  San  Marco  " 
led  the  mob  against  the  convent.  Valori  escaped  to  rally  adherents  round 
his  palace  and  to  attack  the  enemy  from  without.  But  the  assailants 
were  too  quick  ;  Valori  reached  his  house  with  difiiculty  and  hid  himself  ; 
his  wife,  looking  from  an  upper  window,  was  killed  by  a  cross-bow. 
Then  came  officials  of  the  Signoria  and  took  him  from  his  hiding-place 
towards  the  Palazzo.  The  weak  escort  was  overpowered ;  a  Ridolfi  and 
a  Tornabuoni  hacked  the  Piagnone  leader  down,  in  vengeance  for  their 
relation's  death,  and  so  the  greatest  citizen  in  Florence  died  unshriven 
in  the  street.  Meanwhile  San  Marco  was  gallantly  defended.  The  bell 
was  tolling  to  rally  the  Piagnoni.,  who,  however,  were  isolated  in  the 
churches  or  in  their  houses  in  blank  dismay.    Women  were  gathered  in 


182 


The  trial  of  Savonarola 


[1498 


the  nave  in  prayer,  while  Savonarola  stood  before  the  altar,  Sacrament  in 
hand,  with  his  novices  around  him,  expecting  martyrdom,  for  the  convent 
doors  were  burnt  and  the  enemies  crowding  in.  It  was  high  time  that 
the  Signoria  should  interfere  in  the  cause  of  order.  All  lay  citizens 
were  commanded  on  their  allegiance  to  leave  the  convent  within  an 
hour.  Further  resistance  was  hopeless.  Savonarola  and  Fra  Domenico 
surrendered  under  promise  of  safe  conduct.  For  the  last  time  the  Prior 
gathered  the  Brethren  in  the  library,  and  besought  them  to  abide  in 
faith,  in  prayer,  in  patience.  The  officers  led  their  prisoners  out  into 
the  street,  and  thence  to  the  Palace,  through  the  surging,  howling  mob, 
spitting,  kicking,  and  striking  at  its  victims.  On  the  following  day 
Fra  Silvestro  left  his  hiding-place  and  was  given  up. 

From  the  moment  of  Savonarola's  arrest,  his  execution  became  a 
necessity  of  State ;  nothing  else  would  satisfy  the  people,  who  would 
otherwise  have  clamoured  for  a  proscription  of  his  party ;  nothing  else 
would  have  healed  the  divisions  among  the  governing  class.  The 
religious  strife  had  not  only  cleft  the  city  in  twain ;  it  was  making  her 
alliance  worthless  to  any  foreign  power.  The  news  of  Charles  VIIFs 
death  had  arrived,  it  seemed  certain  that  Pisa  could  only  be  recovered 
through  the  League,  and  this  would  give  no  aid  while  Savonarola 
thundered  from  the  pulpit  against  the  Pope.  Exile  was  an  alternative 
to  death,  but  exile  would  have  removed  the  danger  to  a  foreign  and 
almost  necessarily  hostile  State;  the  Piagnoni  would  never  rest,  while 
there  was  a  possibility  of  their  leader's  return.  The  Pope  at  once 
urged  the  transference  of  the  prisoner  to  Rome  ;  the  government,  as  a 
reward  for  silencing  the  prophet,  pressed  for  a  tithe  upon  the  clergy  for 
the  Pisan  war.  Florentine  independence  declined  to  play  the  sheriff's 
officer  for  Rome,  and  Savonarola's  extradition  was  refused;  as  a  com- 
promise the  Pope  sent  commissioners  to  aid  in  his  examination. 

The  trial  of  the  three  Friars  lasted  from  April  9  until  May  22. 
Their  depositions  and  those  of  other  citizens  are  not  necessarily  worth- 
less, because  they  were  extracted  under  torture.  Torture  was  invaria- 
bly applied,  and  such  a  view  would  invalidate,  for  instance,  the  whole 
of  the  evidence  on  which  the  Medicean  conspirators  were  condemned. 
Savonarola  was,  however,  a  bad  subject.  His  nervous,  highly-strung 
constitution,  weakened  by  asceticism  and  anxiety,  shrank  from  physical 
pain.  Though  never  abandoning  his  duty,  he  had  always  been  haunted 
by  the  fear  of  personal  violence  ;  he  frequently  referred  to  his  provi- 
dential escapes  from  the  poison  or  the  dagger  of  Ludovico  il  Moro, 
although  successive  governments  devoted  to  the  Friar  never  contrived 
to  arrest  one  of  these  Milanese  agents,  with  whom  he  believed  Florence 
to  be  teeming.  The  prosecution  admitted  that  Savonarola  retracted  the 
confessions  made  under  torture,  and  these  retractations  are  set  down  in 
black  and  white.  Not  all  of  the  Florentine  Commission  were  pronounced 
enemies ;  and  of  the  two  Papal  Commissioners,  the  General  of  the 


1498] 


The  trial  of  Savonarola 


183 


Dominicans,  Turriani,  had,  until  Savonarola's  final  act  of  disobedience, 
been  his  consistent  friend.  More  difficult  is  the  question  of  the  addi- 
tions, alterations,  and  omissions  attributed  to  the  notary  Ser  Ceccone, 
a  renegade  ;  although,  had  this  "  editing  "  been  absolutely  unscrupulous, 
the  confessions  of  the  accused  would  have  been  more  compromising. 
The  depositions  of  Fra  Domenico,  whether  in  their  original  form  or  in 
the  official  copy,  bear  out  the  general  authenticity  of  the  evidence,  as 
do  even  those  of  the  hysterical  somnambulist  Fra  Silvestro,  who  was 
believed  by  many  to  be  more  knave  than  fool,  and  with  whom,  it  was 
suspected,  the  less  scrupulous  leaders  of  the  Piagnoni  conducted  their 
political  correspondence. 

The  Florentine  commissioners  directed  the  examination  mainly  to 
the  gift  of  prophecy  and  political  relations.  It  was  essential  to  extort 
from  Savonarola  a  denial  of  his  prophecies;  for  nothing  would  so 
effectually  alienate  the  large  numbers  who  still  silently  clung  to  him. 
At  first  he  stoutly  asserted  the  divine  origin  of  his  gift,  but  under 
the  strain  of  torture  he  broke  down,  and  henceforth  his  answers  were 
contradictory  or  confused.  He  was  perhaps  at  war  within  himself  on 
this  mysterious  subject,  on  which  even  his  pulpit  utterances  are  not 
consistent ;  in  his  agony  of  mind  he  now  cried  out  that  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  had  departed  from  him.  The  prosecution  represented  him  as 
admitting  that  his  alleged  gift  was  an  imposture,  the  result  of  ambition, 
of  the  desire  to  be  thought  wise  and  holy.  He  strenuously  denied  that 
his  prophecies  were  founded  on  confessions  made  to  Fr^  Silvestro 
or  himself.  With  regard  to  his  interference  in  party  politics  the 
depositions  of  the  three  Friars  were  very  colourless.  It  was  the  wish 
of  the  government  to  narrow  the  issue  to  San  Marco,  and  not  to  mark 
leading  citizens  out  for  popular  vengeance.  Even  those  who  were 
arrested  and  tortured  were  soon  released.  Not  Savonarola's  old  aristo- 
cratic enemies,  but  the  people  were  the  most  vindictive.  Parenti,  whose 
own  opinions  are  typical  of  the  changes  in  public  feeling,  affirms  that, 
to  satisfy  the  people  and  to  save  the  heads  of  the  Savonarola  party,  the 
government  replaced  four  of  the  Friar's  judges,  who  might  possibly  be 
too  favourable  to  his  cause.  The  aristocracy  could  escape  a  revolution 
only  by  his  condemnation.  Valori  and  his  associates,  it  was  confessed, 
frequently  visited  the  convent,  as  did  other  believers  high  and  low ;  the 
Friars  had  heard  their  visitors  speak  of  the  prospects  of  the  coming 
elections;  their  prayers  had  been  sometimes  asked  in  the  cause  of 
righteousness,  but  there  had  been  nothing  in  the  nature  of  an  electoral 
organisation.  Savonarola  clearly  avowed  that  he  had  supported  the 
popular  government,  but  had  not  meddled  with  its  workings.  Both 
he  and  Fra  Domenico  mentioned  their  design  for  a  life-Gonfalonier  or 
Doge.  Their  thoughts  had  naturally  turned  to  Valori,  but  his  violent 
and  eccentric  character  made  them  hesitate ;  the  excellent  Giovanni 
Battista  Ridolfi  had  been  mentioned,  but  his  large  family  connexion 


184 


The  trial  of  Savonarola 


[1498 


might  lead  to  the  predominance  of  a  single  house ;  Savonarola  had  pro- 
tested against  the  tendency  to  form  an  oligarchical  ring  within  his  party. 
In  all  this  there  was  no  implication  of  any  political  association,  nothing 
to  compel  the  Signoria  to  extend  enquiry  further. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Papal  Commissioners  the  examination  turned 
on  Savonarola's  appeal  to  a  General  Council ;  it  was  conducted  chiefly 
by  the  Spanish  lawyer  Romolino,  Bishop  of  Ilerda.  Savonarola  con- 
fessed that,  having  no  friend  in  Italy,  he  had  turned  to  foreign  princes, 
and  especially  to  those  of  France  and  Spain :  he  hoped  for  the  aid  of 
Cardinals  Brissonet  and  della  Rovere,  both  enemies  of  the  Borgia; 
Matthseus  Lang,  Maximilian's  confidential  adviser  (afterwards  Bishop 
of  Gurk  and  Cardinal),  had  spoken  ill  of  Alexander  in  the  Friar's 
presence,  while  the  scandals  of  the  Curia  were  odious  to  the  Spanish 
sovereigns  who  could  influence  the  Cardinal  of  Lisbon.  In  vain  the 
commissary  pressed  for  evidence  to  implicate  the  Cardinal  of  Naples ; 
for  confessions  extracted  by  torture  were  afterwards  withdrawn.  The 
victim  declared  that  he  had  no  wish  to  be  Pope  or  Cardinal ;  his  reward 
would  be  enough,  if  by  his  agency  so  glorious  a  work  as  the  reform  of 
the  Church  could  be  effected. 

Extorted  and  garbled  as  they  were,  these  depositions  showed  no 
proof,  in  Guicciardini's  words,  of  any  fault  except  ambition.  And  who 
can  say  that  in  his  last  agony  Savonarola  himself  may  not  have  been 
conscious  of  past  ambition,  of  the  parasite  which  clings  most  closely  to 
monastic  walls  ?  Pride  was  the  fault  which  from  the  first  Alexander  VI 
had  fixed  on  his  future  enemy. 

The  result  of  the  trial  was  less  the  condemnation  of  Savonarola  than 
that  of  the  popular  government  on  which  he  had  pinned  his  faith.  It 
would  be  vain  to  seek  under  Medici  or  Albizzi  so  violent  a  strain  on 
the  constitution,  so  shameless  a  disregard  for  individual  rights.  It  was 
pitiful  that  the  free  constitution,  the  panacea  against  tyranny,  should 
have  been  guilty  of  the  worst  crime  with  which  Florence  can  be  charged. 
Of  physical  or  political  courage  there  was  none,  save  in  the  small  band 
which  in  the  heat  of  fight  had  held  the  convent.  Only  a  short  time 
before,  the  Milanese  ambassador  had  assured  his  master  that  Savonarola 
controlled  the  great  majority  of  the  town ;  yet  now  no  Piagnone  dared 
mention  his  prophet  in  the  streets.  The  Eight  and  the  Ten  were  known 
to  have  Savonarolist  sympathies ;  in  defiance  of  the  most  fundamental 
constitutional  traditions,  without  even  the  pretence  of  a  halia^  they  were 
dismissed  before  their  office  had  expired.  There  was  no  protest  from 
these  lawfully  elected  bodies,  and  none  from  the  Council  which  had 
given  them  their  commission.  When  the  new  Signoria  was  elected,  the 
well-known  Piagnoni  were  forcibly  excluded  ;  the  qualification  for  office 
became  cowardice  or  party  hate.  The  Council  itself  suffered  the  garbled 
depositions  to  be  read,  and  did  not  insist  on  the  appearance  of  the 
accused,  because  a  Signoria^  notoriously  hostile,  stated  that  he  was 


1498] 


The  death  of  Savonarola 


185 


voluntarily  absent  from  fear  of  stoning.  In  the  Council  and  in  the 
magistracies,  Savonarola,  as  was  afterwards  proved,  must  have  numbered 
hundreds  of  secret  adherents.  Yet  one  citizen  only,  Agnolo  Niccolini, 
dared  to  suggest  that  death  should  be  commuted  for  perpetual  imprison- 
ment, so  that  posterity  might  not  lose  the  fruits  of  the  invaluable  works 
which  Savonarola  might  write  in  prison.  The  Florentine  constitution 
was  still  a  sham ;  there  was  still  no  correspondence  between  real  and 
nominal  power ;  the  mandatories  of  the  people  were  swayed  by  a 
ferocious  faction,  as  they  had  been  swayed  by  a  cool-headed  dynasty. 
It  is  small  wonder  that  the  hybrid  constitution  withered  in  the  first 
fierce  heat ;  that  when  a  few  thousand  famished  Spaniards  rushed  the 
walls  of  Prato,  two  audacious  youths  dragged  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
Florentine  Republic  from  the  Palazzo  Puhhlico^  and  condescendingly 
gave  him  their  escort  to  his  home. 

In  the  sentence  pronounced  on  May  22,  1498,  Church  and  State 
concurred.  Savonarola  and  his  companions  were  declared  heretics  and 
schismatics,  because  they  had  denied  that  Alexander  was  true  Pope  and 
had  compassed  his  deposition  ;  because  they  had  distorted  Scripture 
and  had  revealed  the  secrets  of  the  confessional  under  the  pretext  that 
they  were  vouchsafed  by  visions.  Against  the  State  they  had  sinned 
in  causing  the  useless  expenditure  of  countless  treasure  and  the  death 
of  many  innocent  citizens,  and  in  keeping  the  city  divided  against 
herself.  Unity  between  the  city  and  the  Pope  was  now  complete ; 
Florence  obtained  the  grant  of  three-tenths  of  Church  revenues ;  the 
price,  observed  the  Piagnoni^  of  them  that  sold  innocent  blood  was 
three  times  ten.  Even  to  the  three  Friars  Alexander  sent  his  absolu- 
tion. On  the  morrow  came  the  end.  Unfrocked  and  degraded  by  the 
Archbishops  Suffragan,  condemned  as  heretics  and  schismatics  by  the 
Papal  Commissaries,  Savonarola  and  his  Brethren  were  handed  over  to 
the  secular  arm,  the  Eight,  who  passed  the  formal  sentence.  Led  from 
the  ringhiera  along  a  raised  platform  to  the  scaffold,  they  were  hanged 
from  the  gibbet,  and  when  life  was  extinct  the  pile  was  lit.  The  boys 
of  Florence  stoned  the  bodies  as  they  hung.  Four  years  ago  they  had 
stoned  Piero  de'  Medici ;  then,  in  an  access  of  righteousness,  they  had 
stoned  notorious  sinners.  Now  they  stoned  their  prophet,  and  lastly 
they  were  to  stone  to  death  his  executioner.  The  bodies  were  cut  down 
into  the  flames,  the  ashes  carefully  collected  and  thrown  into  the  Arno. 
The  Piazza  had  been  thronged  with  onlookers,  for  whom  barrels  were 
broached  and  food  provided  at  government  expense.  For  the  crowd  it 
was  a  vast  municipal  picnic;  the  burning  of  the  Friars  replaced  the 
burning  of  the  Vanities,  even  as  this  had  superseded  the  fireworks  and 
pageants  of  the  Medici. 

The  horror  of  the  tragedy  lies  not  only  in  the  character  of  the 
victims,  but  in  its  contrast  to  the  high  civilisation  of  the  city  which 
destroyed  them.    From  the  rising  and  suppression  of  the  Ciompi  until 


186  The  causes  of  the  tragedy  [i498 


the  fall  of  Piero,  that  is,  in  more  than  a  century,  no  notable  act  of 
violence  had  been  witnessed,  save  when  the  Signoria  hanged  from  the 
palace  windows,  red-handed,  the  Pazzi  conspirators  who  had  murdered 
Giuliano  de'  Medici  in  the  Cathedral  and  attempted  to  storm  the  palace. 
The  next  four  years  saw  first  the  arson  and  bloodshed  which  followed 
Piero's  fall,  then  the  irregular  condemnation  of  five  chief  citizens ;  then, 
the  storming  of  San  Marco  and  the  murder  of  Valori  and  his  wife ;  and 
now  the  fever  of  political  passion  reached  its  climax  in  Savonarola's 
death.  The  republican  experiment  cost  Florence  very  dear,  alike  in 
territory,  blood,  and  treasure. 

The  tragedy  had  become  inevitable.  It  is  never  easy  to  screw  up 
the  moral  standard  of  a  people.  Yet  in  Florence  there  was  such  a 
genuine  and  permanent  element  of  what  may  almost  be  called  puritanism 
that,  had  she  stood  by  herself  and  enjoyed  a  period  of  profound  peace, 
Savonarola's  system  might  have  been  partially  successful.  It  would  have 
needed,  perhaps,  no  very  professional  knowledge  to  administer  the  State  ; 
the  good  man  might  have  been  not  only  the  good  citizen  but  the  good 
ruler.  The  experiment  was,  however,  tried  at  a  crisis  of  peculiar 
complexity,  when  the  elements  of  violence  abroad  and  at  home  were 
unusually  strong  —  when  ethics  and  politics  had  least  chance  of  fusion. 
For  such  a  task  a  novice  in  the  art  of  government  must  needs  prove 
unequal ;  he  must  consciously  or  unconsciously  hand  the  reins  to  those 
who  had  the  experience  which  he  lacked. 

The  Pope  and  the  Duke  of  Milan  doubtless  hastened  the  catastrophe, 
and  Savonarola  was  in  a  measure  the  victim  of  his  party's  foreign  policy. 
Causes,  however,  should  not  be  multiplied  without  reason,  and  within 
Florence  there  was  cause  sufficient  for  the  tragedy.  If  she  were  a  good 
subject  for  ethical  reform,  it  was  otherwise  with  politics.  It  is  easier  to 
change  the  constitution  than  the  character  of  a  people.  The  Florentines, 
said  Guicciardini,  possessed  two  characteristics  in  apparent  contradiction, 
the  love  of  equality  and  the  desire  of  each  family  to  lead.  If  the  new 
constitution  could  satisfy  the  former,  it  could  not  assuage  the  latter. 
The  influence  of  family  rivalry  was  the  vital  distinction  in  the  working 
of  the  Venetian  and  Florentine  republics.  At  Venice  family  jealousies 
rarely  influenced  the  State ;  at  Florence  they  overmastered  and  corrupted 
public  life.  In  vain  Savonarola,  like  San  Bernardino  before  him,  inveighed 
against  the  party  nicknames  which  would  surely  bring  back  the  horrors 
of  the  strife  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline.  He  became  himself  the  very 
subject  of  these  factions ;  he  could  not  shake  himself  free  from  a  Valori  or 
a  Soderini ;  his  opponents  regarded  him  as  the  dangerous  tool  of  the  most 
ambitious  of  their  rivals.  To  gain  admirable  ends  he  was  forced  to  work 
through  agents  who  were  compromised.  Disavowing  democratic  prin- 
ciples, it  was  only  a  question  of  time  to  which  branch  of  the  aristocracy 
he  would  attach  himself ;  his  religious  achievements  might  have  been 
greater  under  the  unquestioned  rule  of  the  Medici.  This  impossibility  of 


1498] 


The  causes  of  the  tragedy 


187 


detachment  from  family  strife  is  the  tragedy  of  Savonarola;  he  fell 
because  he  was  believed  to  be  Valori's  tool.  The  Florentines  perhaps 
exaggerated  the  closeness  of  his  intimacy  with  the  party  chiefs.  In  his 
sermons  on  Amos  and  on  Ruth  he  implored  his  congregation  to  leave 
himself  and  his  friars  alone,  and  not  to  pester  them  with  legislative 
proposals,  with  this  or  that  man's  candidature,  —  questions  for  magis- 
trates and  citizens,  and  not  for  friars.  He  repeated  that  he  was  no 
politician,  that  he  had  no  finger  in  their  government,  nor  in  their  foreign 
relations.  Yet  in  these  very  sermons  he  stated  that  he  was  accused  of 
constant  interference ;  and  the  visits  of  the  party  leaders  to  San  Marco 
seemed  to  support  the  accusation.  His  enemies  not  unnaturally  thought 
that  the  midnight  meetings  of  Medicean  days  on  the  eve  of  elections  had 
been  but  transferred  from  the  palace  in  the  Via  Larga  to  the  parlour  of 
San  Marco.  Parenti  describes  in  detail  the  passage  of  Valori's  measures 
from  their  initiation  in  San  Marco  to  their  consummation  in  the  Council. 
The  biographer  Burlamacchi  incidentally  gives  some  slight  colour  to  the 
charge  of  close  intercourse  with  Valori,  writing  that  Savonarola  would 
not  be  interrupted  in  his  prayers  even  when  Valori  called.  The  Friar 
himself  protested  to  the  Pope  in  1495  that  he  could  not  obey  the  call  to 
Rome  because  the  new  government  needed  his  daily  care.  The  pulpit 
was  performing  the  functions  of  the  modern  press ;  its  importance  was 
heightened  by  the  absence  of  debate  in  the  assembly.  If  one  party 
used  this  medium,  the  other  was  sure  to  follow.  The  pulpit  of  San 
Marco  became  the  organ  of  the  Piagnoni^  that  of  Santa  Croce  the  organ 
of  the  grandees. 

It  is  not  easy  to  time  precisely  the  flow  and  ebb  of  public  opinion 
towards  and  away  from  Savonarola.  So  early  as  June,  1497,  a  private 
letter  written  to  Venice  describes  the  populace  as  Medicean,  the  citizens 
as  inclined  towards  Milan.  From  the  early  spring  of  1498  the  feeling 
against  him  had  been  strong.  His  preaching  while  under  excommuni- 
cation had  scandalised  earnest  disciples;  the  threats  of  interdict  were 
doubtless  a  terror  to  many  more.  Florence  was  not  prepared  for  a 
breach  with  the  visible  head  of  her  Church  even  at  the  bidding  of  her 
prophet.  When  the  end  came,  the  number  of  avowed  supporters  was 
not  large;  the  pronounced  Piagnoni  whom  the  government  excluded 
from  the  Council  numbered  sixty  at  the  most.  The  lower  classes  had 
long  been  turning ;  with  them  Savonarola's  constitution  had  found  no 
place  ;  they  had  lost  the  amusement  and  sense  of  importance  which 
an  occasional  Parlamento  provided.  The  puritanism  which  replaced  the 
extravagant  splendour  of  Florentine  festivities  entailed  a  diminution 
both  of  work  and  pleasure.  Many  of  the  poor  were  of  course  dependent 
on  the  great  houses,  most  of  which  were  opposed  to  Savonarola.  The  East 
end  of  Florence,  the  poorest  quarter,  had  long  been  a  Medicean  strong- 
hold ;  sooner  or  later  it  must  feel  the  loss  of  Medicean  charities.  The 
great  square  of  Santa  Croce,  the  playground  of  the  poor,  missed  tYiQfites 


188 


The  causes  of  the  tragedy 


[1498 


which  had  drawn  thither  the  beauty  and  fashion  of  Florentine  society. 
Life  had  now  left  it  for  the  religious  centres  of  the  Cathedral  and  San 
Marco.  Monti  di  pietd  and  burnings  of  the  Vanities  were  poor  sub- 
stitutes for  panis  et  Circenses,  From  the  great  Franciscan  church  the 
friars  perpetually  thundered  against  the  rival  Dominican ;  the  Fran- 
ciscans were  after  all  the  peculiar  Order  of  the  poor,  and  they  gradually 
regained  the  influence  which  the  eloquence  of  Savonarola  had  tempora- 
rily filched  away  from  them. 

The  ordeal  had  decided  all  but  zealous  adherents,  and  the  faith 
of  these  was  widely,  if  only  temporarily,  shaken  by  the  alleged  con- 
fessions. This  is  clear  from  the  piteous  expressions  of  Landucci,  who 
describes  his  grief  and  stupefaction  at  the  fall  of  the  glorious  edifice 
built  on  the  sorry  foundation  of  lying  prophecy,  at  the  vanishing  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  which  Florence  had  expected,  and  from  which  were  to 
issue  a  code  and  an  example  of  holy  living,  the  renovation  of  the 
Church,  and  the  conversion  of  the  infidels.  The  disillusion  was  com- 
pleted by  Savonarola's  silence  at  the  stake  and  by  the  Divine  refusal  of 
a  miracle  to  save  him.  Among  thinking  men  it  is  unlikely  that  Marsilio 
Ficino,  the  Platonist,  and  Verino,  the  Humanist,  should  have  been  alone 
in  deserting  him,  although  they  were  no  doubt  the  most  distinguished 
of  their  class.  It  is  needless  to  brand  them  as  hypocrites  and  turncoats. 
Marsilio  at  least  had  led  a  blameless  life ;  his  devotion  to  Savonarola 
was  of  long  standing ;  they  had  much  in  common  in  their  speculative 
mysticism,  in  their  groping  after  the  unseen  world.  Marsilio  was  no 
politician ;  he  could  gain  or  lose  nothing  by  the  change  of  front,  which 
he  himself  ascribed  to  the  fierce  family  divisions  produced  by  Savonarola's 
influence.  The  desertion  of  the  Prior  by  the  Brethren  of  San  Marco 
must  not  be  judged  too  harshly.  Something  was  doubtless  due  to 
cowardice,  the  result  of  the  fierce  fight  round  the  convent.  But  monastic 
life  is  subject  to  contagious  waves  of  feeling;  the  belief  might  well  run 
through  the  convent  that  its  inmates  had  been  befooled  and  duped  by 
the  saintly  exterior  and  passionate  eloquence  of  their  Prior.  The 
reaction  from  the  spiritual  excitement  raised  by  prophecy  brings  with 
it  the  abandonment  of  the  very  foundations  of  belief.  To  Savona- 
rola's modern  biographers  no  language  has  seemed  too  hard  for  Fr^ 
Malatesta  who  headed  the  apostasy,  and  who  had  witnessed  Savonarola's 
signature  of  the  depositions.  But  he  too  had  borne  a  spotless  character; 
he  was  a  man  of  high  birth,  a  Canon  of  the  Cathedral,  who  from  genuine 
devotion  had  joined  San  Marco,  abandoning  a  fine  income  and  the 
certainty  of  advancement.  Men  of  this  type  may  in  a  moment  of 
physical  and  spiritual  disturbance  be  weak,  but  they  seldom  then  begin 
to  be  deliberately  wicked.  Even  Fra  Benedetto,  who  spent  the  rest  of 
his  life  in  restoring  his  master's  memory,  for  the  moment  fell  away. 

The  passionate  hatred  which  Savonarola  had  excited  may  seem  hard 
to  explain.   It  was  otherwise  with  Sant'  Antonino,  who  had  laboured  not 


1491-8]         Savonarola  as  a  spiritual  power  189 


less  earnestly  in  the  field  of  morality  and  religion,  or  with  San  Bernardino, 
who  had  found  favour  both  with  Guelf  and  Ghibelline.  Saints  are  not 
necessarily  unpopular.  The  cause  may,  perhaps,  be  sought  in  Savona- 
rola's self-assertion,  in  his  perpetual  use  of  the  first  person,  in  the 
reiteration  of  all  that  he  had  done  for  Florence,  of  all  the  prophecies 
that  had  been  fulfilled  or  were  to  be  fulfilled,  at  the  expense  of  those 
who  would  not  listen.  Whoever  will  force  himself  to  read  one  of  his 
more  emphatic  sermons  from  an  opponent's  point  of  view  may  find 
the  key  to  tlie  final  verdict  of  the  city.  The  child  had  grown  into  the 
man.  Savonarola  had  striven  to  break  the  wings  of  the  foul  bird,  and 
the  bird  had  struck  him  with  his  talons ;  he  had  lifted  his  rod  to  part 
the  waters,  and  the  Red  Sea  had  overwhelmed  him. 

The  fascination  which  Savonarola  exercised  is  almost  as  living  to-day 
as  it  was  when  his  congregation  sat  spell-bound  round  him.  The  object 
of  these  pages  has  been  to  discuss  his  influence  upon  political  and  con- 
stitutional history;  but  this  is  only  one  aspect  of  his  career  and  to 
himself  the  least  important.  He  was,  perhaps,  no  skilled  statesman,  no 
wise  political  leader;  but,  as  a  spiritual  force  whose  influence  long 
survived  him,  he  has  had  few  equals.  Those  who  would  study  this  side 
of  his  character  must  leave  the  chroniclers,  the  despatches  of  ambassadors, 
and  the  biographies,  and  turn  to  his  letters,  his  sermons,  and  his  tracts. 
His  zeal  for  righteousness,  his  horror  of  sin,  his  sympathy  for  the  poor, 
his  love  of  children,  appeal  to  the  earnest  and  loving  of  all  ages.  There  is 
little  question  that  for  most  foreigners,  certainly  for  those  of  the  English- 
speaking  race,  the  very  thought  of  Florence  centres  in  Dante,  the  exile 
of  Ravenna,  and  in  Savonarola,  the  alien  of  Ferrara. 


CHAPTER  VI 


FLORENCE  (II):  MACHIAVELLI 

By  the  year  1512  the  downfall  of  the  Florentine  Republic  was 
complete.  Her  failure  was  due  to  a  variety  of  causes.  A  form  of 
government  which  had  worked  satisfactorily  while  remaining  outside  the 
general  stream  of  European  politics,  proved  incapable  of  readjustment 
to  novel  conditions,  and  became  an  anachronism,  more  and  more  dis- 
credited as  time  went  on.  The  character  of  the  Florentine  constitution 
rendered  almost  impossible  any  continuity  of  aim  or  persistence  in  policy. 
The  Signoria  changed  every  two  months :  the  Died  della  guerra^  who  had 
de  facto  the  largest  control  over  foreign  politics,  changed  every  six  months. 
No  State  could  repose  confidence  in  a  government,  in  which  political 
secrets  could  not  be  kept  and  where  it  appeared  impossible  to  fix  respon- 
sibility on  anyone.  From  time  to  time  efforts  were  made  at  Florence  to 
remove  this  source  of  weakness,  and  the  appointment  in  1502  of  a  Gonfa- 
loniere  holding  office  for  life  seemed  to  many  men,  including  Machiavelli, 
to  have  at  last  furnished  some  real  guarantee  for  a  stable  policy.  Not 
only,  however,  was  the  notion  of  a  permanent  official  at  variance  with  the 
theories  of  political  liberty  accepted  at  Florence,  but  the  new  G-onfaloniere, 
Piero  Soderini,  was  in  reality  unequal  to  his  position,  and  maintained 
his  authority  only  at  the  cost  of  much  unnecessary  friction.  He  was 
firm  only  in  his  allegiance  to  France.  Louis  XII  on  his  part  was 
indifferent  to  the  real  interests  of  the  city,  though  ready  to  make  what 
use  he  could  of  Florentine  assistance  in  his  Italian  expeditions.  When 
the  French  were  ultimately  forced  to  withdraw  from  Italy,  Florence  was 
left  isolated  and  impotent. 

It  was  not  merely  the  inherent  defects  of  her  constitution  that  weakened 
Florence ;  in  the  city  itself  there  was  never  during  these  years  any  real 
union.  The  death  of  Savonarola  neither  removed  the  causes  of  internal 
discontent,  nor  mitigated  the  animosity  of  faction.  The  quarrels  of 
individuals  and  of  parties  rendered  it  difficult  to  maintain  order  in 
the  city  or  to  conduct  the  daily  business  of  government.  The  adherents 
of  the  Medici  family  were  numerous,  rich,  and  unscrupulous,  and  in  the 
end  proved  successful.    They  were  ready  at  any  moment  to  co-operate 

190 


1498-1512]  Causes  of  thedo  wnf all  of  the  F lor entiyie  Republic  191 


with  any  foreigner  or  Italian,  who  might  be  an  enemy  of  the  Republic. 
The  result  was  to  create  general  distrust,  and  to  render  impossible  any 
combined  effort  on  a  large  scale. 

A  city  so  situated  could  only  maintain  its  independence,  if  its 
military  strength  supplied  more  than  a  counterpoise  to  its  constitutional 
weakness.  An  adequate  army  and  trustworthy  commanders  were  indispens- 
able, and  Florence  possessed  neither.  The  practice  of  hiring  professional 
soldiers  was  general  in  Italy,  and  was  adopted  at  Florence.  It  became  the 
cause  of  incalculable  evil.  Not  only  was  the  city  liable  to  be  deserted 
or  betrayed,  even  during  a  battle,  by  her  mercenary  troops,  but  the 
system  necessarily  involved  a  vast  outlay  of  public  money  and  a  heavy 
taxation.  By  1503  the  financial  crisis  had  in  consequence  become  so 
acute  that  it  was  necessary  to  levy  a  tithe  upon  all  real  property.  The 
evil  was  mitigated,  but  not  removed,  by  the  military  reforms  of  1506. 
Machiavelli,  who  carried  into  effect  the  new  system,  though  the  idea  did 
not  originate  with  him,  was  able,  by  means  of  his  indomitable  diligence 
and  enthusiasm,  to  muster  a  force  of  about  5000  citizen  soldiers ;  but  in 
the  end  they  proved  to  be  of  little  service. 

Florence  was,  moreover,  set  in  the  midst  of  many  and  great  enemies. 
In  the  North,  Ludovico  il  Moro  at  Milan,  whether  as  open  enemy  or 
insidious  friend,  did  what  he  could  to  damage  the  State,  until  he  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  French  in  1500  and  finally  disappeared  from 
Italian  history.  Venice  had  long  ago  abandoned  her  traditional  policy 
and  been  seeking  to  acquire  an  inland  empire,  and,  until  the  battle  of 
Agnadello  in  1509  crushed  her  power,  harassed  and  impeded  the  Floren- 
tines at  every  turn.  At  Rome  both  Alexander  VI  and  Julius  II  were 
indifferent  or  hostile  to  Florentine  interests,  and  Cesare  Borgia  was 
believed,  probably  with  reason,  to  include  among  his  designs  the  incor- 
poration of  Tuscany  with  his  other  conquests.  And  besides  the 
opposition  of  the  larger  Italian  States,  Florence  had  during  this 
period  to  struggle  against  the  hostility  of  nearly  all  the  smaller  towns 
in  her  neighbourhood.  Pisa  in  particular  was  a  source  of  endless 
trouble.  From  1494,  when  Pisa,  thanks  to  Charles  VIII,  threw  off  the 
Florentine  dominion  and  became  a  free  State,  until  1509,  Florence  was 
at  war  with  her ;  and  any  other  Power,  whose  object  was  to  damage 
Florence,  was  sure  to  intervene  from  time  to  time  in  the  struggle. 

To  meet  the  dangers  which  threatened  them  from  outside  and  the 
embarrassments  and  perplexities  within  the  city,  the  Florentines  pos- 
sessed no  statesmen  of  commanding  ability  or  acknowledged  pre-eminence, 
and  no  generals  with  real  military  genius.  There  were  skilful  diplo- 
matists and  mediocre  captains  in  abundance,  and  even  men  who,  like 
Antonio  Giacomini  and  Niccolo  Capponi,  might  under  more  favourable 
conditions  have  proved  efficient  commanders ;  but,  speaking  broadly,  at 
Florence,  as  in  most  cities  of  Central  Italy,  intellect  had  outrun  character, 
and  the  sterner  virtues  were  almost  unknown.    The  "  corruption  "  of 


192  Causes  of  thedownf all  of  the  Florentine  Republic[u9S-i5i2 


which  Machiavelli  complained  so  often  and  so  bitterly,  was  to  be  found 
everywhere ;  and,  though  its  effects  were  naturally  most  obvious  in  the 
military  class,  it  was  equally  a  source  of  weakness  in  the  political  world. 
The  defensive  attitude  which  was  forced  upon  the  city  by  the  movements 
of  the  larger  European  Powers,  and  the  constant  vigilance  and  diplomatic 
manoeuvring  necessary  to  combat  the  shifting  designs  of  Italian  neigh- 
bours, prevented  any  elevation  of  view,  and  rendered  inevitable  the 
employment  of  all  the  familiar  resources  of  small  and  weak  States  in 
extremis. 

In  the  great  events  of  the  years  1499-1512  Florence  played  but 
a  subordinate  part.  When  Louis  XII  was  preparing  his  expedition 
against  Milan,  Florence  held  aloof,  awaiting  the  result  of  the  struggle. 
While  Louis  XII  was  at  Milan,  ambassadors  arrived  from  Florence. 
The  hesitation  of  the  city  to  declare  her  intentions  before  the  event  had 
aroused  some  distrust  in  the  French ;  but  it  would  have  been  obviously 
undesirable,  in  view  of  the  proposed  expedition  against  Naples,  to 
alienate  the  Florentines,  and  hence  an  arrangement  was  without 
difficulty  concluded,  by  which  Florence  was  to  receive  aid  from  Louis 
for  the  war  against  Pisa,  and  in  return  to  supply  him  with  troops  and 
money  (October  12,  1499).  Thenceforward  the  fortunes  of  Florence 
were  intimately  linked  with  the  fortunes  of  France. 

In  the  campaign  of  Cesare  Borgia  against  Imola  and  Forli  there  was 
nothing  which  directly  menaced  Florence  ;  and  when  the  Pope  secretly 
endeavoured  to  influence  Louis  XII  against  the  city,  he  was  unsuccessful, 
and  Louis  gave  definite  instructions  that  Cesare  was  to  do  nothing 
detrimental  to  Florence.  But  it  was  becoming  clear  that  the  Borgian 
policy,  in  so  far  as  it  tended  to  consolidation,  was  a  menace  to  the 
Republic  :  for  even  if  Tuscany  were  not  directly  to  suffer,  one  strong 
neighbour  would  take  the  place  of  many  feeble  ones. 

While  these  events  were  in  progress,  the  Florentines  had  devoted 
their  best  energies  to  the  war  against  Pisa;  but  they  were  unable  to 
make  any  real  progress  towards  the  capture  of  the  town.  In  the  summer 
of  1498  they  had  hired  Paolo  Vitelli  as  their  general,  and  in  1499  it 
seemed  as  though  Pisa  would  be  forced  to  capitulate.  But  Vitelli 
failed  at  the  last  moment,  and  paid  for  his  blunder  with  his  life.  Things 
became  still  worse  when,  in  accordance  with  the  agreement  concluded  at 
Milan,  October  12,  some  Swiss  and  Gascons  were  sent  by  Louis  XII 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Florentines.  The  Gascons  soon  deserted,  while 
the  Swiss  mutinied;  and  Louis  XII  blamed  the  Florentines  for  the 
fiasco.  It  was  in  connexion  with  these  events  that  Machiavelli  was 
sent  to  France.  He  was  unable  to  obtain  any  satisfaction,  and  it  was 
not  until  three  years  later  (1504),  when  the  French  had  been  defeated  at 
Naples  and  the  danger  threatened  by  Cesare  Borgia  had  passed  away, 
that  Florence  was  able  to  resume  operations  with  any  vigour. 

After  the  settlement  of  the  Milanese  question,  Louis  XII  was  occupied 


1501-2]        Development  of  the  Borgian  policy  193 


with  the  preliminaries  of  his  expedition  against  Naples.  The  treaty 
by  which  he  and  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  agreed  to  conquer  the  Neapolitan 
territory  and  to  divide  it  between  them,  was  concluded  on  November  11, 
1500,  and  ratified  by  the  Pope  on  June  25  of  the  following  year.  It 
affected  Florence  in  so  far  as  it  implied  an  assurance  that  Cesare  Borgia 
would  not  be  molested  by  France  in  prosecuting  his  designs.  But 
Louis  XII  hardly  yet  perceived  the  scope  of  Borgian  ambition,  and 
there  was  for  the  moment  at  least  no  certainty  that  a  collision  with  Flor- 
ence was  impending.  At  the  end  of  September  Cesare  started  for  the 
Romagna,  and,  after  a  series  of  successes  which  placed  him  in  possession 
of  Pesaro,  Rimini,  and  Faenza,  sent  to  Florence  to  demand  provisions  and 
a  free  pass  through  Florentine  territory.  Without,  however,  awaiting  a 
reply,  he  advanced  to  Barberino  and  there  renewed  his  demands,  at  the 
same  time  requiring  the  Florentines  to  alter  the  government  of  their 
State.  His  object  was  to  secure  Piero  de'  Medici  more  closely  to  his 
interests.  This  demand  was  not,  however,  insisted  upon,  as  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Medici  was  hardly  practicable  at  this  juncture,  and,  even  if 
practicable,  appeared  likely  to  throw  more  power  than  was  compatible 
with  Cesare's  interests  into  the  hands  of  Vitellozzo  Vitelli  and  the  Orsini. 
But  he  pressed  his  demand  for  a  condotta  from  Florence,  and  this  was 
conceded,  the  Florentines  also  undertaking  not  to  hinder  his  enterprise 
against  Piombino.  Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  when  he  started  for 
Rome  in  June,  in  order  to  join  the  French  army  now  advancing  towards 
Naples.  His  work  was  successfully  continued  by  his  captains,  and  he  re- 
turned early  in  the  next  year  (1502)  to  take  formal  possession  of  Piombino. 

The  next  six  months  witnessed  a  further  development  of  the  Borgian 
policy,  and  the  Florentines  began  at  length  to  realise  in  what  peril  they 
stood.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine  with  precision  how  far  Cesare 
Borgia's  movements  during  the  year  were  definitely  premeditated; 
considering  the  complexity  of  the  conditions  under  which  he  was  work- 
ing, his  actions  could  not  be  settled  long  beforehand,  but  were  nec- 
essarily adjusted  day  by  day  in  the  face  of  momentary  opportunities 
or  emergencies.  From  Piombino  he  returned  to  Rome,  leaving  military 
operations  in  the  hands  of  Vitellozzo  Vitelli.  Acting  in  conjunction 
with  Piero  de'  Medici,  Vitellozzo  was  able  to  effect  the  revolt  of  Arezzo, 
and  rapidly  made  himself  master  of  nearly  all  the  places  of  any  im- 
portance northwards  as  far  as  Forli  and  southwards  as  far  as  the  shores 
of  Lake  Trasimeno.  At  Florence  the  news  of  the  revolt  was  received 
with  consternation,  and  the  alarm  became  general.  It  was  clear  that 
the  city  itself  was  being  gradually  and  systematically  shut  in.  Cesare's 
idea  was  to  bring  under  his  control  all  the  country  which  lay,  roughly 
speaking,  between  four  points  —  Piombino,  Perugia,  Forli,  Pisa :  the  lines 
of  country  and  towns  which  connected  these  four  points  were  now  practi- 
cally secured  to  him.  For  on  the  south,  the  district  between  Piombino 
and  Perugia  was  already  won,  and  Pandolfo  Petrucci,  Lord  of  Siena,  who, 

C.  M.  H.  I.  13 


194 


Cesare  Borgia  menaces  Florence  [1502 


situated  about  midway  between  the  two  points  and  a  little  to  the  north, 
might  have  hampered  his  designs,  had  been  brought  over  to  his  interests 
in  1501.  The  country  along  the  eastern  line  from  Perugia  to  Forli 
was  won  by  the  rebellion  of  Arezzo  and  the  Valdichiana.  On  the 
north,  from  Forli  to  Pisa,  his  hold  was  not  quite  so  secure,  but  Pistoia, 
ever  rent  by  faction,  could  offer  no  effective  resistance,  Lucca  was 
avowedly  Medicean,  and  the  Pisans  definitely  offered  their  city  to 
Cesare  Borgia  before  December  1502.  About  the  coast-line  from 
Piombino  to  the  mouth  of  the  Arno,  there  was  no  need  to  trouble.  It 
seemed,  therefore,  as  though  everything  were  ready  for  an  immediate 
and  crushing  attack  upon  Tuscany. 

The  situation  of  Florence  was  not,  however,  so  desperate  as  it  ap- 
peared to  be.  There  were  still  a  few  places  of  importance  lying  outside 
the  eastern  line  from  Forli  to  Perugia,  which  might  at  any  moment 
prove  troublesome  to  Cesare.  Of  these  the  most  notable  were  Urbino, 
Camerino,  and  Perugia.  The  latter  he  could  afford  to  disregard  for 
the  moment,  as  the  Signore^  Giovan  Paolo  Baglioni,  was  serving  in  his 
army  and  at  the  time  seemed  trustworthy.  But  Urbino,  which  blocked 
his  way  to  the  eastern  coast  and  might  cut  off  communication  with 
Rimini  and  Pesaro  which  he  had  held  since  1500,  had  to  be  sub- 
dued. The  same  could  also  be  said  of  Camerino,  as  the  point  of 
junction  between  Perugia  and  Fermo.  Cesare  was,  moreover,  already 
aware  that  he  could  not  trust  to  the  loyalty  of  his  mercenary  captains. 
Seeing  how  town  after  town  fell  before  him,  it  was  inevitable  that  they 
should  reflect  how  their  own  turn  might  come  next.  They  distrusted 
their  employer,  and  he  distrusted  them.  Conspiracy  and  treachery  were 
bound  to  ensue ;  the  notions  of  right  and  authority  had  ceased  to  be 
regarded  on  either  side,  and  the  vital  question  was,  who  would  have  the 
dexterity  and  cunning  to  overreach  his  antagonist  ?  Lastly,  Louis  XII 
was  still  the  most  important  factor  in  the  impending  struggle.  There 
had  recently  been  some  grounds  of  dispute  between  the  Florentines  and 
France,  Louis  complaining  that  he  had  not  received  proper  assistance 
from  the  city  during  his  Neapolitan  campaign.  But  the  misunder- 
standing had  been  removed  by  a  new  agreement  (April  12,  1502)  ;  and 
the  King  had  undertaken  to  supply  troops  for  the  defence  of  Florence 
whenever  necessary.  The  French  had  no  intention  of  allowing  the  Borgia 
to  become  masters  of  Florence ;  in  that  event,  the  road  to  Naples  would 
have  been  blocked  by  a  new  Power  commanding  Central  Italy  from  sea 
to  sea.  The  capture  of  Urbino  by  Cesare  Borgia  at  the  end  of  June 
was  an  unmistakable  revelation  of  his  designs.  It  was  at  this  juncture 
that  France  intervened,  and  obliged  him  to  suspend  operations.  It 
became  necessary  to  temporise,  and  he  entered  into  negotiations  with 
Florence.  Arezzo  and  the  other  places  which  he  had  conquered  in 
Tuscany  were  reluctantly  restored  to  the  Republic.  But  at  the  end  of 
July  he  went  in  person  to  Milan  to  have  an  interview  with  Louis  XII, 


1503]  Collapse  of  the  Borgian  power  195 


and  succeeded  in  effecting  a  complete  reconciliation  with  him.  Florence 
was,  however,  relieved  from  immediate  apprehension. 

It  was  at  this  critical  moment  that  the  threatened  conspiracy  of 
Cesare  Borgia's  captains  broke  out.  The  exasperation  which  the  Borgian 
projects  had  aroused  at  Florence  led  the  conspirators  to  hope  that  the 
Republic  would  espouse  their  cause  ;  and,  after  making  themselves  masters 
of  the  Duchy  of  Urbino,  they  appealed  to  Florence  for  assistance.  But 
as  soon  as  the  existence  of  the  conspiracy  had  become  known,  both  the 
Pope  and  his  son  had  in  their  turn  applied  to  the  Florentines  and  asked 
that  ambassadors  might  be  sent  to  confer  with  them.  Machiavelli  was 
deputed  to  visit  Cesare  Borgia,  and  remained  with  him  till  the  end  of  the 
following  January  (1503).  The  arrival  of  French  troops,  for  which 
Cesare  Borgia  applied  to  Louis  XII  and  which  were  readily  furnished, 
forced  the  recalcitrant  captains  to  come  to  terms,  and  they  were  allowed 
to  take  service  with  him  as  before.  But  the  hollow  reconciliation 
deceived  no  one,  and  Machiavelli  in  particular  had  opportunities  day  by 
day  to  trace  the  stages  by  which  Cesare  Borgia,  who  never  trusted  twice 
to  men  who  betrayed  him  once,  lulled  his  opponents  into  a  false  sense  of 
security,  and  finally  took  them  prisoners  at  Sinigaglia  (December  31). 
The  ringleaders,  including  Vitellozzo  Vitelli,  were  put  to  death  by  his 
orders.  Thence  he  withdrew  to  Rome,  where  he  arrived  early  in  the 
following  year  (1503). 

The  year's  work  had  not  been,  on  the  whole,  unfavourable  to  the 
Borgias.  Florence  on  the  other  hand  had  suffered  seriously,  and  the 
incompetence  of  the  government  was  generally  obvious.  The  reform 
of  1502,  which,  carried  as  a  compromise  and  supported  by  academic 
reasoning,  provided  for  the  election  of  a  Goyifaloniere  to  hold  office  for 
life,  did  something  to  revive  the  spirits  of  the  inhabitants,  and  met  the 
wishes  of  Louis  XII ;  but  it  added  nothing  to  the  real  strength  of 
the  Republic.  In  the  Neapolitan  territory  disputes  had  arisen  between  the 
French  and  the  Spaniards,  and  all  Northern  Italy  watched  with  anxiety 
the  progress  of  the  war.  The  defeat  of  the  French  at  the  battle  of 
Cerignola  (April  28,  1503)  had  a  marked  effect  upon  the  policy  of  the 
Pope,  who  began  in  consequence  to  incline  toAvards  Spain;  but  on 
August  18  all  the  Borgian  designs  were  cut  short  by  the  sudden  and 
unexpected  death  of  Alexander  VI.  His  son  was  ill  at  the  same  time, 
and  unable  to  do  anything.  The  politics  of  the  Italian  States  were  thus 
completely  disorganised,  and  Florence  in  common  with  the  others  looked 
anxiously  for  the  election  of  the  new  Pope.  Pius  Ill's  short  reign  of 
less  than  a  month  was  without  real  influence  upon  the  position  of  affairs. 
On  November  1  he  was  succeeded  by  Julius  II,  whose  election  Cesare 
Borgia  had  not  been  able  to  prevent.  With  Julius  II  a  new  period 
begins  not  only  in  the  history  of  Italy  but  of  Europe. 

Florence  had  now  nothing  to  fear  from  Cesare  Borgia.  On  the 
death  of  his  father,  he  lost  all  his  possessions  except  the  Romagna, 


196 


The  government  of  Soderini 


[1503-5 


which  remained  faithful  to  him  for  about  a  month.  He  had  governed 
the  district  with  justice  and  integrity,  and  won  the  affections  of  the 
inhabitants.  But  his  inopportune  illness  was  fatal  to  his  prospects. 
The  Venetians,  always  on  the  watch  for  opportunities  to  enlarge  their 
inland  empire,  obtained  possession  of  Faenza  and  Rimini ;  Pesaro  re- 
turned under  the  rule  of  its  former  Lord ;  Imola  and  Forli  surrendered 
themselves  to  the  Pope.  By  the  end  of  January,  1504,  Cesare  Borgia 
was  forced  to  sign  an  agreement  by  which  he  abandoned  to  Julius  II  all 
his  claims  to  the  Romagna,  in  return  for  permission  to  withdraw  wher- 
ever he  might  wish.  In  the  spring  he  arrived  at  Naples,  and,  taken 
prisoner  by  Gonzalo,  was  conveyed  to  Spain.  He  was  killed  in  battle 
in  Navarre  (1507). 

But  whatever  advantages  the  Florentines  might  have  derived  from 
the  disappearance  of  Cesare  Borgia,  they  were  more  than  counterbalanced 
by  several  other  events.  The  final  defeat  of  the  French  at  the  battle  of 
the  Garigliano  (December  28,  1503)  placed  the  whole  of  southern  Italy 
in  the  power  of  Spain ;  and  the  movements  of  Gonzalo,  who  was  known 
to  be  willing  to  help  Pisa,  were  a  source  of  constant  anxiety  to  the 
Republic.  The  presence  of  the  Venetians  in  the  Romagna,  the  ignor- 
ance which  yet  prevailed  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Pope,  and  the  want 
of  troops  and  of  money,  combined  to  produce  a  situation  of  extreme 
gravity  at  Florence.  Within  the  city  itself  there  was  much  discontent 
with  the  government  of  Soderini.  He  was,  it  is  true,  acceptable  to  the 
masses,  having  been  able  by  rigid  economy  to  lighten  somewhat  the 
burden  of  taxation  ;  but  the  leading  families  in  the  State  were  irritated 
by  neglect  and  by  the  filling  up  of  the  Signoria  and  Colleges  with  persons 
who  were  either  nominees  of  the  Cionfaloniere^  or  too  insignificant  to 
offer  an  effective  opposition  to  his  designs.  His  chief  supporters  were 
to  be  found  among  the  younger  men  recently  embarked  upon  political 
life  and  beginning  to  win  a  reputation  for  themselves.  Among  these 
Machiavelli  in  many  unpretentious  ways  was  of  immense  service  to 
Soderini,  and,  though  sometimes  disagreeing  with  him,  proved  ready  to 
subordinate  personal  opinions  to  what  seemed  the  general  interest  of 
the  State.  This  was  clearly  seen  early  in  1504,  when  an  attempt  was 
made  to  reduce  Pisa  to  extremities  by  diverting  the  course  of  the 
Arno.  The  plan  had  been  strongly  urged  by  Soderini  and  was 
supported  by  Machiavelli  in  his  official  capacity,  though  he  had  little 
hope  that  it  could  prove  successful.  Ultimately  it  had,  of  course, 
to  be  abandoned. 

The  French  defeat  at  Naples  naturally  aroused  hopes  that  they 
might  be  driven  from  Milan  also.  The  Cardinal  A^canio  Sforza, 
brother  of  Ludovico  il  Moro,  was  now  at  Rome  and  bestirring  himself 
vigorously  to  win  assistance  in  recovering  the  duchy.  The  project 
could  not  succeed  if  Florence  blocked  the  way,  and  Soderini  was 
too  devoted  to  France  ever  to  entertain  the  idea.    Ascanio  therefore 


1505-10] 


Reform  of  the  Florentine  army 


197 


turned  for  help  to  Gonzalo,  and  an  arrangement  was  made  by  which 
Bartolorameo  d'  Alviano,  one  of  Gonzalo's  condottieri,  was  to  invade 
Tuscany  and  to  restore  Giovanni  and  Giuliano  de'  Medici  to  Florence ; 
when  this  was  accomplished,  the  Medici  were  to  help  to  reinstate  Sforza 
at  Milan.  This  intrigue  had  hardly  been  matured,  when  Ascanio  Sforza 
died.  Bartolommeo  d'  Alviano,  however,  continued  to  advance,  but  was 
defeated  by  the  tlorentines  in  the  summer  of  1505,  the  Republic  thus 
escaping  from  a  very  serious  danger.  So  elated  were  the  Florentines 
by  their  victory,  that  they  followed  it  up  by  an  attempt  to  storm  Pisa ; 
but  Gonzalo  sent  a  force  of  Spanish  infantry  to  defend  the  town  and 
the  attack  had  to  be  abandoned. 

The  regular  failure  of  so  many  repeated  attempts  to  overpower  Pisa 
disheartened  the  Florentines,  but  their  hatred  was  insatiable.  Every- 
thing tended  to  confirm  the  opinion,  to  which  many  men  had  been  long 
inclining,  that  success  could  only  be  achieved  by  a  thorough  reform  of 
the  military  system.  The  year  1506  witnessed  the  actual  carrying  out 
of  a  scheme  which  was  to  supersede  the  employment  of  mercenary  troops. 
Machiavelli  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  whole  movement;  he  was 
supported  both  by  Soderini  and  by  Antonio  Giacomini.  A  national 
militia  was  instituted  and  a  body  of  troops  enrolled  from  the  Contado  ; 
they  numbered  about  5000,  and  were  mustered  before  the  close  of  the 
year.  A  new  magistracy  with  the  title  I  Nove  delta  milizia  was  formed 
to  manage  all  affairs  connected  with  the  militia  in  time  of  peace,  while 
the  authority  in  time  of  war  would  as  usual  rest  with  the  JDieci  della 
guerra.  Machiavelli  was,  in  January,  1507,  appointed  chancellor  of  the 
Nove  della  milizia^  and  the  main  bulk  of  the  work  connected  with  the 
levy  and  organisation  of  the  new  troops  fell  to  him. 

During  the  following  years  Florence  enjoyed  a  period  of  comparative 
repose,  while  Julius  II  was  occupied  with  designs  which  did  not  directly 
concern  Florence.  The  subjection  of  Perugia  and  Bologna,  the  War  of 
Genoa,  and  the  early  operations  of  the  War  against  Venice,  left  Florence 
to  pursue  her  own  designs,  unattacked  and  unimpeded.  But  when  in 
1510  Julius  decided  to  make  peace  with  Venice,  the  consequence  was  a 
collision  with  France,  and  it  was  also  clear  that  the  Florentines  would 
become  involved  in  the  struggle.  To  this  they  might,  however,  look 
forward  with  some  measure  of  hopefulness ;  for  they  had  at  last  (1509) 
reduced  Pisa  to  submission,  and  one  long-standing  cause  of  weakness 
and  waste  was  thus  removed. 

The  year  1510  witnessed  the  first  stages  of  the  conflict  between  the 
Pope  and  France.  At  Florence  it  was  common  knowledge  that  J ulius  II 
was  hostile  both  to  Soderini  and  to  the  Republican  government,  and 
that  he  already  entertained  the  idea  of  a  Medicean  restoration.  The 
difficulties  of  the  situation  were  not  lightened  by  Louis  XIFs  demand 
that  the  city  should  definitely  declare  her  intentions.  The  danger  from 
the  papal  troops  was  at  the  moment  more  directly  pressing  than  any 


198  Florence  and  the  Holy  League  [1510-12 


other :  to  declare  for  France  would  not  only  have  exposed  the  Florentine 
territory  to  an  immediate  attack,  but  would  have  also  alienated  the 
sympathies  of  all  those  citizens  who  dreaded  a  conflict  with  the  head  of 
the  Church,  and  wished  also  to  stand  well  with  the  Medici.  The  city 
was  full  of  antagonistic  parties  and  irreconcilable  interests,  and  an 
abortive  conspiracy  was  formed  to  murder  the  Gionfaloniere.  In  order 
to  gain  time  Machiavelli  was  sent  upon  a  mission  to  France.  On  his 
arrival  at  Blois  in  July,  1510,  he  found  Louis  XII  eager  for  war  and 
inclined  towards  the  idea  of  a  General  Council,  which  should  secure  the 
deposition  of  the  Pope.  This  Council  actually  met  in  the  following  year 
(September),  and  although  consisting  of  only  a  handful  of  members,  held 
three  sessions  at  Pisa,  the  Florentines  allowing  the  use  of  the  town  for 
that  purpose.  It  was  powerless  to  harm  Julius  II,  who  replied  by 
giving  notice  of  a  Council  to  be  held  at  the  Lateran,  and  thus  ipso  facto 
disqualified  the  Council  of  Pisa.  It  served,  however,  to  embitter  the 
Pope  against  Florence ;  and  both  Florence  and  Pisa  were  placed  under 
an  interdict. 

During  the  winter  of  1510-11  Julius  II  successfully  continued 
his  military  operations,  until  his  progress  was  checked  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Gaston  de  Foix  to  the  command  of  the  French  forces,  in 
conjunction  with  Gian  Giacomo  Trivulzio.  Throughout  the  spring 
reverse  followed  reverse,  and  by  J une  the  Pope  was  back  in  Rome ; 
indeed,  if  Louis  XII  had  permitted  it,  Trivulzio  might  have  followed 
him  unhindered  to  Rome  itself.  Had  he  done  so,  France  would  have 
commanded  the  whole  of  Northern  and  Central  Italy,  and  once  more 
cleared  the  road  to  Naples.  Knowing  this,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  had, 
so  early  as  June,  1511,  made  proposals  to  Julius  for  the  formation  of  a 
league  to  check  the  progress  of  the  French.  The  idea,  momentarily 
delayed  by  the  illness  of  the  Pope  in  August,  was  realised  in  October ; 
and  on  the  fifth  of  that  month  the  Holy  League  was  published  at  Rome. 
The  contracting  parties  were  Julius,  Ferdinand,  and  the  Venetians :  the 
ostensible  object  was  the  defence  of  Church  interests  and  the  recovery  of 
Church  property.  The  command  of  the  allied  forces  was  entrusted  to 
the  Viceroy  of  Naples,  Ramon  de  Cardona. 

Whichever  side  proved  victorious  in  the  inevitable  struggle,  the 
result  would  be  equally  disastrous  to  the  Florentine  Republic.  Soderini 
still  represented  what  might  be  considered  the  official  policy  of  the  State 
—  friendship  with  France :  but  his  authority  was  growing  steadily  weaker, 
and  the  collision  of  parties  made  any  combined  action  impossible.  It  was 
the  battle  of  Ravenna  (April  11,  1512)  that  finally  cleared  the  situation. 
Though  the  French  were  victorious,  the  death  of  Gaston  de  Foix  de- 
prived them  of  their  most  efficient  general,  and  they  were  henceforward 
helpless.  By  the  end  of  June  they  were  driven  from  Lombardy  and  ceased 
for  the  time  to  exist  at  all  as  factors  in  the  politics  of  Italy.  Florence 
was  at  the  mercy  of  the  confederates.    The  supreme  moment  had  come. 


1510-12]  Expulsion  of  the  French;  Medicean  restoration  199 


By  the  expulsion  of  the  French  the  object  for  which  the  Holy  League 
had  been  really  formed  was  accomplished,  and  it  was  necessary  for  the 
allied  powers  to  readjust  their  policy  and  to  determine  their  future  move- 
ments. For  this  purpose  they  held  a  congress  at  Mantua  in  August,  at 
which  among  other  subjects  the  reconstitution  of  the  Italian  States  was 
discussed.  It  was  decided  to  restore  the  Medici  at  Florence.  This 
had  been  the  Pope's  avowed  object  since  1510,  and  he  was  not  likely  at 
this  stage  to  see  that  it  was,  from  this  point  of  view,  an  impolitic  blunder. 
The  work  was  entrusted  to  Ramon  de  Cardona,  who  joined  his  army 
at  Bologna  and  began  to  march  southwards.  He  arrived  without  re- 
sistance at  Barberino,  about  fifteen  miles  north  of  Florence.  From  there 
he  sent  to  the  city  to  demand  the  deposition  of  Soderini  and  the  return 
of  the  Medici  as  private  citizens.  The  Florentines  refused  to  depose 
Soderini,  though  willing  to  receive  the  Medici  on  those  terms.  At  the 
same  time  they  sent  a  force  of  troops  to  garrison  Frato.  Ramon  de 
Cardona  therefore  continued  his  advance ;  Prato  was  captured  on 
August  30,  and  its  inhabitants  were  with  ruthless  barbarity  tortured, 
debauched,  and  butchered.  Further  resistance  was  impossible.  On 
September  1  Soderini  was  deposed,  and  on  the  same  evening  Giuliano  de' 
Medici  entered  Florence,  to  be  followed  on  the  14th  by  Giovanni  and 
other  members  of  the  family.  Nothing  remained  but  to  fix  the  form  of 
the  new  government.  The  Consiglio  Grande  and  the  Died  di  halia  were 
abolished,  as  well  as  the  Nove  della  milizia  and  the  national  militia ; 
Aecoppiatori  were  appointed  to  select  the  Signoria  and  Colleges  a  mano^ 
and  it  was  resolved  that  the  Gronfaloniere  should  henceforth  hold  office  for 
two  months  only.  During  the  close  of  the  year  Florence  settled  down 
quietly  under  Medicean  rule.  The  revolution  was  accomplished  with 
more  moderation  than  might  have  been  expected ;  and  even  those  who, 
like  Machiavelli,  had  been  zealous  servants  of  Soderini,  suffered  as  a  rule 
no  more  than  loss  of  official  employment  or  temporary  banishment. 

These  years,  in  which  the  fate  of  Florence  was  decided,  while  the 
Republic  was  dragged  helpless  in  the  chain  of  events,  helpless  to 
determine  her  own  fortunes,  were  the  period  in  which  Machiavelli's 
term  of  political  activity  was  comprised. 

Niccolo  Machiavelli  was  born  at  Florence  in  1469,  and  died, 
comparatively  young,  in  1527.  For  about  fourteen  years  he  was 
employed  by  the  Florentine  government  in  a  subordinate  official 
capacity,  and  even  his  intimate  friends  hardly  recognised  that  he  was 
a  really  great  man.  Although  his  position  as  Secretary  to  the  Died 
kept  him  constantly  in  touch  with  political  movements  in  Central  Italy, 
and  although  he  was  employed  almost  without  intermission  from  1499 
till  1512  upon  diplomatic  missions,  he  exerted  hardly  any  influence  upon 
the  course  of  events ;  if  he  were  known  only  by  his  official  letters  and 
despatches,  there  would  be  little  in  his  career  to  arrest  attention.    It  is 


200         The  historical  position  of  Machiavelli 


only  as  an  author  that  Machiavelli  has  any  abiding  place  in  the  world's 
history.  He  has  a  claim  upon  the  attention  of  the  modern  world 
because,  living  at  a  time  when  the  old  political  order  in  Europe  was 
collapsing  and  new  problems  both  in  State  and  in  society  were  arising 
with  dazzling  rapidity,  he  endeavoured  to  interpret  the  logical  meaning 
of  events,  to  forecast  the  inevitable  issues,  and  to  elicit  and  formulate 
the  rules  which,  destined  henceforth  to  dominate  political  action,  were 
then  taking  shape  among  the  fresh-forming  conditions  of  national  life. 

His  natural  gifts  marked  him  out  as  peculiarly  fitted  to  be  an 
intellectual  pioneer.  He  has  more  in  common  with  the  political 
thinkers  of  later  generations  than  with  the  bulk  of  his  contemporaries, 
on  whom  still  pressed  the  dead  hand  of  medievalism.  It  is  true, 
of  course,  that  he  did  not  stand  alone ;  both  in  Italy  and  in  France 
there  were  a  few  men  who  worked  along  the  same  lines  and  were 
approaching  the  same  goal.  Commines  had  nothing  to  learn  from 
Machiavelli ;  and  Guicciardini,  his  equal  in  ability  and  his  superior  in 
moral  detachment,  was  harder  and  colder,  and  more  logical.  And  there 
were  men  of  lesser  note,  Vettori  and  Buonaccorsi  and  the  long  line  of 
eminent  historians  from  Nardi  to  Ammirato,  who  helped,  each  in  one 
way  or  another,  to  break  the  fetters  of  tradition  and  to  usher  in  the 
modern  world.  But  there  is  no  one  among  them  all,  except  Machiavelli, 
who  has  won  ecumenical  renown.  And  the  ultimate  reason  is  that, 
although  the  area  which  he  was  able  to  observe  was  small,  the  horizon 
which  he  guessed  was  vast ;  he  was  able  to  overstep  the  narrow  limits  of 
Central  Italy  and  Lombardy,  to  think  upon  a  large  scale,  and  to  reach 
some  real  elevation  of  view.  He  made,  it  is  true,  many  mistakes,  and 
there  is  much  in  his  writings  that  is  indefensible ;  but,  on  the  whole, 
later  history  has  done  much  to  justify  him,  and  the  view  which  is  most 
essentially  Machiavellian,  that  the  art  of  government,  like  the  art  of 
navigation,  is  out  of  relation  to  morals,  has  hardly  ever  lacked  authori- 
tative support. 

It  was  in  1513  that  Machiavelli,  then  living  in  retirement  near  San 
Casciano,  began  the  composition  of  those  works  which  were  to  make  his 
name  famous.  They  are  not  intelligible  except  when  considered  in  relation 
to  the  historical  background  of  his  life,  and  to  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  written.  But  for  many  generations  the  ideas  which  they 
contained  were  censured  or  defended  by  men  who  were  at  least  partially  ig- 
norant of  the  epoch  and  of  the  country  in  which  they  arose,  and  were  often 
mere  controversialists  or  the  accredited  champions  of  some  branch  of  the 
Church.  As  the  doctrines  of  which  Machiavelli  was  the  earliest  conscious 
exponent  were  so  important  and  so  comprehensive,  it  was  inevitable  that 
attempts  should  be  made  to  appraise  their  absolute  value ;  they  appeared 
to  involve  not  only  an  unfamiliar,  if  not  wholly  novel,  conception  of  the 
State,  but  to  imply  also  the  substitution  of  some  new  standards  of 
judgment  and  principles  of  action  which,  while  overriding  the  traditional 


MacJiiavelli  as  an  author 


201 


rules  and  the  accepted  authorities  in  the  political  order,  might  be  under- 
stood to  apply  also  to  the  conduct  of  society  and  to  the  ordinary  affairs 
of  men.  The  consideration  of  these  ideas  and  the  attempt  to  gauge 
their  effects  upon  religion  or  morals  or  politics,  and  to  elicit  the  con- 
clusions to  which  they  appeared  to  lead,  engrossed  attention  so  largely, 
that  their  historical  origin  was  forgotten,  their  classical  antecedents  were 
ignored,  and  step  by  step,  for  more  than  a  century,  criticism  drifted 
away  from  Machiavelli  and  concerned  itself  with  an  ill-defined  and 
amorphous  body  of  doctrine  known  loosely  under  the  name  of  Machia- 
vellism.  No  fair  judgment  of  Machiavelli's  works  is  possible,  unless  they 
are  separated  from  the  literature  and  the  controversies  which  have  grown 
up  around  them.  It  is  true  that  the  accretions  of  later  thinkers  have 
an  importance  of  their  own,  but  they  are  of  hardly  any  value  in  Machia- 
vellian exegesis.  All  the  necessary  materials  for  judgment  are  to  be 
found  in  the  writings  of  Machiavelli  and  of  his  contemporaries. 

The  doctrines  of  Machiavelli  are  not  systematically  expounded  or 
adequately  justified  in  any  one  of  his  books.  It  is  only  by  piecing 
together  the  scattered  notices  in  different  writings  and  by  comparing  the 
forms  in  which  similar  ideas  are  presented  at  different  periods,  that  there 
emerges  slowly  a  general  conception  of  the  character  of  the  whole. 
Some  of  these  ideas  were  not  original,  but  as  old  as  the  beginnings  of 
recorded  thought.  In  certain  cases  they  were  part  of  the  intellectual 
heritage  transmitted  by  Greece  and  Rome,  adapted  to  a  new  setting  and 
transfused  with  a  new  potency  and  meaning.  Sometimes  they  were 
common  to  other  contemporary  publicists.  Often  they  were  provisional 
solutions  of  primitive  problems,  claiming  no  universal  or  permanent 
validity.  Often,  again,  they  were  the  expression  of  beliefs  which  among 
any  people  and  at  any  period  would  be  regarded  as  innocuous  and 
inoffensive  and  perhaps  even  as  obvious.  Efforts  have  often  been  made  to 
summarise  them  all  in  a  single  phrase,  or  to  compress  them  within  one 
wide  generalisation.  Such  attempts  have  been  always  unsatisfactory, 
because  much  that  is  essential  cannot  be  included.  Machiavelli  himself 
is  not  rightly  viewed  as,  in  the  strict  sense,  a  doctrinaire ;  he  had  no 
systematic  theories  to  press.  There  was  at  no  time  anything  rigid  or 
harshly  exclusive  in  his  views :  they  were  formed  after  slow  deliberation, 
as  experience  and  study  widened  his  range  or  quickened  his  insight. 
They  embrace  elements  which  come  from  many  sources,  and,  though 
they  are  on  the  whole  fairly  consistent,  his  writings  contain  many 
indications  of  the  diffident  and  tentative  steps  by  which  the  conclusions 
were  reached. 

Portions  of  Machiavelli's  works  were  intended  to  form  a  contribution 
to  general  questions  of  politics  and  ethics:  there  are  other  portions 
which  were  more  directly  determined  by  the  pressure  of  an  unusual 
problem  and  of  ephemeral  conditions.  In  nearly  all  his  writings  the 
dispassionate,  scientific  temper  of  the  historian  or  thinker  who  records 


202  Double  basis  of  MachiavellVs  works 


and  explains  is  combined  with  the  earnestness  and  the  eagerness  of  the 
advocate  who  is  pleading  a  cause.  Aspiration  and  emotion  were  not 
foreign  to  the  genius  of  Machiavelli,  and  at  appropriate  moments  found 
impassioned  utterance.  Discussions  of  general  principles  of  history 
and  of  the  art  of  government  are  everywhere  applied  and  enforced  by 
examples  of  contemporary  failures  or  successes,  and  the  reasoning  is  thus 
brought  home  "  to  men's  business  and  bosoms."  In  the  Discourses  on 
Livy  the  doctrinal  and  scientific  interest  predominated :  in  The  Prince^ 
which  became  the  most  influential  of  all  his  books,  the  local  and 
temporary  problems  lay  at  the  root  of  the  whole  discussion.  It  is 
therefore  necessary  to  separate,  within  the  limits  of  a  legitimate  analysis, 
the  two  elements  found  combined  in  his  writings;  and  though  no  firm 
line  can  or  ought  to  be  drawn  between  the  two  parts,  which  at  nearly 
every  point  touch  and  supplement  each  other,  a  divided  discussion  will 
best  conduce  to  the  clearness  from  which  truth  most  quickly  emerges. 

The  writings  of  nearly  all  the  Florentine  historians  and  publicists  of 
the  sixteenth  century  involve  certain  fundamental  beliefs  or  hypotheses, 
upon  which  the  whole  structure  of  their  reasoning  rests  ;  these  are  rarely 
stated  totidem  verbis  in  any  passage,  although  implied  in  nearly  all. 
The  general  body  of  their  work  forms  a  perpetual  commentary  upon  a 
text,  which  is  only  incidentally  enunciated;  the  method  employed  is 
expository  only  in  appearance,  but  in  reality  genetic;  the  ultimate 
principles  of  the  argument  are  the  final  result  at  which  the  reader 
arrives,  and  not  a  guide  which  he  has  with  him  from  the  beginning. 
Even  with  an  author  like  Machiavelli,  who  was  not  averse  to  re- 
peating himself,  and  less  reticent  than  many  others,  it  is  not  always 
easy  to  be  certain  that  the  latent  hypotheses  and  scattered  hints 
have  been  correctly  elicited  and  grouped.  Still,  it  is  in  any  case  clear 
that  what  controlled  his  views  of  the  movement  of  events,  whether  in  his 
own  day  or  in  earlier  times,  and  of  the  lessons  which  they  convey,  was, 
in  the  last  analysis,  a  specific  notion  of  man's  nature  as  a  permanent 
force  realising  itself  and  imposing  itself  upon  external  things,  shaping 
and  subjecting  them.  The  conception  of  human  nature  to  which  he 
adhered  was  used  as  the  foundation  for  a  definite  theory  of  history  as  a 
whole.  Then  the  process  of  reasoning  was  reversed,  and  from  the 
collective  activity  of  national  life  a  return  was  made  to  the  isolated 
unit  or  individual,  and  an  ethical  supplement  added,  thus  completing  a 
general  conspectus  of  man  both  in  the  State  and  in  society.  For  though 
Machiavelli  inferred  that  ethics  and  politics  are  distinct,  and  that  the  art 
of  government  is  out  of  relation  to  morals,  he  founded  both  upon  the 
same  assumptions.  The  ethical  portion  of  his  work  is,  of  course,  of 
little  importance  in  comparison  with  the  political,  and  is  usually  wholly 
ignored. 

The  conception  which  had  the  widest  influence  upon  Machiavelli's 
teaching  is  that  of  the  essential  depravity  of  human  nature.    Men  are 


Fundamental  ethical  conceptions 


203 


born  bad,  and  no  one  does  good,  unless  obliged.  This  he  regarded  as  a 
necessary  axiom  of  political  science.  It  was  contested  by  a  few  of  his 
contemporaries,  but  on  the  whole  the  political  speculation  of  the 
Renaissance  and  the  theological  teaching  of  the  Reformation  issued, 
in  this  respect,  in  the  assertion  of  the  same  truth.  The  result  at  which 
theologians  arrived  in  their  efforts  to  settle  the  controversies  connected 
with  original  or  "  birth  "  sin,  was  reached  by  Machiavelli  through  the 
study  of  the  past,  and  with  the  object  of  obtaining  a  fixed  basis  for 
discussion.  For  the  most  part  he  limited  himself  to  an  emphatic 
iteration  of  his  belief,  without  attempting  analysis  or  defence  beyond  a 
general  appeal  to  the  common  experience  of  mankind.  It  is  not  certain 
through  what  channels  the  view  was  conveyed  to  him ;  he  shared  the 
belief  with  Thucydides.  "  Men  never  behave  well,"  he  wrote,  "  unless 
they  are  obliged ;  wherever  a  choice  is  open  to  them  and  they  are  free 
to  do  as  they  like,  everything  is  immediately  filled  with  confusion  and 
disorder.  —  Men  are  more  prone  to  evil  than  to  good.  —  As  is  shown  by 
all  who  discuss  civil  government,  and  by  the  abundance  of  examples  in 
every  history,  whoever  organises  a  State,  or  lays  down  laws  in  it,  must 
necessarily  assume  that  all  men  are  bad,  and  that  they  will  follow  the 
wickedness  of  their  own  hearts,  whenever  they  have  free  opportunity  to 
do  so;  and,  supposing  any  wickedness  to  be  temporarily  hidden,  it  is  due  to 
a  secret  cause  of  which,  having  seen  no  experience  to  the  contrary,  men 
are  ignorant ;  but  time,  which  they  say  is  the  father  of  all  truth,  reveals 
it  at  last."  This  view  involved  the  corollary,  that  human  nature  could 
not  be  depended  upon  to  reform  itself ;  it  is  only  through  repression  that 
evil  can  be  kept  below  the  suicidal  point. 

Combined  with  this  conviction  was  another,  resting  also  upon  an 
assumption  and  likewise  applied  as  a  general  principle  to  explain  history. 
The  maxim  "  Imitation  is  natural  to  man  "  would  express  it  in  its  crudest 
and  most  vague  form.  "  Men  almost  always  walk  in  the  paths  which 
others  have  trodden  and  in  their  actions  proceed  by  imitation,  and  yet 
cannot  keep  entirely  to  other  men's  paths,  nor  attain  to  the  excellence 
which  they  imitate."  The  idea  is  often  enforced  directly  by  Machiavelli, 
sometimes  expanded  or  spoken  of  in  a  figure.  His  meaning  was  that  all 
men,  at  any  given  period,  must  necessarily  be  in  the  debt, of  the  dead; 
the  masses  cannot  help  following  the  beaten  paths ;  the  tendency  of 
history  is  not  to  initiate,  but  to  reproduce  in  a  debased  form.  Men, 
being  lazy,  are  more  willing  to  conform  than  to  pioneer ;  it  is  less  incon- 
venient to  tolerate  than  to  persecute.  Of  course  such  repetition  as 
history  appeared  to  reveal  would  still  be,  in  the  main,  not  the  result  of 
conscious  imitation,  but  the  inevitable  product  of  the  permanent  passions 
in  man,  which  he  believed  to  have  a  larger  power  in  determining  events 
than  the  rational  and  progressive  elements.  "  The  wise  are  wont  to  say, 
and  not  at  random  or  without  foundation,  that  he  who  desires  to 
foresee  what  is  going  to  take  place,  should  consider  what  has  taken 


204  The  influence  of  permanent  passions 


place ;  because  all  the  things  in  the  world,  at  all  periods,  have  an 
essential  correspondence  with  past  times.  This  arises  because,  as  they 
are  the  work  of  men  who  have  and  always  have  had  the  same  passions, 
they  must  of  necessity  produce  the  same  effects.  —  In  all  cities  and  among 
all  peoples  there  exist  the  same  appetites  and  the  same  dispositions  that 
have  always  existed." 

The  uniformity  of  the  forces  at  work  in  history  might  be  expected 
to  produce  a  monotonous  movement  in  events,  a  mere  recurring  series  in 
the  life  of  nations.  This  is  not  the  case,  because  whatever,  whether  in 
the  intellectual  or  material  order,  is  the  outcome  of  man's  activity  is  sub- 
jected to  a  law  similar  to  that  which  controls  the  progress  and  decay  of 
the  individual  life ;  everything  contains  within  itself  the  seeds  of  its  own 
dissolution ;  "  in  all  things  there  is  latent  some  peculiar  evil  which  gives 
rise  to  fresh  vicissitudes."  No  struggle  against  the  tendency  to  cor- 
ruption and  extinction  can  be  permanently  successful,  just  as  no  man 
can  prolong  his  existence  beyond  a  certain  point.  But  while  decadence 
is  in  progress  in  one  part  of  the  world,  the  corresponding  principle  of 
growth  may  predominate  elsewhere.  In  every  case,  when  the  highest 
point  has  been  reached,  the  descent  begins.  Machiavelli  did  not  flinch 
from  the  consequences  of  this  reasoning,  when  translated  into  the  moral 
order:  evil  is  the  cause  of  good,  and  good  is  the  cause  of  evil.  "  It  has 
been,  is,  and  always  will  be  true  that  evil  succeeds  good,  and  good  evil, 
and  the  one  is  always  the  cause  of  the  other."  On  this  assumption,  the 
variety  of  history  became  no  more  than  the  displacement  or  dislocation 
of  permanent  elements :  "  I  am  convinced  that  the  world  has  always  ex- 
isted after  the  same  manner,  and  the  quantity  of  good  and  evil  in  it  has 
been  constant :  but  this  good  and  this  evil  keep  shifting  from  country  to 
country,  as  is  seen  in  the  records  of  those  ancient  Empires  which,  as  their 
manners  changed,  passed  from  the  one  to  the  other,  but  the  world  itself 
remained  the  same :  there  was  this  difference  only,  that  whereas  Assyria 
was  at  first  the  seat  of  the  world's  virtue  [yirtif\^  this  was  afterwards  placed 
in  Media,  then  in  Persia,  until  at  last  it  came  to  Italy  and  Rome :  and 
though  since  the  Roman  Empire  no  other  Empire  has  followed  which  has 
proved  lasting,  nor  in  which  the  world  has  concentrated  its  virtue,  never- 
theless it  is  seen  to  have  been  diffused  throughout  many  nations,  in  which 
men  lived  virtuously  \yirtuosamente']y  And  what  is  true  of  institutions 
and  civilisation  in  general,  is  a  valid  law  also  in  the  political  world,  where 
forms  of  government  recur  in  a  series  which  can  be  calculated  upon. 
Monarchy  passes  into  tyranny,  aristocracy  into  oligarchy,  democracy 
into  anarchy :  "  so,  if  the  founder  of  a  State  establishes  in  a  city  any  one 
of  these  three  governments,  he  establishes  it  for  a  short  time  only ;  for 
no  remedy  can  be  applied  to  prevent  it  sliding  off  into  its  opposite,  owing 
to  the  resemblance  which  exists,  in  this  case,  between  the  virtue  and  the 
vice.  —  This  is  the  circle  within  which  all  States  have  been  and  are 
governed."    Many  revolutions  of  this  nature  would  exhaust  ,the  vitality 


The  causes  of  political  decay 


205 


of  a  State,  and  render  it  the  prey  of  a  stronger  neighbour ;  but  if  any 
people  could  possess  adequate  recuperative  power,  the  circular  movement 
might  continue  for  ever :  "  a  State  would  be  able  to  revolve  for  an  in- 
definite period  from  government  to  government."  Considering  the  in- 
herent defects  of  each  of  these  constitutional  forms,  Machiavelli  accorded 
unreservedly  a  theoretical  preference  to  a  "mixed"  government,  while 
rejecting  it  as  practically  unsuited  to  the  condition  of  Italy  in  his  own 
day. 

The  next  step  was  to  consider,  how  this  tendency  to  become  corrupt 
and,  ultimately,  extinct,  made  itself  manifest  in  a  State ;  what  were  the 
symptoms  of  decay  and  what  the  more  immediate  causes  which  deter- 
mined it ;  and,  lastly,  what  were  the  methods  by  which  the  process  of 
national  dissolution  might  be,  at  least  temporarily,  arrested.  Machiavelli 
furnished  an  answer  by  a  reference  to  a  primitive  bias  of  human  nature, 
a  congenital  failing  in  all  men.    Power  breeds  appetite ;  no  rulers  are 
ever  satisfied ;  no  one  has  ever  reached  a  position  from  which  he  has  no 
desire  to  advance  further.    "  Ambition  is  so  powerful  in  the  hearts  of 
men  that,  to  whatever  height  they  rise,  it  never  leaves  them.    The  reason 
is,  that  nature  has  created  men  so  that  they  can  desire  everything,  but 
they  cannot  get  everything ;  thus,  as  the  desire  is  always  in  excess  of 
the  power  of  gratifying  it,  the  result  is  that  they  are  discontented  and 
dissatisfied  with  what  they  possess.    Hence  arise  the  vicissitudes  of  their 
fortunes ;  for  as  some  desire  to  have  more,  and  some  fear  to  lose  what 
they  have  already,  enmities  and  wars  ensue,  which  lead  to  the  ruin  of 
one  country  and  the  rise  of  another.  —  That  which  more  than  anything 
else  throws  down  an  empire  from  its  loftiest  summit  is  this :  the  powerful 
are  never  satisfied  with  their  power.   Hence  ithappens  that  those  who  have 
lost  are  ill-contented  and  a  disposition  is  aroused  to  overthrow  those  who 
come  off  victors.    Thus  it  happens  that  one  rises  and  another  dies ;  and 
he  who  has  raised  himself  is  for  ever  pining  with  new  ambition  or  with 
fear.    This  appetite  destroys  States ;  and  it  is  the  more  extraordinary 
that,  while  everyone  recognises  this  fault,  no  one  avoids  it."  The  primary 
impulse  towards  evil  thus  comes  from  within  the  ruler :  the  direction  in 
which  political  changes  tend  is  not  determined  by  the  progress  of  general 
enlightenment  among  the  citizens,  by  the  growth  of  new  ideas,  or  by  the 
development  of  new  needs  in  a  country.    Machiavelli  deemed  the  indi- 
vidual supreme  :  a  "  new  prince,"  like  the  Greek  vofjLodeTy^,  brought  into 
existence  an  artificial  structure,  formed  on  arbitrary  lines,  and  called  a 
State :  under  this  his  subjects  had  to  live.    He  also  by  his  personal 
and  individual  failings  led  the  way  to  ruin.    On  the  other  hand,  having 
regard  rather  to  the  general  body  of  citizens  than  to  their  rulers, 
Machiavelli  believed,  like  Bacon,  that  wars  were  necessary  as  a  national 
tonic  ;  peace  is  disruptive  and  enervating ;  "war  and  fear"  produce  unity. 
So  long  as  a  community  continued  young,  all  would  be  well ;  but  "  virtue 
produces  peace,  peace  idleness,  idleness  disorder,  disorder  ruin.  —  Virtue 


206 


The  necessity  of  law 


makes  places  tranquil;  then,  from  tranquillity  results  idleness;  and 
idleness  wastes  country  and  town.  Then,  when  a  district  has  been  in- 
volved in  disorder  for  a  time,  virtue  returns  to  dwell  there  once  again." 

The  periods  within  which  these  inevitable  revolutions  are  accom- 
plished, might,  with  certain  limitations,  be  regulated  by  human  effort. 
Man,  inasmuch  as  he  is  by  nature  a  disorderly  being,  needed,  whatever  the 
form  of  the  government,  to  be  held  under  control  by  solne  despotic  power ; 
hence  the  necessity  of  law.  The  rights,  the  duties,  and  even  the  virtues 
of  individuals  are  the  creatures  of  law.  The  duration  of  any  constitu- 
tional form  and  the  life  of  any  State  is  in  large  measure  determined  by 
the  excellence  of  its  laws.  "  It  is  true  that  a  power  generally  endures  for 
a  larger  or  a  shorter  time,  according  as  its  laws  and  institutions  are  more 
or  less  good.  —  Let  Princes  know  that  they  begin  to  lose  their  State  at 
that  hour  in  which  they  begin  to  violate  the  laws,  and  those  customs  and 
usages  which  are  ancient  and  under  which  men  have  lived  for  a  long  time." 
If  the  laws  are  inadequate  or  unsound,  or  if  they  can  be  ignored  with 
impunity,  the  obligations  hitherto  resting  upon  the  citizens  are  simul- 
taneously removed.  Machiavelli,  however,  believed  that  there  can  be 
extremely  few  cases  in  which  a  man  is  entitled  to  judge  for  himself  of 
the  working  of  law.  "  Men  ought  to  give  honour  to  the  past,  and 
obedience  to  the  present ;  they  ought  to  wish  for  good  princes,  but  to 
put  up  with  them,  whatever  their  character."  Innovation  is  hazardous 
both  for  the  subject  and  for  the  ruler.  True  political  wisdom  will  be 
revealed  in  the  organisation  of  government  on  a  basis  so  firm  that 
innovation  becomes  unnecessary.  "  The  safety  of  a  republic  or  a  king- 
dom consists,  not  in  having  a  ruler  who  governs  wisely  while  he  lives,  but 
in  being  subject  to  one  who  so  organises  it  that,  when  he  dies,  it  may 
continue  to  maintain  itself."  Some  element  of  permanence  in  the  source 
of  authority  is  the  more  indispensable,  because  there  is  a  point  in  the 
career  of  every  society  at  which  laws  would  otherwise  be  too  feeble  to 
cope  with  the  general  corruption :  "  there  are  no  laws  and  no  insti- 
tutions which  have  power  to  curb  a  universal  corruption. — Laws,  if  they 
are  to  be  observed,  presuppose  good  customs." 

Machiavelli  by  no  means  overestimated  the  power  of  laws ;  alone, 
they  could  never  be  an  adequate  instrument  of  empire.  Their  severity 
required  to  be  mitigated,  and  their  restraining  force  to  be  supplemented, 
by  some  influence  potent  to  control  not  men's  acts  only  but  their  minds. 
There  was  a  sense,  therefore,  in  which  the  State  could  not  with  advantage 
be  separated  from  the  Church  ;  both  were  to  co-operate  to  create  national 
customs  and  habits  of  thought,  not  less  than  to  enforce  order  and  main- 
tain the  stability  of  society.  Without  confounding  the  domains  of 
politics  and  theology,  Machiavelli  urged  the  familiar  view  that  any 
community,  which  has  lost  or  misdirected  the  religious  sentiment,  has 
greatly  weakened  itself  and  imperilled  its  own  existence.  "  The  ob- 
servance of  the  ordinances  of  religion  is  the  cause  of  the  greatness  of 


Religion  as  an  instrument  of  empire 


207 


commonwealths ;  so  also  is  their  neglect  the  cause  of  ruin.  For  where 
the  fear  of  God  is  wanting,  a  kingdom  must  either  go  to  ruin,  or  be  sup- 
ported by  the  fear  of  a  Prince  as  compensating  for  the  lost  influences  of 
religion.  —  Rulers  of  a  commonwealth  or  kingdom  ought  to  preserve  the 
existing  foundations  of  religion ;  if  they  do  this,  it  will  be  easy  for  them 
to  keep  their  State  religious,  and  consequently  virtuous  and  united."  A 
politician  is  not  called  upon  to  examine  the  truth  or  the  absolute  value 
of  religion ;  in  some  cases  it  may  even  be  incumbent  upon  a  prince  to 
protect  a  form  of  religion  which  he  believes  to  be  false ;  and  thus  religious 
toleration  would  rest,  in  the  first  instance,  upon  a  secular  sanction.  The 
ruler  must  be  careful  to  preserve  his  intellectual  balance,  and  to  allow 
neither  religion  nor  sentiment  to  intrude  inappropriately.  Politics  and 
paternosters  are  distinct.  If  the  auspices  are  unfavourable,  they  must 
be  set  aside.  On  the  other  hand  no  ceremonies  and  no  creed  can  of 
themselves  secure  success.  "  The  belief  that  if  you  remain  idle  on  your 
knees,  God  will  fight  for  you  in  your  own  despite,  has  ruined  many 
kingdoms  and  many  States.  Prayers  are,  indeed,  necessary ;  and  he  is 
downright  mad  who  forbids  the  people  their  ceremonies  and  devotions. 
For  from  them  it  seems  that  men  reap  union  and  good  order,  and  upon 
these  depend  prosperity  and  happiness.  Yet  let  no  man  be  so  silly  as 
to  believe  that,  if  his  house  falls  about  his  head,  God  will  save  it 
without  any  other  prop ;  for  he  will  die  beneath  the  ruins."  When  the 
supports  of  law  and  of  religion  collapse,  a  State  is  approaching  its 
dissolution.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  a  reformer  may  be  equal  to  the 
work  of  regeneration  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  "  very  easy  for  a 
reformer  never  to  arise."  Under  such  conditions  abnormal  methods  find 
their  justification ;  recourse  must  be  had  to  "  extraordinary  remedies  " 
and  "  strong  medicines  " ;  the  diseased  members  must  be  cut  away,  to 
prolong,  though  but  for  a  season,  the  life  of  a  State. 

Such,  in  broad  outline,  were  the  chief  views  of  Machiavelli  concerning 
the  nature  of  man  and  the  general  movement  of  history,  separated  from 
the  limitations  of  any  particular  time  and  place.  At  first  sight  they 
might  perhaps  appear  visionary,  remote,  unreal ;  vitiated  in  some  degree 
by  ambiguities  in  the  meaning  of  the  terms  employed  and  by  hasty 
generalisation ;  academic  in  character,  and  out  of  relation  to  the  storm 
and  stress  of  a  reawakening  world.  This  impression  would  be  only 
partially  true.  Machiavelli,  living  at  a  period  of  transition,  endeavoured, 
in  the  presence  of  an  unusual  problem,  to  push  beyond  its  barriers,  and 
to  fix  the  relations  of  what  was  local  and  temporal  to  the  larger  and 
more  universal  laws  of  political  societies  in  general.  It  was  only  by 
enlarging  the  area  of  analysis,  and  embracing  the  wider  questions  of 
history  and  ethics,  that  it  was  possible  to  frame  a  scientific  basis  on 
which  to  erect  the  structure  of  practical  politics.  The  theoretical 
foundation  was  essential.  Interest  was  naturally  most  largely  centred 
in  that  portion  of  his  works  which  was  the  most  unusual ;  but  in  reality 


208  A  theoretical  foundation  required  for  practical  politics 


it  is  hardly  intelligible  by  itself.  Ideas,  long  familiar  in  classical  litera- 
ture, may  seem  in  their  new  context  to  bear  little  relation  to  what  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  Machiavelli's  main  object ;  in  reality  they  are  not 
extraneous  nor  incidental,  but  the  logical  prius  of  the  whole  construc- 
tion. Whoever  began  without  securing  his  foundations,  was  obliged  to 
secure  them  afterwards,  though,  as  Machiavelli  reflected,  with  discomfort 
to  the  architect  and  danger  to  the  building.  It  was  his  conception  of 
human  nature  and  of  history  that  logically  entitled  him  to  use  the 
experience  of  the  past  as  a  guide  for  the  future  ;  to  justify  his  rejection 
of  constitutional  reform  where  the  material  to  be  worked  upon  was 
thoroughly  corrupt,  and  virtue  imputed  for  a  capital  crime ;  to  create 
new  standards,  to  which  appeal  might  be  made  in  judging  practical 
questions ;  to  throw  aside  the  fetters  of  medievalism  and  to  treat 
politics  inductively.  It  was  thus  that  he  was  led  to  look  to  the  past, 
and  especially  to  ancient  Rome,  for  examples  and  models.  Often  he 
repeated  with  enthusiastic  emphasis  his  abiding  conviction,  that  in  his 
own  day  the  teaching  of  the  Romans  might  still  be  applied,  their  actions 
imitated,  their  principles  adopted.  He  was  criticised  on  this  ground  by 
Guicciardini  and  others,  who,  as  they  admitted  only  partially  the  postu- 
lates involved  in  Machiavelli's  conception  of  history,  rejected  the  appeal 
to  ancient  Rome  as  logically  invalid. 

This  specifically  historical  theory  required  an  ethical  complement. 
Machiavelli  had  formed  definite  opinions  upon  some  of  the  fundamental 
questions  of  moral  science.  He  has  recorded  his  views  upon  what  is 
now  called  the  origin  of  morality,  and  also  attempted  to  determine  the 
real  nature  of  good  and  evil.  Believing  men  naturally  bad,  and  holding 
therefore  that  morality  is  non-natural,  in  the  sense  that  it  is  distasteful 
to  the  untrained  impulses  in  men  and  not  to  be  arrived  at  by  evolving 
anything  of  which  perhaps  they  are,  in  some  unexplained  way,  capable, 
the  question  confronted  him.  How  is  right  action  to  be  enforced? 
Where  does  the  obligation  reside  ?  Only  one  answer  could  be  consistent. 
In  the  laws.  To  explain  this  a  reference  was  made  to  the  origins  of 
society.  "  In  the  beginning  of  the  world,  as  the  inhabitants  were  few, 
they  lived  for  a  time  dispersed  after  the  manner  of  wild  beasts ;  after- 
wards, when  they  increased  and  multiplied,  they  united  together,  and 
in  order  the  better  to  defend  themselves,  they  began  to  look  to  that  man 
among  them  who  was  the  strongest  and  bravest,  and  made  him  their 
head  and  obeyed  him.  From  this  arose  the  knowledge  of  things  honour- 
able and  good,  as  opposed  to  things  pernicious  and  evil ;  because,  seeing 
that,  if  a  man  injured  his  benefactor,  hatred  and  pity  were  aroused  among 
men,  and  that  the  ungrateful  were  blamed  and  the  grateful  honoured,  — 
reflecting,  moreover,  that  the  same  injury  might  be  done  to  themselves, 
—  they  resorted  to  making  laws  and  fixing  punishments  for  whoever 
violated  them:  hence  came  the  knowledge  of  justice.  Consequently, 
when  they  had  afterwards  to  elect  a  ruler,  they  did  not  seek  out  the 


The  obligation  of  morality  and  the  nature  of  right  209 


strongest,  but  the  most  wise  and  the  most  just.  —  There  is  a  saying  that 
hunger  and  poverty  make  men  industrious,  and  the  laws  make  them 
good." 

Thus  moral  action  in  a  civil  society  meant  for  Machiavelli  chiefly 
conformity  to  a  code ;  the  moral  sense  is  the  product  of  law  or,  in  the 
last  analysis,  of  fear.  The  sanction  of  conduct  was  derived  from  positive 
institutions ;  where  no  law  existed,  no  action  could  be  unjust.  This 
admitted,  the  next  stage  was  to  interpret  the  notion  of  right,  and  to  ask 
specifically.  What  is  right  ?  Machiavelli  replied  in  words  that  furnished 
at  once  a  moral  criterion  and  a  positive  conception  of  right :  "  I  believe 
good  to  be  that  which  conduces  to  the  interests  of  the  majority,  and 
with  which  the  majority  are  contented."  The  scope  and  consequences  of 
such  a  statement  were  not  perhaps  fully  realised  by  him ;  yet  the  con- 
ception exercised  some  measure  of  control,  possibly  almost  unconscious, 
upon  his  other  views,  and  might  be  considered  to  furnish  a  sanction  for 
much  that  is  eccentric  or  immoral ;  even  as  an  isolated  and  incidental 
utterance,  it  remains  a  curious  forerunner  of  more  modern  theories.  It 
is  further  possible  to  construct  from  Machiavelli's  data  a  list  of  the 
particular  virtues  which,  though  not  free  from  the  vice  of  cross-division, 
nor  to  be  regarded  as  exhaustive  or  scientific,  helps  to  widen  and  com- 
plete the  conception  of  his  teaching.  The  virtues,  the  possession  of 
which  would  in  his  judgment  be  most  praiseworthy,  are  these  :  liberality, 
mercy,  truthfulness,  courage,  affability,  purity,  guilelessness,  good-nature, 
earnestness,  devoutness.  The  last  was  indeed  of  supreme  importance  to 
all  members  of  society,  and  so  essential  to  a  ruler  that  whosoever  was  not 
reputed  religious  had  no  chance  of  success,  and  was  therefore  forced  to 
preserve,  as  the  absolutely  indispensable  minimum,  the  appearances  at 
least  of  a  religious  believer.  For  the  masses  do  not  discriminate  between 
religion  and  morality ;  it  is  from  religion  that  moral  truths  are  believed 
by  the  uneducated  conscience  of  mankind  to  derive  their  ne  varietur 
character.  Speaking  more  specifically  of  Christianity,  Machiavelli  was 
aware  that  it  had  effected  a  very  fundamental  change  in  ethical  concep- 
tions. Our  religion  has  glorified  men  of  humble  and  contemplative 
life,  rather  than  men  of  action.  Moreover,  it  has  placed  the  summum 
honum  in  humility,  in  lowliness,  and  in  the  contempt  of  earthly  things ; 
paganism  placed  it  in  highmindedness,  in  bodily  strength,  and  in  all  the 
other  things  which  make  men  strongest.  And  if  our  religion  requires  us 
to  have  any  strength  in  us,  it  calls  upon  us  to  be  strong  to  suffer  rather 
than  to  do."  Christianity,  as  understood  by  medieval  society,  appeared 
to  add  to  the  difficulties  of  combining  the  characters  of  the  good  man 
and  the  good  citizen.  Machiavelli  looked  for  power  :  "  whereas  this  mode 
of  living  seems  to  have  rendered  the  world  weak,  and  given  it  over  as  a 
prey  to  wicked  men,  who  can  with  impunity  deal  with  it  as  they  please  ; 
seeing  that  the  mass  of  mankind,  in  order  to  go  to  Paradise,  think  more 
how  to  endure  wrongs  than  how  to  avenge  them."    Such  opinions 

C.  M.  H.  I.  14 


210 


Free-will  and  Fortune 


provoked  criticism,  and  were  attacked  at  an  early  period ;  afterwards 
they  were,  without  offence,  excused,  defended,  or  outbidden. 

When  the  original  obligation  of  morality  and  the  standard  of  action 
had  been  fixed,  it  remained  to  enquire  whether  men  were  able  to  do  what 
was  right,  i.e.  whether  they  were  free  agents.  The  constant  recurrence  of 
the  question  in  Machiavelli's  writings  is  the  measure  of  the  importance  it 
possessed  for  him.  He  gave  much  consideration  to  this  primitive  problem, 
which  he  called  il  sopraccapo  della  filosofia  ;  he  perceived  that  it  was  at 
least  necessary  to  devise  some  intellectual  compromise  which,  while  in  no 
way  claiming  to  offer  a  logical  solution,  should  be  clear  and  manageable 
enough  for  practical  life.  His  examination  was  neither  thorough  nor 
profound ;  he  did  not  distinguish  the  senses  which  the  word  freedom 
may,  in  this  context,  assume ;  and  his  reasoning  was  complicated  by  the 
intrusion  of  ideas  originating  in  a  mythological  and  figurative  conception 
of  Fortune,  and  in  some  measure  by  the  lingering  influences  of  astrology. 
Through  all  his  writings  runs  the  idea  of  a  personified  Fortune,  —  a  capri- 
cious deity,  who  is  not  merely  the  expression  in  a  figure  of  the  incalcu- 
lable element  in  life,  but  a  being  with  human  passions  and  attributes. 
Here  the  suggestions  and  examples  of  classical  authors,  and  especially  of 
Polybius,  were  decisive  for  Machiavelli,  in  whom  after  the  manner  of 
his  age  ancient  and  modern  modes  of  thought  were  fancifully  blended. 
"  I  am  not  unaware,"  he  wrote,  "  that  many  have  held  and  still  hold  the 
opinion  that  human  affairs  are  so  ordered  by  Fortune  and  by  God,  that 
men  cannot  by  their  prudence  modify  them ;  rather,  they  have  no  remedy 
at  all  in  the  matter ;  and  hence  they  may  come  to  think  they  need  not 
trouble  much  about  things,  but  allow  themselves  to  be  governed  by 
chance.  This  opinion  has  gained  more  acceptance  in  our  own  times,  owing 
to  the  great  changes  which  have  been  seen  and  are  seen  every  day,  beyond 
all  human  conjecture.  I  have  sometimes  thought  about  this,  and  have 
partly  inclined  to  their  opinion.  Yet,  in  order  that  free-will  may  not 
be  entirely  destroyed,  I  believe  the  truth  may  be  this ;  Fortune  is  the 
mistress  of  half  our  actions,  but  entrusts  the  management  of  the  other 
half,  or  a  little  less,  to  us."  This  is  the  solution  which,  running  all 
through  Machiavelli's  works,  gave  a  special  propriety  to  the  repeated 
antithesis  of  fortuna  and  virtu.  The  same  meaning  would  be  expressed 
in  modern  phraseology  by  the  statement  that  men  determine  their  own 
lives,  but  only  under  conditions  which  they  neither  themselves  create  nor 
are  able  largely  to  control ;  or,  that  the  will  makes  the  act,  but  out  of 
a  material  not  made  by  it. 

Upon  the  basis  of  these  data  Machiavelli  attempted  to  fix  some 
general  rule  of  conduct  for  the  guidance  of  the  individual,  applicable 
amid  all  the  diversified  conditions  under  which  action  can  take  place. 
Considering  the  relation  in  which  the  agent  stands  to  the  forces  among 
which  he  has  to  assert  himself,  an  ideal  of  conduct  was  needed  which 
should  enable  a  man,  who  could  have  but  a  limited  power  of  control 


The  ideal  of  conduct 


211 


over  the  conditions  of  his  life,  to  succeed.  Failure  was  the  seal  of 
Divine  disapproval,  and  to  Machiavelli,  as  to  all  Italian  politicians  at 
his  time,  the  one  unpardonable  sin.  The  essential  requisite  for  success 
was,  ill  his  judgment,  a  constant  adaptation  between  the  individual  and 
the  surroundings  of  his  life.  Sufficient  versatility  of  character,  thus 
understood,  would  imply  a  perpetual  adjustment  of  means  to  the  needs 
of  the  moment,  the  ability  to  reverse  a  policy  or  a  principle  at  the  call 
of  expediency,  and  a  readiness  to  compromise  or  renounce  the  ideal. 
The  world  is  rich  in  failures,  because  character  is  too  rigid.  The  truism 
"  Circumstances  alter  cases  "  was  interpreted  by  Machiavelli  to  mean  that 
the  pressure  of  external  forces  is  usually  stronger  than  the  resistance  of 
individual  principle.  This  formed  the  rational  basis  of  his  complaints 
that  no  one  who  attempted  to  govern  in  Italy  would  alter  the  courses 
to  which  his  genius  inclined  him,  when  facts  had  altered ;  yet  any  one 
who  was  sufficiently  versatile  would  always  have  good  fortune,  and  the 
wise  man  would  at  last  command  the  stars  and  fate.  In  political 
life  such  reasoning  led  to  the  rejection  of  morality,  as  the  plain  man 
understands  it.  A  ruler  was  to  remember  that  he  lived  in  a  world 
which  he  had  not  made,  and  for  which  he  could  not  be  held  responsible ; 
he  was  not  obliged  to  act  on  any  one  principle ;  he  was  not  to  flinch  if 
cruelty,  dishonesty,  irreligion  were  necessary ;  he  was  exempt  from  the 
common  law ;  right  and  wrong  had  really  nothing  to  do  with  the 
art  of  government.  In  furnishing  what  appeared  a  reasoned  justifi- 
cation for  such  tenets,  Machiavelli  interpreted  to  itself  the  world  of 
contemporary  statecraft,  and  fixed  upon  politics  the  stamp  of  irremedi- 
able immorality  —  a  result  to  which  the  rejection  of  medieval  ideas  need 
not  necessarily  have  led. 

Such  are  the  general  principles  which  lie  at  the  root  of  all  Machia- 
velli's  teaching,  and  which  serve  to  universalise  all  the  particular  rules 
and  maxims  with  which  his  books  are  crowded.  They  have,  with  hardly 
an  exception,  their  roots  in  the  ancient  world,  and  in  nearly  every  case  it 
can  be  shown  how  they  were  transmitted  to  him,  and  how  by  him  the  old 
material  was  forged  and  moulded  into  new  shapes.  It  remains  to  enquire 
how  they  were  applied  to  the  necessities  of  his  own  age  and  country. 
In  1513,  Machiavelli  was  ruined  and  discredited,  ready  to  despair  of 
Fortune's  favour,  and  willing  to  accept  even  the  humblest  position  which 
would  enable  him  to  be  of  use  to  himself  and  his  city.  Employment 
was  slow  in  coming,  and  during  enforced  leisure  he  devoted  himself  to 
literature.  The  Prince  and  The  Discourses  were  begun  in  1513;  The 
Art  of  War  was  published  in  1521,  and  the  eight  books  of  The  Florentine 
Histories  were  ready  by  1525.  All  these  works  are  closely  related ;  in 
all  the  same  principles  are  implied ;  no  one  of  them  is  any  more  or  less 
immoral  than  any  of  its  fellows ;  they  supplement  each  other,  and  by 
precept  and  example  enforce  the  same  conclusions.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  that  Machiavelli  himself  considered  The  Art  of  War  the  most 


212    Circumstances  in  which  The  Prince  was  written 


important  of  his  books,  but  his  fame  in  later  generations  has  rested 
almost  wholly  upon  The  Prince. 

The  contents  of  The  Prince  were  little,  if  at  all,  affected  by  Machia- 
velli's  altered  fortunes,  though  he  hoped  that  if  the  book  was  read  by 
the  Medici,  they  might  employ  him  in  some  official  position,  for  which 
his  past  life  qualified  him.  This  did  not  prevent  him  from  developing, 
without  any  reserve,  the  conclusions  which  his  studies  and  experience 
had  enabled  him  to  mature.  He  was  primarily  concerned  neither  with 
his  own  interests  nor  with  the  Medici  family,  but  with  the  problems 
presented  by  the  condition  of  Italy  in  1513.  Ten  years  previously  he 
had  written  the  words  :  "  Go  forth  from  Tuscany,  and  consider  all  Italy." 
His  early  writings,  and  in  particular  his  diplomatic  letters,  are  crowded 
with  suggestions  of  the  form  which  the  conclusions  would  ultimately 
take.  Slowly,  through  at  least  fourteen  years,  his  mind  had  moved  in 
one  direction,  and  new  ideas  of  a  wide  compass  and  a  lofty  range  had 
taken  shape  and  asserted  their  claims  to  recognition.  He  had  been  a 
Florentine  of  the  Florentines,  hating  Pisa  and  exulting  over  Venice.  By 
1513  he  was  almost  persuaded  to  become  an  Italian,  to  merge  the  local 
in  the  national.  Yet,  although  enthusiastic  and  at  times  even  visionary, 
he  was  under  no  permanent  delusion ;  the  hope  of  an  ultimate  unity  for 
Italy  could  not  under  the  circumstances  assume  for  him  any  precise  form ; 
only  as  a  far-distant  aspiration,  a  pervasive  thought,  it  formed  the  large 
background  of  his  speculation.  He  knew  that  union  was  not  possible 
then ;  but  he  held,  in  opposition  to  Guicciardini,  that  it  was  only 
through  union  that  national  prosperity  becomes  possible;  "truly  no 
country  was  ever  united  or  prosperous,  unless  the  whole  of  it  passes 
beneath  the  sway  of  one  commonwealth  or  one  prince,  as  has  happened 
in  the  cases  of  France  and  Spain."  When,  however,  the  possibility 
of  such  a  thing  in  his  own  day  was  suggested  to  him,  he  was,  he 
said,  ready  to  laugh;  no  progress  could  be  made  in  the  presence  of 
a  disruptive  Papacy,  worthless  soldiers,  and  divided  interests.  But 
if  autonomy  and  independence  of  foreign  control  could  be  secured, 
the  question  would  at  once  enter  upon  a  new  stage.  Machiavelli  did 
not  mistake  the  problem;  but  he  could  not  forecast  the  issues  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

The  Prince.,  though  not  a  complete  novelty,  became  for  many  reasons 
a  work  of  primary  importance.  Machiavelli  was  the  earliest  writer  who 
consistently  applied  the  inductive  or  experimental  method  to  political 
science.  What  was  new  in  method  produced  much  that  was  new  in 
results.  The  earlier  manuals  of  statecraft  rested  upon  assumptions 
transmitted  through  the  medieval  Church.  In  Dante's  time  and  long 
afterwards  no  man  dared  to  discard  the  presuppositions  of  Christianity. 
Private  judgment  in  politics,  scarcely  less  than  in  theology,  was  dis- 
qualified, not  because  it  might  be  incompetent,  but  as  always  ex 
hypothesi  wrong,  wherever  authority  is  recognised.    Abstract  principles 


Inductive  method  applied  to  political  science  213 


of  justice,  duty,  morality,  formed  the  foundation  upon  which  the  political 
theories  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  been  constructed.  The  reasoning  from 
final  causes  was  almost  universal.  So  long  as  these  primary  postulates 
were  not  revised,  speculation  trod  and  re-trod  the  same  confined  area. 
What  Machiavelli  did,  was  to  shift  the  basis  of  political  science  and, 
consequently,  to  emancipate  the  State  from  ecclesiastical  thraldom. 
Henceforward,  the  fictions  of  the  Realists,  which  had  controlled  the 
forms  of  medieval  thought  in  nearly  all  departments,  were  set  aside  ; 
the  standard  was  to  be  no  philosophic  summum  honum^  nor  was  the  sic 
volo  of  authority  to  silence  enquiry  or  override  argument.  An  appeal 
was  to  be  made  to  history  and  reason ;  the  publicist  was  to  investigate, 
not  to  invent,  —  to  record,  not  to  anticipate,  —  the  laws  which  appear  to 
govern  men's  actions.  Machiavelli's  method  of  reasoning  was  a  challenge 
to  existing  authority,  and  was  believed  to  entail  the  disqualification,  at 
least  in  politics,  of  the  old  revealed  law  of  God,  in  favour  either  of  a 
restored  and  revised  form  of  natural  law,  or  at  any  rate  of  some  new  law 
which  man  might  elicit,  independently  of  God,  from  the  accumulated 
records  of  human  activity.  The  Prince  was  the  first  great  work  in  which 
the  two  authorities,  the  Divine  and  the  human,  were  clearly  seen  in 
collision,  and  in  which  the  venerable  axioms  of  earlier  generations  were 
rejected  as  practically  misleading,  and  theoretically  unsound.  The 
simplicity  and  directness  of  its  trenchant  appeal  to  common  experience 
and  to  the  average  intelligence  won  for  the  book  a  recognition  never 
accorded  to  Machiavelli's  other  works. 

In  The  Prince  the  discussion  of  the  methods,  by  which  a  "  new  prince  " 
might  consolidate  his  power,  developed  into  a  contribution  towards  a 
new  conception  of  the  State.  The  book  not  only  furnished  a  summary 
of  the  means  by  which,  in  the  circumstances  then  existing,  the  redemp- 
tion of  Italy  might  be  accomplished ;  but,  inasmuch  as  the  conditions 
of  life  repeat  themselves  and  the  recurrence  of  similar  crises  in  the 
future  was  always  possible,  recommendations,  primarily  directed  to  the 
solution  of  an  immediately  pressing  difficulty,  were  enlarged  in  scope,  and 
came  to  have  the  intention  of  supplying  in  some  measure  and  with 
perhaps  some  minor  reservations  a  law  of  political  action  in  all  times. 
Beneath  the  special  rules  and  maxims  new  principles  were  latent,  and, 
though  obscured  occasionally  by  the  form  in  which  they  are  expressed, 
they  can  be  disengaged  without  serious  difficulty. 

Machiavelli,  though  his  sympathies  were  republican,  knew  that  the 
times  required  the  intervention  of  a  despot.  He  had  no  hesitation  in 
deciding  the  relative  merits,  in  the  abstract,  of  the  democratic  and  the 
monarchical  forms  of  government ;  "  the  rule  of  a  people  is  better  than 
that  of  a  prince."  When  the  problem  was,  not  how  to  establish  a  new 
government  in  the  face  of  apparently  overwhelming  obstacles,  but  only 
how  to  carry  on  what  was  already  well  instituted,  a  republic  would  be 
found  far  more  serviceable  than  a  monarchy ;  "  while  a  prince  is  superior 


214  The  justification  of  despotic  power 


to  a  people  in  instituting  laws,  in  shaping  civil  society,  in  framing  new 
statutes  and  ordinances,  a  people  has  the  same  superiority  in  preserving 
what  is  established."  It  is  doubtful  whether  Machiavelli  ever  contem- 
plated the  creation  of  an  enduring  monarchy  in  Italy ;  the  continuance 
of  an  absolute  power  would,  he  believed,  corrupt  the  State.  He  was  on 
the  whole  sanguine  as  to  the  possibilities  of  popular  rule  ;  he  thought  it 
reasonable  to  compare  the  voice  of  the  people  to  the  voice  of  God,  and 
held  with  Cicero  that  the  masses,  though  ignorant,  may  come  to  under- 
stand the  truth.  But  the  drastic  reform  contemplated  by  him  could 
not  be  achieved  under  republican  institutions,  which  could  only  work 
satisfactorily  among  a  people  whose  character  was  sound.  Corruption 
had  gone  too  far  in  Italy ;  "  it  is  corrupt  above  all  other  countries." 
Moreover  "a  people,  into  whom  corruption  has  thoroughly  entered, 
cannot  live  in  freedom,  I  do  not  say  for  a  short  time,  but  for 
any  time  at  all."  By  "  corruption  "  Machiavelli  understood  primarily 
the  decay  of  private  and  civic  morality,  the  growth  of  impiety  and 
violence,  of  idleness  and  ignorance  ;  the  prevalence  of  spite,  license, 
and  ambition ;  the  loss  of  peace  and  justice  ;  the  general  contempt  of 
religion.  He  meant  also  dishonesty,  weakness,  disunion.  These  things, 
he  knew  well,  are  the  really  decisive  factors  in  national  life.  For 
the  restoration  of  old  ideals  and  the  inauguration  of  a  new  golden 
age,  he  ex  hypothesi  looked  to  the  State.  And  the  State  is  plastic ; 
it  is  as  wax  in  the  hands  of  the  legislator ;  he  can  "  stamp  upon  it  any 
new  form." 

The  drift  of  such  arguments  is  obvious.  "  It  may  be  taken  for  a 
general  rule  that  a  republic  or  kingdom  is  never,  or  very  rarely,  well 
organised  at  its  beginning,  or  fundamentally  renovated  by  a  reform  of 
its  old  institutions,  unless  it  is  organised  by  one  man.  .  .  .  Wherefore  the 
wise  founder  of  a  commonwealth,  who  aims,  not  at  personal  profit  but 
at  the  general  good,  and  desires  to  benefit  not  his  own  descendants  but 
the  common  motherland,  ought  to  use  every  effort  to  obtain  the  authority 
for  himself  alone  ;  and  no  wise  intellect  will  ever  find  fault  with  any  extra- 
ordinary action  employed  by  him  for  founding  an  empire  or  establishing 
a  republic.  For  though  the  act  accuses  him,  the  result  excuses  him." 
There  were,  besides,  other  reasons  which  led  Machiavelli  to  believe  that 
in  1513  the  undivided  force  of  a  despot  was  needed.  In  every  decaying 
State  a  class  of  men  is  to  be  found  who,  whether  the  degenerate  survivors 
of  the  old  feudal  nobility  or  upstart  signori  with  no  authoritative  title 
at  all,  are  the  enemies  of  all  reform,  and  who  cannot  otherwise  be 
suppressed.  These  gentiluomini  "  live  in  idleness  and  plenty  on  the 
revenues  of  their  estates,  without  having  any  concern  with  their  cultiva- 
tion or  undergoing  any  labour  to  obtain  a  livelihood.  They  are  mischievous 
in  every  republic  and  in  every  country ;  yet  more  mischievous  still  are 
those  who,  besides  being  so  situated,  command  fortified  places  and  have 
subjects  who  obey  them.     The  kingdom  of  Naples,  the  territory  of 


The  principles  of  reform 


215 


Rome,  the  Romagna,  and  Lombardy  are  filled  with  these  two  classes  of 
men.  For  this  reason  there  has  never  been  in  those  provinces  any 
republic  or  free  State ;  for  such  kinds  of  person  are  absolutely  antago- 
nistic to  all  civil  government.  The  attempt  to  introduce  a  republic  into 
countries  so  circumstanced  would  not  be  possible.  In  order  to  reorganise 
them — supposing  any  one  had  authority  to  do  it — there  would  be  no  other 
way  than  to  establish  a  monarchy ;  the  reason  being  this :  where  the  body 
of  the  people  is  so  corrupt  that  the  laws  are  unable  to  curb  it,  it  is 
necessary  to  establish  together  with  the  laws  a  superior  force,  that  is 
to  say,  the  arm  of  a  King  (mano  regia)^  which  with  absolute  and  over- 
whelming power  may  curb  the  overwhelming  ambition  and  corruption 
of  the  nobles."  A  republic,  therefore,  cannot  initiate  a  fundamental 
reform  ;  it  is,  moreover,  too  divided  in  counsel  and  too  dilatory  in  action  ; 
"supposing  a  republic  had  the  same  views  and  the  same  wishes  as  a 
prince,  it  will  by  reason  of  the  slowness  of  its  movements  take  longer  to 
come  to  a  decision  than  he."  Hence  the  remedies  which  republics  apply 
are  doubly  hazardous,  when  they  have  to  deal  with  a  crisis  which  cannot 
wait. 

On  these  grounds  Machiavelli,  in  pleading  for  the  liberation  of  Italy 
from  her  "  barbarian  "  invaders,  addressed  a  prince  ;  the  work  of  regene- 
ration could  logically  be  entrusted  only  to  an  armed  despot.  It  remained 
to  investigate  the  methods  to  be  employed,  and  to  consider  what  manner 
of  man  the  reformer  should  be.  The  general  principle  enforced  was  that 
all  reform  must  be  retrograde,  in  the  sense  that  it  must  bring  back  the 
State  to  its  original  condition,  restoring  the  old  rjOo^  and  looking  for  the 
ideal  in  the  past.  "  It  is  a  certain  truth  that  all  things  in  the  world 
have  a  limit  to  their  existence ;  but  those  run  the  full  course  that 
Heaven  has  in  a  general  way  assigned  them,  which  do  not  disorder  their 
constitution,  but  maintain  it  so  ordered  that  it  either  does  not  alter,  or, 
if  it  alters,  the  change  is  for  its  advantage,  not  to  its  detriment.  .  .  .  Those 
alterations  are  salutary,  which  bring  States  back  towards  their  first 
beginnings.  Those  States,  consequently,  are  best-ordered  and  longest- 
lived,  which  by  means  of  their  institutions  can  be  often  renewed,  or 
else,  apart  from  their  institutions,  may  be  renewed  by  some  accident. 
And  it  is  clearer  than  the  day  that,  if  these  bodies  are  not  renewed,  they 
will  not  last.  The  way  to  renew  them  is,  as  has  been  said,  to  bring  them 
back  to  their  beginnings,  because  all  the  beginnings  of  republics  and 
kingdoms  must  contain  in  themselves  some  excellence,  by  means  of  which 
they  obtain  their  first  reputation  and  make  their  first  growth.  And  as  in 
the  progress  of  time  this  excellence  becomes  corrupted,  unless  something 
intervenes  which  restores  it  to  its  primary  condition,  these  bodies  are 
necessarily  destroyed." 

Such  is  the  general  rule  for  the  guidance  of  a  reformer.  As  isolation 
would  involve  failure,  he  must,  in  order  to  realize  his  object,  make  it  his 
first  business  to  secure  the  favour  of  the  people.    However  difficult  this 


216  The  necessity  of  popular  support 


might  be,  without  some  measure  of  popularity  success  would  be  an 
impossibility.  "I  reckon  unhappy  those  princes  who,  to  secure  their 
State,  are  obliged  to  employ  extraordinary  methods,  having  the  many 
for  their  enemies ;  for  he  who  has  the  few  for  his  enemies,  readily  and 
without  serious  difficulties  secures  himself ;  but  he  who  has  for  enemy  the 
whole  people  never  secures  himself,  and,  the  more  cruel  he  is,  the  weaker 
his  rule  becomes.  So  the  best  remedy  within  his  reach  is  to  try  to  make 
friends  with  the  people."  To  win  popularity  and  yet  to  conduct  a  thorough 
reform  might  seem  hopeless  ;  but  Machiavelli  found  a  solution  of  the 
difficulty  in  the  blind  ignorance  of  the  people,  who  may  easily  be  deluded 
by  the  appearances  of  liberty.  "  He  who  desires  or  intends  to  reform 
the  government  of  a  city  must,  if  this  reform  is  to  be  accepted  and  carried 
on  with  general  approval,  retain  at  least  the  semblance  of  the  ancient 
methods,  lest  it  should  appear  to  the  people  that  their  constitution 
has  changed,  although  in  reality  the  new  institutions  are  entirely 
different  from  the  old  ;  for  the  mass  of  mankind  is  fed  with  appearances 
as  much  as  with  realities ;  indeed,  men  are  frequently  more  stirred  by 
what  seems  than  by  what  is."  Populus  vult  decipi  et  decipiatur.  There 
will,  of  course,  be  some  few  men  w^ho  cannot  be  cheated ;  the  new  prince 
must  not  hesitate  to  kill  them.  "  When  men  individually,  or  a  whole 
city  together  offend  against  the  State,  a  prince  for  a  warning  to  others 
and  for  his  own  safety  has  no  other  remedy  than  to  exterminate  them ; 
for  the  prince,  who  fails  to  chastise  an  offender  so  that  he  cannot  offend 
any  more,  is  reckoned  an  ignoramus  or  a  coward."  Elsewhere  the  lan- 
guage is  even  more  explicit:  "he  who  is  dead  cannot  think  about 
revenging  himself."  But  such  violence  would  only  be  necessary  in  the 
early  stages  of  a  reformer's  career,  and  a  wise  prince  will  so  manage  that 
the  odium  shall  fall  on  his  subordinates  ;  he  may  thus  secure  a  reputation 
for  clemency,  and  in  any  case  all  cruelty  must  be  finished  at  one  stroke, 
and  not  subsequently  repeated  at  intervals.  Such  a  course  would  be  less 
obnoxious  than  to  confiscate  property,  for  men  would  sooner  lose  their 
relatives  than  forfeit  their  money.  Dead  friends  may  sometimes  be 
forgotten ;  the  memory  of  lost  possessions  always  survives. 

It  is  clear  that  the  task  of  a  reformer,  as  Machiavelli  understood  it, 
would  require  a  very  unusual  combination  of  gifts  and  qualities.  It 
appeared  unlikely  that  any  one  could  be  found  with  the  ability  and 
the  will  to  act  without  reference  to  traditional  standards,  and  without 
concession  to  the  ordinary  feelings  of  humanity.  Machiavelli  was  not 
blind  to  the  difficulties  of  the  case.  It  had,  first,  a  moral  and  an 
emotional  side.  Whoever  was  to  accomplish  the  salvation  of  Italy 
must  be  ready  to  sacrifice  his  private  convictions  and  to  ignore  the 
rights  of  conscience.  The  methods  which  Machiavelli  advocated  were, 
he  readily  admitted,  opposed  to  the  life  of  a  Christian,  perhaps  even  to 
the  life  of  a  human  being.  Were  the  morally  good  to  be  set  side  by 
side  with  the  morally  evil,  no  one  would  ever  be  so  mad  or  so  wicked, 


Difficulties  of  a  reformer's  task 


217 


that  if  asked  to  choose  between  the  two,  he  would  not  praise  that  which 
deserved  praise  and  blame  that  which  deserved  blame.  Machiavelli 
recognised  with  regret  that  "it  very  seldom  happens  that  a  good  man  is 
willing  to  become  prince  by  bad  means,  though  his  object  be  good." 
The  desire  for  posthumous  fame  and  the  knowledge  that  a  retrospective 
judgment  would  approve  were  powerful  inducements,  but,  after  all, 
something  weightier  was  required.  Machiavelli  was  prepared  to  be 
logical.  An  extraordinary  problem  cannot  be  solved  by  a  tender 
conscience ;  "  honest  slaves  are  always  slaves,  and  good  men  are  always 
paupers."  Deceit  and  cruelty  and  any  other  instrument  of  empire,  if 
they  led  to  success,  would  be  understood  and  forgiven ;  "  those  who 
conquer,  in  whatever  way  they  conquer,  never  reap  disgrace."  Success 
became  the  solvent  of  moral  distinctions,  and  judgment  must  follow 
results.  And  in  the  particular  case  of  Italy,  a  further  sanction  for  the 
reformer's  acts  might  perhaps  be  found  in  the  desperate  condition  of  the 
country,  and  in  the  high  end  in  view :  "  where  the  bare  salvation  of 
the  motherland  is  at  stake,  there  no  consideration  of  justice  or  injustice 
can  find  a  place,  nor  any  of  mercy  and  cruelty,  or  of  honour  and 
disgrace ;  every  scruple  must  be  set  aside,  and  that  plan  followed  which 
saves  her  life  and  maintains  her  liberty." 

Supposing  any  one  prepared  to  accept  this  solution  of  the  intellectual 
difficulties,  it  remained  doubtful  whether  a  man  could  be  found  with  the 
practical  ability  and  steadiness  of  nerve  necessary  to  accomplish  Machia- 
velli's  design.  He  was  sometimes  sanguine,  but  at  other  times  ready  to 
despair.  The  condition  of  success  would  be  thoroughness,  and  in  the 
history  of  Rome  he  found  evidences  that  men  may,  though  rarely,  avoid 
half-measures,  and  "have  recourse  to  extremities."  He  knew  that  to 
halt  between  two  opinions  was  always  fatal,  and  that  it  was  moreover 
not  only  undesirable,  but  impossible,  to  follow  a  middle  course  con- 
tinuously. Unfortunately,  human  nature  is  apt  to  recoil  from  the 
extreme  of  evil  and  to  fall  short  of  the  ideal  of  good ;  "  men  know 
not  how  to  be  gloriously  wicked  or  perfectly  good ;  and,  when  a  crime 
has  somewhat  of  grandeur  and  nobility  in  it,  they  flinch."  Yet  a  great 
crisis  often  brings  to  the  front  a  great  man,  and  in  1513  Machiavelli 
believed  the  moment  had  come :  "  this  opportunity  must  not  be  allowed 
to  slip  by,  in  order  that  Italy  may  at  last  see  her  redeemer  appear."  The 
right  man  was,  he  believed,  a  Medici,  who,  with  far  greater  resources, 
might  succeed  where  a  Borgia  had  failed.  His  example  was  Cesare 
Borgia,  who  at  the  time  had  alone  in  any  sort  attempted  the  work  of 
consolidation,  and  while  shrinking  from  no  convenient  crime  had  damned 
himself  intelligently. 

The  Prince  was  not  published  in  Machiavelli's  lifetime,  was  almost 
certainly  never  presented  either  to  Giuliano  or  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  and 
as  a  practical  manifesto  with  a  special  purpose  in  view  had  no  influence 
whatever.    But  the  book  summed  up  and  interpreted  the  converging 


218 


Permanent  interest  of  The  Prince 


temper  of  political  thought,  and  found  an  echo  in  the  minds  of  many- 
generations.  When  The  Discourses  were  known  only  to  political  theo- 
rists, when  The  Florentine  Histories  were  read  only  by  students,  and  The 
Art  of  War  had  become  extinct,  The  Prince  still  continued  to  find  a 
ready  welcome  from  men  immersed  in  the  practical  business  of  govern- 
ment. Later  thinkers  carried  on  the  lines  of  reasoning  suggested  by 
Machiavelli,  and  reached  conclusions  from  which  he  refrained.  At  last 
it  became  clear,  that  the  problems  associated  with  Machiavelli's  name 
were  in  fact  primitive  problems,  arising  inexorably  from  the  conditions 
of  all  human  societies.  They  form  part  of  larger  questions,  in  which 
they  become  insensibly  merged.  When  the  exact  place  of  Machiavelli 
in  history  has  been  defined,  the  issues  which  he  raised  will  still  subsist. 
The  difficulties  can  only  ultimately  disappear,  when  the  progress  of 
thought  has  determined  in  some  final  and  conclusive  form  the  necessary 
relations  of  all  men  to  one  another  and  to  God. 


CHAPTER  VII 


ROME  AND  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER 

We  are  to  describe  the  consolidation,  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
and  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  of  the  Temporal  Power  of 
the  Popes  which  had  existed  amid  the  greatest  vicissitudes  since  the 
alliance  of  the  Papacy  with  the  Frankish  Kings  in  the  eighth,  but  had 
hitherto  been  rather  a  source  of  humiliation  than  of  strength  to  the 
Holy  See.  It  must  be  shown  how  this  transformation  of  a  feeble  and 
distracted  State  into  one  firmly  organised  and  fairly  tranquil  arose  from 
the  general  tendency  to  union  and  coalescence  under  a  single  ruler  which 
prevailed  among  most  European  nations  at  this  period,  but  to  which, 
except  in  this  instance,  Italy,  unfortunately  for  herself,  remained  a 
stranger :  how,  in  the  second  place,  it  was  forced  upon  the  Popes  by  the 
weakness  and  insecurity  of  their  temporal  position ;  but  how,  in  the 
third,  it  was  fostered  in  an  unprecedented  degree  by  the  inordinate 
nepotism  of  one  Pope,  and  the  martial  ambition  of  another.  Were  the 
story  prolonged,  it  would  appear  how  these  impure  agencies  were  over- 
ruled for  good,  and  how,  when  everything  else  in  Italy  lay  prostrate 
before  the  foreign  conqueror,  the  Temporal  Power  preserved  at  least  a 
simulacrum  of  independence  until  the  revival  of  the  aspiration  for 
national  unity  not  only  superseded  the  symbol  by  the  reality,  but 
swept  it  away  as  an  obstacle  in  its  own  path. 

Much  of  the  history  of  Europe  in  the  fifteenth  century  may  be  ex- 
pressed in  a  single  word,  —  coalescence.  A  movement,  as  spontaneous 
and  irresistible  as  those  which  had  in  former  times  lined  the  Mediter- 
ranean coasts  of  Asia  Minor  with  Greek  colonies,  and  impelled  the 
Northern  nations  against  the  decaying  Roman  Empire,  was  now  ag- 
glomerating petty  States  and  feudal  lordships  into  nations ;  a  process 
involving  vast  social  as  well  as  political  changes.  Ancient  liberties  too 
often  disappeared,  but  ancient  lawlessness  also  ;  the  tall  poppies  fell 
before  the  sword  of  the  Tarquins  of  the  age ;  and  the  mercantile  class, 
which  had  hitherto  only  asserted  itself  under  the  aegis  of  the  free  insti- 
tutions of  independent  urban  communities,  became  a  powerful  element 
in  every  land.    Everywhere  the  tendency  was  towards  centralisation, 

219 


220  Tendency  to  national  consolidation 


clans  and  districts  massing  into  nations,  semi-independent  jurisdictions 
merging  themselves  into  a  single  dominant  Power.  The  necessity 
and  the  salutary  effect  of  this  evolution  are  proved  by  the  happier 
fortune  of  the  nations  which  conformed  to  it,  England,  France,  Spain, 
the  Scandinavian  North,  and  after  a  while  Russia,  became  great  Powers. 
Where  the  movement  towards  coherence  was  but  partial,  as  in  Germany, 
the  nation  remained  feeble  and  distracted ;  where  it  proved  mainly 
abortive,  as  in  Italy,  the  country  fell  under  the  sway  of  the  foreigner. 

In  one  important  portion  of  Italy,  the  impulse  towards  unity  was 
practically  effective,  and  produced  results  extending  far  beyond  the 
narrow  stage  to  which  it  w^as  in  appearance  confined.  The  growth  of 
the  Temporal  Power  of  the  Papacy  is  as  much  a  phase  of  the  general 
tendency  towards  coalescence  which  we  have  described  as  is  the  beat- 
ing down  of  the  feudal  aristocracy  in  England,  or  the  consolidation  of 
France  under  Louis  XI.  The  conduct  of  the  Popes  in  incorporating 
petty  independent  or  semi-independent  principalities  with  the  patrimony 
of  St  Peter  did  not  materially  differ  from  the  line  of  action  adopted 
by  Louis  or  Henry  towards  their  overpowerful  vassals.  In  all  these 
cases  the  sovereign  was  urged  on  by  the  spirit  and  necessities  of  his  age, 
and  contended  with  the  influences  that  made  for  disintegration,  as  in 
former  times  he  might  have  contended  with  the  Saracens.  There  was 
indeed  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  the  crusader  in  him ;  and  yet,  uncon- 
sciously, he  was  leading  a  crusade  against  a  state  of  things  salutary  in 
its  day,  but  which,  at  the  stage  to  which  the  world  had  progressed, 
would  have  fettered  the  development  of  Europe.  In  the  case  of  the 
Popes,  however,  one  obvious  consideration  compels  us  to  consider  their 
policy  and  its  consequences  from  a  point  of  view  elsewhere  inapplicable. 
They  were  spiritual  as  well  as  secular  sovereigns.  Their  actions  were 
never  confined  to  a  merely  political  sphere,  and  could  not  fail  to  pro- 
duce the  most  important  effects  upon  the  greatest  spiritual  institution 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  —  an  institution  which  at  one  time  had  seemed 
to  pervade  the  entire  social  as  well  as  religious  fabric  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  to  concentrate  every  civilising  influence  within  itself. 

One  distinction  between  the  consolidating  activity  of  a  merely  tem- 
poral sovereign  and  that  of  a  Pope,  though  obvious,  must  not  be  left 
without  notice,  since  it  accounts  in  a  measure  for  the  special  obloquy 
which  the  Popes  have  incurred  for  obeying  the  general  instinct  of  their 
time.  The  monarch  was  exempt  from  all  suspicion  of  nepotism,  the 
interests  of  his  heir  were  inseparable  from  the  interests  of  the  State. 
Granted  that  the  former  were  in  fact  the  more  influential  with  him,  the 
circumstance  was  really  immaterial :  he  could  neither  work  for  himself 
without  working  for  his  successor,  nor  work  for  his  successor  without 
working  for  himself.  The  Pope,  on  the  other  hand,  as  an  elected 
monarch,  could  not  have  a  legitimate  heir,  while  he  was  by  no  means 
precluded  from  having  nephews  or  still  nearer  relatives  whose  interests 


1484]  Death  of  Sixtus  IV.  —  Election  of  Innocent  VIII  221 


might  come  into  collision  with  the  interests  of  the  Church.  After  his 
death  these  relatives  would  no  longer  be  anything,  except  in  so  far  as  he 
had  been  able  to  create  a  permanent  position  for  them,  and  this,  rather 
than  the  public  good,  was  too  likely  to  be  the  goal  of  his  exertions. 
Hence  the  papal  aggrandisement  has  brought  an  odium  upon  the  Popes 
of  this  age  unshared  by  the  contemporary  secular  sovereigns,  and  which, 
in  so  far  as  they  were  actuated  by  private  motives,  cannot  be  said  to  be 
undeserved.  Sixtus  IV,  though  the  era  of  papal  conquests  dates  from 
him,  and  though  no  Pope  wrought  more  persistently  or  unscrupulously 
to  secure  for  the  Papacy  a  commanding  position  in  Italy,  must  rank 
rather  as  an  accidental  promoter  than  as  a  deliberate  creator  of  the 
Temporal  Power,  since  the  mainspring  of  his  policy  was  manifestly  the 
advantage  of  his  nephews.  This  cannot  be  said  of  one  of  the  two  great 
architects  of  the  Temporal  Power  —  Julius  II ;  whether  it  applies  to  his 
precursor  is  one  of  the  problems  of  history.  Before,  however,  the 
question  could  arise  concerning  Alexander  VI,  there  was  to  be  an 
interval  of  quiet  under  a  feeble  Pope  who  did  little  for  his  family  and 
nothing  for  the  Church,  but  who  admirably  suited  the  circumstances  of 
his  time. 

Sixtus  IV  had  succeeded  well  in  promoting  the  interests  of  his  house. 
Imola  and  Forli  made  an  excellent  establishment  for  one  nephew, 
Girolamo  Riario ;  another,  Giuliano  della  Rovere,  was  one  of  the  most 
commanding  figures  in  the  College  of  Cardinals.  In  every  other  point 
of  view  the  policy  of  Sixtus  had  been  a  failure ;  he  had  lowered  the 
moral  authority  of  the  Papacy  without  any  compensating  gain  in  the 
secular  sphere,  and  had  only  bequeathed  an  example  destined  to  remain  for 
a  while  inoperative.  The  election  of  his  successor  Innocent  VIII  (August, 
1484)  was  blamed  by  contemporaries,  and  pronounced  by  the  Notary 
Infessura  worse  even  than  that  of  Sixtus,  in  which  bribery  had  a  notorious 
share.  The  Notary's  charges,  notwithstanding,  are  wanting  in  definite- 
ness ;  and  it  seems  needless  to  look  beyond  the  natural  inclination  of 
powerful  competitors,  neither  of  whom  could  achieve  the  Papacy  for 
himself,  to  agree  upon  some  generally  acceptable  person.  It  is  also 
generally  observed  that,  as  the  human  frailties  which  in  some  shape  must 
beset  every  Pope  are  especially  manifest  at  the  time  of  his  decease,  the 
choice  naturally  tends  towards  someone  apparently  exempt  from  these 
particular  failings,  and  hence  towards  a  person  different  in  some  sort  from 
his  predecessor.  As  Calixtus  had  been  unlike  Nicholas,  and  Pius  unlike 
Calixtus,  and  Paul  unlike  Pius,  and  Sixtus  unlike  Paul,  it  was  but  in 
accordance  with  precedent  that  the  passionate  imperious  unscrupulous 
Franciscan  should  give  place  to  a  successor  who  might  have  sat  for  the 
portrait  of  an  ahbS  in  Cril  Bias.  On  August  29,  1484,  Cardinal 
Giovanni  Battista  Cibo  became  Pope  under  the  name  of  Innocent  VIII. 
There  was  probably  no  more  colourless  figure  in  the  Sacred  College. 
He  had  owed  the  Cardinalate,  which  he  had  enjoyed  for  eleven  years, 


222 


Weakness  of  Innocent  VIII  [1484-92 


to  his  Genoese  origin  and  his  episcopate  over  the  city  of  Savona, 
Sixtus's  birthplace.  The  same  circumstances  recommended  him  to  the 
nephew  of  Sixtus,  the  able  and  powerful  Cardinal  della  Rovere,  who 
naturally  wished  to  see  one  of  his  uncle's  creatures  seated  on  the  papal 
throne  ;  and  when  two  such  potent  Cardinals  as  he  and  the  Vice- 
Chancellor  Borgia  had  agreed,  there  was  but  little  need  for  illegitimate 
modes  of  action  beyond  the  bestowal  of  legations  and  palaces,  —  almost 
indispensable  concomitants  of  a  papal  election  in  that  age.  The 
arrangements  thus  made,  which  are  enumerated  in  the  despatches  of  the 
Florentine  envoy  Vespucci,  were  mostly  regulated  directly  or  indirectly 
by  Cardinal  della  Rovere,  who  found  his  account  in  becoming  Papa  et 
plusquam  Papa.  The  new  Pope,  indeed,  as  described  by  Vespucci, 
hardly  appeared  the  man  to  stand  by  himself.  "  He  has  little  ex- 
perience in  affairs  of  State,  and  little  learning,  but  is  not  wholly 
ignorant."  As  Cardinal  he  had  been  distinguished  by  his  affability, 
and  was  thought  to  have  let  down  the  dignity  of  the  ofBce.  His  morals 
had  not  been  irreproachable,  but  the  attacks  of  the  epigrammatists  are 
gross  exaggerations,  and,  save  for  a  too  public  manifestation  of  his 
affection  for  his  daughter,  more  criticised  by  posterity  than  by  contem- 
poraries, his  conduct  as  Pope  appears  to  have  been  perfectly  decorous. 

Innocent's  part  in  the  evolution  which  made  the  Bishop  of  Rome  a 
powerful  temporal  sovereign  was  not  conspicuous  or  glorious,  but  it  was 
important.  It  consisted  in  the  demonstration  of  the  absolute  necessity 
of  a  great  extension  and  fortification  of  the  papal  authority,  if  the  Pope 
was  to  enjoy  the  respect  of  Christendom,  or  was  even  to  continue  at 
Rome.  Never  was  anarchy  more  prevalent,  or  contempt  for  justice  more 
universal ;  and  the  cause  was  the  number  of  independent  jurisdictions, 
from  principalities  like  Forli  or  Faenza  down  to  petty  barons  established 
at  the  gates  of  Rome,  —  none  of  them  too  petty  not  to  be  able  to  set 
the  Pope  at  defiance.  The  general  confusion  reacted  upon  the  finances, 
and  chronic  insolvency  accredited  the  accusations,  in  all  probability 
calumnious,  brought  against  the  Pope  "  of  conniving  at  the  flight  of 
malefactors  who  paid  him  money,  and  granting  licenses  for  sins  before 
their  commission."  The  Pope  himself  was  conscious  of  his  discredit- 
able position,  and  in  a  remarkable  speech  to  the  Florentine  ambassador 
pronounced  by  anticipation  the  apology  of  his  vigorous  and  unscrupulous 
successors.  "  If,"  he  said,  "  none  would  aid  him  against  the  violence  of 
the  King  of  Naples,  he  would  betake  himself  abroad,  where  he  would  be 
received  with  open  arms,  and  where  he  would  be  assisted  to  recover  his 
own,  to  the  shame  and  scathe  of  the  disloyal  princes  and  peoples  of  Italy. 
He  could  not  remain  in  Italy,  if  deprived  of  the  dignity  befitting  a 
Pope  ;  but  neither  was  he  able,  if  abandoned  by  the  other  Italian  States, 
to  resist  the  King,  by  reason  both  of  the  slender  military  resources  of 
the  Church  and  on  account  of  the  unruly  Roman  barons,  who  would 
rejoice  to  see  him  in  distress.     He  should  therefore  deem  himself 


1486]  Alliance  of  Innocent  VIII  and  Lorenzo  de^  Medici  223 


entirely  justified  in  seeking  refuge  abroad,  should  nothing  less  avail  to 
preserve  the  dignity  of  the  Holy  See.  Other  Popes  had  done  the  like, 
and  had  returned  with  fame  and  honour." 

If  such  was  the  situation,  —  and  Innocent  certainly  did  not  exaggerate 
it,  —  the  Popes  of  his  day  are  clearly  not  to  be  censured  for  endeavouring 
to  put  it  upon  a  different  footing.  It  might  indeed  be  said  that  they 
ought  to  have  renounced  the  Temporal  Power  altogether,  and  gone  forth 
scripless  into  the  world  in  the  fashion  of  the  Apostles ;  but  in  their 
age  such  a  proceeding  would  have  been  impracticable,  nor  could  the 
thought  of  it  have  hardly  so  much  as  entered  their  minds.  The  incu- 
rable vice  of  their  position  was,  that  the  mutation  in  things  temporal 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  safety  and  well-being  of  the  Church  could 
not  be  brought  about  by  means  befitting  a  Christian  pastor.  The  best 
of  men  could,  upon  the  papal  throne,  have  effected  nothing  without 
violence  and  treachery.  Innocent's  successors  were  not  good  men,  and 
recourse  to  means  which  would  have  shocked  a  good  man  cost  them 
nothing.    But  they  were  indisputably  the  men  for  the  time. 

The  mission  which  we  have  attributed  to  Innocent  of  practically 
demonstrating  the  need  for  a  strong  man  in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  was 
worked  out  through  a  troubled  and  inglorious  pontificate,  whose 
incidents  are  too  remotely  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Temporal 
Power  to  justify  any  fulness  of  treatment  in  this  place.  They  turn 
principally  upon  his  relations  with  Naples  and  Florence.  Having  in 
1485  entered  upon  an  unnecessary  war  with  Naples,  Innocent  soon 
became  intimidated,  and  made  peace  in  1486.  This  led  to  the  tempo- 
rary disgrace  of  Cardinal  della  Rovere ;  and  the  marriage  of  the 
Pope's  illegitimate  son  to  the  daughter  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
brought  him  under  the  influence  of  the  Florentine  ruler.  It  was 
the  best  thing  that  could  have  happened  for  the  tranquillity  of 
Italy.  Lorenzo  was  a  miniature  Augustus,  intent,  indeed,  on  personal 
ends  in  the  first  instance,  but  with  a  genuine  fibre  of  patriotism, 
and  not  insatiable  or  even  rapacious.  Alone  among  the  rulers  of 
Italy  he  had  the  wisdom  to  discern  when  acquisition  had  reached 
its  safe  limits,  and  thenceforth  to  dedicate  his  energies  to  preser- 
vation. Hence  he  was  the  friend  of  peace,  and  the  influence  he  had 
obtained  with  the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Naples  was  devoted  to 
keeping  them  on  amicable  terms.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy  he 
prevented  the  Pope  from  allying  himself  with  Venice,  and  successfully 
laboured  to  induce  the  King  to  pay  to  Rome  the  tribute  which  he 
had  endeavoured  to  withhold.  No  wonder  that  a  course  so  conducive 
to  the  material  prosperity  of  Italy  earned  Lorenzo  her  thanks  and 
blessings:  yet  the  unity  of  Italy,  in  the  last  resort  her  only  safety, 
could  only  have  sprung  from  national  strife.  During  the  generally 
uneventful  decade  of  1480-90  the  power  of  France  and  Spain  was 
growing  fast,  and  a  land  partitioned  between  petty  principalities  and 


224 


Captivity  of  Sultan  Jem 


[1489 


petty  republics  was  lost  so  soon  as  two  great  ambitious  Powers  agreed 
to  make  her  their  battlefield. 

For  a  time,  however,  the  alliance  of  Lorenzo  and  Innocent  seemed  to 
have  brought  about  a  period  of  halcyon  repose.  The  Pope's  financial 
straits  frequently  rendered  his  position  embarrassing  and  undignified^ 
and  his  attempts  to  mitigate  these  by  the  multiplication  of  venal  offices 
aggravated  the  corruption  of  his  Court.  Important  events,  nevertheless, 
were  as  a  rule  favourable  to  him.  Chance  gave  the  Papacy  a  certain 
prestige  from  its  relations  with  the  chief  ruler  of  the  Mohammadan 
world.  Upon  the  death  of  the  conqueror  of  Constantinople,  the 
incurable  vice  of  all  Oriental  monarchies  revealed  itself  in  a  fratricidal 
contest  for  the  succession  between  his  sons.  Bayazid,  the  elder,  gained 
the  throne ;  his  defeated  competitor  Jem  sought  refuge  with  the 
Knights  of  St  John  of  Jerusalem  at  Rhodes,  who  naturally  detained  him 
as  a  hostage.  The  value  of  the  acquisition  was  proved  by  the  appre- 
hensions of  Bayazid,  who  offered  to  pay  an  annual  pension  so  long  as  his 
brother  should  be  detained  in  safe  custody.  The  envy  of  other  Christian 
States  was  excited,  and  every  ruler  found  some  reason  why  the  guardian- 
ship of  Jem  should  be  committed  to  himself.  At  length  the  prize  was 
by  common  consent  entrusted  to  the  Pope,  whose  claim  was  really  the 
best,  and  who  actually  rendered  a  service  to  Christendom  by  keeping 
Bayazid  in  restraint,  at  least  so  far  as  regarded  the  Mediterranean 
countries ;  nor  does  he  appear  to  have  been  wanting  in  any  duty  towards 
his  captive.  So  long  as  Jem  remained  in  the  Pope's  keeping,  Bayazid 
observed  peace  at  sea,  and  paid  a  pension  hardly  distinguishable  from  a 
tribute ;  and  it  is  hard  to  understand  why  Innocent's  action  in  the  matter 
should  have  been  condemned  by  historians.  It  was  further  justified  in 
the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries  by  what  was  then  considered  a  great 
religious  victory,  comparable  to  Augustus's  recovery  of  the  standards  of 
Crassus,  —  the  cession  by  the  Sultan  of  the  lance  said  to  have  pierced 
the  Saviour's  side  as  He  hung  upon  the  cross.  Some  Cardinals  betrayed 
a  sceptical  spirit,  remarking  that  this  was  not  the  only  relic  of  the 
kind;  and  though  received  with  jubilation  at  the  time,  it  does  not 
seem  to  have  afterwards  figured  very  conspicuously  among  the  treasures 
of  the  Roman  See. 

A  more  important  success  which  reflected  lustre  upon  Innocent's 
pontificate,  although  he  had  in  no  way  promoted  it,  was  the  fall  of 
Granada  on  January  2,  1492.  The  news  reached  Rome  on  February  1, 
and  was  welcomed  with  festivals  and  rejoicings  which  would  have  been 
moderated,  if  the  influence  of  the  event  on  European  politics  could  then 
have  been  comprehended,  and  the  transactions  of  the  next  half  century 
foreseen. 

When  the  tidings  of  the  victory  arrived,  Innocent  was  already 
beginning  to  suffer  from  the  progress  of  a  mortal  disease.  During 
the  early  summer  his  health  grew  desperate ;  he  with  difficulty  repressed 


1492]  Death  of  Innocent  VIIL — Election  of  Alexander  VI  225 


the  unseemly  contests  of  Cardinals  Borgia  and  della  Rovere,  quarrelling 
in  his  presence  over  the  steps  to  be  taken  after  his  decease.  Strange 
stories,  probably  groundless,  were  told  of  boys  perishing  under  the 
surgeon's  hands  in  the  endeavour  to  save  the  dying  Pope's  life  by 
transfusion  of  blood,  while  he  lay  in  a  lethargy.  The  scene  closed  on 
July  25,  and  on  the  following  day  the  Pope  was  interred,  in  the  sarcas- 
tic words  of  a  contemporary  diarist,  lasso  singultus  modicis  lacrimis  et 
ejulatu  nulla.  Little,  indeed,  had  his  life  left  posterity  to  applaud  or  to 
condemn.  His  pontificate  is  only  redeemed  from  absolute  insignificance 
by  his  docility  to  the  wise  counsels  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  —  almost 
the  last  occasion  in  history  when  it  has  been  possible  for  a  Pope  to  lean 
upon  a  native  Italian  prince.  Lorenzo  had  preceded  him  to  the  tomb 
by  a  month ;  and  from  Milan  to  Naples  no  ruler  remained  in  Italy 
who  was  capable  of  following  any  other  policy  than  one  of  selfish 
aggrandisement. 

The  election  of  a  Pope  (as  was  remarked  above)  has  frequently 
resulted  in  the  choice  of  a  successor  strongly  contrasted  in  every  respect 
with  the  previous  occupant  of  the  chair  of  St  Peter.  It  might  have  been 
expected  that  the  vacant  seat  of  Innocent  would  not  be  filled  by  another 
feeble  Pope:  yet  little  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  at  first  to 
the  prospects  of  the  two  ablest  and  strongest  men  in  the  College  of 
Cardinals.  Cardinal  della  Rovere,  indeed,  might  seem  excluded  by  the 
unwritten  law  which  almost  forbade  a  Cardinal  intimately  connected 
with  the  late  Pope  to  aspire  to  the  Papacy  on  the  first  vacancy.  The 
Cardinal  was  not  indeed  a  relative  of  Innocent's,  but  he  had  been  his 
minister,  and  was  his  countryman.  Had  he  been  chosen,  three  Genoese 
Popes  would  have  worn  the  tiara  in  succession,  —  a  scandal  to  the  rest  of 
the  peninsula.  Moreover,  Innocent's  promotions  of  Cardinals  had  been 
few  and  unimportant ;  he  had  left  no  posthumous  party  in  the  College. 
Rodrigo  Borgia,  yice-Chancellor  and  Senior  Cardinal,  seemed,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  man  especially  pointed  out  for  the  emergency.  His 
long  occupation  of  the  lucrative  Vice-Chancellorship  had  given  him 
enormous  wealth ;  great  capacity  for  affairs  was  associated  in  his  person 
with  long  and  intimate  experience  ;  the  scandals  of  his  private  life 
counted  for  little  in  that  age ;  and,  although  a  Spaniard  by  birth,  he 
might  almost  be  regarded  as  a  naturalised  Italian.  If,  however,  a 
foreign  ambassador  may  be  believed,  haughtiness  and  the  imputation  of 
bad  faith  had  ruined  his  chances  at  the  last  election ;  and  it  may  have 
been  thought  that  these  causes  would  continue  to  operate.  At  all 
events,  his  name  finds  no  place  in  the  first  speculations  of  the  observers 
of  the  conclave.  Two  of  its  most  respectable  members,  the  Cardinals 
of  Naples  and  of  Lisbon,  are  apparently  the  favourites,  —  when,  all 
on  a  sudden,  on  August  11  Rodrigo  Borgia  is  elected  by  the 
nearly  unanimous  vote  of  the  Sacred  College,  and  takes  the  name  of 
Alexander  VI. 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


15 


226 


Simony  at  Alexander's  election 


[1492 


Contemporary  diarists  and  letter-writers  leave  us  in  no  doubt  as  to 
the  cause  of  this  event.  Cardinal  Borgia  had  simply  bought  up  the 
Sacred  College.  The  principal  agent  in  his  elevation  was  Ascanio 
Sforza,  a  Cardinal  of  the  greatest  weight  for  his  personal  qualities  and 
because  of  his  connexion  with  the  reigning  house  of  Milan,  but  too 
young  both  as  a  man  and  a  Cardinal  to  aspire  as  yet  to  the  Papacy. 
Borgia's  election  would  vacate  the  lucrative  Vice-Chancellorship,  and 
Sforza  was  tempted  with  the  reversion.  Other  Cardinals  divided  among 
themselves  the  archbishoprics,  abbacies,  and  other  preferments  demitted 
by  the  new  Pope  ;  but  Sforza's  influence  was  the  determining  force.  His 
motives  were  unquestionably  rather  ambitious  than  sordid ;  he  looked 
to  the  Vice-Chancellorship  to  pave  his  path  to  the  Papacy ;  and  the  tale 
deserves  little  credence,  that  a  man  who  in  every  subsequent  passage 
of  his  life  evinced  magnanimity  and  high  spirit  was  further  tempted 
by  mule-loads  of  silver.  There  is,  in  truth,  absolutely  no  trustworthy 
evidence  as  to  any  money  having  passed  in  the  shape  of  coin  or 
bullion,  and,  although  Alexander's  election  was  without  question  the 
most  notorious  of  any  for  the  unscrupulous  employment  of  illegitimate 
influences,  it  is  difficult  to  affirm  that  it  was  in  principle  more  simoniacal 
than  most  of  those  which  had  lately  preceded  it  or  were  soon  to  follow. 
If  the  bias  of  personal  interest  suffices  to  invalidate  elections  decided  by 
it,  the  age  of  Alexander  cannot  be  thought  to  have  often  seen  a  lawful 
Pope.  If  a  less  austere  view  is  to  be  taken,  no  broad  line  of  demar- 
cation can  well  be  drawn  between  the  election  of  Alexander  and  that  of 
Julius. 

Whatever  the  flaw  in  Alexander's  title,  he  seemed  in  many  respects 
eminently  fit  for  the  office.  At  the  mature  age  of  sixty-two,  dignified 
in  personal  appearance  and  in  manner,  vigorous  in  constitution,  com- 
petently learned,  a  lawyer  and  a  financier  who  had  filled  the  office  of 
Vice-Chancellor  for  thirty-six  years,  versed  in  diplomacy  and  well 
qualified  to  deal  vigorously  with  turbulent  nobles  and  ferocious  bandits, 
he  appeared  the  aptest  possible  representative  of  the  Temporal  Power, 
while  his  shortcomings  on  the  spiritual  side  passed  almost  unnoticed  in 
an  age  of  lax  morality,  when  religion  had  with  most  men  become  a  mere 
form.  Some  of  the  far-seeing,  indeed,  shook  their  heads  over  the  Pope's 
illegitimate  offspring,  and  predicted  that  the  strength  of  his  parental 
affection,  and  the  imperious  vehemence  of  his  character,  would  lead  him 
further  and  more  disastrously  than  any  predecessor  on  the  paths  of 
nepotism.  To  most,  however,  the  experienced  statesman  and  diligent 
man  of  business,  genial  and  easy-tempered  when  not  crossed,  who  knew 
how  to  combine  magnificence  with  frugality,  and  whose  deep  dissimu- 
lation was  the  more  dangerous  from  the  perfect  genuineness  of  the 
sanguine,  jovial  temperament  beneath  which  it  lay  concealed,  seemed 
precisely  the  Pope  needed  for  restoring  the  Church's  tarnished  dignity. 
Nor  was  it  long  before  Alexander  justified  a  portion  of  the  hopes 


1493] 


Troubles  with  the  Orsini 


227 


reposed  in  him  by  his  energy  in  reestablishing  public  order  and  in 
reinvigorating  the  administration  of  justice. 

It  must  always  be  a  question  how  far  Alexander  can  be  said  to  have 
ascended  the  papal  throne  with  a  definite  intention,  either  of  aggran- 
dising his  children  or  of  consolidating  his  authority  as  a  temporal  ruler 
by  the  subjugation  of  his  petty  vassals.  That  he  meant  to  promote  his 
children's  interests  in  every  practicable  manner  may  well  be  believed ; 
but  that  he  did  not  contemplate  their  elevation  to  sovereign  rank  seems 
manifest  from  his  making  the  most  able  and  promising  of  them,  his 
second  son  Cesare,  a  Prince  of  the  Church,  by  exalting  him  to  the 
cardinalate  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  The  Pope's  views  for  his  family, 
however,  had  necessarily  to  be  expanded  in  proportion  as  his  secular 
policy  became  one  of  conquest ;  and,  supposing  him  to  have  succeeded  to 
the  papal  throne  without  any  definite  intention  of  subduing  his  turbu- 
lent barons,  the  need  for  such  a  course  was  soon  impressed  upon  him. 
A  seemingly  quite  harmless  provision  made  by  Innocent  VIII  for  his 
natural  son  Franceschetto  Cibo  gave  the  first  occasion  for  disturbance. 
Cibo,  a  peaceable  and  insignificant  person,  recognising  his  inability  to 
defend  the  lands  with  which  he  had  been  invested,  prudently  sold  them, 
and  escaped  into  private  life.  But  the  purchaser  was  Virginio  Orsini, 
a  member  of  a  great  baronial  house  already  far  too  powerful  for  the 
Pope's  security,  and  whose  alternate  quarrels  and  reconciliations  with 
the  rival  family  of  the  Colonna  had  for  centuries  been  a  chief  source  of 
disturbance  in  the  patrimony  of  St  Peter.  What  was  still  more  serious, 
the  purchase-money  was  believed  to  be  supplied  by  Ferdinand,  King  of 
Naples,  whom  Orsini  had  aided  in  his  war  with  Innocent  VIII,  and  who 
thus  obtained  a  footing  in  the  Papal  States ;  and  the  Cardinal  della 
Rovere  espoused  the  cause  of  Orsini  so  warmly  as  to  find  it  prudent  to 
retire  (January,  1493)  to  his  bishopric  of  Ostia  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Tiber,  where  he  threatened  to  intercept  the  food  supplies  of  Rome. 
Alexander  naturally  allied  himself  with  Milan,  Venice,  and  other  States 
inimical  to  the  King  of  Naples,  and  a  general  war  seemed  about  to 
break  out,  when  it  was  composed  (July)  by  the  intervention  of  Spain, 
which  had  penetrated  the  designs  of  the  young  French  King,  new  to  the 
throne  and  athirst  for  glory,  for  the  conquest  of  Naples,  and  dreaded 
the  opportunity  and  advantage  that  would  be  afforded  him  if  Naples 
became  embroiled  with  the  Pope.  A  singular  change  of  relations  fol- 
lowed. The  King  of  Naples  became  to  all  appearance  the  Pope's  most 
intimate  ally.  Alexander's  third  son  married  a  Neapolitan  princess. 
He  became  estranged  from  his  recent  allies  in  Venice  and  Milan,  and 
the  Milanese  Cardinal  Sforza,  till  now  apparently  omnipotent  at 
the  papal  court,  lost  all  credit,  notwithstanding  the  marriage  of  the 
Pope's  daughter  Lucrezia  to  the  despot  of  Pesaro,  a  prince  of  Sforza's 
house.  ,  Yet  within  two  months  things  took  another  aspect,  when 
Alexander  ignored  Ferdinand's  wishes  in  a  nomination  of  Cardinals 


228 


Death  of  Ferdinand  of  Naples 


[1494 


which  gratified  the  Sforza  and  drove  the  freshly  reconciled  Cardinal 
della  Rovere  into  new  enmity.  The  entire  series  of  transactions  reveals 
the  levity  and  faithlessness  of  the  rulers  of  Italy.  Alexander  had  more 
excuse  than  any  other  potentate,  for  he  alone  was  menaced  with  serious 
danger;  and  he  might  have  learned,  had  he  needed  the  lesson,  the 
absolute  necessity  of  fortifying  the  Pope's  temporal  authority,  if  even 
his  spiritual  authority  was  to  be  respected. 

The  signal  for  the  woes  of  Italy  was  given  by  an  event  which  at 
another  time  might  not  have  displeased  an  Italian  patriot,  —  the  death  of 
Ferdinand  (or  Ferrante),  King  of  Naples,  in  January,  1494.  Ferrante  was 
a  monarch  after  the  approved  pattern  of  his  age,  crafty,  cruel,  perfidious, 
but  intelligent  and  well  understanding  how  to  make  the  most  of  himself 
and  his  kingdom.  While  he  lived,  the  prestige  of  his  authority  and 
experience,  combined  with  the  youth  of  the  King  of  France,  may  have 
assisted  to  delay  the  execution  of  French  designs  upon  Naples.  Upon 
his  death  they  were  carried  forward  with  such  warmth  that,  as  early  as 
February  3,  Alexander,  whose  alliance  with  Naples  remained  unimpaired, 
thought  it  necessary  to  censure  them  in  a  letter  to  the  French  King. 
A  bull  assigned  by  most  historians  to  this  date,  encouraging  Charles  to 
come  to  Naples  in  the  capacity  of  a  crusader,  really  belongs  to  the 
following  year.  Whether  in  obedience  to  the  interests  of  the  hour,  or 
from  enlightened  policy,  Alexander's  conduct  at  this  time  contrasted 
favourably  with  that  of  other  leading  men  of  Italy.  Ludovico  Sforza, 
playing  with  the  fire  that  was  to  consume  him,  invited  the  French  King 
to  pass  the  Alps.  The  Florentine  people  favoured  Charles  VIII,  although 
their  unpopular  ruler  Piero  de'  Medici  seemed  on  the  side  of  Naples. 
Venice  pretended  to  espouse  Sforza's  cause,  but  could  in  no  way  be  relied 
upon.  Cardinal  della  Rovere,  whose  old  feud  with  the  Pope  had  broken 
out  anew,  fled  to  France,  where,  striving  to  incense  Charles  against  the 
Pope,  he  unchained  the  tempest  against  which  he  was  afterwards  to 
contend  when  too  late.  Alexander  alone,  from  whatever  motive,  acted 
for  a  time  as  became  a  patriotic  Italian  sovereign.  Had  he  possessed  any 
moral  authority,  he  might  have  played  a  greater  part.  But  papal  dignity 
had  been  decaying  since  the  days  of  Dante,  and  Alexander  himself  had 
impaired  it  still  further.  When  his  tone  seemed  the  most  confident, 
he  secretly  trembled  at  the  weapons  which  he  had  himself  put  into  his 
enemies'  hands  by  the  scandals  of  his  life  and  the  simony  of  his  election. 

Nothing  in  Charles  VIII,  either  in  the  outer  or  in  the  inner  man, 
appeared  to  betoken  the  Providential  instrument  as  which  he  stands 
forth  in  history.  His  ugly  and  diminutive  person  bore  so  little  resem- 
blance to  his  parents  that  many  deemed  him  a  supposititious  child ;  his 
mind  was  narrow  and  uninformed ;  he  was  equally  destitute  of  political 
and  of  military  capacity.  He  knew,  however,  how  to  make  himself 
beloved,  si  hon^  deposes  the  shrewd  and  observant  Commines,  qu'il  rCest 
point  possible  de  voir  meilleure  creature.   His  intentions  were  good ;  while 


1494] 


French  invasion  of  Italy 


229 


unconsciously  misled  by  the  noble  if  perilous  passion  for  glory,  he  was 
yet  fully  convinced  that  Naples  was  his  of  right,  for  he  had  inherited 
the  ancient  pretensions  of  the  House  of  Anjou.  He  went  to  war  rather 
in  the  spirit  of  a  knight-errant  than  in  that  of  a  conqueror,  much  less 
of  a  statesman.  Neither  he  nor  his  counsellors  dreamed  that  he  was 
about  to  bring  the  political  organisation  of  Italy  down  like  a  house  of 
cards,  and  to  launch  France  on  the  false  path  in  which  she  was  to 
persist  for  centuries  without  earning  in  the  end  anything  but  humili- 
ation and  defeat.  He  had  already  yielded  Artois  and  Franche  Comte 
to  Maximilian  of  Austria  for  his  son,  under  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of 
Arras,  and  ceded  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne  to  Ferdinand 'of  Aragon,  in 
order  to  remove  every  obstacle  to  his  expedition,  which  he  designed  to 
be  the  first  stage  of  a  Crusade,  headed  by  himself,  against  the  Turks. 
He  had  bought  the  imperial  rights  of  the  Paleologi,  and  aimed  at 
reviving  the  Byzantine  Empire  in  his  own  person.  With  this  anticipa- 
tion he  was  determined  to  demand  from  Alexander  VI  the  custody  of 
the  Sultan's  brother  Jem ;  whether  he  distinctly  contemplated  the 
deposition  of  the  Pope  is  very  doubtful. 

Alexander  VI  might  have  secured  himself  by  siding  with  France ;  it 
is  to  his  credit  that  he  remained  faithful  to  his  Neapolitan  alliance  and 
to  the  interests  of  Italy.  A  joint  plan  of  operations  was  agreed  upon 
among  the  Italian  States ;  but  the  French,  though  so  ill  provided  with 
money  that  Charles  was  obliged  to  pawn  his  jewels,  carried  everything 
before  them  by  land  and  sea.  Their  land  expedition  was  memorable  as  the 
first  in  which  an  army  bound  on  a  long  march  had  taken  with  it  a  train 
of  artillery.  Their  maritime  superiority  gave  into  their  hands  Ostia, 
so  lately  recovered  from  Cardinal  della  Rovere  ;  the  Colonna  revolted  at 
the  gates  of  Rome ;  and  Neapolitan  troops,  which  ought  to  have  moved 
northward,  had  to  remain  in  order  to  protect  the  Pope.  The  terrified 
Head  of  Christendom  sought  the  aid  of  the  Turk,  and  employed  Charles's 
design  of  setting  up  the  captive  Jem  against  Bayazid  as  an  instrument 
for  recovering  the  arrears  of  the  pension  paid  by  the  Sultan  in  consider- 
ation of  his  brother's  safe  custody.  The  discovery  of  the  negotiation 
involved  him  in  obloquy ;  yet  other  Popes  have  preferred  heretical 
allies  to  orthodox  adversaries.  The  genuineness  of  his  instructions  to 
his  envoy  seems  certain ;  that  of  Bayazid's  letters  urging  Jem's  removal 
by  poison  is  very  questionable  ;  at  all  events  the  proposal,  if  ever  made, 
was  not  entertained  by  Alexander. 

The  French  meanwhile  advanced  rapidly.  They  had  entered  Turin 
on  September  5;  by  November  8  they  had  reached  Lucca  almost  without 
fighting.  Italy  was  supposed  to  possess  the  most  scientific  generals  of 
the  age,  but  her  soldiers  were  mercenaries  who  fought  for  booty  as  well 
as  pay,  and  who  thought  it  folly  to  slay  an  enemy  who  might  be  good 
for  a  rich  ransom.  An  Italian  battle  had  consequently  become  almost 
as  bloodless  as  a  review.    The  barbarity  of  the  French,  who  actually 


230 


French  occupation  of  Rome 


[1494 


strove  to  smite  their  antagonists  hip  and  thigh,  inspired  the  Italian 
warriors  with  nearly  as  much  disgust  as  dismay:  for  the  first  time, 
perliaps,  in  history,  armies  fled  although  and  because  they  despised  the 
enemy.  "  The  French,"  said  Alexander,  "  have  conquered  Italy  con 
gesso^'''  —  in  allusion  to  the  proceedings  of  the  quartermaster,  who  simply 
chalks  off  the  chambers  and  stables  he  thinks  fit  to  appropriate.  Tlie 
political  disorganisation  was  worse  than  the  military,  and  evinced  even 
more  clearly  the  condition  to  which  centuries  of  selfish  intrigue  had 
reduced  Italy.  Except  the  King  of  Naples,  who  could  not  abandon 
Alexander's  cause  without  deserting  his  own,  no  Italian  prince  gave  any 
material  aid  to  the  Pope.  Piero  de'  Medici,  the  feeble  and  unpopular 
successor  of  the  great  Lorenzo,  professed  to  be  the  ally  of  Rome  and 
Naples.  But  ere  the  French  had  appeared  before  Florence,  he  made  his 
submission  in  the  hope  of  preserving  his  rule,  which  was  nevertheless 
overthrown  by  a  popular  movement  a  fortnight  afterwards  (November  9). 
The  Florentines  acted  partly  under  the  inspiration  of  the  Dominican 
Savonarola,  who  could  hardly  but  perceive  the  fulfilment  of  his  own 
prophecies  in  Charles's  expedition,  and  might  plead  the  precedent  of 
Dante  for  the  ruinous  error  of  inviting  a  deliverer  from  beyond  the  Alps. 

Alexander  showed  as  much  resolution  as  could  be  expected,  muster- 
ing troops,  fortifying  Rome,  arresting  cardinals  of  doubtful  fidelity,  and 
appealing  to  the  rest  to  accompany  him  in  case  of  his  being  compelled  to 
withdraw.  But  here  lay  the  essential  weakness  of  his  position :  he  could 
not  withdraw.  Some  authority  must  exist  at  Rome  to  negotiate  with 
Charles  VIII  upon  his  entry,  now  plainly  inevitable.  If  the  King  did 
not  find  the  lawful  Pope  in  possession,  he  might  set  up  another.  The 
need  of  a  reformation  of  the  Church  in  capite  et  memhris  had  never 
appeared  more  urgent,  and  although  the  irregularities  of  Alexander's 
life  might  be  exaggerated  by  his  enemies,  they  still  afforded  ground  for 
doubting  whether  the  caput  at  least  was  not  beyond  cure ;  while  his 
election  might  be  plausibly  represented  as  invalid.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
Charles  found  Alexander  in  Rome,  he  might  not  only  depose  him  but 
seize  his  person.  The  more  violent  the  alarm  into  which  Alexander  was 
thrown  —  and  so  intense  it  was  that  a  convention  with  the  King  of 
Naples  providing  for  his  removal  to  Gaeta  was  drawn  up  and  approved, 
though  never  signed  —  the  more  credit  he  deserves  for  his  perception 
that  to  await  Charles  would  be  the  lesser  peril  of  the  two,  and  for  his 
resolution  in  acting  upon  it.  The  lesson,  that  for  his  own  security  the 
Pope  must  be  a  powerful  temporal  sovereign,  was  no  doubt  fully 
impressed  upon  him:  the  still  more  important  lesson,  that  spiritual 
authority  cannot  exist  without  allegiance  to  the  moral  code,  was  less 
easy  of  inculcation. 

It  soon  appeared  that  the  Pope's  policy  was  the  right  one  for  his 
present  emergency.  Charles  VIII  entered  Rome  on  December  31,  and 
Alexander  shut  himself  up  in  the  Castle  of  St  Angelo.    He  seemed  at 


1495]   Treaty  between  Alexander  VI  and  Charles  VIII  231 


the  King's  mercy,  but  Charles  preferred  an  accommodation.  Men  said 
that  Alexander  had  bribed  the  French  ministers ;  probably  he  had,  but, 
corrupt  or  incorrupt,  they  could  scarcely  have  advised  Charles  other- 
wise. The  Pope  could  not  be  formally  deposed  except  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  a  General  Council,  which  could  not  easily  be  convoked,  and 
which,  if  convoked,  would  in  all  probability  refuse  to  take  action.  Spain 
might  be  expected  to  take  the  side  of  the  Spanish  Pope,  and  there  seemed 
no  good  reason  for  anticipating  that  other  nations  would  take  part  with 
France.  The  imputations  on  Alexander's  morality  were  not  regarded 
very  seriously  in  so  lax  an  age  :  and  if,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had  bought 
the  Papacy,  the  transaction  could  only  be  proved  by  the  evidence  of  the 
sellers.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  Charles  simply  imprisoned  the  Pope  without 
displacing  him,  he  threw  Christendom  into  anarchy,  and  incurred  universal 
reprobation.  To  attempt  the  regeneration  of  the  Church  would  imperil 
other  projects  nearer  to  Charles's  heart,  and  would  be  as  wide  a  departure 
from  the  original  purposes  of  his  expedition  as  in  the  thirteenth  century 
the  capture  of  Constantinople  had  been  from  the  aim  of  the  Fourth 
Crusade.  These  considerations  might  well  weigh  with  Charles's  coun- 
sellors in  advising  an  agreement  with  the  Pope,  although  they  must 
have  known  that  conditions  extorted  by  compulsion  would  bind  no 
longer  than  compulsion  endured.  They  might  indeed  have  obtained 
substantial  security  from  the  Pope,  if  they  could  have  constrained  him  to 
yield  the  Castle  of  St  Angelo  ;  but  this  he  steadfastly  refused.  Cannons 
were  twice  pointed  at  the  ramparts ;  but  history  cannot  say  whether 
they  were  loaded,  and  only  knows  that  they  were  never  fired.  It  was 
at  length  agreed  that  the  Pope  should  yield  Civita  Vecchia,  make  his 
Turkish  captive  over  to  the  King,  and  give  up  his  son  Cesare  as  a 
hostage.  Nothing  was  said  of  the  investiture  of  Naples,  and  although 
Charles  afterwards  urged  this  personally  upon  the  Pope  at  an  interview, 
Alexander,  with  surprising  constancy,  continued  to  refuse,  expressing 
however  a  willingness  to  arbitrate  upon  the  claims  of  the  competitors. 
On  January  28,  1495,  Charles  left  Rome  to  march  upon  Naples,  and  two 
days  afterwards  was  taught  the  value  of  diplomatic  pledges  by  the  escape 
of  Cesare  Borgia,  and  by  Alexander's  refusal  to  surrender  Civita  Vecchia. 
A  month  afterwards  the  much-coveted  Jem  died,  —  of  poison,  it  was  said, 
administered  before  his  departure  from  Rome ;  but  this  is  to  attribute 
to  poison  more  than  it  is  capable  of  performing.  Others  professed  to 
know  that  the  Prince  had  been  shaved  with  a  poisoned  razor ;  but  his 
death  seems  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  bronchitis  and  irregularity  of 
living.  Jem's  death  took  place  at  Naples,  which  Charles  had  already 
entered  as  a  conqueror.  King  Ferdinand's  successor,  Alfonso,  timorous 
as  cruel,  and  oppressed  by  a  consciousness  of  the  popular  hatred,  had 
abdicated  and  fled  to  Sicily,  leaving  his  innocent  son  Ferrante  (or 
P'errantino)  to  bear  the  brunt  of  invasion.  The  fickle  people  of  Naples, 
who  had  had  ample  reason  to  detest  the  severity  of  the  late  King 


232 


Retreat  of  Charles  VIII  from  Italy 


[1495 


Ferrante's  government,  and  were  without  sufficient  intelligence  to  ap- 
preciate the  wisdom  and  care  for  the  public  welfare  which  largely- 
compensated  it,  hastened  to  acclaim  Charles,  and  Ferrantino  retired 
with  touching  dignity.  Within  two  months  the  Neapolitans  became  as 
weary  of  Charles  as  they  had  ever  been  of  Ferrante,  and  a  dangerous 
League  was  formed  in  Italy  behind  his  back.  Ludovico  Sforza  had  come 
to  perceive  how  great  a  fault  he  had  committed  in  inviting  the  French 
King ;  for  the  claims  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  to  Milan  were  at  least  as 
substantial  as  Charles's  pretensions  to  Naples.  Maximilian  and  Fer- 
dinand were  no  less  perturbed  at  the  rapidity  of  the  French  conquests ; 
the  Pope's  sentiments  were  no  secret ;  and  even  the  cautious  Venetians 
saw  the  necessity  of  interference.  Between  these  five  Powers  a  League 
was  concluded  (March  31,  1495),  whose  object  was  veiled  in  generali- 
ties, but  which  clearly  contemplated  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from 
Naples.  The  menace  sufficed;  on  May  20,  eight  days  after  his  solemn 
coronation  as  King  of  Naples,  Charles  quitted  it,  never  to  return.  He 
did  indeed  leave  a  garrison,  which  was  soon  dislodged  by  Spanish  troops 
sent  from  Sicily,  aided  by  a  popular  rising,  and  the  young  King,  so 
lately  deserted  by  all,  was  welcomed  back  with  delight.  Charles,  mean- 
while, had  proceeded  towards  Rome,  professing  an  unreciprocated  desire 
to  confer  with  the  Pope.  Alexander  withdrew  first  to  Orvieto,  then 
to  Perugia.  Charles,  after  a  short  stay  in  Rome,  renewed  his  march 
northwards.  On  July  5  an  indecisive  engagement  with  the  forces  of  the 
League  at  Fornovo,  near  Parma,  insured  him  a  safe  retreat,  and  he  was 
glad  to  obtain  even  so  much.  Notwithstanding  the  inglorious  termina- 
tion of  an  expedition  which  had  begun  so  brilliantly,  it  forms  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  Italy  and  Europe.  In  revealing  the  weakness  of  Italy, 
the  decay  of  her  military  spirit,  the  faithlessness  and  disunion  of  her 
princes  and  republics,  it  not  only  invited  invasion,  but  provided  Europe 
with  a  new  battlefield.  It  set  up  an  antagonism  between  France  and 
Spain,  and,  while  alluring  both  Powers  with  visions  of  easy  conquest, 
ruined  the  latter  State  by  imposing  sacrifices  upon  her  to  which  she 
would  in  any  case  have  been  unequal,  just  at  the  time  when  her  new 
acquisitions  in  America  taxed  her  to  the  uttermost.  It  preserved 
Europe  from  France  by  diverting  the  energies  which,  wisely  exerted, 
would  easily  have  subdued  the  Low  Countries  and  the  Rhine  provinces. 
Most  important  of  all,  the  condition  of  general  unsettlement  which  it 
ushered  in  greatly  promoted  all  movements  tending  to  the  emancipation 
of  the  human  intellect.  Great  was  the  gain  to  the  world  in  general,  but 
it  was  bought  by  the  devastation  and  enslavement  of  the  most  beautiful 
region  of  Europe. 

The  close  of  Charles's  expedition  is  also  an  eventful  date  in  the  history 
of  Alexander  VI.  Up  to  this  date  he  appears  the  sport  of  circumstances, 
which  he  was  henceforth  in  some  manner  to  shape  and  control.  It  was 
to  his  credit  not  to  have  been  seduced  into  conduct  incompatible  with 


1496]        Alexander  VI     War  with  the  Orsini  233 


his  character  of  a  good  Italian.  Some  passages  in  his  conduct  might 
appear  ambiguous ;  in  the  main,  however,  whether  impelled  by  honour- 
able or  by  selfish  motives,  he  had  acted  as  became  a  patriotic  Italian 
prince,  and  he  was  the  only  Italian  prince  who  had  done  so.  He  had 
been  tortuous,  perfidious,  temporising  under  stress  of  circumstances  :  yet 
in  the  main  he  had  obeyed  the  first  and  great  commandment,  to  keep  the 
foreigner  out  of  Italy.  Had  he  not  afterwards,  with  what  extenuations 
it  will  remain  to  enquire,  adopted  a  different  course,  the  judgment  of 
history  upon  him  as  Italian  statesman  and  sovereign  must  have  been 
highly  favourable.  A  new  chapter  of  his  reign  was  now  about  to  open, 
pregnant  with  larger  issues  of  good  and  ill.  He  meanwhile  manifested 
his  content  with  the  past  by  causing  the  most  striking  episodes  of  the 
French  invasion  of  Rome  to  be  depicted  in  the  Castle  of  St  Angelo  by 
the  pencil  of  Pinturicchio.  Full  of  authentic  portraits,  and  costumes 
and  lively  representations  of  actual  incidents,  these  pictures  would  have 
been  one  of  the  most  interesting  relics  of  the  age.  Their  subjects  have 
been  preserved  by  the  Pope's  German  interpreter,  who  saw  them  ere  they 
were  destroyed  by  the  vandalism  of  a  successor. 

Alexander's  first  step  after  his  return  to  Rome  was  the  obvious  one 
of  strengthening  the  Castle  of  St  Angelo,  which  even  before  the  French 
invasion  he  had  connected  with  the  Vatican  by  a  covered  way.  His 
general  policy  presented  no  mark  for  censure.  He  appeared  to  aim 
sincerely  at  union  among  the  Italian  States,  and  not  to  be  as  yet 
estranged  from  the  public  interest  by  the  passion  for  aggrandising  his 
family.  His  efforts  to  bring  Florence  into  the  national  alliance  were 
laudable ;  and,  if  Savonarola  obstructed  them,  it  must  be  owned  that  in 
him  the  preacher  predominated  over  the  patriot,  and  that  his  tragic  fate 
was  in  some  measure  a  retribution.  This  painful  history,  the  right  and 
wrong  of  which  will  be  perpetually  debated,  does  not  however  concern 
the  history  of  the  Temporal  Power.  Alexander's  first  important  step 
towards  the  confirmation  of  the  papal  authority  was  the  legitimate  one 
of  endeavouring  to  reduce  the  Orsini,  who,  though  bound  to  himself  by 
vassalage  and  to  the  King  of  Naples  by  relationship,  had  abandoned 
both  during  the  French  invasion.  It  was  nevertheless  of  evil  omen  that 
the  papal  forces  should  be  commanded  by  the  eldest  of  Alexander's 
illegitimate  children,  the  Duke  of  Gandia,  dignified  by  the  title  of 
Gonfaloniere  of  the  Church.  The  war  began  in  October,  1496  ;  and  not- 
withstanding a  severe  defeat  in  January,  1497,  Alexander  was  able  to 
conclude  a  peace  in  February,  by  which  he  recovered  Cervetri  and 
Anguillara,  the  fiefs  whose  alienation  to  the  Orsini  by  Franceschetto 
Cibo  had  four  years  before  been  the  beginning  of  trouble.  He  was  now 
at  liberty  to  attack  Ostia,  still  in  the  occupation  of  the  French,  who 
menaced  the  food-supplies  of  Rome.  The  fortress  was  reduced  by 
Spanish  troops,  brought  from  Sicily  by  Gonzalo  de  Cordova.  Their 
presence  in  Rome  excited  tumults,  almost  a  solitary  instance  of  any 


234 


Nepotism  of  Alexander  VI 


[1497 


open  expression  of  public  discontent  with  Alexander's  policy.  Person- 
ally, indeed,  he  was  never  popular ;  but  his  efficiency  as  an  administrator 
formed  the  brightest  side  of  his  character,  and  his  care  for  the  material 
interests  of  his  subjects  was  exemplary.  Years  afterwards  those  who  had 
most  detested  the  man  wished  back  the  ruler  "  for  his  good  government, 
and  the  plenty  of  all  things  in  his  time." 

Unhappily  for  Alexander's  repute,  the  glory  which  he  might  acquire  as 
ajustandable  ruler  was  nothing  in  his  eyes  compared  with  the  opportunities 
which  his  station  afforded  him  for  aggrandising  his  family.  Up  to  this 
time  he  had  been  content  with  the  comparatively  inoffensive  measures  of 
dignified  matrimonial  alliances  and  promotions  in  Church  and  State,  and 
had  not  sought  to  make  his  children  territorial  princes ;  but,  profiting  by 
the  death  of  King  Ferrante  of  Naples,  who  was  succeeded  by  his  uncle 
Federigo,  he  now  revived  papal  claims  on  the  territory  of  Benevento, 
and  erected  it  into  a  duchy  for  the  Duke  of  Gandia.  This  was  to 
despoil  the  Church,  supposing  her  claims  to  have  been  well  founded ;  so 
complete,  however,  was  Alexander's  ascendancy  over  the  Sacred  College 
that  only  one  Cardinal  dared  to  object.  Simultaneously,  Alexander 
pushed  forward  his  schemes  for  the  advancement  of  his  daughter 
Lucrezia  by  divorcing  her  from  her  husband  Giovanni  Sforza,  Lord  of 
Pesaro,  whose  dignity  now  seemed  unequal  to  the  growing  grandeur  of 
the  Borgia,  and  who  moreover  belonged  to  a  family  politically  estranged 
from  the  Pope.  A  colour  of  right  was  not  wanting,  the  divorce,  which 
was  decreed  by  the  College  of  Cardinals  after  a  professedly  searching 
investigation,  being  grounded  upon  the  alleged  impotence  of  the 
husband.  It  is  indeed  noticeable  that  Lucrezia,  who  bore  children  to 
both  her  subsequent  husbands,  bore  none  to  Giovanni  Sforza.  The 
transaction  also  serves  to  discredit  in  some  measure  the  charges  brought 
against  the  Borgia  of  secret  poisoning,  which  would  have  been  more 
easily  and  conveniently  employed  than  the  disagreeable  and  scandalous 
method  of  a  legal  process. 

While  Alexander  seemed  at  the  summit  of  success,  the  wrath  or 
warning  of  Heaven  descended  upon  him.  On  the  morning  of  June  15, 
1497,  the  Duke  of  Gandia  was  missed  from  his  palace  ;  soon  afterwards 
his  body,  gashed  with  frightful  wounds,  was  taken  from  the  Tiber. 
Returning  the  night  before  from  a  banquet  at  the  house  of  his  mother, 
Vanozza,  in  the  company  of  his  brother  the  Cardinal  and  other  guests,  he 
had  separated  himself  from  the  party  to  ride  with  a  masked  person  who 
had  several  times  been  observed  in  his  company  ;  and  he  was  never  again 
seen  alive.  After  many  had  been  named  as  the  probable  assassins,  the 
popular  voice  at  length  proclaimed  Cesare  Borgia,  who  certainly  profited 
by  the  deed;  and  most  people  thought  this  enough.  History  cannot 
convict  on  such  a  ground  alone,  and  must  rank  this  picturesque  crime 
among  her  unsolved  problems.  After  the  first  paroxysms  of  grief  had 
subsided,  Alexander  made  a  public  confession  of  penitence,  which  was 


1497] 


Ambitious  views  of  Cesar e  Borgia 


235 


probably  at  the  time  quite  sincere.  With  all  his  dissimulation,  he  was 
a  man  of  vehement  emotions.  A  commission  of  Cardinals  was  appointed 
to  deliberate  upon  ecclesiastical  reforms  ;  but  by  the  time  when  they 
reported,  Alexander's  contrition  had  vanished.  Their  proposals,  indeed, 
admirable  in  the  abstract,  were  such  as  the  Church  was  with  difficulty 
induct  to  adopt  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  after  having  been  scourged  by 
the  Reformation  for  half  a  century.  Nothing  could  be  more  commend- 
able than  the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  spiritual  offices  ;  but  it  urgently 
raised  the  question  how,  in  that  case,  was  the  Pope's  government  to  be 
carried  on? 

The  Duke  of  Gandia's  death  is  chiefly  important  on  account 
of  the  character  of  his  successor.  There  is  nothing  to  prove  the 
murdered  prince  anything  but  an  ordinary  patrician  of  his  age ;  Cesare 
Borgia,  however,  was  the  complement  of  his  father.  Alexander,  an 
indefatigable  man  of  business,  could  never  have  wasted  his  time  in 
inactivity :  yet  it  is  conceivable  that,  had  he  been  without  near  relations, 
he  might  have  applied  himself  to  developing  the  papal  estate  as  he  found 
it,  and  attempted  no  ambitious  conquests,  beyond  what  was  necessary 
for  his  own  security.  But  Cesare  seemed  driven  on  by  an  indwelling 
demon,  —  insatiable,  implacable,  uncontrollable.  Experience  itself  could 
never  have  given  him  his  father's  wisdom  and  prudence,  but  his  devour- 
ing energy  was  even  more  intense.  From  the  time  of  his  assumption  of 
a  leading  part  in  affairs  the  papal  policy  becomes  distinctly  one  of 
conquest.  The  profession  of  care  for  the  general  weal  of  Italy  which 
had  marked  the  first  years  of  Alexander's  pontificate  disappeared,  and 
any  foreign  alliance  was  welcome  which  seemed  to  insure  another  prin- 
cipality for  Cesare  Borgia.  How  far  this  implied  a  permanent  modifi- 
cation in  the  Pope's  views,  and  how  far  it  was  a  temporary  plan  to  be 
discarded  in  its  turn,  is  an  interesting  and  a  difficult  question.  But 
certain  it  is  that  from  this  time  dates  that  deliberate  creation  of  a 
strong  Temporal  Power  as  an  auxiliary  of  the  Spiritual  which  the 
present  chapter  has  to  record.  Alexander  and  Cesare  might,  or  might 
not,  intend  that  the  petty  principalities  of  the  Romagna  successively 
subverted  by  Cesare  should  eventually  become  an  independent  kingdom 
under  his  government :  the  only  right  he  could  claim  to  them  was  by 
assignment  from  the  Pope  ;  and  the  only  condition  on  which  the  Pope 
could  grant  this  was  Cesare 's  obligation  to  continue  his  vassal,  and  act 
as  his  lieutenant.  It  was  a  great  gain  to  the  Holy  See  to  replace  a 
number  of  unruly  liegemen  by  a  single  capable  deputy  ;  but  even  this 
was  but  a  transition  stage  in  the  process  which  must  eventually  bring 
these  dependencies  under  the  direct  sway  of  Rome,  and  constitute  by 
their  aggregation  the  considerable  political  entity  which  has  until 
recently  existed  as  the  Temporal  Power. 

Thirst  for  family  aggrandisement  was  not  the  sole  motive  which 
impelled  Alexander  to  ally  himself  with  the  foreigner.    The  task  of 


236       Alliance  between  Alexander  and  France  [i498 


maintaining  order  at  his  own  doors  had  been  too  hard  for  him. 
During  the  earlier  half  of  1498  the  Roman  territory  was  distracted 
by  the  feuds  of  the  Colonna  and  Orsini,  who  pursued  their  strife 
in  total  disregard  of  the  authority  of  the  Pope.  It  was  necessary 
to  enlist  support  from  some  quarter ;  nor  did  Alexander  turn  to 
France  until  he  had  tried  an  Italian  sovereign.  Lucrezia  Borgia, 
emancipated  from  her  real  or  nominal  husband,  espoused  Alfonso 
di  Biseglia,  an  illegitimate  scion  of  the  House  of  Naples :  but  Alex- 
ander's ambition  went  much  further,  and  he  demanded  the  hand  of 
the  King's  daughter  for  Cesare,  then  a  Cardinal,  but  soon  to  be  released 
from  his  Orders,  which  were,  in  fact,  only  sub-diaconal.  This  would 
have  placed  him  in  the  direct  line  of  the  Neapolitan  succession,  and  have 
effectually  estranged  the  Pope  from  France  and  Spain.  Every  consider- 
ation of  sentiment  disinclined  the  King  from  a  step  recommended  by 
every  consideration  of  policy ;  sentiment  triumphed,  and  Naples  was  lost. 
Determined  to  secure  an  illustrious  alliance  for  his  son,  Alexander  now 
turned  to  France,  where  an  event  had  occurred  fraught  with  mischief  to 
Italy.  In  April,  1498,  Charles  VIII  died  suddenly  from  the  effects  of  an 
accident.  His  only  son  had  died  before  him,  and  he  was  succeeded  by 
Louis  XII,  Duke  of  Orleans,  a  distant  cousin,  who  thought  more  of  his 
own  family  claims  on  Milan  than  of  the  title  which  he  had  inherited  to 
Naples.  It  happened  also  that  he  was  in  particular  need  of  the  good 
offices  of  the  Pope,  who  alone  could  free  him  from  a  marriage  forced 
upon  him  in  his  youth,  which  as  he  declared  had  never  been  consummated 
by  him.  This  assertion  was  probably  true,  and  Alexander  could  afford 
to  act  with  fairness  by  referring  the  question  to  a  commission,  which 
decided  in  Louis  XII's  favour.  Cesare  Borgia,  released  from  his  Orders, 
travelled  to  France  at  the  head  of  a  brilliant  retinue,  bringing  with  him 
to  the  King  a  decree  of  divorce  from  his  former  marriage  and  a  dispen- 
sation to  contract  a  new  one  with  his  predecessor's  widow.  He  received 
in  return  the  duchy  of  Valentinois  in  Dauphiny.  Alexander,  who  still 
clung  to  the  Naples  marriage-project,  expected  the  French  King  to  use 
his  influence  to  promote  it,  and  the  disappointment  of  his  hopes  seemed 
at  one  time  likely  to  carry  him  back  to  the  side  of  Spain.  At  last,  however 
(May,  1499),  tidings  came  that  Louis  had  found  Cesare  another  royal  bride 
in  the  person  of  Charlotte  d'Albret,  a  princess  of  the  House  of  Navarre^ 
and  Alexander  was  now  fully  committed  to  the  French  policy,  which 
aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  subjugation  of  the  duchy  of  Milan. 
Venice  was  to  be  bribed  by  a  share  of  the  spoil,  and  Alexander  was  to 
be  aided  in  subduing  the  petty  despots  who,  nominally  his  vassals, 
tyrannised  over  the  Romagna  and  all  but  besieged  the  Pope  himself  in 
Rome.  The  undertaking  would  have  been  laudable,  had  not  its  chief 
motive  been  the  exaltation  of  Cesare  Borgia. 

The  fate  of  Ludovico  Sforza  was  soon  decided.  Unable  to  resist  the 
combination  of  France  and  Venice,  he  fled  into  the  Tyrol.  Personally 


1499] 


French  conquest  of  Milan 


237 


he  could  inspire  little  sympathy;  he  had  gained  his  sovereignty  by 
usurpation,  coupled,  as  was  very  widely  believed  on  evidence  which  has 
however  failed  to  convince  history,  with  secret  murder;  and  he  had  been 
the  first  to  invite  the  French  into  Italy.  It  was  nevertheless  shocking 
and  of  most  inauspicious  augury  to  see  an  Italian  prince  dispossessed 
by  the  foreigner,  with  the  active  aid  of  one  of  his  own  allies  and  the 
connivance  of  another,  and  deserted  by  all  the  rest,  who  had  not  like 
Alexander  the  excuse  of  deriving  substantial  advantage  from  their 
perfidy.  The  French  occupied  Milan  in  October,  1499 ;  in  December 
Cesare  Borgia,  at  the  head  of  troops  raised  by  his  father  and  Gascon 
soldiers  and  Swiss  mercenaries  lent  by  France,  commenced  the  operations 
which  were  to  result  in  the  constitution  of  the  States  of  the  Church  as 
a  European  Power. 

Theoretically,  the  Pope  was  already  supreme  over  the  territories  of 
which,  three  centuries  later,  the  French  Revolution  was  to  find  him  in' 
possession :  practically,  his  authority  was  a  mere  shadow.  With  law 
and  reason  on  their  side,  the  Popes  had  rarely  been  able  to  reduce  their 
rebellious  vassals.  Thrice  had  this  apparently  been  accomplished,  —  by 
Cardinal  Albornoz  as  the  legate  of  Innocent  VI  in  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century ;  by  Boniface  IX  in  the  very  midst  of  the  Great 
Schism ;  and  by  Martin  V  after  its  termination.  All  Martin's  gains  had 
been  lost  under  Eugenius  IV ;  and  Sixtus  IV,  with  all  his  unscrupulous 
energy,  had  achieved  nothing  beyond  carving  out  a  principality  for  his 
own  famil}^  Alexander's  projects  went  much  further ;  he  wished  to  crush 
all  the  vassal  States,  and  build  out  of  them  a  kingdom  for  his  son,  —  with 
what  ulterior  aim  is  one  of  the  problems  of  history.  He  must  have 
known  that  no  alienation  of  the  papal  title  in  Cesare's  favour  could  be 
valid,  or  would  be  respected  by  his  successors.  He  may  —  so  rapidly  was 
he  filling  the  Sacred  College  with  Spanish  Cardinals  —  have  looked 
forward  to  a  successor  who  would  consent  to  a  partnership  with  Cesare, 
receiving  military  support  on  the  one  hand,  and  according  spiritual  coun- 
tenance on  the  other.  He  may  have  looked  still  higher,  and  regarded  the 
conquest  of  the  Romagna  as  but  a  stepping-stone  to  the  acquisition  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Naples  for  his  son  ;  perhaps  even  to  the  expulsion  of 
the  foreigner,  and  the  sway  of  the  House  of  Borgia  over  a  grateful  and 
united  Italy.  Machiavelli  evidently  thought  that  Cesare  Borgia  was 
the  one  man  from  whom  the  deliverance  of  Italy  might  conceivably 
have  come ;  and  the  bare  possibility  that  his  dark  soul  may  have 
harboured  s^  generous  a  project  has  always  in  a  measure  pleaded  with 
Italians  for  the  memory  of  the  most  ruthless  and  treacherous  person- 
ality of  his  age. 

There  was  little  generosity  in  Cesare's  first  movements,  which  were 
directed  against  a  woman.  Every  petty  sovereign  in  the  Romagna  had 
given  the  Pope  ample  pretext  for  intervention  by  withholding  tribute,  or 
oppressing  his  subjects.  It  was  natural,  however,  to  begin  with  the  princes 


238 


Conquest  of  Cesare  Borgia 


[1500 


of  the  House  of  Sforza,  now  brought  low  by  the  ruin  of  the  chief  among 
them.  Cesare  attacked  Imola  and  Forli,  which  Sixtus  had  made  the 
appanage  of  his  nephew  Girolamo  Riario,  and  which  since  the  assassi- 
nation of  that  detestable  tyrant  had  been  governed  by  his  widow, 
Caterina  Sforza.  The  courageous  spirit  of  this  princess  has  gained 
her  the  good  word  of  history,  which  she  is  far  from  deserving  on  any 
other  ground.  She  was  a  feudal  ruler  of  the  worst  type,  and  in  her 
dominions  and  elsewhere  in  the  Romagna  Cesare  was  regarded  as  an 
avenger  commissioned  by  Heaven  to  redress  ages  of  oppression  and 
wrong.  The  citadel  of  Forli  surrendered  on  January  12, 1500.  Caterina 
was  sent  to  Rome,  where  she  was  honourably  treated;  and  though  sus- 
pected of  complicity  in  an  attempt  to  poison  the  Pope,  was  eventually 
allowed  to  retire  to  Florence.  Cesare  made  a  triumphal  entry  into 
Rome,  but  his  projects  received  a  temporary  check  from  a  revolution  in 
Milan,  where  Ludovico  Sforza  recovered  his  dominions  in  February,  only 
to  lose  them  again  with  his  liberty  in  April.  The  captive  Duke  and  his 
brother  the  Cardinal  were  sent  into  France,  and  Cesare  could  resume  his 
expedition  against  the  other  Romagnol  vassals  placed  upon  the  Pope's 
black  list  as  "  vicars  "  in  default,  the  Lords  of  Pesaro,  Rimini,  Faenza, 
and  Camerino. 

The  summer  of  1500,  nevertheless,  passed  without  further  prosecution 
of  Cesare's  enterprise,  partly  because  of  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the 
consent  of  the  Venetians  to  an  attack  upon  Faenza  and  Rimini ;  partly, 
perhaps,  from  the  necessity  of  replenishing  the  treasury.  It  fitted  well 
with  the  projects  of  the  Borgia  that  1500  was  the  Year  of  Jubilee. 
Rome  was  full  of  pilgrims,  every  one  of  whom  made  an  offering,  and  the 
sale  of  indulgences  was  stimulated  to  double  briskness.  Money  poured 
into  the  papal  coffers,  and  thence  into  Cesare's ;  religion  got  nothing 
except  a  gilded  ceiling.  Twelve  new  Cardinals  were  created,  who 
paid  on  the  average  ten  thousand  ducats  each  for  their  promotion, 
and  the  traffic  in  benefices  attained  heights  of  scandal  previously  un- 
known. On  the  other  hand  Alexander  is  not,  like  most  of  his  immedi- 
ate predecessors  and  successors,  reproached  with  any  excessive  taxation 
of  his  people.  The  progress  which  the  Turks  were  then  making  in  the 
Morea  favoured  his  projects ;  he  exerted  himself  to  give  the  Venetians 
both  naval  and  financial  aid,  and  they  in  return  not  only  withdrew 
their  opposition  to  his  undertakings,  but  enrolled  him  among  their 
patricians.  In  October,  1500,  Cesare  marched  into  the  Romagna  at 
the  head  of  ten  thousand  men.  The  tyrants  of  Rimini  and  Pesaro  fled 
before  him.  Faenza  resisted  for  some  time,  but  ultimately  surrendered ; 
and  after  a  while  its  Lord,  the  young  Astorre  Manfredi,  was  found  in  the 
Tiber  with  a  stone  about  his  neck.  Florence  and  Bologna  trembled  and 
sought  to  buy  Cesare  off  with  concessions ;  the  sagacious  Venetians,  says 
a  contemporary,  "  looked  on  unmoved,  for  they  knew  that  the  Duke's 
conquests  were  a  fire  of  straw  which  would  go  out  of  itself."  Cesare 


I50l]       French  and  Spanish  conquest  of  Naples  239 


returned  in  triumph  to  Rome  (January  17,  1501),  and  was  received  "as 
though  he  had  conquered  the  lands  of  the  infidels." 

He  arrived  on  the  eve  of  one  of  the  most  important  transactions  in 
Italian  history.  The  refusal  of  the  King  of  Naples  to  give  his  daughter 
to  Cesare  had  alienated  the  Pope,  and  the  murder  of  Lucrezia  Borgia's 
\  Neapolitan  husbandin  August,  1500,  undoubtedly  effected  through  Cesare's 
agency,  has  been  looked  upon  as  a  deliberate  prologue  to  a  rupture  with 
Naples.  It  was  more  probably  the  result  of  a  private  quarrel ;  the  Pope 
seems  to  have  honestly  tried  to  protect  his  son-in-law,  and  the  secret 
treaty  between  France  and  Spain  for  the  partition  of  Naples  was  not 
signed  until  November,  or  published  until  June,  1501.  An  idle  pretext 
was  found  in  King  Federigo's  friendly  relations  with  the  Sultan  ;  but  the 
archives  of  European  diplomacy  register  nothing  more  shameful  than  this 
compact,  and  of  all  the  public  acts  of  Alexander's  pontificate  his  sanction 
of  it  is  the  most  disgraceful  and  indefensible.  This  sanction  was  probably 
reluctant;  for  he  cannot  have  wished  to  see  two  formidable  Powers  like 
France  and  Spain  established  upon  his  frontier,  and  he  may  have  excused 
himself  by  the  reflexion  that  there  was  no  help  for  it,  and  that  he  was 
securing  all  the  compensation  he  could.  Nothing  could  really  compensate 
for  the  degradation  of  the  Spiritual  Power  by  its  complicity  in  so  infamous 
a  transaction  ;  but  this  was  a  consideration  which  did  not  strongly  appeal 
to  Alexander.  It  is  only  just  to  observe,  however,  that  at  bottom  this 
humiliating  action  sprang  from  the  great  cause  of  humiliation  which 
he  was  endeavouring  to  abolish,  —  the  Pope's  weakness  as  a  temporal 
sovereign.  This  could  not  be  remedied  without  foreign  alliances,  and 
they  could  not  be  had  unless  he  was  prepared  to  meet  his  allies  half-way. 

The  conquest  and  partition  of  Naples  were  effected  in  a  month, 
Spain  taking  Apulia  and  Calabria.  The  consideration  for  Alexander's 
support  had  been  French  countenance  in  the  suppression  of  the  turbulent 
Colonna  and  Savelli  barons  who  had  disquieted  the  Popes  for  centuries, 
but  who  were  now  compelled  to  yield  their  castles,  a  welcome  token  of 
the  disappearance  of  the  feudal  age.  The  Pope's  good  humour  was 
augmented  by  the  success  of  his  negotiations  for  the  disposal  of  his 
daughter  Lucrezia,  who  was  betrothed  to  Alfonso,  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  in  September,  and  married  with  great  pomp  in  the  following 
January.  The  Ferrarese  princes  only  consented  through  fear;  they 
probably  knew  that  Alexander  had  only  been  prevented  from  attacking 
them  by  the  veto  of  Venice.  They  now  obtained  a  receipt  in  full  and 
something  more,  for  the  Ferrarese  tribute  was  remitted  for  three  genera- 
tions. The  marriage  proved  happy.  Lucrezia,  a  kindly,  accomplished, 
and  somewhat  apathetic  woman,  took  no  more  notice  of  her  husband's 
gallantries  than  he  took  of  the  homage  she  received  from  Bembo  and 
other  men  of  letters.  Nothing  could  be  less  like  the  real  Lucrezia  than 
the  Lucrezia  of  the  dramatists  and  romancers. 

The  year  1502  beheld  a  further  extension  of  Cesare's  conquests.  He 


240  Further  conquests  of  Cesare  Borgia  [i502 


appeared  now  at  the  head  of  a  large  army,  divisions  of  which  were  com- 
manded by  the  most  celebrated  Italian  mercenary  captains.  In  June 
he  conducted  an  expedition  against  Camerino,  but  turned  aside  to  make 
a  sudden  and  successful  attack  on  Urbino  —  a  mistake  as  well  as  a  piece 
of  perfidy ;  for  the  people  of  Urbino  loved  their  Duke,  and  Cesare's  sway 
was  not  heartily  accepted  there  as  in  the  Romagna.  It  was  otherwise 
with  Camerino,  which  was  acquired  with  little  difficulty.  Negotiations 
followed  with  Florence  and  the  French  King,  who  was  then  in  Italy ; 
but  while  Cesare  was  scheming  to  extend  his  influence  over  Florence, 
and  to  persuade  France  to  help  him  to  new  conquests,  he  was  placed  in 
the  most  imminent  danger  by  a  conspiracy  of  his  condottiei-i,  who  had 
entered  into  relations  with  the  Orsini  family  at  Rome.  The  plot  was 
detected,  and  the  incident  seemed  to  have  been  closed  by  a  reconciliation, 
which  may  have  been  sincere  on  the  part  of  the  mutinous  condottieri ; 
but  Cesare's  mind  was  manifested  when  on  December  31,  immediately 
after  the  capture  of  Sinigaglia,  he  seized  the  ringleaders  and  put  them  all 
to  death.  Embalmed  in  the  prose  of  Machiavelli,  who  was  present  in 
Cesare's  camp  as  an  envoy  from  Florence,  this  exploit  has  gone  down  to 
posterity  as  Cesare  Borgia's  masterpiece,  matchless  in  craft  and  perfidy ; 
but  it  also  had  more  justification  than  the  perpetrators  of  such  actions 
can  often  urge.  In  Rome  Cardinal  Orsini  was  arrested,  and  sent  to 
St  Angelo,  where  he  soon  expired.  A  vigorous  campaign  against  the 
castles  of  the  Orsini  was  set  on  foot,  and  they  were  almost  as  completely 
reduced  as  those  of  the  Colonna  had  been.  Alexander  might,  as  he  did, 
felicitate  himself  that  he  had  succeeded  where  all  his  predecessors  had 
failed.  The  Temporal  Power  had  made  prodigious  strides  in  the  last 
three  years,  but  it  was  still  a  question  whether  its  head  was  to  be  a  Pope 
or  a  secular  prince. 

With  all  his  triumphs,  Alexander  was  ill  at  ease.  The  robber  Kings 
who  had  partitioned  Naples  had  gone  to  war  over  their  booty.  The 
Spaniards  were  prevailing  in  the  kingdom ;  but  the  French  threatened  to 
come  to  the  rescue  with  an  army  marching  through  Italy  from  north  to 
south,  and  Alexander  trembled  lest  they  should  interfere  with  his  son's 
possessions,  or  with  his  own.  He  began  to  see  what  a  mistake  had  been 
committed  in  allowing  powerful  monarchs  to  establish  themselves  on  his 
borders.  "  If  the  Lord,"  he  said  to  the  Venetian  ambassador,  "  had  not 
put  discord  between  France  and  Spain,  where  should  we  be?"  This 
utterance  escaped  him  in  one  of  a  series  of  interviews  with  Giustinian 
reported  in  the  latter's  despatches,  which,  if  Alexander's  sincerity  could 
be  trusted,  would  do  him  honour  as  a  patriotic  Italian  prince.  He  ap- 
pears or  affects  to  have  entirely  returned  to  the  ideas  of  the  early 
years  of  his  pontificate,  when  he  formed  leagues  to  keep  the  foreigner 
out  of  Italy.  He  paints  the  wretched  condition  of  Italy  in  eloquent 
language,  declares  that  her  last  hope  consists  in  an  alliance  between 
himself  and  Venice,  and  calls  upon  the  Republic  to  co-operate  with  him 


1503] 


Death  and  character  of  Alexander  VI 


241 


ere  too  late.  It  was  too  late  already;  had  it  been  otherwise,  the 
cautious,  selfish  Venetians  would  have  been  the  last  to  have  risked 
anything  for  the  general  good.  Alexander  must  have  allied  himself 
either  with  Spain  or  with  France ;  he  might  have  decided  the  contest, 
but  would  himself  have  run  great  risk  of  being  subjugated  by  the  victor. 
A  quite  unforeseen  stroke  delivered  the  Papacy  from  this  peril,  and, 
annihilating  all  Alexander's  projects  for  the  grandeur  of  his  house, 
placed  the  great  work  of  consolidating  the  Temporal  Power  in  more  dis- 
interested though  hardly  more  scrupulous  hands.  On  August  5  he  caught 
a  chill  while  supping  with  Cardinal  Corneto ;  on  the  12th  he  felt  ill ; 
and  on  the  18th  a  fever  carried  him  off.  The  suddenness  of  the  event, 
the  rapid  decomposition  of  the  corpse,  and  the  circumstance  that  Cesare 
Borgia  was  simultaneously  taken  ill,  accredited  the  inevitable  rumours  of 
poison,  and  his  decease  became  the  nucleus  of  a  labyrinthine  growth  of 
legend  and  romance.  Modern  investigation  has  dispelled  it  all,  and  has 
left  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  death  was  entirely  natural. 

Alexander's  character  has  undoubtedly  gained  by  the  scrutiny  of 
modern  historians.  It  was  but  natural  that  one  accused  of  so  many 
crimes,  and  unquestionably  the  cause  of  many  scandals,  should  alternately 
appear  as  a  tyrant  and  as  a  voluptuary.  Neither  description  suits  him. 
The  groundwork  of  his  character  was  extreme  exuberance  of  nature. 
The  Venetian  ambassador  calls  him  a  carnal  man,  not  implying  anything 
morally  derogatory,  but  meaning  a  man  of  sanguine  temperament,  unable 
to  control  his  passions  and  emotions.  This  perplexed  the  cool  unim- 
passioned  Italians  of  the  diplomatic  type  then  prevalent  among  rulers 
and  statesmen,  and  their  misapprehensions  have  unduly  prejudiced 
Alexander,  who  in  truth  was  not  less  but  more  human  than  most  princes 
of  his  time.  This  excessive  "  carnality  "  wrought  in  him  for  good  and 
ill.  Unrestrained  by  moral  scruples,  or  by  any  spiritual  conception 
of  religion,  he  was  betrayed  by  it  into  gross  sensuality  of  one  kind, 
though  in  other  respects  he  was  temperate  and  abstemious.  In  the 
more  respectable  guise  of  family  affection  it  led  him  to  outrage  every 
principle  of  justice ;  though  even  here  he  only  performed  a  necessary 
work  which  could  not,  as  one  of  his  agents  said,  have  been  accom- 
plished "by  holy  water."  On  the  other  hand,  his  geniality  and 
joyousness  preserved  him  from  tyranny  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the 
term;  considering  the  absolute  character  of  his  authority,  and  the 
standard  of  his  times,  it  is  surprising  how  little,  outside  the  regions  of 
la  haute  politique^  is  charged  against  him.  His  sanguine  constitution 
also  gave  him  tremendous  driving  power.  "  Pope  Alexander,"  says  a 
later  writer,  censuring  the  dilatoriness  of  Leo  X,  "did  but  will  a  thing, 
and  it  was  done."  As  a  ruler,  careful  of  the  material  weal  of  his  people, 
he  ranks  among  the  best  of  his  age ;  as  a  practical  statesman  he  was  the 
equal  of  any  contemporary.  But  his  insight  was  impaired  by  his  lack 
of  political  morality;  he  had  nothing  of  the  higher  wisdom  which 

C.  M.  H.  I.  16 


242    Election  of  Julms  IL  —  Fall  of  Cesare  Borgia  [1503 


comprehends  the  characteristics  and  foresees  the  drift  of  an  epoch, 
and  he  did  not  know  what  a  principle  was.  The  general  tendency  of 
investigation,  while  utterly  shattering  all  idle  attempts  to  represent 
him  as  a  model  Pope,  has  been  to  relieve  him  of  the  most  odious 
imputations  against  his  character.  There  remains  the  charge  of 
secret  poisoning  from  motives  of  cupidity,  which  indeed  appears 
established,  or  nearly  so,  only  in  a  single  instance ;  but  this  may  imply 
others. 

Cesare  Borgia  afterwards  told  Machiavelli  that  he  deemed  himself 
to  have  provided  against  everything  that  could  possibly  happen  at  the 
death  of  his  father,  but  had  never  thought  that  he  himself  might  at  the 
same  time  be  disabled  by  sickness.  He  succeeded  in  seizing  the  Pope's 
treasure  in  the  Vatican,  but  failed  in  securing  the  Castle  of  St  Angelo, 
and  was  obliged  to  adopt  a  deferential  tone  towards  the  Cardinals. 
Alexander  had  gone  far  towards  filling  the  Sacred  College  with  his  own 
countrymen,  and  although  the  Conclave  is  said  by  a  contemporary  to 
have  been  more  decried  for  venal  practices  than  any  before  it,  the 
influence  of  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  conjoined  with  that  of  Cardinal  della 
Rovere,  who  found  the  pear  not  yet  ripe  for  himself,  decided  the  election 
in  favour  of  one  who  assuredly  had  no  share  in  these  practices,  the 
upright  Cardinal  of  Siena.  Something  may  be  ascribed  to  the  law 
already  noticed,  which  frequently  fills  the  place  of  a  deceased  Pope  with 
his  entire  opposite.  This  may  be  deemed  to  have  been  exemplified 
anew  when,  after  a  sickly  pontificate  of  twenty-seven  days,  the  mild 
Pius  III  was  replaced  (November  1)  by  the  most  pugnacious  and 
imperious  personality  in  the  Sacred  College,  Cardinal  della  Rovere, 
who  evinced  his  ambition  of  rivalling  if  not  excelling  Alexander  by 
assuming  the  name  of  Julius  II.  His  election  had  not  been  untainted 
by  simoniacal  practices,  but  cannot  like  Alexander's  be  said  to  have 
been  mainly  procured  by  them.  It  was  rather  due  to  an  arrangement 
with  Cesare  Borgia,  who  had  the  simplicity  to  expect  others  to  keep 
faith  with  him  who  had  kept  faith  with  none,  and  permitted  the 
Cardinals  of  his  party  to  vote  for  della  Rovere,  on  condition  that  he 
should  be  confirmed  as  Cronfaloniere  of  the  Church.  History  has  never 
made  it  a  reproach  to  Julius  that  he  soon  incarcerated  Borgia  in 
St  Angelo,  and  applied  himself  to  stripping  him  of  his  possessions  in 
the  Romagna.  In  some  cases  the  exiled  lords  had  reinstated  themselves ; 
in  others  difficulties  arose  from  the  fidelity  of  Cesare's  castellans,  who 
refused  to  obey  even  the  orders  extorted  from  him  to  surrender  their 
castles.  When  at  last  everything  had  been  got  from  him  that  could  be 
got,  Julius,  instead  of  secretly  putting  him  to  death  as  Alexander  would 
have  done,  permitted  him  to  depart  to  Naples,  where  he  was  arrested 
and  sent  prisoner  into  Spain.  His  career  was  yet  to  be  illustrated  by  a 
romantic  escape  and  a  soldier's  death  in  an  obscure  skirmish  in  Navarre. 
The  Romagna  could  not  forget  that  he  had  been  to  her  one  just  ruler  in 


1503] 


Character  of  Julius  II 


243 


the  place  of  many  tyrants,  and  he  retained  partisans  there  to  the  last. 
Had  he  survived  until  the  new  Pope's  war  with  his  brother-in-law  the 
Duke  of  Ferrara,  he  would  probably  have  commanded  the  latter's  troops, 
and  a  new  page  of  conquest  might  have  opened  for  him. 

Julius  had  hated  Alexander  above  all  men ;  but  it  was  now  incum- 
bent upon  him  to  resume  Alexander's  work,  repair  the  damage  it  had 
sustained,  and  prosecute  it  to  a  successful  conclusion.  His  record  as 
Cardinal  had  not  been  a  bright  one.  When  in  favour  with  Pope 
Innocent,  he  had  failed  to  inspire  him  with  energy  except  for  an  unjust 
war,  or  to  reform  any  abuse  in  the  papal  administration.  As  the  enemy 
of  Alexander,  he  had  put  himself  in  the  wrong  by  turbulence  and 
unpatriotic  intrigue.  If  he  had  not  done  Italy  infinite  harm  by  his 
invitations  to  France  to  invade  her,  the  reason  was  merely  that  the 
French  would  have  come  without  him.  When  ostensibly  reconciled  to 
Alexander,  he  had  shown  much  servility.  His  private  life  had  been 
licentious  ;  though  not  illiterate,  he  was  no  proficient  in  literature  ;  and 
one  looks  in  vain  for  any  service  rendered  by  him  as  Cardinal  to  religion, 
letters,  or  art.  Yet  there  was  always  something  in  him  which  conveyed 
the  impression  of  a  superior  character ;  he  overawed  others,  and  was  never 
treated  with  disrespect.  There  was  indeed  a  natural  magnanimity  in 
him  which  adverse  circumstances  had  checked,  but  which  came  out  so 
soon  as  he  obtained  liberty  of  action.  Unlike  his  predecessor,  he  had  an 
ideal  of  what  a  Pope  should  be,  —  defective  indeed,  but  embodying  all 
the  qualities  particularly  demanded  by  the  age.  He  thought  far  more 
of  the  Church  in  her  temporal  than  in  her  spiritual  aspect ;  but  Luther 
was  not  yet,  and  for  the  moment  the  temporal  need  seemed  the  more 
pressing.  He  possessed  a  great  advantage  over  his  predecessor  in  his 
freedom  from  nepotism:  he  had  no  son,  and  was  content  with  a 
modest  provision  for  his  daughter,  and  not  only  seemed  but  was 
personally  disinterested  in  the  wars  which  he  undertook  for  the 
aggrandisement  of  the  Church.  The  vehemence  which  engaged  him 
in  such  undertakings  made  him  terrible  and  indefatigable  in  the 
prosecution  of  them;  but,  as  he  was  deficient  in  the  prudence  and 
discernment  of  his  predecessor,  it  frequently  hurried  him  into  incon- 
siderate actions  and  speeches,  detrimental  to  his  interests  and  dignity. 
Transplanted,  however,  to  another  sphere,  it  secured  him  a  purer  and 
more  desirable  glory  than  any  that  he  could  obtain  by  conquest. 
Having  once  determined  it  to  be  a  Pope's  duty  to  encourage  the 
arts,  he  entered  upon  the  task  as  he  would  have  entered  upon  a 
campaign,  and  achieved  results  far  beyond  the  ambition  of  his  most 
refined  and  accomplished  predecessors.  His  treatment  of  individual 
artists  was  often  harsh  and  niggardly,  but  of  his  dealings  with  art 
as  a  whole  Bishop  Creighton  rightly  declares  :  "  he  did  not  merely 
employ  great  artists,  he  impressed  them  with  a  sense  of  his  own 
greatness,  and  called  out  all  that  was  strongest  and  noblest  in  their 


244     Venetian  encroachments  on  the  Papal  States  [i503 


own  nature.  They  knew  that  they  served  a  master  who  was  in  sympathy 
with  themselves." 

While  Julius  was  ridding  himself  of  Cesare  Borgia,  a  new  enemy 
appeared,  too  formidable  for  him  to  contend  with  at  the  time.  In  the 
autumn  of  1503  the  Venetians  suddenly  seized  upon  Rimini  and 
Faenza.  The  aggression  was  most  audacious,  and  Venice  was  to  find 
that  it  was  also  most  unwise.  It  was  no  less  disastrous  to  Italy,  giving 
the  policy  of  Julius  an  unhappy  bent  from  which  it  could  never  after- 
wards free  itself.  Notwithstanding  the  errors  of  his  younger  days, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he  was  really  a  sound  patriot,  to  whom 
the  expulsion  of  the  foreigner  always  appeared  a  desirable  if  remote 
ideal,  and  who  had  no  wish  to  ally  himself  more  closely  than  he  could 
help  with  Spain  or  France.  He  now  had  before  him  only  the  alternatives 
of  calling  in  the  foreigner  or  of  submitting  to  an  outrageous  aggression, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  preferred  the  former.  He  was  aware 
of  the  mischief  that  he  and  Venice  were  perpetrating  between  them. 
"  Venice,"  he  said,  "  makes  both  herself  and  me  the  slaves  of  every  one 
—  herself  that  she  may  keep,  me  that  I  may  win  back.  But  for  this  we 
might  have  been  united  to  find  some  way  to  free  Italy  from  foreigners." 
It  would  have  been  wiser  and  more  patriotic  to  have  waited  until  some 
conjunction  of  circumstances  should  arise  to  compel  Venice  to  seek  his 
alliance  ;  but  when  the  fire  of  his  temper  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
injury  are  considered,  it  can  but  appear  natural  that  he  should  have 
striven  to  create  such  a  conjuncture  himself.  This  was  no  difficult 
matter:  every  European  State  envied  Venice's  wealth  and  prosperity, 
and  her  uniformly  selfish  policy  had  left  her  without  a  friend.  By 
September,  1504,  Julius  had  succeeded  in  bringing  about  an  anti- 
Venetian  League  between  Maximilian  and  Louis  XII  of  France,  which 
indeed  came  to  nothing,  but  sufficiently  alarmed  the  Venetians  to 
induce  them  to  restore  Ravenna  and  Cervia,  which  had  long  been  in 
their  possession,  retaining  their  recent  acquisitions,  Faenza  and  Rimini. 
The  Duke  of  Urbino,  the  Pope's  kinsman,  undertook  that  he  would  not 
reclaim  these  places :  Julius  dexterously  evaded  making  any  such  pledge, 
and  the  seed  of  war  went  on  slowly  ripening. 

During  this  period  Julius  performed  two  other  actions  of  im- 
portance. He  restored  their  castles  to  the  Colonna  and  the  Orsini, 
a  retrograde  step  whose  ill  consequences  he  was  himself  to  experience  ; 
and  he  promulgated  a  bull  against  simony  in  papal  elections.  His 
own  had  not  been  pure,  and  the  measure  may  have  been  intended 
to  silence  rumours,  but  it  is  quite  as  likely  to  have  been  the  fruit 
of  genuine  compunction.  In  any  case  it  distinguishes  him  favour- 
ably from  his  predecessor,  who  regarded  such  iniquities  as  matters 
of  course,  while  Julius  signalised  them  as  abuses  to  be  rooted  out. 
Nor  were  his  efforts  vain  ;  though  bribery  in  the  coarse  form  of 
actual  money  payment  is  known  to  have  been  attempted  at  more 


1506]  Julius  II  conquers  Bologna  245 


recent  papal  elections,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  actually  determined 
any. 

While  nursing  his  wrath  against  Venice,  Julius  sought  to  compensate 
the  losses  of  the  Church  by  acquisitions  in  other  quarters.  Upon  the 
fall  of  Cesare  Borgia,  Urbino  and  Perugia  had  reverted  to  their  former 
lords.  Ferrara  had  now  lost  the  protection  insured  to  it  by  the 
Borgia  marriage,  and  the  tyranny  of  the  Bentivogli  in  Bologna  incited 
attack.  The  Duke  of  Urbino  was  Julius's  kinsman,  and  Ferrara  was 
too  strong ;  but  the  Pope  thought  he  might  well  assert  the  claims  of 
the  Church  to  Perugia  and  Bologna,  especially  as  their  conquest  could 
be  represented  as  a  crusade  for  the  deliverance  of  the  oppressed,  and  no 
imputation  of  nepotism  could  be  made  against  him  as  against  bis 
predecessors.  Yet  he  could  not  avoid  exposing  himself  to  the  reproach 
incurred  by  an  alliance  with  foreigners  against  Italians.  Bologna  was 
under  the  protectorate  of  the  French  King,  and  Julius  could  do  nothing 
until  he  had  dissolved  this  alliance  and  received  a  promise  of  French 
cooperation.  This  having  been  obtained  through  the  influence  of  King 
Louis's  prime  minister.  Cardinal  d'Amboise,  procured  by  the  promise 
of  three  cardinalships  for  his  nephews,  Julius  quitted  Rome  in  August, 
1506,  at  the  head  of  his  own  army,  a  sight  which  Christendom  had  not 
seen  for  ages.  Perugia  was  yielded  without  a  contest,  on  the  stipulation 
that  the  Baglioni  should  not  be  entirely  expelled  from  the  city.  Julius 
continued  his  march  across  the  Apennines,  and  on  October  7  issued  a 
bull  deposing  Giovanni  Bentivoglio  and  excommunicating  him  and  his 
adherents  as  rebels.  Eight  thousand  French  troops  simultaneously 
advanced  against  Bologna  from  Milan.  Bentivoglio,  unable  to  resist  the 
double  attack,  took  refuge  in  the  French  camp,  and  the  city  opened  its 
gates  to  Julius,  who  might  boast  of  having  vindicated  his  rights  and 
enlarged  the  papal  dominions  without  spilling  a  drop  of  blood.  His 
triumph  was  commemorated  by  Michael  Angelo's  colossal  statue,  destined 
to  a  brief  existence,  but  famous  in  the  history  of  art.  But  Julius  was 
a  better  judge  of  artists  than  of  ministers,  and  the  misconduct  of  the 
legates  successively  appointed  by  him  to  govern  Bologna  alienated  the 
citizens,  and  prepared  the  way  for  fresh  revolutions. 

The  easy  conquest  of  Bologna  could  not  but  whet  the  Pope's  appetite 
for  revenge  upon  Venice,  and  ought  to  have  shown  the  Venetians  how 
formidable  an  enemy  he  could  be.  They  continued,  nevertheless,  to 
cling  with  tenacity  to  their  ill-gotten  acquisitions  in  the  Romagna, 
unaware  of  or  indifferent  to  their  peril  from  the  jealousy  of  the  chief 
States  of  Europe.  No  other  Power,  it  was  true,  had  any  just  cause  of 
quarrel  with  them.  Their  most  recent  acquisitions  in  Lombardy  had 
indeed  been  basely  obtained  as  the  price  of  cooperation  in  the  over- 
throw of  Ludovico  Sforza:  the  Neapolitan  cities,  though  acquired  by 
the  grant  of  Ferrantino,  had  been  retained  by  connivance  at  the 
destruction  of  Federigo;  they  were,  notwithstanding,  the  stipulated 


246 


League  of  Camhray  against  Venice  [i508-9 


price  of  these  iniquities,  which  the  conquerors  of  Milan  and  Naples  had 
no  right  to  reclaim.  Their  late  gains  from  Maximilian  had  been  made 
in  open  war,  and  confirmed  by  solemn  treaty.  These  considerations 
weighed  nothing  with  him  or  with  France ;  and  at  Julius's  instigation 
these  Powers  concluded  on  December  10, 1508,  the  famous  treaty  known 
as  the  League  of  Cambray,  by  which  the  continental  dominions  of 
Venice  were  to  be  divided  between  them,  reservation  being  made  of  the 
claims  of  the  Pope,  Mantua,  and  Ferrara.  Spain,  if  she  acceded,  was 
to  have  the  Neapolitan  cities  occupied  by  Venice ;  Dalmatia  was  to 
go  to  Hungary;  even  the  Duke  of  Savoy  was  tempted  by  the  bait 
of  Cyprus.  It  seemed  to  occur  to  none  that  they  were  destroying 
"Europe's  bulwark  'gainst  the  Ottomite." 

Julius,  though  the  mainspring  of  the  League,  avoided  joining  it 
openly  until  he  saw  that  the  allies  were  committed  to  the  war.  His 
assent  was  given  on  March  25,  1509 ;  on  April  7  the  Venetians  offered 
to  restore  Faenza  and  Rimini.  But  the  Pope  was  too  deeply  engaged, 
and  probably  thought  that  the  offer  was  only  made  to  divide  the  allies, 
and  would  be  withdrawn  when  it  had  served  its  purpose.  On  April  27 
he  published  a  violent  bull  of  excommunication.  His  troops  entered  the 
Romagna ;  but  the  Emperor  and  Spain  held  back,  and  left  the  conquest 
of  Lombardy  to  France.  It  proved  unexpectedly  easy.  The  Venetians 
were  completely  defeated  at  Agnadello  on  May  14,  and  the  French 
immediately  possessed  themselves  of  Lombardy  as  far  as  the  Mincio. 
They  halted  there,  having  obtained  all  they  wanted.  Maximilian  had 
not  yet  appeared  on  the  scene,  and  the  extraordinary  panic  into  which 
the  Venetians  seemed  to  fall  is  to  be  accounted  for  not  so  much  by  the 
severity  of  their  defeat  as  by  the  mutiny  or  dispersion  of  the  Venetian 
militia.  They  hastened  to  restore  the  disputed  towns  in  the  Romagna  to 
the  Pope,  — an  act  right  and  wise  in  itself,  but  carried  out  with  unthinking 
precipitation.  If  the  towns  had  been  bravely  defended,  Julius  would 
probably  have  met  the  Venetians  half  way ;  as  they  had  no  longer  any 
hold  upon  him,  he  remained  inexorable,  and  vented  his  wrath  with  every 
token  of  contumely  and  harshness.  They  were  equally  submissive  to 
Maximilian,  who  was  by  this  time  in  partial  occupation  of  the  country 
to  the  east  of  the  Mincio ;  nor  was  it  until  July  17,  that,  encouraged  by 
the  scantness  of  his  troops  and  the  slenderness  of  his  pecuniary  resources, 
they  plucked  up  courage  to  recover  Padua.  Stung  by  this  mortification, 
Maximilian  succeeded  in  assembling  a  formidable  army ;  but  Venice  had 
in  the  meantime  reorganised  her  scattered  forces,  and  obtained  fresh 
recruits  from  Dalmatia  and  Albania.  Padua  was  besieged  during  the 
latter  half  of  September;  but  the  siege  was  raised  early  in  October. 
Most  of  Maximilian's  conquests  were  recovered  by  the  Venetians,  and 
their  spirit  rose  fast,  until  .it  was  again  humbled  by  the  destruction 
of  their  fleet  on  the  Po  by  the  artillery  of  the  Duke  of  Ferrara. 

All  this  time  Julius  had  been  browbeating  the  Venetians.  Not 


1510] 


Siibmission  of  Venice  to  Julius  II 


247 


content  with  the  recovery  of  his  territor}^  he  demanded  submission  on 
all  ecclesiastical  questions.  Venice  was  to  surrender  its  claims  to 
nominate  to  bishoprics  and  benefices,  to  entertain  appeals  in  ecclesiastical 
cases,  and  to  tax  or  try  the  clergy.  Freedom  of  trade  was  also  demanded, 
with  other  minor  concessions.  It  seems  almost  surprising  that  the 
Venetians,  who  had  no  great  cause  to  fear  the  Pope's  military  or  naval 
strength,  and  knew  that  he  was  beginning  to  quarrel  with  the  King  of 
France,  should  have  yielded.  In  fact  this  resolution  was  only  adopted 
by  a  bare  majority  in  the  Council,  and  they  guarded  themselves  by  a 
secret  protest  as  respected  their  ecclesiastical  concessions.  The  Pope's 
successors  soon  found  that  non  ligant  foedera  facta  metu.  Venice  never 
permanently  recovered  her  possessions  in  the  Romagna;  but  most  of  her 
territorial  losses  in  other  quarters  were  regained  by  the  Treaty  of  Noyon 
in  1516.  A  blow  unconnected  with  Italian  politics,  and  against  which 
war  and  diplomacy  were  powerless,  had  nevertheless  been  struck  by  the 
diversion  to  Lisbon  of  her  gainful  oriental  trafBc,  consequent  upon  the 
doubling  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  A  brilliant  period  in  letters  and 
the  arts  lay  yet  before  her ;  she  was  still  to  war  with  the  Turk  in  Cyprus 
and  the  Morea ;  but  she  soon  ceased  to  rank  as  a  first-class  Power. 

Absolution  was  formally  granted  to  Venice  on  February  24,  1510, 
and  Julius  thus  became  openly  detached  from  the  League  of  Cambray. 
The  incident  marks  the  definitive  consolidation  of  the  Papal  States  ;  for 
although  districts  were  occasionally  lost  and  others  occasionally  added 
during  the  agitations  of  the  following  confused  years,  such  variations 
were  but  temporary,  and  it  was  long  ere  the  papal  territory  was  finally 
rounded  off  by  the  acquisition  of  Ferrara  and  Urbino.  From  his  own 
point  of  view  Julius  had  done  great  things.  By  dexterous  diplomacy 
and  martial  daring  he  had  preserved  or  recovered  or  augmented 
Alexander's  conquests,  and  given  no  suspicion  of  any  intention  of 
alienating  them  for  the  benefit  of  his  own  family.  He  was  now,  what 
so  many  Popes  had  vainly  sighed  to  be,  master  in  his  own  house,  and 
a  considerable  temporal  sovereign.  Yet,  if  he  was  at  all  accessible  to 
the  feelings  with  which  he  has  been  usually  credited,  he  must  have 
reflected  with  remorse  that  this  end  had  only  been  accomplished  by 
allying  himself  with  foreigners  for  the  humiliation,  almost  the  ruin,  of 
the  only  considerable  Italian  State.  He  might  naturally  wish  to  repair 
the  mischief  he  had  done  by  humbling  the  foreigners  in  their  turn. 
Other  causes  concurred,  —  his  dread  of  the  preponderance  of  the  French 
in  Northern  Italy,  his  grief  at  the  subjugation  of  his  own  city  of  Genoa 
by  them;  above  all,  it  must  be  feared,  his  desire  to  aggrandise  the 
Church  by  annexing  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  who  was 
protected  by  France.  Alfonso  of  Ferrara  had  been  a  useful  ally  in  the 
Pope's  attack  upon  Venice,  but  he  had  declined  to  follow  his  exam- 
ple in  making  peace  with  her;  he  was  personally  obnoxious  as  Alex- 
ander VI's  son-in-law;  and  his  salt-works  at  Comacchio  competed  with 


248 


War  of  Julius  against  France 


[1510 


the  Pope's  own.  It  is  remarkable  that  Julius  should  be  indebted  to  the 
least  justifiable  of  his  actions  for  much  of  his  reputation  with  posterity. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  anything  more  scandalous  than  his 
sudden  turning  round  upon  his  allies  so  soon  as  they  had  helped  him  to 
gain  his  ends.  But  he  proclaimed,  and  no  doubt  with  a  certain  measure 
of  sincerity,  that  his  ultimate  aim  was  the  deliverance  of  Italy  from  the 
foreigner ;  and  Italian  patriots  have  been  so  rejoiced  to  find  an  Italian 
prince  actually  taking  up  arms  against  the  foreigner  instead  of  merely 
talking  about  it,  that  they  have  canonised  him,  —  and  canonised  he  will 
remain.  It  is  also  to  be  remarked  that  the  transactions  of  the  remaining 
years  of  his  pontificate  were  on  a  grander  scale  than  heretofore,  and 
better  adapted  to  exhibit  the  picturesque  aspects  of  his  fiery  and 
indomitable  nature. 

The  war  was  precipitated  by  an  incident  which  seemed  to  give  the 
Pope  an  opportunity  of  beginning  it  with  advantage.  Louis  XII  had 
refused  to  grant  the  Swiss  the  terms  which  they  demanded  for  the 
renewal  of  their  alliance  with  him,  which  insured  him  the  services,  on 
occasion,  of  a  large  number  of  mercenaries.  Julius  stepped  into  his 
place,  and  the  Swiss  agreed  to  aid  him  with  fifteen  thousand  men  (May, 
1510).  Elated  at  this,  he  resolved  to  begin  the  war  without  delay, 
though  his  overtures  to  other  allies  had  been  coldly  received,  and  even 
the  grant  of  the  investiture  of  Naples,  a  studied  affront  to  the  French 
King,  had  failed  to  bring  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  to  his  side.  The 
Venetians,  however,  still  unreconciled  to  France,  and  thirsting  for  revenge 
on  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  espoused  the  Pope's  cause.  The  first  act  of 
hostility  was  a  bull  excommunicating  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  which,  Peter 
Martyr  says,  made  his  hair  stand  on  end,  and  in  which  the  salt-trade  was 
not  forgotten.  The  Popes  failed  to  perceive  how  by  reckless  misuse  they 
were  blunting  the  weapon  which  they  would  soon  need  for  more  spiritual 
ends.  Louis  paid  Julius  back  in  his  own  coin,  convoking  the  French 
clergy  to  protest,  and  threatening  a  General  Council.  Modena  was 
reduced  by  the  papal  troops ;  but  when,  in  October,  Julius  reached 
Bologna,  he  received  the  mortifying  intelligence  that  the  Swiss  had 
deserted  him,  pretending  that  they  had  not  understood  that  they  were 
to  fight  against  France.  This  left  the  country  open  to  the  French 
commander  Chaumont,  who,  profiting  by  the  division  of  the  Pope's 
forces  between  Modena  and  Bologna,  advanced  so  near  the  latter  city 
that  with  a  little  more  energy  he  could  have  captured  Julius,  who  was 
confined  to  his  bed  by  a  fever.  While  the  French  general  negotiated, 
Venetian  reinforcements  appeared  and  rescued  the  Pope,  well-nigh  de- 
lirious between  fever  and  fright.  When  he  recovered,  he  undertook  the 
reduction  of  the  castles  of  Concordia  and  Mirandola,  commanding  the 
road  to  Ferrara.  Mirandola  held  out  until  the  winter,  and  the  Pope, 
enraged  at  the  slowness  of  his  generals,  proceeded  thither  in  person  and 
busied  himself  with  military  operations,  tramping  in  the  deep  snow, 


1511-12] 


Pisan  and  Lateran  Councils 


249 


lodging  in  a  kitchen,  swearing  at  his  officers,  joking  with  the  soldiers, 
and  endearing  himself  to  the  camp  by  his  fund  of  anecdote  and  his 
rough  wit.  Mirandola  fell  at  last ;  but  the  Pope  could  make  no  further 
progress.  Negotiations  were  set  on  foot,  but  came  to  nothing.  In  May, 
1511,  the  new  French  general  Trivulzio  made  a  descent  on  Bologna,  which 
was  greatly  exasperated  by  the  misgovern ment  of  the  Legate  Alidosi, 
expelled  the  Pope's  troops,  and  reinstated  the  Bentivogli.  Michael 
Angelo's  statue  of  Julius  was  hurled  from  its  pedestal,  and  the  Duke 
of  Ferrara,  though  a  reputed  lover  of  art,  could  not  refrain  from  the 
practical  sarcasm  of  melting  it  into  a  cannon.  Alidosi,  gravely  suspected 
of  treachery,  was  cut  down  by  the  Duke  of  Urbino's  own  hand.  Miran- 
dola was  retaken,  and  Julius  returned  to  Rome  apparently  beaten  at 
every  point,  but  as  resolute  as  ever.  All  Europe  was  being  drawn  into 
his  broils.  He  looked  to  Spain,  Venice,  and  England  to  aid  him,  and 
this  actually  came  to  pass. 

Before,  however,  the  "  Holy  League  "  could  take  effect,  Julius  fell 
alarmingly  ill.  On  August  21  his  life  was  despaired  of,  and  the  Orsini 
and  Colonna,  whom  he  had  inconsiderately  reinstated,  prepared  to  renew 
their  ancient  conflicts.  One  of  the  Colonna,  Pompeio,  Bishop  of  Rieti, 
a  soldier  made  into  a  priest  against  his  will,  exhorted  the  Roman  people 
to  take  the  government  of  the  city  upon  themselves,  and  was  ready  to 
play  the  part  of  Rienzi,  when  Julius  suddenly  recovered  in  spite  of,  or 
because  of,  the  wine  which  he  insisted  on  drinking.  His  death  would 
have  altered  the  politics  of  Europe ;  so  important  a  factor  had  the 
Temporal  Power  now  become.  It  would  also  have  saved  the  Church  from 
a  small  abortive  schism.  On  September  1, 1511,  a  handful  of  dissentient 
cardinals,  reinforced  by  some  French  bishops  and  abbots,  met  at  Pisa  in 
the  guise  of  a  General  Council.  They  soon  found  it  advisable  to  gather 
more  closely  under  the  wing  of  the  French  King  by  retiring  to  Milan, 
whose  contemporary  chronicler  says  that  he  does  not  think  their  pro- 
ceedings worth  the  ink  it  would  take  to  record  them.  The  principal 
result  was  the  convocation  by  Julius  of  a  genuine  Council  at  the  Lateran, 
which  was  actually  opened  on  May  10,  1512.  A  step  deserving  to  be 
called  bold,  since  there  was  in  general  nothing  that  Popes  abhorred  so 
much  as  a  General  Council ;  significant,  as  an  admission  that  the  Church 
needed  to  be  rehabilitated ;  politic,  because  Julius's  breach  of  his  election 
promise  to  summon  a  Council  was  the  ostensible  ground  of  the  convocation 
of  the  Pisan. 

Julius  would  have  commenced  the  campaign  of  1512  with  the 
greatest  chances  of  success,  if  his  operations  had  been  more  skilfully 
combined ;  but  the  Swiss  invasion  of  Lombardy  on  which  he  had  relied 
was  over  before  his  own  movements  had  begun.  Scarcely  had  the  Swiss, 
discouraged  by  want  of  support,  withdrawn  across  the  Alps,  when 
Julius's  army,  consisting  chiefly  of  Spaniards  under  Ramon  de  Cardona, 
but  with  a  papal  contingent  under  a  papal  legate,  Cardinal  de'  Medici, 


250 


Expulsion  of  the  French  from  Italy 


[1512 


afterwards  Leo  X,  presented  itself  before  Bologna.  In  the  ordinary 
course  of  things  Bologna  would  have  fallen  ;  but  the  French  were 
commanded  by  a  great  military  genius,  the  youthful  Gaston  de  Foix, 
whose  life  and  death  alike  demonstrated  that  human  personality 
counts  for  much,  and  that  history  is  not  a  matter  of  mere  abstract 
law.  By  skilful  manoeuvres  Gaston  compelled  the  allies  to  withdraw 
into  the  Romagna,  and  then  (April  11)  entirely  overthrew  them  in 
the  great  fight  of  Ravenna,  —  most  picturesque  of  battles,  pictorial  in 
every  detail,  from  the  stalwart  figure  of  the  revolted  Cardinal  Sanseverino 
turning  out  in  complete  armour  to  smite  the  Pope,  to  the  capture  of  Car- 
dinal de'  Medici  by  Greeks  in  French  service,  and  the  death  of  the  young 
hero  himself,  as  he  strove  to  crown  his  victory  by  the  annihilation  of  the 
solid  Spanish  infantry.  Had  he  lived,  he  would  soon  have  been  in  Rome, 
and  the  Pope,  unless  he  submitted,  must  have  become  a  captive  in  France 
or  a  refugee  in  Spain.  Julius  resisted  the  Cardinals  who  beset  him  with 
clamours  for  peace,  but  his  galleys  were  being  equipped  for  flight  when 
Giulio  de'  Medici,  afterwards  Clement  VII,  arrived  as  a  messenger  from 
his  cousin  the  captive  legate,  with  such  a  picture  of  the  discord  among 
the  victors  after  Gaston's  death  that  Pope  and  Cardinals  breathed  again. 
Within  a  few  weeks  the  French  were  recalled  to  Lombardy  by  another 
Swiss  invasion.  The  German  mercenaries,  of  whom  their  forces  largely 
consisted,  deserted  them  at  the  command  of  the  Emperor,  and  the  army 
that  might  have  stood  at  the  gates  of  Rome  actually  abandoned  Milan, 
and  with  it  all  the  conquests  of  recent  years.  The  anti-papal  Council 
fled  into  France,  and  Cardinal  Medici  was  rescued  by  the  Lombard 
peasantry.  The  Duke  of  Urbino,  who,  estranged  from  the  Pope  by  the 
summary  justice  he  had  exercised  upon  Cardinal  Alidosi,  had  for  a  time 
kept  aloof  and  afterwards  been  on  the  point  of  joining  the  French, 
now  came  forward  to  provide  Julius  with  another  army.  The  Bentivogli 
fled  from  Bologna,  and  the  papal  troops  further  occupied  Parma  and 
Piacenza.  But  Julius  thought  nothing  done  so  long  as  the  Duke  of 
Ferrara  retained  his  dominions.  The  Duke  came  in  person  to  Rome 
to  deprecate  his  wrath,  protected  by  a  safe  conduct,  and  accompanied 
by  his  own  liberated  captive,  Fabrizio  Colonna.  Julius  received  him 
kindly,  freed  him  from  all  spiritual  censures,  but  was  inflexible  in  tem- 
poral matters  ;  the  surrender  of  the  duchy  he  must  and  would  have. 
Alfonso  proving  equally  firm,  the  Pope  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to 
threaten  him  with  imprisonment;  but  Fabrizio  Colonna,  declaring  his 
own  reputation  at  stake,  procured  his  escape,  and  escorted  him  safely 
back.  Such  instances  of  a  nice  sense  of  personal  honour  are  not  infre- 
quent in  the  annals  of  the  age,  and  afford  a  refreshing  contrast  to  the 
general  political  immorality. 

An  event  was  now  about  to  happen  which,  although  he  was  not  the 
chief  agent  in  it,  contributed  most  of  all  to  confer  on  J ulius  the  proud 
title  of  Deliverer  of  Italy.    It  was  necessary  to  decide  the  fate  of  the 


1512] 


Restoration  of  the  Sforza  and  Medici 


251 


Duchy  of  Milan,  which  Ferdinand  and  Maximilian  wished  to  give  to 
their  grandson  the  Archduke  Charles,  afterwards  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
Julius  had  not  driven  the  French  out  in  order  to  put  the  Spaniards  and 
Austrians  in.  He  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  expelled  Italian  dynasty 
in  the  person  of  Massimiliano  Sforza.  Fortunately  the  decision  of  the 
question  lay  with  the  Swiss,  who  from  motives  of  money  and  policy  took 
the  side  of  Sforza ;  and  he  was  installed  accordingly.  All  must  have  seen 
that  this  arrangement  was  a  mere  makeshift;  but  the  restoration,  however 
precarious,  of  an  Italian  dynasty  to  an  Italian  State  so  long  usurped  by 
the  foreigner  was  enough  to  cover  Julius  with  glory.  He  had  unques- 
tionably in  this  instance  done  his  duty  as  an  Italian  sovereign,  and 
men  did  not  over-nicely  consider  how  impotent  he  would  have  been 
without  foreign  aid,  and  how  substantial  an  advantage  he  was  obtaining 
for  himself  by  the  annexation  of  Parma  and  Piacenza,  long  held  by 
the  ruler  of  Milan,  but  now  discovered  to  have  been  bequeathed  to  the 
Church  by  the  Countess  Matilda  four  hundred  years  before. 

A  deplorable  contemporary  event,  meanwhile,  passed  almost  un- 
noticed in  the  general  joy  at  the  expulsion  of  the  French,  and  the 
unprecedented  development  of  the  Pope's  Temporal  Power.  This  was 
the  subversion  of  the  Florentine  Republic  and  the  restoration  of  the 
Medici,  discreditable  to  the  Spaniards  who  achieved  it  and  to  the  Pope 
who  permitted  it,  but  chiefly  to  the  Florentines  themselves.  Their 
weakness  and  levity,  the  memory  of  the  early  Medicean  rulers,  the 
feeling  that  since  their  expulsion  Florence  had  been  no  strong  defence 
or  worthy  example  to  Italy,  and  the  fact  that  no  foreigner  was  placed  in 
possession,  mitigated  the  indignation  and  alarm  naturally  aroused  by 
such  a  catastrophe.  It  was  not  foreseen  that  in  after  years  a  Medicean 
Pope  would  accept  the  maintenance  of  his  family  in  Florence  by  way  of 
consideration  for  the  entire  sacrifice  of  the  independence  of  Italy. 

The  time  of  Julius's  removal  from  the  scenes  of  earth  was  approach- 
ing, and  it  was  well  for  him.  The  continuance  of  his  life  and  of  his 
reputation  would  hardly  have  been  compatible.  He  was  about  to  show, 
as  he  had  shown  before,  that,  however  attached  in  the  abstract  to  the 
liberty  of  Italy,  he  was  always  willing  to  postpone  this  to  his  own 
projects.  He  had  two  especially  at  heart,  the  subjugation  of  Ferrara 
and  the  success  of  the  Lateran  Council,  which  he  had  convoked  to 
eclipse  the  schismatical  Council  of  Pisa.  For  this  the  support  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  was  necessary  ;  for  the  Council,  which  had  already 
begun  to  deliberate,  might  appear  hardly  more  respectable  than  its  rival 
if  it  was  ignored  by  both  France  and  Germany.  As  a  condition, 
Maximilian  insisted  on  concessions  from  the  Venetians,  whom  the  Pope 
ordered  to  surrender  Verona  and  Vicenza,  and  to  hold  Padua  and 
Treviso  as  fiefs  of  the  Empire.  The  Venetians  refused,  and  Julius 
threatened  them  with  excommunication.  Fortunately  for  his  fame,  the 
stroke  was  delayed  until  it  was  too  late.    He  had  long  been  suffering 


252 


Death  of  Julius  II 


[1513 


from  a  complication  of  infirmities.  At  the  end  of  January,  1513,  he 
took  to  his  bed ;  on  February  4  he  professed  himself  without  hope  of 
recovery  ;  on  February  20  he  received  the  last  sacraments,  and  he  died  on 
the  following  day.  Goethe  says  that  every  man  abides  in  our  memory 
in  the  character  under  which  he  has  last  been  prominently  displayed ; 
the  last  days  of  Julius  II  exhibited  him  to  the  most  advantage.  He 
addressed  the  cardinals  with  dignity  and  tenderness ;  he  deplored  his 
faults  and  errors  without  descending  to  particulars ;  he  spoke  of  the 
schismatics  with  forbearance,  yet  with  unbending  resolution  ;  he  ordered 
the  reissue  of  his  regulations  against -simony  in  pontifical  elections ;  and 
gave  many  wholesome  admonitions  respecting  the  future  conclave.  On 
foreign  affairs  he  seems  not  to  have  touched.  His  death  evoked  the  most 
vehement  demonstrations  of  popular  sorrow.  Never,  says  Paris  de  Grassis, 
who  as  papal  master  of  the  ceremonies  was  certain  to  be  well-informed, 
had  there  been  at  the  funeral  of  any  Pope  anything  like  the  concourse 
of  persons  of  every  age,  sex,  and  rank  thronging  to  kiss  his  feet,  and 
imploring  with  cries  and  tears  the  salvation  of  him  who  had  been  a 
true  Pope  of  Rome  and  Vicar  of  Christ,  maintaining  justice,  augmenting 
the  Church,  and  warring  upon  and  putting  down  tyrants  and  enemies. 
"  Man}^  to  whom  his  death  might  have  been  deemed  welcome  lamented 
him  with  abundant  tears  as  they  said,  '  This  Pope  has  delivered  us  all, 
all  Italy  and  all  Christendom  from  the  hands  of  the  Gauls  and  Bar- 
barians.' " 

This  enthusiastic  panegyric  would  have  been  moderated  if  the  secret 
springs  of  Julius's  policy  had  been  better  known ;  if  it  had  been  under- 
stood how  Fortune,  rather  than  Wisdom,  had  stood  his  friend  through 
life ;  and  if  the  inevitably  transitory  character  of  his  best  work  had  been 
perceived.  A  national  dynasty  might  be  restored  to  Milan,  but  it  could 
not  be  kept  there,  nor  could  it  prove  aught  but  the  puppet  of  the  foreigner 
while  it  remained.  The  fate  of  Italy  had  been  sealed  long  ago,  when  she 
refused  to  participate  in  the  movement  of  coalescence  which  was  consoli- 
dating disjointed  communities  into  great  nations.  These  nations  had 
now  become  great  military  monarchies,  for  which  a  loose  bundle  of  petty 
States  was  no  match.  A  Cesare  Borgia  might  possibly  have  saved  her,  if 
he  had  wrought  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  instead  of  the 
end.  Venice  did  something ;  but  she  was  essentially  a  maritime  Power, 
and  her  possessions  on  the  mainland  were  in  many  respects  a  source  of 
weakness.  The  only  considerable  approach  to  consolidation  was  the 
establishment  of  the  Papal  Temporal  Power,  of  which  Alexander  and 
Julius  were  the  chief  architects.  While  the  means  employed  in  its 
creation  were  often  most  condemnable,  the  creation  itself  was  justified 
by  the  helpless  condition  of  the  Papacy  without  it,  and  by  the  useful 
end  it  was  to  serve  when  it  became  the  only  vestige  of  dignity  and 
independence  left  to  Italy. 


CHAPTER  Vni 


VENICE 

The  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  offers  a  convenient  point 
whence  to  survey  the  growth  of  the  Venetian  Republic.  Venice  had  by 
that  time  become  the  Venice  of  modern  European  history ;  a  great  trading 
city ;  a  mart  for  the  exchange  of  goods  between  East  and  West ;  com- 
mitted to  a  policy  destined  to  make  her  one  of  the  five  Italian  Powers 
and  eventually  to  raise  up  against  her  a  coalition  of  all  Italy  and  Europe. 
Her  constitution  was  fixed ;  her  colonial  system  developed  ;  her  position 
towards  the  Church  defined ;  her  aggrandisement  on  the  Italian  mainland 
initiated ;  her  wealth,  her  splendour,  her  art  were  beginning  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  civilised  world.  The  various  threads  of  Venetian 
history  are  drawn  together  at  this  epoch.  The  Republic  was  about  to 
move  forward  upon  a  larger,  more  ambitious  career  than  it  had  hitherto 
followed;  a  career  for  which  its  various  lines  of  development,  —  the 
creation  of  a  maritime  empire,  expansion  on  the  mainland,  efforts  for 
ecclesiastical  independence,  growth  and  solidification  of  the  constitution, 
—  had  been  slowly  preparing  it.  An  examination  of  each  of  these  lines 
in  turn  will  enable  us  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  Venetian  Republic 
as  it  emerged  from  the  Middle  Ages  and  became,  for  a  time,  one  of  the 
greatest  factors  in  European  history. 

The  growth  of  Venetian  maritime  empire  in  the  Levant  and  . 
supremacy  in  the  Mediterranean  falls  into  four  well-defined  periods. 
The  Venetians  began  by  moving  slowly  down  the  Dalmatian  coast  and 
establishing  their  power  in  the  Adriatic  ;  they  then  pushed  out  eastward 
and  acquired  rights  in  Syrian  seaports,  such  as  Sidon,  Tyre,  Acre ;  they 
seized  many  of  the  islands  in  the  archipelago  as  their  share  of  the 
plunder  after  the  Fourth  Crusade ;  finally  they  met,  fought,  and  defeated 
their  only  serious  maritime  rivals  the  Genoese. 

The  Adriatic  is  the  natural  water  avenue  to  Venice.  If  her  com- 
merce was  to  flourish,  it  was  essential  that  she  should  be  mistress  in 
this  sea.    But  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic,  with  its  deep  gulfs 

253 


254 


Expansion  eastward 


[1100-1200 


and  numerous  islands,  had  for  long  sheltered  a  race  of  pirates  who  never 
ceased  to  molest  Venetian  traffic.  It  was  necessary  to  destroy  this 
corsairs'  nest,  and  Venice  embarked  on  the  first  great  war  she  undertook 
as  an  independent  State  in  her  own  individual  interests.  This  war  was 
entirely  successful.  The  Dalmatian  coast  towns  recognised  the  Doge  as 
"  Duke  of  Dalmatia  "  and  submitted  to  a  nominal  tribute  in  recognition 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  Republic.  Venice,  it  is  true,  did  not  remain  in 
undisturbed  and  continuous  possession  of  Dalmatia,  but  she  acquired 
a  title  which  she  subsequently  rendered  effective.  She  thus  took 
the  first  step  towards  that  indispensable  condition  of  her  commercial 
existence,  supremacy  in  the  Adriatic.  The  Dalmatian  cities  were  now 
open  to  her  merchants.  The  Dalmatian  sea-board  furnished  a  food 
supply  which  the  Lagoons  could  not ;  Dalmatian  forests  yielded  timber 
for  building  ships  and  houses. 

With  the  period  of  the  Crusades  Venice  achieved  a  still  wider 
expansion  in  the  Levant.  The  eyes  of  Europe  had  been  attracted  to 
the  little  city  in  the  Lagoons  which  had  attacked  and  subdued  the 
Narentine  pirates,  challenged  and  fought  the  Normans,  and  rendered 
striking  services  to  the  Eastern  Emperor  himself.  When  the  Crusaders 
began  to  look  about  for  a  port  of  embarkation  and  for  transport-service 
to  the  Holy  Land,  the  three  cities  of  Genoa,  Pisa,  and  Venice  offered 
themselves.  Venice  was  not  only  the  most  powerful ;  she  was  also  the 
most  easterly  of  the  three.  Her  geographical  position  naturally  led  to 
the  choice  of  Venice  as  the  port  of  departure.  The  issue  of  the  Crusades 
proved  that  the  Republic  entered  upon  those  enterprises  in  a  purely 
commercial  spirit.  When  Sidon  fell,  the  Venetians  received  from  Baldwin, 
King  of  Jerusalem,  in  return  for  their  assistance,  a  market-place,  a  dis- 
trict, a  church,  and  the  right  to  use  their  own  weights  and  measures  in 
that  city.  This  was  in  fact  the  nucleus  of  a  colony  of  merchants  living 
under  special  treaty  capitulations ;  and  the  privileges  of  the  Sidon  treaty 
we  find  repeated  and  extended  when  Acre,  Tyre,  and  Ascalon  were 
successively  occupied. 

The  siege  and  capture  of  Tyre  mark  the  close  of  the  second  period 
in  the  history  of  Venetian  maritime  expansion.  With  the  erection  of 
factories  in  Constantinople  and  in  the  chief  cities  of  the  Syrian  sea-board 
the  Republic  may  be  said  to  have  embarked  upon  the  construction  of 
that  greater  Venice  which  was  to  be  completed  after  the  Fourth 
Crusade. 

But  the  course  of  Venetian  expansion  was  not  uninterruptedly  smooth. 
The  rapid  growth  of  her  power  in  the  Levant  procured  for  the  Republic  an 
enemy  in  the  person  of  the  Eastern  Emperor.  The  Emperors  had  always 
viewed  with  suspicion  the  whole  movement  of  the  Crusades  and  more 
especially  the  professedly  commercial  attitude  assumed  by  Venice,  who  was 
obviously  bent  upon  acquiring  territory  and  rights  inside  the  Empire. 
They  were  aware  that  they  could  chastise  her  by  favouring  her  rivals  Pisa 


1201-4] 


The  Fourth  Crusade 


255 


and  Genoa.  The  growing  wealth  and  importance  of  Venetian  colonists 
in  Constantinople,  where  they  are  said  to  have  numbered  two  hundred 
thousand,  increased  the  imperial  jealousy.  The  Venetians  were  accused 
of  being  troublesome,  brawling  neighbours,  who  kept  the  town  in  an 
uproar.  In  March,  1171,  all  Venetians  in  the  Empire  were  placed  under 
arrest  and  their  property  confiscated.  Popular  indignation  at  Venice 
swept  the  Republic  into  war  with  the  Emperor.  One  hundred  galleys 
and  twenty  ships  were  manned  in  the  course  of  a  hundred  days.  The 
issue  of  the  campaign  was  disastrous  for  the  Venetians.  The  Emperor's 
Ambassadors  induced  the  Doge  to  temporise.  The  plague  decimated 
and  nearly  annihilated  the  fleet.  The  shattered  remnants  returned  to 
Venice,  where  the  Doge  was  slain  by  the  mob. 

With  the  reign  of  Enrico  Dandolo  and  the  Fourth  Crusade  we 
approach  a  memorable  period  in  the  history  of  Venetian  maritime  empire. 
When  Dandolo  came  to  the  throne  the  affairs  of  the  Republic  as  regards 
their  maritime  power  stood  thus.  In  the  imperial  city  their  position 
was  precarious,  liable  to  violent  changes,  exposed  to  the  machinations  of 
their  commercial  and  naval  rivals,  Pisa  and  Genoa.  Their  communi- 
cations with  their  Syrian  factories  were  not  secure.  Zara  and  the 
Dalmatian  coast  were  still  in  revolt.  In  the  year  1201  the  Republic 
discovered  that  the  usurping  Emperor,  Alexius  III,  was  in  treaty  with 
the  Genoese  and  meditated  conferring  on  them  ampler  trading  rights. 
The  immediate  objects  of  the  Republic  were  the  recovery  of  Zara  and 
the  suppression  of  their  commercial  rivals  in  Constantinople.  The  story 
of  the  Fourth  Crusade  is  the  story  of  the  way  in  which  the  Republic 
accomplished  its  aims. 

Zara  was  recovered,  and  on  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  in  1204,  the 
Republic  reaped  material  advantages  of  a  preponderating  kind.  Her 
portion  of  the  booty  gave  her  solid  riches,  with  which  she  bought  the 
rights  of  Boniface  over  Crete  and  Salonika,  and  obtained  leave  for 
Venetian  citizens  to  occupy  as  fiefs  of  the  Empire  any  Aegean  islands 
not  already  owned  by  the  Republic.  In  this  way  she  became  possessed 
of  the  Cyclades  and  Sporades,  and  held  the  seaports  of  Tliessaly  and 
the  island  of  Crete.  Zara  and  other  Dalmatian  towns  now  became 
hers  both  by  conquest  and  by  title ;  and  thus  the  Republic  acquired 
an  unbroken  line  of  communication  from  Venice  down  the  Adriatic  to 
Constantinople  and  round  to  the  seaports  of  the  Syrian  coast. 

But  the  possession  of  this  large  maritime  empire  had  to  be  made 
good.  Venice  was  unable  to  undertake  at  one  and  the  same  time  the 
actual  conquest  and  settlement  of  so  many  scattered  territories.  She 
adopted  a  method  borrowed  from  the  feudal  system  of  her  Prankish 
allies,  and  granted  investiture  of  the  various  islands,  as  fiefs,  to  those 
of  her  richer  families  who  would  undertake  to  render  effective  the 
Venetian  title  and  to  hold  the  territories  for  the  Republic  at  a  nominal 
tribute. 


256 


Colonisation 


We  have  no  evidence  as  to  how  these  feudatories  established  their 
title  and  governed  their  fiefs ;  but  when  we  come  to  deal  with  the 
growth  of  the  Venetian  constitution  we  shall  find  that  a  great  increase 
in  private  wealth  resulted  from  this  partition  of  the  Levant  islands. 
We  do  know,  however,  the  system  adopted  for  the  colonisation  of  the 
large  island  of  Crete,  which  the  Republic  kept  directly  in  its  own  hands. 
Venetian  citizens  were  tempted  to  settle  in  the  island  by  the  gift  of 
certain  villages  with  their  districts.  These  they  were  expected  to  hold 
for  the  Eepublic  in  the  case  of  a  revolution.  The  Governor  of  the 
island,  who  bore  the  title  of  Duke  of  Candia,  was  a  Venetian  noble 
elected  in  the  Great  Council  at  Venice ;  he  was  assisted  by  two 
Councillors.  Matters  of  importance  were  decided  by  the  Great  Council 
of  Crete,  which  was  composed  of  all  noble  Venetians  resident  in  the 
island  and  all  noble  Cretans.  The  remaining  magistracies  were  formed 
upon  the  Venetian  model ;  and  the  higher  posts,  such  as  those  of 
Captain-General,  Commander  of  the  Cavalry,  Governors,  and  military 
commanders  in  the  larger  towns,  were  filled  by  Venetians.  The  minor 
offices  were  open  to  Cretans.  Absolute  equality  was  granted  to  both 
Roman  and  Orthodox  rites.  In  fact  the  Republic  displayed  at  once  the 
governing  ideas  of  her  colonial  policy,  namely,  to  interfere  as  little  as 
possible  with  local  institutions ;  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country ; 
to  encourage  trade  with  the  metropolis ;  to  retain  only  the  very  highest 
military  and  civil  appointments  in  her  own  hands  as  a  symbol  and 
guarantee  of  her  supremacy. 

For  the  defence  of  these  widely  scattered  possessions  and  for  the 
preservation  of  communications  between  Venice  and  her  dependencies 
the  Republic  was  obliged  to  organise  a  service  of  patrol  squadrons. 
The  Captain  of  "  the  Gulf,"  that  is  the  Adriatic,  had  his  head-quarters 
at  the  Ionian  islands,  and  was  responsible  for  the  safety  of  merchantmen 
from  Venice  to  those  islands  and  in  the  waters  of  the  Morea  as  far  as 
Modon  and  Coron.  From  the  Morea  to  the  Dardanelles  the  safety  of 
the  sea-route  was  entrusted  to  the  Venetian  feudatories  in  the  Greek 
islands ;  while  the  Dardanelles,  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  the  Bosphorus,  and 
the  Black  Sea  were  patrolled  by  the  Black  Sea  squadron. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  outcome  of  the  Fourth  Crusade  was  of  vast 
importance  for  the  expansion  of  Venetian  maritime  empire ;  and  we  are 
now  in  the  presence  of  a  Venice  quite  different  from  anything  we  have 
encountered  hitherto.  The  Republic  assumed  the  aspect  of  a  naval 
Power  with  a  large  mercantile  marine  and  organised  squadrons  of  war- 
ships for  her  protection.  The  crews  of  Venetian  warships  were  at  this 
period  free  citizens,  serving  under  the  command  of  a  Venetian  noble. 
Condemned  prisoners  or  galley-slaves  were  not  employed  till  much  later, 
—  first  because  the  State  was  hardly  large  enough  to  furnish  sufficient 
criminals  to  serve  the  oar,  and  secondly  because,  as  long  as  boarding 
formed  an  important  operation  in  naval  tactics,  condemned  criminals 


Venice  and  Genoa 


257 


could  not  be  employed  with  safety,  as  it  was  dangerous  to  entrust  them 
with  arms.  When  ramming  took  the  place  of  boarding,  the  galley-slave, 
chained  to  his  bench,  could  be  used  precisely  as  we  use  machinery. 

The  expansion  of  Venetian  maritime  empire  as  the  outcome  of  the 
Fourth  Crusade  roused  the  jealousy  of  her  great  rival  Genoa.  It  was 
inevitable  that  the  Genoese  and  the  Venetians,  both  occupying  neigh- 
bouring quarters  in  the  Levantine  cities,  each  competing  for  a  monopoly 
of  Eastern  commerce,  should  come  to  blows.  The  Republic  was  now 
committed  to  a  struggle  with  her  western  rival  for  supremacy  in 
the  Levant  —  a  deplorable  conflict  fraught  with  disaster  for  both 
parties. 

A  long  period  of  naval  campaigning  ensued,  the  fortune  of  war  lean- 
ing now  to  one  side,  now  to  the  other.  The  breathing-space  between 
each  campaign  and  the  next  was  devoted  by  the  Republic  to  the  develop- 
ment of  her  commerce.  Treaties  were  stipulated  with  Milan,  Bologna, 
Brescia,  Como.  Trade  with  England  and  Flanders  by  means  of  the 
Flanders  galleys  was  developed.  Venetian  merchants  brought  sugar 
from  the  Levant,  and  exchanged  it  for  wool  in  London.  The  wool  was 
sold  in  Flanders  and  cloth  bought,  which  was  placed  on  the  markets  of 
Italy  and  Dalmatia,  as  the  ships  sailed  east  again  to  procure  fresh  cargoes 
for  the  London  market.  Industries  also  began  to  take  root  in  the  city. 
Refugees  from  Lucca  introduced  the  silk  trade,  and  established  them- 
selves in  a  quarter  near  the  Rialto.  The  glass  manufacture  of  Murano 
received  an  impetus.  The  population  of  the  city  numbered  200,000  ; 
and  males  fit  for  arms,  that  is  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  sixty, 
were  reckoned  at  40,000. 

There  is  proof  that,  in  spite  of  defeats  by  Genoa  at  Ayas  and  at 
Curzola,  Venice  had  achieved  a  high  position  in  the  eyes  of  European 
Princes.  Edward  III  asked  for  Venetian  aid  in  his  wars  with  Philip  of 
France  ;  he  offered  extensive  privileges,  and  invited  the  Doge  to  send  his 
sons  to  the  English  court.  Alfonso  of  Sicily  apologised  for  insults  offered 
to  Venetian  merchants.  The  Pope  proposed  that  Venice  should  under- 
take the  protection  of  Christians  against  the  Ottoman  Turks,  who  were 
now  beginning  to  threaten  Europe,  in  return  for  which  the  Republic  was 
to  enjoy  the  ecclesiastical  tithes  for  three  years. 

But  Genoa  was  not  yet  driven  from  the  field.  It  was  impossible 
that  commercial  rivalries  should  not  lead  to  fresh  explosions.  The  fur 
trade  in  the  Crimea  gave  rise  to  differences.  The  Venetians  sent  an 
embassy  to  Genoa  to  protest  against  alleged  violations  of  a  compact  by 
which  both  Republics  had  pledged  themselves  to  abstain  from  trading 
with  the  Tartars.  The  Genoese  gave  Venice  to  understand  that  her 
presence  in  the  Black  Sea  was  only  permitted  on  sufferance.  War 
broke  out.  The  Republics  were  now  embarked  upon  a  struggle  to  the 
death,  from  which  one  or  other  of  the  combatants  must  emerge  finally 
victorious. 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


17 


258 


The  War  of  Chioggia 


[1378-9 


•  In  the  course  of  that  struggle  the  recuperative  power  of  Venice  was 
amply  demonstrated.  She  lost  Negroponte ;  she  was  defeated  in  the 
Bosphorus  ;  her  whole  fleet  was  annihilated  at  Sapienza.  But  the  result 
of  her  one  great  victory  at  Cagliari  was  sufficient  to  counterbalance  her 
losses,  for  by  it  she  forced  Genoa  to  surrender  her  liberties  to  Visconti. 
And  so,  while  Venice  after  each  disaster,  after  Curzola  and  Sapienza, 
was  able  to  devote  her  whole  energies  to  replacing  her  fleet  and  re- 
establishing her  commerce,  the  case  was  very  different  with  her  rival. 
The  Genoese  Republic  had  accepted  the  lordship  of  Visconti  at  a  mo- 
ment of  great  peril,  and  was  compelled  to  devote  any  interval  of  peace 
with  Venice,  not  to  the  increase  of  her  wealth  and  the  augmentation  of 
her  fleet,  but  to  efforts  for  the  recovery  of  that  freedom  she  had  sur- 
rendered. Genoa  could  only  stand  by  and  watch  with  jealous  eyes  the 
reconstitution  of  her  antagonist. 

The  steady  advance  of  Venice  brought  about  the  final  rupture.  On 
the  threat  that  they  would  join  the  Sultan  Murad  I  and  expel  the 
Emperor  John  Paleologus  from  his  throne,  the  Venetians  wrung  from 
the  Emperor  the  concession  of  the  island  of  Tenedos.  The  position 
of  that  island,  commanding  the  mouth  of  the  Dardanelles,  made  it 
intolerable  to  the  Genoese  that  it  should  pass  into  the  hands  of  their 
enemies.  War  was  declared  again  in  1378.  In  the  following  year  Vet- 
tor  Pisani,  the  Venetian  commander,  was  utterly  defeated  at  Pola,  though 
the  Genoese  lost  their  admiral  in  the  battle.  This  delayed  their  attack 
on  the  Lagoons  ;  and  while  they  awaited  the  arrival  of  a  new  commander, 
the  panic  in  Venice  subsided  and  the  Republic  set  to  work  to  protect 
the  home  waters  from  an  assault  which  seemed  imminent  day  by  day. 
In  July  Pietro  Doria,  the  Genoese  admiral,  reconnoitred  Chioggia,  and 
it  was  clear  that  he  intended  to  make  that  Lagoon  city  his  head-quarters 
and  thence  to  blockade  and  starve  Venice  to  surrender.  Chioggia  lay 
close  to  the  mainland,  and  Doria  counted  on  abundant  supplies  from 
Francesco  Carrara,  Lord  of  Padua,  who  was  at  that  time  at  open  war 
with  the  Republic  and  blockading  her  on  the  land  side.  But  Chioggia 
had  yet  to  be  captured.  On  August  11,  1379,  the  assault  began  and 
was  renewed  till  the  18th,  when  the  town  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Genoese.  Carrara  urged  Doria  to  push  on  at  once  to  Venice,  only  about 
twenty  miles  away ;  and  had  he  done  so  there  can  be  little  doubt  but 
that  the  flag  of  St  George  of  Genoa  would  have  floated  in  the  Piazza, 
and  Carrara  would  have  carried  out  his  threat  of  bitting  and  bridling  the 
horses  on  St  Mark's.  But  the  Genoese  admiral  decided  to  abide  by  his 
plan  of  a  blockade,  and  his  decision  proved  the  salvation  of  Venice.  At 
Venice,  in  the  face  of  this  imminent  peril,  the  whole  population  displayed 
coolness,  courage,  and  tenacity.  The  magistrates  forewent  their  pay;  new 
imposts  were  borne  without  complaint;  the  people,  invited  to  express 
their  wishes  on  the  question  of  continuing  the  war,  replied :  "  Let  us 
man  every  vessel  in  Venice  and  go  to  fight  the  foe."    The  public  voice 


1380] 


Defeat  of  Genoa 


259 


designated  Vettor  Pisani  as  leader,  in  spite  of  the  disastrous  defeat  lie 
had  suffered  at  Pola,  and  the  government  withdrew  their  own  candidate, 
Taddeo  Giustinian.  Thirty-four  galleys  were  put  together,  and  Pisani 
took  the  command.  Meanwhile  Doria  had  resolved  to  withdraw  his 
whole  fleet  into  Chioggia  for  winter  quarters.  Pisani  grasped  the  situa- 
tion and  seized  the  opportunity.  He  resolved  to  blockade  the  block- 
aders.  All  the  channels  which  gave  egress  from  Chioggia  to  the  sea 
were  rendered  useless  by  sinking  across  them  galleys  filled  with  stones. 
Pisani  then  drew  up  his  fleet  in  the  open  sea  opposite  the  Chioggian 
entrance  to  the  Lagoons,  in  order  to  intercept  any  reinforcements 
which  might  be  sent  from  Genoa.  The  Genoese  in  Chioggia  were 
all  the  while  straining  every  nerve  to  break  through  Pisani's  lines ; 
his  crews  were  kept  on  guard  by  turns  day  and  night ;  it  was  winter 
time,  and  a  storm  from  the  east  or  south-east  might  easily  spring  up  such 
as  would  probably  drive  Pisani  on  to  the  lee  shore.  The  strain  on  the 
Venetians  was  very  great.  But  just  when  they  were  on  the  point  of 
abandoning  the  blockade,  Carlo  Zeno's  fleet,  w^hich  had  been  cruising 
down  the  Adriatic,  hove  in  sight.  The  reinforcements  enabled  Pisani  to 
land  troops  and  to  occupy  the  point  of  Brondolo,  whence  his  two  great 
guns,  the  "  Trevisana  "  and  the  "  Vittoria,"  opened  on  the  town.  A  shot 
from  one  of  them  brought  down  the  Campanile  and  killed  the  Genoese 
admiral  Doria.  His  successor,  Napoleone  Grimaldi,  withdrew  all  his 
troops  into  Chioggia,  and  abandoned  the  design  of  cutting  a  new  canal 
from  the  Lagoons  to  the  sea.  Carlo  Zeno  with  a  company  of  mercenaries 
disembarked  on  the  mainland  and  eventually  succeeded  in  cutting  off  the 
supplies  which  Carrara  was  sending  into  Chioggia.  The  Genoese  began 
building  light  boats  in  which  they  hoped  to  be  able  to  sail  over  the 
obstacles  in  the  channels  that  led  to  the  Adriatic.  Twice  they  attempted 
a  sortie  and  failed.  Famine  came  to  close  the  long  list  of  their 
disasters,  and  on  June  24,  1380,  the  Genoese  fleet  surrendered  to 
Venice. 

The  successful  issue  of  the  war  of  Chioggia  left  the  Republic  of 
Venice  the  supreme  naval  Power  in  the  Mediterranean.  Genoa  never 
recovered  from  the  blow.  She  fell  a  prey  to  internal  feuds,  and  in 
1396  she  renounced  her  independence,  receiving  from  Charles  VI  of 
France  a  governor  who  ruled  the  State  in  French  interests.  Venetian 
predominance  in  the  Mediterranean  was  confirmed  by  the  recovery  of 
Corfu  in  1386,  and  by  the  purchase  of  Argos  and  Nauplia  in  the  Pelo- 
ponnese.  But  at  the  very  moment  when  her  power  seemed  indisputably 
established  a  new  and  formidable  rival  began  to  loom  on  the  horizon. 
Sultan  Bayazid's  victory  at  Nikopolis  in  1392  planted  a  Muslim  mosque 
and  a  Cadi  in  Constantinople  and  presaged  for  Venice  that  long  series 
of  wars  which  were  destined  eventually  to  drain  her  resources  and  to 
rob  her  of  her  maritime  supremacy. 


260 


Territorial  expansion 


The  expansion  of  Venice  on  the  mainland  of  Italy  began  somewhat  later 
than  the  creation  of  her  maritime  dominion,  and  was  in  a  certain  way 
the  result  of  that  dominion.  The  Republic  was  originally  a  sea-Power 
whose  merchants  brought  to  her  port  the  various  products  of  Eastern 
countries,  all  transmarinis  partihus  orientalium  divitias.  The  geo- 
graphical position  of  Venice  as  the  seaport  nearest  to  the  centre  of 
Europe  indicated  her  as  a  great  emporium  and  mart  for  the  distribution 
and  exchange  of  goods ;  and,  further,  her  situation  in  the  shallow 
waters  of  the  Lagoons  gave  her  a  monopoly  of  salt.  Cassiodorus, 
Theodoric's  secretary,  when  describing  the  growing  State,  points  to 
salt  as  the  real  riches  of  the  young  Republic ;  "  for  men  may  live  without 
gold,"  he  says,  "  but  no  one  ever  heard  of  their  being  able  to  do  without 
salt."  Venice  however  required  an  outlet  for  her  commodities  ;  and  this 
led  at  first  to  the  establishment  of  factories  in  the  districts  of  Belluno 
and  Treviso,  along  the  banks  of  the  Piave  and  on  one  of  the  highroads 
into  the  heart  of  Europe  (991),  and  subsequently  at  Ferrara  (1100),  and 
again  at  Fano  (1130). 

But  these  factories  did  not,  strictly  speaking,  constitute  territorial 
possessions.  They  were  merely  colonies  of  Venetian  merchants  living  in 
foreign  cities  under  special  treaty  rights  which  conferred  extra-terri- 
toriality  on  the  Venetian  quarter.  Indeed,  the  early  policy  of  the 
Republic  was  to  keep  as  far  aloof  as  possible  from  all  the  complications 
of  the  Italian  mainland.  Her  real  interests  lay  in  the  East,  —  in  the 
Levant,  in  Constantinople,  in  Syria.  Her  character  was  oriental  rather 
than  Latin.  When  Pippin,  the  son  of  Charles  the  Great,  attempted  to 
compel  the  Republic  to  recognise  the  Frankish  suzerainty  he  received 
for  answer :  "  rj^eh  hovXoi  OeXofJuev  elvai  rod  fiaaiXeco^  toov  'Vco/jLaicov  koI 
ov^l  oroO;"  and  to  the  spirit  of  that  answer  the  Venetians  remained 
faithful  throughout  their  early  career. 

It  is  not  till  the  year  1300  that  the  Republic  took  a  decisive  and 
acquisitive  step  on  the  Italian  mainland.  In  Ferrara,  as  we  have  seen, 
Venice  had  established  a  commercial  colony  protected  by  treaty  rights. 
These  were  swept  away  when  Salinguerra  held  the  city  for  the  Emperor 
Frederick  II,  who  was  hostile  to  Venice  on  account  of  the  part  she  was 
playing  in  the  Lombard  League,  for  which  she  acted  as  banker.  Pope 
Gregory  IX,  while  endeavouring  to  recover  the  city,  which  he  claimed 
as  part  of  Countess  Matilda's  legacy  to  the  Church,  applied  to  Venice 
for  help.  The  Republic  was  largely  instrumental  in  expelling  the 
Imperial  troops  and  recovered  all  her  privileges  and  interests  in  the 
mainland  city.  These  privileges  and  interests  were  destined  to  entangle 
her  in  the  complications  of  mainland  politics. 

The  d'Este  family  was  established  at  Ferrara  and  held  it  as  a 
fief  of  the  Holy  See.    But  the  Republic  had  been  growing  steadily  in 


1300-11] 


Ve7iice  and  Ferrara 


261 


wealth,  and  strength,  thanks  to  her  expansion  in  the  Levant  and  to 
the  consolidation  of  her  constitution  as  an  oligarchy  by  the  closing  of 
the  Great  Council  in  1297.  She  had  before  her  the  example  of  other 
lordships  rising  to  power  on  the  mainland,  —  Scala,  Visconti,  Carrara, 
all  in  her  neighbourhood.  It  seems  certain  from  the  attitude  of  the 
Doge,  Pietro  Gradenigo,  that  the  government  entertained  the  idea  of 
taking  the  place  of  the  d'Este  should  a  fitting  occasion  present  itself. 
That  moment  appeared  to  have  arrived  when  Azzo  d'Este  lay  on  his 
death-bed.  The  Republic  sent  three  nobles  to  Ferrara  with  instructions 
to  see  that  the  succession  was  directed  in  a  way  consonant  with  its  aims. 
Azzo  had  no  legitimate  offspring ;  the  d'Este  su'ccession  seemed  likely 
to  pass  through  his  brothers  Francesco  and  Aldobrandino.  But  Azzo 
had  a  bastard  named  Fresco  who  had  a  son  Folco ;  and  Azzo  named 
Folco  his  heir.  On  his  death  the  uncles  of  Folco  tried  to  unseat  him 
and  his  father  Fresco,  who  in  his  straits  applied  for  help  to  Venice, 
which  was  given.  But  now  the  Pope,  as  overlord,  claimed  the  right 
to  direct  the  succession  and  sent  his  troops  into  Ferrara  to  support 
Francesco  and  to  take  over  the  city  in  the  name  of  the  Church. 
Thereupon  Fresco  in  the  name  of  his  son  Folco  ceded  to  Venice 
Folco's  claims  in  Ferrara.  The  papal  troops  entered  the  city;  but 
the  Venetians  held  the  fortress  and  commanded  the  town.  The  Pope 
ordered  the  Venetians  to  evacuate  the  castle.  The  Doge's  speech  on 
this  occasion  clearly  indicates  the  political  conceptions  of  the  party 
in  power  and  points  most  emphatically  to  an  expansion  of  Venice 
on  the  mainland  of  Italy.  Gradenigo  urged  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
a  loyal  citizen  to  lose  no  opportunity  for  the  aggrandisement  of  his 
native  State.  In  spite  of  opposition  the  Doge's  policy  carried  the 
day,  and  it  was  resolved  to  retain  Ferrara.  On  March  27,  1309,  the 
Pope  launched  the  excommunication  and  interdict.  The  clergy  were 
ordered  to  leave  Venetian  territory.  But,  more  than  this,  the  jealousy 
of  Venice  which  had  been  roused  by  her  expansion  and  preponderance  r 
in  the  Levant  broke  loose  now ;  under  the  papal  sanction,  in  England, 
in  Asia  Minor,  in  Italy,  Venetian  merchants  were  threatened  in  their 
lives  and  despoiled  of  their  goods.  The  government  held  firm  and 
ordered  its  officers  in  Ferrara  to  withdraw  into  the  castle,  promising 
relief  from  Venice.  But  plague  broke  out  in  the  city.  The  papal 
arms  pressed  the  castle  closer  and  closer,  till  it  fell  and  all  the  Vene- 
tians were  put  to  the  sword.  These  disasters  precipitated  the  great 
conspiracy  of  Bajamonte  Tiepolo  —  with  which  we  shall  deal  when 
discussing  the  Venetian  constitution  —  and  in  1311  the  Republic  made 
its  peace  with  the  Pope,  paid  an  indemnity,  and  received  permission  to 
resume  its  trading  rights  in  Ferrara. 

This  first  attempt  of  Venice  to  establish  herself  in  possession  of 
mainland  territory  proved  a  failure.  But  the  rise  of  the  great  Lords 
of  Verona,  Padua,  Milan,  the  Scala,  Carraresi,  and  Visconti,  and  the 


262 


Venice  and  the  della  Scala 


[1329-38 


struggles  which  took  place  between  them,  could  not  fail  to  disturb  tlie 
quiet  of  the  Lagoons  and  to  draw  Venice  once  more  into  the  mesh 
of  Italian  politics.  It  was  impossible  for  Venice  to  be  indifferent  to 
events  which  were  affecting  cities  so  close  to  herself  and  so  necessary 
for  her  commerce  as  Padua  and  Treviso. 

Padua,  thanks  chiefly  to  the  ability  of  Jacopo  da  Carrara,  had  made 
herself  mistress  of  Vicenza,  and  had  thus  been  brought  into  close 
proximity  with  the  possessions  of  the  powerful  family  of  della  Scala, 
Lords  of  Verona.  The  Paduans  in  return  for  Jacopo's  services  elected 
him  as  her  Lord.  When  Jacopo  da  Carrara  died.  Can  Grande  della 
Scala  attacked  Marsili6  da  Carrara,  who  had  succeeded  his  uncle,  and 
wrung  from  him  Padua  and  the  Padovano ;  thence  the  Scala  spread  to 
Feltre,  Belluno,  and  the  territory  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  and  finally 
Treviso  came  to  their  possession  in  1329.  The  Republic  of  Venice 
could  not  be  indifferent  to  the  growth  of  a  Power  which  threatened  to 
enclose  the  Lagoons  and  to  block  all  exits  for  Venetian  merchandise. 
Moreover  her  natural  position  rendered  her  incapable  of  supporting  her- 
self if  food  supplies  from  the  mainland  were  cut  off.  A  contingency  of 
this  kind,  if  it  should  happen  to  coincide  with  such  a  defeat  at  sea  as 
Venice  had  sustained  at  Curzola  or  Sapienza,  would,  in  a  very  short 
time,  have  placed  the  Republic  at  the  discretion  of  her  enemies.  It 
was  obvious  therefore  that  Venice  was  face  to  face  with  a  rival  whom 
she  must  either  crush  or  be  ruined.    War  was  inevitable. 

The  crisis  was  of  vital  importance  to  the  Republic.  It  is  true  that 
in  the  War  of  Ferrara  she  had  made  an  attempt  to  establish  herself 
on  the  mainland;  but  in  attacking  the  Lord  of  Verona,  Vicenza, 
Brescia,  Treviso,  Feltre,  Belluno,  and  Padua  she  was  embarking  on  a 
far  more  serious  enterprise.  Failure  meant  peril  to  her  very  existence ; 
success  would  compel  her  to  occupy  the  nearer  mainland  and  therefore 
to  sacrifice  one  of  her  great  advantages,  the  absence  of  a  mainland  fron- 
tier to  protect.  The  party  of  the  Doge,  the  party  opposed  to  the  War, 
was  met  and  overcome  by  the  argument  that  war  was  the  only  alterna- 
tive to  starvation ;  the  want  of  corn  for  feeding  the  city  could  not  be 
supplied  in  any  other  way.  Moreover  it  was  urged  that  if  Venice  once 
attacked  the  Scala  she  would  be  joined  by  all  who  were  jealous  of  the 
growing  power  of  Verona  and  its  Lords.  Such  proved  to  be  the  case. 
The  declaration  of  war  by  Venice  at  once  created  so  strong  a  combination 
—  Florence,  Parma,  and  Venice  —  that  Mastino  della  Scala  was  forced  to 
negotiate  for  peace.  With  singular  want  of  judgment  he  chose  as  his 
ambassador  to  Venice  Marsilio  da  Carrara,  the  very  man  whom  the  Scala 
had  already  deprived  of  the  lordship  of  Padua.  That  lordship  the  Doge 
promised  to  restore  to  the  Carraresi,  if  Marsilio  would  admit  the  troops 
of  the  league  into  Padua,  which  he  held  in  the  name  of  Mastino  della 
Scala.  Marsilio  kept  his  word,  and  in  August,  1337,  Pietro  de'  Rossi, 
general  of  the  confederate  forces,  entered  the  city. 


First  possessions  on  the  mainland  263 


For  her  own  part  the  Republic,  by  the  peace  of  1338,  thus  gained 
possession  of  the  marches  of  Treviso,  with  the  districts  of  Bassano, 
Castelfranco,  Conegliano  and  Oderzo,  —  her  first  mainland  possession ; 
and  the  family  of  Carrara  held  Padua  —  which  had  been  captured  in 
the  name  of  the  Republic  —  as  a  quasi-fief  of  Venice.  She  was  now  in 
command  of  a  corn-growing  district  and  was  sure  of  an  abundant  meat 
supply.  But  on  the  other  hand  the  mainland  frontier  which  she  now 
acquired  exposed  her  to  attack  from  the  Patriarch  of  Aquileia  or  the 
Counts  of  Gorz  ;  while  she  was  bound  to  protect  her  dependent  Carrara, 
beyond  whom  lay  the  growing  power  and  ambition  of  the  Visconti  of 
Milan.  An  attack  on  Carrara  was  necessarily  a  threat  to  Venice,  and  in 
fact  if  not  in  appearance  the  Republic  had  by  the  fall  of  the  Scala 
become  conterminous  with  Visconti. 

We  have  seen  how  the  Republic  dealt  with  her  maritime  colonies, 
especially  in  the  instance  of  Crete ;  we  may  now  observe  her  method 
towards  her  newly  acquired  mainland  possessions.  Her  mild  and  provi- 
dent sway  was  fruitful  of  many  results  favourable  to  the  Republic,  and 
it  brought  her  dependencies  back  to  her  of  their  own  accord  after  the 
disastrous  wars  of  the  League  of  Cambray.  To  use  the  words  of  the 
Senate,  the  Republic  of  Venice  in  her  relations  towards  her  dependencies 
set  herself  to  provide  taliter  quod  haheamus  cor  et  amorem  civium  et  suh- 
ditorum  nostrorum^  and  she  succeeded.  Her  rule  was  just,  lenient,  and  wise. 
Alike  in  her  maritime  and  in  her  mainland  acquisitions  her  object  was 
to  interfere  as  little  as  might  be  with  local  institutions,  provided  her  own 
tenure  and  the  supremacy  of  the  capital  were  maintained.  In  each  of 
the  more  important  dependent  cities  she  placed  a  civil  governor,  called 
the  Podesta,  and  a  military  commandant,  called  the  Captain,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  raise  levies  and  look  after  the  defence  of  the  city ;  these  two 
when  acting  together  were  called  the  Rectors.  The  local  municipal 
councils,  varying  in  numbers,  were  left  undisturbed  and  retained  the 
control  of  such  matters  as  lighting,  roads,  local  taxation.  The  police 
and  imperial  taxation  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Rectors,  and  they  were 
in  constant  communication  either  with  the  Senate,  or,  in  very  grave 
emergencies,  with  the  Council  of  Ten.  The  smaller  towns  were  governed 
by  a  Podesta^  a  Capitano^  or  a  Provveditore.  Each  town  possessed 
its  own  special  code,  called  the  Statuto,  which  the  Rectors  swore  to 
observe.  The  Statuto  dealt  with  octroi  dues,  roads  and  bridges,  wells, 
lighting,  doctors,  nurses,  fires,  guilds,  sanitary  matters,  —  in  short  with  all 
the  multifarious  details  of  municipal  and  even  of  private  life.  Peace, 
encouragement  of  trade,  and  comfort  of  living  were  the  chief  objects 
aimed  at.  In  the  Courts  of  Justice  the  Podesta  or  one  of  his  three 
assessors  merely  presided  ;  he  did  not  constitute  the  Court,  which  was 
composed  of  citizens.  Provision  was  made  for  public  instruction  in  the 
humanities,  in  canon  and  civil  law,  and  in  medicine ;  primary  education 
was  supplied  by  what  were  called  schools  of  arithmetic.  The  cost  of 
education  was  charged  on  the  revenues  of  the  province. 


264 


The  dangers  of  expansion 


[1369-81 


The  expansion  of  Venice  on  the  mainland,  while  it  increased  the 
prestige  of  the  Republic,  likewise  augmented  her  dangers.  Hitherto  she 
had  been  engaged  in  a  duel  with  Genoa  for  supremacy  at  sea.  No  other 
Italian  Power  had  any  motive  for  interfering  in  the  combat.  But  now 
that  Venice  had  acquired  a  mainland  territory  she  became  possessed  of 
something  that  her  mainland  neighbours  coveted,  and  of  which  they  were 
ready  to  despoil  her  if  occasion  offered.  Thus  during  the  final  phases  of 
her  war  with  Genoa  we  find  the  Republic  called  upon  to  face  Carrara  and 
Hungary,  banded  together  with  Genoa  to  destroy  the  mighty  city  of  the 
Lagoons  (1369).  Louis  I,  King  of  Hungary,  was  ready  to  attack  Venetian 
mainland  territory  with  a  view  to  wringing  from  the  Republic  a  renun- 
ciation of  Dalmatia.  The  Counts  of  Gorz  viewed  with  alarm  Venetian 
expansion  eastward  and  were  ready  to  join  the  Hungarians.  The 
Carraresi,  though  restored  to  the  lordship  of  Padua  by  the  Republic, 
were  impatient  under  the  suzerainty  which  Venice  imposed,  and  were 
aspiring  to  an  absolute  independence;  they  too  joined  the  Hungarians. 
From  their  conduct  at  this  moment  Venice  learned  that  she  would  not 
be  safe  until  Padua  was  in  her  possession ;  and  thus  she  found  that 
having  once  touched  the  mainland  she  could  not  stop,  but  was,  by  the 
very  nature  of  the  situation,  forced  further  and  further  into  the  Italian 
terra  ferma^  and  along  a  line  of  action  which  was  destined  to  land  her 
in  the  disasters  of  Cambray. 

It  was  obvious  that  Carrara  would  not  remain  quiet  if  he  found  an 
opportunity  of  attacking  Venice  with  any  prospect  of  success.  Such  an 
occasion  presented  itself  in  the  War  of  Chioggia  (1379).  Carrara  assisted 
the  Genoese  by  all  the  means  in  his  power ;  he  bombarded  Mestre  and 
maintained  the  land  blockade  of  Venice ;  he  sent  twenty-four  thousand 
troops  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Chioggia,  and  supplied  the  Genoese 
forces  when  they  took  up  their  quarters  in  that  town.  But  the  surrender 
of  the  Genoese  left  Carrara  single-handed  against  Venice.  He  was  still 
in  possession  of  the  Trevisan  marches  and  was  pressing  Treviso  so  closely 
that  its  fall  was  momently  expected.  Rather  than  allow  it  to  pass  into 
the  hands  of  Carrara,  Venice  made  a  formal  surrender  of  the  city  to  Duke 
Leopold  of  Austria,  who  immediately  occupied  it.  All  parties,  however, 
were  weary  of  the  war.  Venice  was  exhausted  by  her  continual  struggles 
against  Hungary,  Carrara,  Genoa;  Carrara  disgusted  at  being  baulked 
of  Treviso ;  Genoa  crushed  by  the  loss  of  her  fleet.  Amadeo  of  Savoy 
found  little  difficulty  in  negotiating  the  Peace  of  Turin  (1381). 

That  Peace  left  Venice  little  cause  for  self-congratulation.  She 
resigned  Tenedos,  the  occupation  of  which  had  been  the  immediate  cause 
of  the  War  of  Chioggia ;  she  lost  Dalmatia ;  Treviso  she  had  surrendered 
to  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria ;  on  the  mainland  all  that  she  now  possessed 
was  a  narrow  strip  of  territory  round  the  edge  of  the  Lagoon.  But  the 
respite  granted  by  the  peace  was  devoted  to  the  reestablishment  of 
commerce  and  trade.    Petrarch,  from  his  windows  on  the  Riva  degli 


1384-92] 


Venice  mid  the  Carraresi 


265 


Schiavoni,  noted  the  extraordinary  movement  of  the  port:  the  huge 
vessels  as  large  as  my  house,  and  with  masts  taller  than  its  towers." 
They  lay  like  mountains  floating  on  the  waters ;  and  their  cargoes  were 
wine  for  England;  honey  for  Scythia;  saffron,  oil,  linen  for  Assyria, 
Armenia,  Persia,  and  Arabia;  wood  went  to  Egypt  and  Greece.  They 
brought  home  again  various  merchandise  to  be  distributed  over  all 
Europe.  "  Where  the  sea  stops  the  sailors  quit  their  ships  and  travel 
on  to  trade  with  India  and  China.  They  cross  the  Caucasus  and  the 
Ganges  and  reach  the  Eastern  Ocean." 

And  in  the  history  of  Venetian  mainland  extension  there  was  one 
task  to  which  all  this  accumulation  of  wealth  and  resources  was  to  be 
dedicated ;  the  destruction  of  the  Carraresi  and  the  acquisition  of  Padua. 
Venice  knew  that  the  Lords  of  Padua  were  permanently  hostile.  The 
action  of  Francesco  Carrara  soon  proved  that  the  Republic  could  not, 
even  if  it  would,  leave  him  alone.  In  1384  Carrara  bought  from  the 
Duke  of  Austria,  Treviso,  Ceneda,  and  Feltre,  commanding  the  great 
northern  road  into  the  Pusterthal  by  Cortina  d'Ampezzo ;  he  was  now 
master  of  all  the  mainland  between  the  Alps  and  the  Lagoons ;  nothing 
remained  for  him  to  seize  in  that  direction.  But  westward,  between  him 
and  the  Visconti  of  Milan,  lay  the  territories  of  Vicenza  and  Verona, 
feebly  held  by  Antonio,  the  last  of  the  Scala  family.  Visconti  and 
Carrara  entered  into  a  league  to  despoil  Antonio.  Verona  was  to  be 
added  to  Milan,  Vicenza  to  Padua.  The  attack  was  delivered  simultane- 
ously and  Visconti's  general  entered  Verona,  but  instead  of  halting  there 
he  pushed  on  to  Vicenza,  and  captured  that  city  in  his  master's  name. 
When  too  late  Carrara  saw  what  his  alliance  with  Visconti  implied.  He 
appealed  to  Venice  for  help.  But  although  the  Republic  had  no  desire 
to  see  the  powerful  Lord  of  Milan  so  near  the  Lagoons,  she  had  still  less 
intention  of  supporting  Carrara,  whom  she  knew  to  be  treacherous. 
Visconti's  emissaries  were  already  in  Venice  offering  to  restore  Treviso, 
Ceneda,  and  Feltre  if  the  Republic  would  assist  him  to  crush  Carrara. 
The  terms  were  accepted  and  Padua  fell  to  Visconti. 

Such  a  powerful  prince  as  Gian  Galeazzo  was  not  likely  to  prove  a 
less  dangerous  neighbour  to  Venice  than  Carrara  had  been.  But  his 
rapid  advance  in  power,  and  his  obvious  intention  to  create  a  North- 
Italian  kingdom,  immediately  produced  a  coalition  against  him  of  all 
the  threatened  Princes.  Venice  joined  the  league  but  she  had  no 
intention  of  challenging  Visconti  on  the  mainland  herself  ;  she  adopted  a 
less  costly  plan  and  invited  the  Carraresi  to  return  to  Padua,  promising 
to  support  their  enterprise  ;  Sir  John  Hawkwood,  the  Florentine  General, 
was  pressing  Visconti  on  the  Adda ;  Visconti's  forces  were  scattered ;  the 
Paduans  weary  of  his  rule  rose  in  revolt,  and  the  Carraresi  recovered 
possession  of  their  city  (1390). 

The  Peace  of  Genoa  which  ensued  (1392)  was  highly  satisfactory  to 
Venice.    Without  any  cost  to  herself  she  had  recovered  Treviso,  Ceneda, 


266 


Venice  acquires  Padua 


[1402-4 


Feltre,  and  consequently  the  passes  ;  she  had  removed  Visconti  from  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Lagoons ;  and  replaced  him  by  a  Carrara 
whom  dread  of  Visconti  would  certainly  keep  submissive  to  his  protector. 
But  in  1402  Gian  Galeazzo  died  suddenly,  and  the  whole  aspect  of  the 
situation  underwent  a  change.  The  reason  for  Carrara's  loyalty  to 
Venice,  his  dread  of  Visconti,  disappeared.  The  value  of  Carrara  to 
Venice,  as  a  buffer  between  herself  and  Visconti,  no  longer  existed.  The 
moment  had  arrived  for  Venice  to  consolidate  her  landed  possessions 
by  the  absorption  of  Padua.  The  pretext  was  soon  found.  The 
Visconti  possessions  were  now  held  by  his  Duchess  as  regent  for  Gian 
Galeazzo's  infant  children.  The  Duchess  was  weak.  Gian  Galeazzo's 
generals  began  to  divide  their  late  master's  dominions.  This  dissolution 
of  the  Visconti  duchy  roused  the  cupidity  of  Carrara.  He  claimed 
Vicenza  and  had  an  eye  on  Verona.  He  sat  down  before  Vicenza ;  but 
the  people,  weary  of  the  uneasy,  shifting  rule  of  these  personal  Lords, 
Scala,  Visconti,  Carrara,  declared  that  if  they  must  yield  to  some  one, 
they  would  hand  their  city  over  to  Venice.  Moreover  the  Duchess  had 
already  invited  Venice  to  hold  Carrara  in  check  and  the  Republic  had 
demanded  as  the  price  of  her  interference  Bassano,  Vicenza,  Verona. 
The  Duchess  consented.  Armed  with  this  double  title,  Venice  requested 
Carrara  to  raise  the  siege  of  Vicenza.  He  refused,  and  mutilated  the 
Venetian  herald  by  cropping  his  ears  and  slitting  his  nose.  War 
was  declared.  Carrara  was  gradually  beaten  back  into  Padua.  A  long 
siege  followed.  Carrara  held  out  with  great  courage,  hoping  that  aid 
might  come  from  Florence,  and  that  his  partisans  in  Venice  might  / 
succeed  in  carrying  into  effect  a  plot  which  they  had  concerted  in  that 
city.  But  the  plague  and  the  fury  of  the  populace  broke  down  his 
pertinacity.  The  Venetians  delivered  an  assault  and  with  the  help  of 
the  people  they  entered  the  town  (November  17, 1404).  Francesco  and 
his  son  were  taken  to  Venice,  where  they  were  tried  and  condemned  to 
be  strangled. 

As  the  defeat  of  Genoa  secured  Venetian  maritime  supremacy,  so  the 
fall  of  the  Carraresi  consolidated  her  mainland  possessions.  She  now 
held  Treviso,  Padua,  Vicenza,  Verona,  and  their  districts.  The  boun- 
daries of  the  Republic  were,  roughly  speaking,  the  sea  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Tagliamento  to  the  mouth  of  the  Adige,  the  river  Tagliamento  to  the 
east,  the  Alps  to  the  north,  the  Adige  to  the  west  and  south.  This 
territory  she  retained,  with  brief  exceptions,  down  to  the  League  of 
Cambray.  She  now  entered  the  community  of  Italian  States  and 
enjoyed  all  the  prestige,  but  also  confronted  all  the  dangers,  of  an 
Italian  principality. 

On  the  sea  the  Turk  was  already  in  sight;  on  the  mainland  the 
Visconti  of  Milan,  with  their  claim  to  Verona  and  Vicenza,  had  to  be 
faced.  But  before  proceeding  to  narrate  the  history  of  the  full-grown 
Republic  during  the  period  of  her  greatest  brilliancy,  we  must  consider 


Venice  and  the  Church 


267 


for  a  moment  two  important  points,  her  relations  to  the  Church,  and  the 
nature  of  the  Venetian  constitution  which  played  so  striking  a  part  in 
the  creation  and  preservation  of  her  glory. 

The  political  independence  of  the  early  Venetian  State  is  reflected  in 
her  relations  towards  the  Roman  Church.  The  fact  that,  through  the 
first  centuries  of  her  career,  she  was  in  closer  touch  with  the  Eastern 
Empire  than  with  the  Italian  mainland,  conduced  to  that  independent 
attitude  towards  the  Curia  which  characterises  the  whole  of  Venetian 
history. 

Some  flavour  of  an  ecclesiastical  quality  seems  to  have  attached  to 
the  office  of  Doge ;  we  find  that  on  certain  great  occasions  he  bestowed 
his  benediction,  and  the  earlier  Doges  claimed  the  right  to  nominate 
and  to  invest  Bishops.  This  right  was,  however,  challenged  at 
Rome. 

The  head  of  the  Church  in  Venice  was  the  Patriarch  of  Grado. 
That  See  had  been  called  into  existence  by  the  same  causes  which 
created  the  city  of  Venice  itself.  When  Aquileia  was  destroyed  by 
Attila,  the  Patriarch  of  that  city  and  his  flock  found  an  asylum  in  the 
Lagoons  of  Grado.  After  the  return  to  Aquileia  a  Bishop  was  left  behind 
in  the  Lagoon  City,  and  his  flock  was  continually  increased  —  partly  by 
the  schism  of  the  Three  Chapters  which  divided  the  mainland  Church, 
partly  by  refugees  from  the  repeated  barbarian  incursions.  The  Bishop 
of  Grado  obtained  from  Pope  Pelagius  II  a  decree  which  erected  his  See 
into  the  Metropolitan  Church  of  the  Lagoons  and  of  Istria,  though 
Aquileia  disputed  the  validity  of  the  act.  During  the  Lombard  in- 
vasion and  under  the  Lombard  protection  the  mainland  Bishoprics 
became  Arian,  the  Lagoon  See  remained  orthodox.  The  Metropoli- 
tan of  Grado  then  claimed  that  his  See  was  the  real  Patriarchal  See  of 
the  Lagoons  in  opposition  to  Arian  and  heretical  Aquileia.  A  long  series 
of  struggles  between  the  two  Patriarchates  ensued.  The  Republic  of 
Venice  supported  the  Lagoon  Bishopric.  Finally  the  Lateran  Council 
in  732  decreed  the  separation  of  the  two  jurisdictions,  assigning  to 
Aquileia  all  the  mainland  and  to  Grado  the  Lagoons  and  Istria,  and 
recognised  the  Patriarchal  quality  of  that  See.  In  1445  the  seat  of  the 
Patriarch  as  well  as  his  title  was  changed  from  Grado  to  Venice  and  the 
Beato  Lorenzo  Giustinian  was  the  first  Patriarch  of  Venice,  an  office 
henceforth  always  filled  by  a  Venetian  noble. 

The  Cathedral  Church  of  Venice  was  San  Pietro  di  Castello,  not  St 
Mark's.  That  magnificent  basilica  was  technically  the  Doge's  private 
chapel,  and  was  served  by  the  Doge's  chaplain,  called  the  Primiciero, 
and  a  chapter  of  canons;  an  arrangement  not  without  significance, 
for  the  shrine  of  the  patron  Saint  of  Venice,  the  most  splendid 
monument  in  the  city,  the  home  of  its  religion,  was  thereby  declared 


268 


Venice  and  the  Conciliar  principle 


to  belong  to  the  State,  not  to  the  Curia  Romana,  whose  outward  and 
visible  abode  was  that  comparatively  insignificant  building  San  Pietro 
di  Castello,  at  the  extreme  north-eastern  corner  of  the  City. 

The  anti-Curial  attitude  of  the  Republic  is  obvious  all  down  her 
history.  In  1309,  during  the  War  of  Ferrara,  when  Venice  was  lying 
under  an  interdict,  the  Doge  Gradenigo  enunciated  the  principle  that  the 
Papacy  had  no  concern  in  temporal  affairs,  and  that  a  misinformed  Pope 
could  not  claim  obedience. 

She  again  asserted  her  adherence  to  the  Conciliar  principle  when  in 
1409  she  recognised  Alexander  V,  the  Pope  elected  by  the  Council  of 
Pisa,  against  her  own  citizen  Gregory  XII  (Angelo  Correr),  who  was 
deposed  by  that  Council ;  and  yet  again  when  she  sent  three  ambassadors 
to  the  Council  of  Constance,  who  solemnly  pledged  the  Republic  to  accept 
its  decrees.  By  these  acts  she  accepted  the  principle  that  Councils 
are  superior  to  Popes,  from  whom  an  appeal  may  lie  to  a  future  Council ; 
as  well  as  the  doctrine  that  an  appeal  may  lie  from  a  Pope  ill-informed 
to  a  Pope  better  informed.  In  spite  of  "  Execrabilis  "  the  Republic  more 
than  once  availed  herself  of  these  rights.  When  Sixtus  IV  placed  the 
Republic  under  an  interdict  during  the  Ferrarese  war  in  1483,  Diedo, 
the  Venetian  Ambassador  in  Rome,  refused  to  send  the  bull  to  Venice. 
The  Patriarch  was  instructed  to  present  it  to  the  government;  he 
feigned  to  be  ill,  and  secretly  informed  the  Doge  and  the  Ten  that  the 
bull  was  in  Venice.  The  Ten  ordered  all  clerics  to  continue  their 
functions,  and  announced  their  intention  to  appeal  to  a  future  Council. 
Five  experts  in  Canon  Law  were  appointed  to  advise  the  government, 
and  the  formula  of  appeal  was  actually  fixed  on  the  doors  of  San  Celso 
in  Rome. 

Again,  in  1509,  Julius  II,  preparing  for  the  combined  attack  of  all 
Europe  upon  Venice,  placed  the  Republic  under  an  interdict  by  the  bull 
of  April  27.  The  College  and  the  Council  of  Ten,  which  undertook  to 
deal  with  the  situation,  forbade  the  publication  of  the  bull,  the  guards 
were  ordered  to  tear  it  down  if  it  were  affixed  to  the  walls  ;  doctors  in 
Canon  Law  were  again  appointed  to  advise,  and  once  again  an  appeal 
to  a  future  Council  was  affixed,  this  time  to  the  doors  of  St  Peter's  in 
Rome. 

The  position  of  the  Church  in  Venice  as  defined  by  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century  was  as  follows.  The  parish  clergy  were  elected  by 
the  clergy  and  the  people,  and  inducted  by  the  Ordinary.  Bishops  were 
elected  in  the  Senate.  Candidates  were  balloted  for  until  one  obtained 
a  majority.  He  was  then  presented  at  Rome  for  confirmation.  But  in 
1484  the  Senate  decreed  that  the  temporal  fruits  should  not  fall  to  any 
one  who  was  not  approved  of  by  the  government.  This  really  made  the 
State  master  of  the  situation ;  and  its  position  was  further  strengthened 
by  a  law  of  1488  rendering  all  foreigners  ineligible  for  the  episcopate. 

Venetian  nobles  who  were  beneficed  were  excluded  from  the  Maggior 


Lay  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  269 


Consiglio  ;  and  when  ecclesiastical  matters  were  under  discussion  in  the 
Maggior  Consiglio  or  the  Senate  all  members  who  were  related  to  any 
one  holding  an  appointment  from  the  Curia  were  obliged  to  retire.  The 
minutes  were  marked  expulsis  papalistis. 

The  excessive  accumulation  of  Church  property  had  been  regulated 
by  a  law  passed  as  early  as  1286,  which  provided  that  all  legacies  to 
monastic  establishments  must  be  registered,  and  the  property  taxed  like 
any  other. 

The  question  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  secular  Courts  over  ecclesiastics 
was  a  fruitful  source  of  differences  with  the  Curia.  Originally  it  would 
seem  that  clerics  were  subject  to  the  secular  Courts  in  civil  as  well  as  in 
criminal  cases.  Jacopo  Tiepolo  granted  jurisdiction  to  the  Bishops  but 
reserved  punishment  to  the  secular  Courts.  This  arrangement  gave  rise 
to  constant  disputes,  and  in  1324  a  commission  was  appointed  to  draw 
up  regulations  on  the  question.  Finally  a  convention  was  reached 
between  the  Patriarch  of  Grado  and  the  secular  authorities,  whereby  it 
was  agreed  that  in  the  case  of  injury  done  by  a  cleric  to  a  laic  the 
secular  Courts  should  denounce  the  offender  to  the  ecclesiastical  Courts, 
which  should  try  and  sentence  him  in  accordance  with  existing  laws ; 
and  vice  versa  in  the  case  of  injury  inflicted  by  a  laic  on  a  cleric.  By 
the  bull  of  Paul  II  in  1468  those  clerics  who  had  been  tonsured  after 
the  committal  of  a  crime  with  a  view  to  securing  benefit  of  clergy 
were  handed  over  by  the  Church  to  the  secular  Courts ;  so  too  were  the 
clerics  caught  in  flagrante  and  unfrocked.  Sixtus  IV,  in  view  of  the 
growing  frequency  of  crime  —  especially  of  counterfeit  coining  and  of 
conspiracy  —  on  the  part  of  clerics,  instructed  the  Patriarch  to  hand  over 
all  such  offenders  to  the  secular  Courts,  but  to  assist  at  the  trial  in  the 
person  of  his  Vicar. 

The  independent  attitude  of  the  Republic  in  matters  ecclesiastical  is 
illustrated  once  again  in  the  position  occupied  by  the  Inquisition  at 
Venice.  When  the  Pope,  with  a  view  to  crushing  the  Albigensian  and 
Patarinian  heresies,  endeavoured  to  establish  everywhere  in  Italy  the 
Dominican  Inquisition,  the  Republic  resisted  its  introduction  into  Venice. 
But  in  1249,  in  the  reign  of  the  Doge  Morosini,  the  Holy  Office  was 
admitted,  though  only  in  a  modified  form.  The  State  charged  itself  to 
discover  heretics,  who  when  caught  were  examined  by  the  Patriarch, 
the  Bishop  of  Castello,  or  any  other  Venetian  Ordinary.  The  examin- 
ing Court  was  confined  to  a  return  of  fact.  It  was  called  on  to  state 
whether  the  examinee  was  or  was  not  guilty  of  heresy.  Punishment 
was  reserved  to  the  secular  authority.  This  arrangement  did  not  satisfy 
the  Court  of  Rome,  and  in  1289  a  modification  took  place.  An  In- 
quisitor was  appointed  by  the  Pope,  but  he  required  the  Doge's  exequatur 
before  he  could  act,  and  a  board  was  created  of  three  Venetian  nobles, 
to  sit  as  assessors  to  the  Holy  Office.  Their  duty  was  to  guard  the 
rights  of  Venetian  citizens  against  ecclesiastical  encroachment ;  without 


270 


The  Holy  Office 


their  presence  and  their  sanction  no  act  of  the  Holy  Office  was  valid  in 
Venice.  The  archive  of  the  Sant'  Uffizio  is  now  open  to  inspection. 
Heresy  was  not  the  sole  crime  submitted  to  the  jurisdiction  of  this  Court ; 
witchcraft  and  scandalous  living  furnished  a  large  number  of  cases ;  but 
among  all  the  trials  for  heresy  pure  and  simple  only  six  cases  of  capital 
punishment  can  be  found,  which  were  in  each  instance  to  be  carried  out 
by  drowning  or  strangulation,  and  in  none  by  fire.  The  Inquisition  in 
Venice  was  certainly  no  sanguinary  Office,  thanks  no  doubt  in  a  large 
degree  to  the  independent  attitude  of  the  State,  which  insisted  upon 
the  presence  of  lay  assessors  at  every  trial. 

But  a  large  part  of  this  independence  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  along 
with  much  else,  was  sacrificed  at  the  disastrous  epoch  of  Cambray.  In 
order  to  detach  Julius  from  the  League,  the  Venetians  agreed  to  the  fol- 
lowing conditions.  The  Republic  renounced  its  appeal  to  a  future  Coun- 
cil, acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  excommunication ;  abolished  the 
taxes  on  ecclesiastical  property ;  surrendered  its  right  to  nominate  Bishops; 
consigned  criminous  clerics  to  ecclesiastical  Courts  ;  granted  free  passage 
in  the  Adriatic  to  papal  subjects.  But  in  secret  the  Council  of  Ten 
entered  a  protest  against  all  these  concessions  and  declared  that  their 
assent  was  invalid,  as  it  had  been  extorted  by  violence  ;  — a  reservation  of 
which  Venice  availed  herself  in  her  subsequent  struggle  with  Pope  Paul  V, 
when,  championed  and  directed  by  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi,  the  Republic  under- 
took to  defend  the  rights  of  secular  princes  against  the  claims  of  the 
Curia  Romana. 


The  Venetian  constitution,  which,  on  account  of  its  stability  and 
efficiency,  compelled  the  envy  and  admiration  of  all  Italian  and  numerous 
foreign  statesmen,  was  a  product  of  the  growth  of  Venice,  slowly  evolved 
to  meet  the  growing  needs  of  the  growing  State. 

Democratic  in  its  origin,  the  constitution  of  the  Lagoon  islands  was 
at  first  a  loose  confederation  of  the  twelve  principal  townships  each 
governed  by  its  Tribune ;  all  the  Tribunes  meeting  together  for  the 
discussion  and  discharge  of  business  which  affected  the  whole  Lagoon 
commonwealth.  The  jealousies  and  quarrels  of  the  townships  and  their 
Tribunes  led  to  the  creation  of  a  single  supreme  magistrate,  the  Doge. 
The  Doge  was  elected  in  the  Condone^  or  assembly  of  the  entire  Venetian 
people;  his  was  a  democratic  magistracy  in  its  first  intention;  but  it 
soon  became  apparent  that  there  was  considerable  danger  lest  the  Doge 
should  attempt  to  establish  an  hereditary  tyranny.  Any  such  effort  was 
resented  by  the  people  and  resulted  in  the  murder,  blinding,  or  expulsion 
of  several  of  the  earlier  Doges.  On  the  other  hand,  as  the  State  developed 
and  pushed  out  beyond  the  Lagoon  boundaries,  across  to  the  Dalmatian 
coast,  down  the  Adriatic,  and  away  eastward,  the  more  able  and  enter- 
prising citizens  began  to  accumulate  wealth,  and  a  division  of  classes 


The  early  constitution 


271 


made  itself  apparent,  more  especially  after  such  periods  of  expansion  as 
the  reign  of  Pietro  II,  Orseolo,  the  capture  of  Tyre,  and  the  Fourth 
Crusade.  This  wealthier  class  gradually  drew  together  and  formed 
the  nucleus  of  a  plutocracy.  The  policy  of  this  powerful  class,  embracing 
as  it  did  all  the  leading  citizens,  naturally  pursued  the  lines  along  which 
Venetian  constitutional  development  consistently  moved.  This  policy 
had  a  twofold  object :  first,  to  curtail  the  ducal  authority ;  secondly, 
to  exclude  the  people,  and  to  concentrate  all  power  in  the  hands  of 
the  commercial  aristocracy.  The  history  of  the  Venetian  constitution 
is  the  history  of  the  way  in  which  the  dominant  party  attained  its 
ends. 

The  primitive  machinery  of  the  Venetian  Republic  consisted,  as  we 
have  seen,  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the  Doge.  Very  soon,  however, 
under  the  pressure  of  business,  two  ducal  Councillors  were  added  to 
aid  the  Doge  in  the  discharge  of  his  ever-growing  obligations.  Further, 
it  became  customary,  though  not  necessary,  that  he  should  invite 
(pregare^  some  of  the  more  prominent  citizens  to  assist  him  with  their 
advice  upon  grave  occasions,  and  hence  the  name  of  what  was  eventually 
known  as  the  Consiglio  dei  Pregadi^  the  Venetian  Senate. 

But  constitutional  machinery  of  so  simple  a  nature  could  not  prove 
adequate  to  the  requirements  of  a  State  whose  growth  was  as  rapid 
as  that  of  Venice.  In  1172  the  disastrous  conclusion  of  the  campaign 
against  the  Emperor  Manuel,  into  which  the  Republic  had  rushed  at  the 
bidding  of  the  Condone  or  General  Assembly,  called  the  attention  of 
Venetians  to  their  constitution  and  its  defects.  It  seemed  to  them  that 
reforms  were  required  on  two  grounds :  first,  because  the  position  of  the 
Doge  was  too  independent,  considering  his  discretionary  powers  as  to 
whether  and  as  to  whom  he  would  ask  for  advice  ;  secondly,  because  the 
people  in  their  General  Assembly  had  become  too  numerous,  unruly, 
and  rash  to  allow  of  their  being  safely  entrusted  with  the  fortunes  of  their 
country.  A  deliberative  assembly  of  manageable  size  was  required ;  and 
its  establishment  implied  a  definition  of  the  Doge's  authority  on  the 
one  hand  and  of  the  popular  rights  on  the  other.  The  evolution 
of  these  two  ideas  forms  the  problem  of  Venetian  constitutional  history 
down  to  the  year  1297,  when  that  constitution  became  stereotyped  as  a 
close  oligarchy  after  the  famous  "  Closing  of  the  Great  Council." 

The  reforms  of  the  year  1172  were  threefold : 

(1)  In  order  to  create  a  manageable  deliberative  assembly  each 
sestiere  of  the  city  was  required  to  elect  two  representatives ;  and  each 
couple  in  their  turn  nominated  forty  of  the  more  prominent  members  of 
their  district.  Thus  a  body  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  members  was 
created.  They  held  office  for  one  year  and  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year  the  General  Assembly  itself  named  the  two  nominating  representa- 
tives of  each  sestiere. 

The  functions  of  this  new  Assembly  were  to  appoint  all  officers  of 


272     Maggior  Consiglio ;  Pregadi ;  Promissione  [1172 


State  and  to  prepare  business  to  be  submitted  to  the  General  Assembly. 
This  is  virtually  the  germ  of  the  Maggior  Consiglio  (the  Great  Council), 
the  basis  of  the  Venetian  oligarchical  constitution.  It  had  its  origin  in 
a  double  necessity  :  —  that  of  limiting  the  electorate,  and  that  of  securing 
adequate  deliberation  and  debate  in  a  rapidly  growing  State.  Its  prime 
function  of  appointing  to  office  belonged  to  it  from  the  first.  Its 
origin  was  democratic,  for  it  sprang  from  election  by  the  whole  people ; 
but  an  element  of  a  close  oligarchy  was  contained  in  the  provision 
whereby  the  Assembly  itself  at  the  end  of  the  first  and  of  all  subsequent 
years  elected  the  twelve  representatives  of  the  six  quarters  of  the  city. 

(2)  The  Doge  continued  to  summon  the  Pregadi  to  assist  him ; 
but  seeing  that  the  newly  created  Council  undertook  election  to  office 
and  many  matters  of  internal  policy,  foreign  affairs  were  chiefly  reserved 
for  the  Senate ;  though  that  body  did  not  become  organised  and 
permanent  till  the  Tiepoline  reforms  of  1229-44. 

(3)  With  a  view  to  restricting  the  Doge's  authority,  four  Councillors 
were  added  to  the  two  already  existing.  Their  duty  was  to  check  any 
attempt  at  personal  aggrandisement  on  the  part  of  the  Doge ;  and 
gradually  the  ducal  authority  was  withdrawn  from  the  chief  of  the  State 
and  placed,  as  it  were,  in  commission  in  his  Council.  The  coronation 
oath  or  promissione  of  the  Doge  was  subjected  to  constant  modifica- 
tion in  the  direction  of  restricting  his  authority,  till  at  last  the  Doge 
himself  lost  much  of  his  original  weight.  As  his  supreme  power  was 
withdrawn  from  him,  bit  by  bit,  the  pomp  and  ceremony  surrounding 
him  were  steadily  increased. 

These  reforms  of  1172  display  the  inherent  nature  of  the  Venetian 
constitution.  The  ducal  authority  is  gradually  curtailed ;  the  Council 
shows  a  tendency  to  become  a  close  oligarchy  ;  the  people  are  removed 
from  the  centre  of  government,  although  the  complete  disfranchisement 
of  the  mass  of  the  population  was  not  effected  at  once.  The  newly 
appointed  Council  did  indeed  endeavour  to  elect  a  chief  magistrate 
without  any  appeal  to  the  people,  and  a  riot  ensued  which  was  only 
quieted  by  the  electors  presenting  the  new  Doge  to  the  General 
Assembly  with  the  words  "This  is  your  Doge,  an  it  please  you," — a 
formula  which  deluded  the  people  into  a  belief  that  they  still  retained 
some  voice  in  the  election  of  the  Doge. 

The  tendency  displayed  in  the  reforms  of  1172  continued  to  make 
itself  felt  during  the  next  hundred  years,  until  we  come  to  the  epoch  of 
the  Closing  of  the  Great  Council,  whereby  Venice  established  her  consti- 
tution as  a  close  oligarchy. 

The  growing  wealth  of  the  State,  especially  after  the  Fourth  Crusade, 
served  to  increase  the  influence  of  those  families  into  whose  hands  the 
larger  share  of  Venetian  commerce  had  already  fallen.  We  find  certain 
family  names,  such  as  Contarini,  Morosini,  Foscari,  recurring  more  and 
more  frequently  and  preponderating  in  the  Council  which  the  law  of 


1297]  The  Closing  of  the  Great  Council  273 


1172  had  established.  But  the  oligarchy  was  not  closed  yet;  the  yearly 
election  of  forty  members  from  each  quarter  might  always  bring  some 
new  men  to  the  front.  The  Closing  of  the  Great  Council,  however,  which 
actually  took  place  in  1297,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  coup  d'etat;  it 
was  rather  the  last  step  in  a  long  process.  In  1286  a  motion  had  been 
made  that  only  those  whose  paternal  ancestors  had  sat  in  the  Great 
Council  should  be  eligible  to  that  Council.  The  measure  was  rejected ; 
but  was  brought  up  again  ten  years  later  by  the  Doge  Pietro  Gradenigo, 
a  strong  partisan  of  the  growing  oligarchy.  The  measure  was  again 
rejected  ;  but  early  in  the  next  year  the  Doge  succeeded  in  carrying  the 
following  resolutions : 

(1)  The  Council  of  Forty,  that  is  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
are  to  put  up  to  ballot  the  names  of  all  who  have,  at  any  time  during 
the  last  four  years,  had  a  seat  in  the  Great  Council.  Those  who  receive 
twelve  votes  and  upwards  are  to  be  included  in  the  Great  Council. 

(2)  On  return  from  absence  abroad  a  fresh  ballot  is  requisite. 

(3)  Three  members  shall  be  appointed  to  submit  names  of  new 
candidates  for  election.    These  electors  are  to  hold  office  for  one  year. 

(4)  The  present  law  may  not  be  revoked,  except  with  the  consent  of 
five  out  of  six  ducal  Councillors,  twenty-five  members  of  the  Council 
of  Forty,  and  two-thirds  of  the  Great  Council. 

The  result  of  these  resolutions  was  to  create  a  specially  favoured  class, 
those  who  had  during  the  last  four  years  sat  in  the  Great  Council.  By  the 
third  resolution  admission  to  that  caste  was  still  left  open  ;  but  the  action 
of  the  Committee  of  three  soon  completed  the  Serrata  del  Maggior 
Consiglio^  and  rendered  the  oligarchy  virtually  a  close  caste  ;  for  they  laid 
down  for  themselves  the  rule  that  no  one  was  eligible  to  the  Great  Council 
unless  he  could  prove  that  a  paternal  ancestor  had  sat  in  the  Council  sub- 
sequent to  its  creation  in  1172.  By  this  regulation  all  those  — and  they 
were  the  vast  majority  —  who  had  neither  sat  themselves  nor  could  prove 
that  a  paternal  ancestor  had  sat  in  the  Great  Council,  were  virtually 
disfranchised,  for  that  Council  was  the  root  of  political  life  in  the  State, 
and  exclusion  from  it  meant  political  annihilation.  In  1315  a  list  of  all 
those  who  were  eligible  for  election  was  compiled,  and  only  legitimate 
children  of  parents  belonging  to  the  favoured  class  were  allowed 
to  appear  in  this  register,  known  as  the  Golden  Book.  Thus  the 
Venetian  aristocracy  was  created,  and  was  established  as  the  sole  power 
in  the  State. 

The  exclusion  of  so  many  Venetians  from  all  share  in  the  govern- 
ment of  their  State  led  to  the  only  revolution  which  ever  seriously 
endangered  the  Republic, — the  Conspiracy  of  Bajamonte  Tiepolo  (1310). 
Thanks,  however,  to  the  decisive  step  then  taken,  this  conspiracy  was 
crushed  and  the  constitution  of  Venice  was  never  again  in  any  grave  peril. 
For  it  was  at  this  moment  of  danger  to  the  State  that  the  constitution 
received  its  final  touches  by  the  creation  of  the  Council  of  Ten. 

C.  M.  H.  I.  18 


274 


The  Council  of  Ten 


[1335 


The  accumulated  difficulties  and  dangers  brought  about  by  the  War  of 
Ferrara,  the  Interdict,  and  the  Tiepoline  Conspiracy  taught  the  Republic 
that  the  existing  machinery  of  the  State  was  too  cumbersome,  too  slow, 
too  public,  to  meet  and  deal  successfully  with  extraordinary  crises.  A 
special  committee  to  direct  the  affairs  of  Ferrara  had  been  appointed 
early  during  that  War.  When  the  movements  of  Tiepolo  and  his 
fellow-conspirators,  after  their  defeat,  caused  grave  anxiety  to  the 
government,  it  seemed  that  some  more  rapid,  secret,  and  efficient  body 
than  the  Senate  was  required  to  track  the  operations  of  the  traitors 
and  to  watch  over  the  safety  of  the  State.  It  was  accordingly  proposed 
that  the  Committee  on  Ferrarese  affairs  should  be  entrusted  with  the  task 
(1310).  The  proposal  was  rejected  on  the  ground  that  the  committee  was 
fully  occupied.  It  was  then  suggested  that  the  Great  Council  should 
elect  ten  of  its  members,  and  the  Doge,  his  Council,  and  the  Supreme 
Court,  should  elect  another  ten,  and  that  from  this  body  of  twenty  the 
Great  Council  should  afterwards  elect  ten ;  not  more  than  one  member 
of  the  same  family  might  sit  on  the  board,  which  was  at  once  entrusted 
with  the  protection  of  the  public  safety  and  the  duty  of  vigilance  against 
the  Tiepoline  conspirators.  The  committee  acted  so  admirably  and  its 
services  proved  so  valuable  that  its  term  of  office,  originally  only  for  a 
few  months,  was  extended  and  it  finally  became  permanent  in  1335. 

As  eventually  modified  the  Council  took  the  following  shape  and 
was  governed  by  its  own  code  of  procedure.  The  members  were  elected 
in  the  Great  Council  for  one  year  only,  and  were  not  re-eligible  till  a 
year  had  elapsed.  Every  month  the  Ten  elected  three  of  its  members 
as  "  Chiefs"  (  Cajpi),  The  "  Chiefs  "  opened  all  communications,  prepared 
all  business  to  be  submitted  to  the  Council,  and  acted  as  its  executive 
arm ;  they  were  obliged  during  their  month  of  office  to  stay  at  home,  so 
as  to  avoid  exposure  to  bribery  or  other  illegitimate  influences. 

Besides  the  ten  actual  members  the  Council  included  ex  officio  the 
Doge  and  his  six  Councillors,  to  whom  were  added  on  very  grave 
occasions  a  certain  number  of  prominent  citizens,  called  the  Zonta. 
Of  the  normal  seventeen  Councillors  twelve  made  up  a  quorum.  One 
at  least  of  the  Law-officers  of  the  State  —  the  Avogadori  di  comun  —  was 
always  present,  though  without  a  vote,  to  prevent  the  Council  from 
taking  any  illegal  step. 

The  sittings  opened  with  the  reading  of  letters  addressed  to  the  Ten. 
Then  followed  the  list  of  denunciations,  which  were  either  public,  that 
is  signed,  or  secret,  that  is  anonymous.  If  public,  the  Council  voted 
whether  they  should  take  the  accusation  into  consideration;  if  four- 
fifths  voted  "  Aye "  the  case  was  entered  on  the  agenda.  If  the 
denunciation  was  secret  the  Doge  and  his  Council  and  the  "  Chiefs " 
were  bound,  before  the  question  of  taking  it  up  came  forward,  to 
declare  unanimously  that  the  matter  of  the  accusation  was  of  public 
concern;   and  such  a  declaration  required  confirmation  by  a  vote  of 


Its  procedure 


275 


five-sixths  of  the  whole  Council.  This  being  obtained,  the  question 
of  taking  the  matter  into  consideration  next  arose,  and  was  decided  as 
in  the  case  of  public  denunciations.  The  denunciation  list  having  been 
discharged,  the  first  case  on  the  trial  list  then  came  on  for  hearing.  The 
Law-officers  of  the  State  QAvogadori)  read  a  report  on  the  case  and  sub- 
mitted the  form  of  warrant  for  arrest.  The  Council  voted  "  to  proceed  " 
or  not.  If  the  vote  was  affirmative,  the  warrant  was  issued  and  the 
"  Chiefs  "  gave  it  execution.  When  the  accused  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Ten,  a  sub-committee  or  Collegio^  as  it  was  called,  was  appointed  to  draw 
up  the  case ;  they  were  empowered  to  use  torture  only  by  a  special  vote. 
The  presumption  was  against  the  prisoner ;  he  was  called  on  to  disprove 
the  charge — intimare  le  difese.  He  was  confronted  neither  with  his 
accuser  nor  with  witnesses.  If  he  pleaded  incapacity,  he  was  allowed  to 
consult  one  of  the  official  advocates  established  in  1443.  The  report  of 
the  sub-committee  was  read  to  the  Council,  and  a  vote  was  taken  as  to 
whether  sentence  should  be  pronounced.  If  the  vote  was  affirmative, 
sentence  was  proposed,  any  member  being  free  to  move  a  sentence  or  an 
amendment  to  one.  On  the  result  of  the  voting  the  fate  of  the  prisoner 
depended.  In  cases  of  crime  committed  outside  Venice  but  within  the 
competence  of  the  Ten,  that  Council  could  delegate  its  powers  and 
procedure  (its  rito}  to  the  local  magistrates  who  sent  in  the  minutes  of 
the  trial  to  the  "  Chiefs." 

With  the  Closing  of  the  Great  Council  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Council  of  Ten,  the  Venetian  constitution  reached  its  maturit}'.  Some 
slight  developments,  such  as  the  evolution  of  the  Three  Inquisitori  di 
Stato^  of  the  Esecutori  contro  alia  Bestemmia^  and  the  Oamerlenghi^  took 
place  it  is  true  ;  but  on  the  whole  the  form  was  fixed,  and  it  stood  thus : 

(1)  The  Great  Council  contained  the  whole  body  politic.  Out 
of  it  were  elected  almost  all  the  chief  officers  of  State.  At  first  it 
possessed  legislative  and  even  some  judicial  powers,  but  these  were 
gradually  delegated  to  the  Senate,  or  the  Ten,  as  the  Council  became 
unmanageable  in  size,  until  at  last  it  was  left  with  hardly  any  attributes 
save  its  original  chief  function,  that  of  the  electorate  of  the  State. 

(2)  Above  the  Great  Council  came  the  Senate,  consisting  nominally 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  members,  not  including  the  Doge,  his  Coun- 
cil, the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  many  other  officials,  who  sat 
ex  officio  and  raised  its  numbers  higher.  The  Senate  was  the  great 
legislative  body  in  the  State ;  it  also  had  the  chief  direction  of  ordinary 
foreign  alf airs  and  of  finance ;  it  declared  war,  made  peace,  received 
despatches  from  ambassadors,  and  sent  instructions.  It  possessed  a 
certain  judicial  authority,  which,  however,  was  seldom  exercised. 

(3)  Parallel  with  the  Senate,  but  outside  the  main  lines  of  the  con- 
stitution, came  the  Council  of  Ten.  It  had  been  established  as  a  com- 
mittee of  public  safety  to  meet  a  crisis,  and  to  supply  a  defect  in  the 
constitution,  the  want  of  a  rapid,  secret,  executive  arm.    Its  efficiency 


276 


The  constitution  as  settled 


and  rapidity  led  to  a  gradual  substitution  of  the  Ten  for  the  Senate 
upon  many  important  occasions.  An  order  of  the  Ten  was  as  binding 
as  a  law  of  the  Senate.  Ambassadors  reported  secretly  to  the  Ten ;  and 
the  instructions  of  the  Ten  would  carry  more  weight  than  those  of  the 
Senate.  The  judicial  functions  of  the  Ten  were  far  higher  than  those 
of  the  Senate ;  and  indeed  in  its  capacity  as  a  permanent  committee  of 
public  safety  and  guardian  of  public  morals  there  were  few  departments 
of  government  or  of  private  life  where  its  authority  would  have  been 
disallowed. 

(4)  Above  both  Senate  and  Ten  came  the  cabinet  or  Collegio,  It 
was  composed  of  the  Savii  or  Ministers.  The  six  Savii  grandi^  the 
three  Savii  di  terra  ferma^  the  three  Savii  agli  ordini,  the  Secretaries,  of 
finance,  of  war,  and  of  marine.  The  Savii  grandi  took  their  functions 
in  turn  week  and  week  about.  All  business  of  State  passed  through  the 
hands  of  the  Collegio  and  was  prepared  by  them  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Great  Council,  the  Senate  or  the  Ten  according  to  the  nature  and  impor- 
tance of  the  matter.  The  Collegio  was  the  initiatory  body  in  the  State 
and  also  the  executive  arm  of  the  Maggior  Consiglio  and  the  Senate. 
The  Ten,  as  we  have  stated,  possessed  an  executive  of  its  own  in  its 
three  "  Chiefs." 

(6)  Above  the  Collegio  came  the  lesser  Council  composed  of  the 
six  ducal  Councillors ;  immediately  connected  with  the  Doge ;  both 
supervising  him  and  representing  him  in  all  his  attributes.  The  Doge 
could  do  nothing  without  his  Council ;  a  majority  of  the  Council  could 
perform  all  the  ducal  functions,  without  the  presence  of  the  Doge. 

(6)  At  the  head  of  all  came  the  Doge  himself ;  the  point  of  greatest 
splendour  though  not  of  greatest  weight,  the  apex  of  the  constitutional 
pyramid.  He  embodied  and  represented  the  majesty  of  the  State ;  his 
presence  was  necessarj^  everywhere,  in  the  Great  Council,  in  the  Senate, 
in  the  Ten,  in  the  College.  He  was  the  voice  of  Venice  and  in  her 
name  he  replied  to  all  ambassadors.  As  a  statesman  long  practised  in 
affairs  and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  political  machinery  of  the 
Republic  he  could  not  fail  to  carry  weight  by  his  personality ;  and  at  a 
crisis  the  election  of  a  Doge,  as  in  the  case  of  Francesco  Foscari  or,  later 
still,  as  in  the  case  of  Leonardo  Donato,  might  determine  the  course  of 
events.  But  theoretically  he  was  a  symbol,  not  a  factor  in  the  consti- 
tution ;  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  all  that  the  oligarchy  meant. 

Such  was  the  Venetian  constitution,  which,  thanks  to  its  efficiency 
and  strength,  commanded  the  admiration  and  the  envy  of  Europe  and 
enabled  Venice  to  assume  that  high  place  among  the  nations  which  was 
hers  during  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  fifteenth  century  is  the  period  of  greatest  splendour  in  the  history 
of  the  Republic.    Mature  in  her  constitution,  and  with  a  dominion  firmly 


The  mercantile  marine 


277 


established  by  sea  andland,  Venice  presented  a  brilliant  spectacle  to  the  eyes 
of  Europe.  Yet  this  period  contains  the  germs  of  her  decadence.  Supreme 
in  the  Mediterranean  by  the  defeat  of  Genoa,  Venice  was  almost  imme- 
diately called  upon  to  face  the  Turks  and  to  wear  herself  out  in  a  long  and 
single-handed  contest  with  their  growing  power ;  firmly  planted  on  the 
mainland,  the  Republic  discovered  that,  with  jealous  neighbours  around 
her  and  frontiers  to  be  attacked,  she  could  not  stand  still ;  she  was 
compelled  to  advance,  and  found  herself  exposed  to  all  the  dangers 
implied  in  the  use  of  mercenary  arms,  and  committed  to  that  policy  of 
aggression  which  summoned  up  against  her  the  League  of  Cambray. 

Her  mainland  territory  was  probably  a  drain  on  the  financial  re- 
sources of  the  Republic,  not  a  fountain  of  wealth.  That  territory  was 
only  acquired  and  held  by  paying  for  costly  troops  and  more  costly 
captains  of  adventure.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  revenue  derived 
from  the  provinces  covered  the  cost  of  possession  and  administration. 
True,  on  occasion,  the  Republic  applied  to  her  land  territories  for  a  loan, 
as  in  1474,  when  516,000  ducats  were  advanced  to  the  government ;  but 
the  fact  remains  that  the  contentment  of  her  mainland  possessions  was 
essential  to  Venetian  supremacy,  and  that  this  contentment  could  not 
be  secured  if  they  were  heavily  taxed. 

The  real  wealth  of  Venice,  the  wealth  which  enabled  her  to  adorn 
the  Capital  and  retain  her  provinces,  depended  upon  the  sea.  It  was 
derived  from  her  traffic  as  a  great  emporium  and  mart  of  exchange 
fed  by  a  large  mercantile  marine.  The  State  built  the  ships  and  let 
them  out  to  the  highest  bidder  at  auction.  Every  year  six  fleets  were 
organised  and  despatched :  (1)  to  the  Black  Sea,  (2)  to  Greece  -  and 
Constantinople,  (3)  to  the  Syrian  ports,  (4)  to  Egypt,  (5)  to  Barbary 
and  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  (6)  to  England  and  Flanders.  The  route 
and  general  instructions  for  each  fleet  (muda)  were  carefully  discussed 
in  the  Senate.  Every  officer  was  bound  by  oath  to  observe  these 
instructions  and  to  maintain  on  all  occasions  the  honour  of  the 
Republic.  The  government  prescribed  the  number  of  the  crew  for 
each  ship,  the  size  of  the  anchors,  quality  of  rope,  etc.  A  compulsory 
load-line  was  established.  New  vessels  were  allowed  to  load  above  the 
line  for  the  first  three  years,  but  to  a  diminishing  extent  each  year. 
The  ships  were  all  built  upon  government  measurements  for  two  reasons ; 
first,  because  ships  of  identical  build  would  behave  in  the  same  way 
under  stress  of  weather  and  could  more  easily  be  kept  together ;  secondly, 
because  the  consuls  in  distant  ports  could  be  sure  of  keeping  a  refit  of 
masts,  rudders,  sails,  etc.,  when  they  knew  the  exact  build  of  all  Venetian 
ships  which  would  touch  their  ports.  The  ships  were  convertible  from 
merchantmen  to  men-of-war;  and  this  explains  to  a  certain  extent  how 
Venice  was  able  to  replace  her  fleets  so  rapidly  after  such  losses  as  those 
of  Curzola  or  Sapienza.  The  six  State  fleets  are  estimated  to  have 
numbered  330  ships  with  crews  to  the  amount  of  36,000  men. 


278 


The  advent  of  the  Turks 


[1413-6 


Venetian  commerce  covered  the  whole  civilised  world.  The  city  was 
a  great  reservoir  of  merchandise,  constantly  filled  and  constantly  emptied 
again,  with  eastern  luxuries  flowing  westward  and  western  commodities 
flowing  east.  Upon  export  and  import  alike  the  government  levied 
taxes  (tavola  delV  entrada  e  tavola  delV  insida)  ;  these,  with  the  salt 
monopoly  and  the  taxation  of  the  guilds  (tansa  della  milizia^  tansa 
insensihile^  etc.),  furnished  the  main  source  of  her  ordinary  revenue,  which 
in  the  year  1500  was  estimated  at  1,145,580  ducats.  The  importance  of 
the  sea  in  the  economy  of  Venice  is  obvious  ;  but  during  the  fifteenth 
century  her  naval  and  commercial  sea-power  both  received  a  fatal  blow. 
Wars  with  the  Turks  exhausted  her  fighting  capacity  and  the  discovery 
of  the  Cape  route  to  the  Indies  tended  to  divert  the  whole  line  of  the 
world's  traffic  from  the  Mediterranean  into  the  Atlantic,  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  Venetians  into  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese. 

The  century  opened,  however,  with  a  series  of  triumphs  for  the 
Republic.  The  development  and  extension  of  her  land  empire  con- 
tinued ;  her  prestige  at  sea  increased.  Dalmatia,  which  the  Republic 
had  surrendered  by  the  treaty  of  Turin,  was  recovered  after  a  struggle  ; 
and  by  1420  Venice  was  in  possession  of  the  whole  of  Friuli.  Thanks 
to  the  mountainous  frontier  of  the  province  this  acquisition  gave  the 
Republic  a  defensible  position  towards  the  east,  where  she  had  hitherto 
been  very  weak  ;  it  largely  increased  her  land  empire  and  whetted  her 
appetite  for  more. 

Nor  was  her  achievement  by  sea  less  brilliant.  The  quarrels  among 
the  sons  of  Sultan  Bayazid  I  ended  in  the  concentration  of  the  Ottoman 
power  in  the  hands  of  Mohammad  (1413).  Venice  had  no  desire  to  embark 
on  a  campaign  against  the  victorious  Turk.  She  hoped  to  trade  with 
them,  not  to  fight  them,  and,  through  her  ambassador  Francesco  Foscari, 
a  treaty  was  signed  whereby  she  believed  herself  to  have  secured  her 
colonies  from  molestation.  But  Mohammad  was  not  able,  even  if  he 
desired,  to  prevent  his  followers  from  regarding  all  Christians  as  dogs. 
Treaty  or  no  treaty,  they  chased  some  Venetian  merchantmen  into 
Negroponte  and  menaced  the  island.  The  Venetian  admiral  Loredan  came 
to  a  parley  with  the  Turkish  commander,  at  Gallipoli  (1416).  But  while 
the  leaders  were  in  consultation,  the  crews  fell  to,  and  a  battle  became 
inevitable.  The  Venetians  were  brilliantly  victorious  ;  and  the  Republic 
secured  an  advantageous  peace,  as  well  as  the  applause  of  Europe,  only 
too  ready  to  believe  that  it  need  not  mind  about  the  Turk  as  long  as 
Venice  was  there  to  fight  him. 

But  contemporaneously  with  this  fresh  expansion  of  Venice,  by  the 
conquest  of  Friuli  and  the  heightening  of  her  prestige  after  the  victory 
of  Gallipoli,  events  fraught  with  grave  consequences  for  the  Republic 
were  maturing  to  the  west.  On  the  sudden  death  of  Gian  Galeazzo 
Visconti  (1402),  his  dominions  had  been  seized  and  partitioned  by  his 
generals.  Gian  Galeazzo's  son,  Filippo  Maria,  patiently,  slowly,  but  surely, 


1420-5] 


Ve7iice  and  Visconti 


279 


recovered  the  Visconti  territories.  In  this  task  he  was  greatly  assisted 
by  the  military  skill  of  Francesco  Bussone,  called  Carmagnola  from  his 
birthplace  near  Turin.  By  1420  the  task  was  accomplished,  and  a 
Visconti  was  once  more  Lord  of  Milan,  Cremona,  Crema,  Bergamo, 
Brescia,  and  Genoa,  as  powerful  as  ever  Gian  Galeazzo  had  been  and 
not  one  whit  less  ambitious.  Florence  took  alarm  at  Visconti's  attitude 
and  asked  Venice  to  join  her  in  a  league  against  Milan.  The  position 
was  a  difficult  one  for  the  Republic ;  Filippo  Maria  was  undeniably 
menacing  and  he  had  a  claim  in  virtue  of  his  father's  conquest  to  both 
Verona  and  Vicenza,  now  Venetian  territory ;  on  the  other  hand  Ven- 
ice was  extremely  unwilling  to  embark  upon  the  troubled  waters  of 
Italian  mainland  politics,  and  to  find  herself,  in  all  probability,  com- 
mitted to  costly  mainland  campaigns  which  would  consume  the  wealth 
she  was  sweeping  in  from  the  sea. 

The  Florentine  proposals  revealed  two  parties  in  the  State.  The 
Doge  Mocenigo  and  his  friends  held  that  it  was  still  possible  to  avoid 
a  rupture  with  Visconti,  that  Venice  might  remain  on  good  terms  with 
her  powerful  neighbour  and  trade  with  Milan  instead  of  fighting  it. 
Opposed  to  the  Doge  was  Francesco  Foscari,  head  of  the  party  of 
young  Venice,  in  favour  of  expansion,  elated  by  the  recent  acquisition 
of  Friuli.  But  Mocenigo  was  dying,  and  on  his  death-bed  he  called  the 
principal  statesmen  of  the  Republic  about  him  and  reminded  them  of  the 
position  of  the  community,  which  had  never  been  more  flourishing.  He 
pointed  to  the  merchant  marine,  the  finest  in  the  world,  to  the  rapid 
reduction  of  the  national  debt,  from  ten  millions  to  six ;  to  the  vast 
commerce  with  the  territories  of  the  Duke  of  Milan  which  represented 
ten  million  ducats  capital  with  a  net  profit  of  two  millions ;  he  insisted 
that  at  this  rate  Venice  would  soon  be  mistress  of  the  world,  but  that  all 
might  be  lost  by  a  rash  war.  Everything  would  depend,  he  said,  upon  the 
character  of  the  man  who  succeeded  him.  He  uttered  a  solemn  warning 
against  Francesco  Foscari  as  a  braggart,  vainglorious,  without  solidity, 
grasping  at  much,  securing  little ;  certain  to  involve  the  State  in  war, 
to  waste  its  wealth  and  leave  it  at  the  mercy  of  its  mercenary  captains. 
Prophetic  words,  but  powerless  to  avert  the  doom  they  foretold.  Foscari 
was  elected  (1423)  ;  and  instantly  set  himself  to  support  the  Florentine 
request  for  an  alliance.  He  did  not  carry  his  point  at  once,  for  the 
Mocenigo  party  could  always  urge  that  an  alliance  with  Florence  against 
Milan  would  draw  Visconti  and  Sigismund  together  against  the  Republic. 
But  Filippo  Maria's  successes  were  continuous ;  his  troops  were  in  the 
Romagna,  and  he  had  defeated  Florence  in  battle  after  battle,  Zagonara, 
Val  di  Lamone,  Rapallo,  Anghiari.  In  desperation  the  Florentines 
declared  that  if  the  Venetians  would  not  help  them  to  retain  their  liber- 
ties, they  would  pull  the  house  about  their  ears.  "  When  we  refused," 
they  said,  "  to  help  Genoa,  she  made  Visconti  her  Lord ;  if  you  refuse 
to  help  us  we  will  make  him  King."    This  threat,  coupled  with  the 


280 


Expansion  in  Lombardy 


[1426-47 


desertion  of  Visconti's  great  general,  Carmagnola,  turned  the  scale. 
The  Florentine  League  was  concluded  and  Carmagnola  received  the 
command  of  the  Venetian  forces. 

Thus  the  Republic  embarked  upon  a  struggle  for  supremacy  as  a 
land-Power  in  northern  Italy.  But  she  was  soon  to  prove  the  truth  of 
Mocenigo's  dying  words.  The  first  campaign  ended  in  the  acquisition 
of  Brescia  and  the  Bresciano  by  Venetian  troops,  but  not  by  Carmagnola. 
He  had  no  sooner  brought  his  forces  under  Brescia  than  he  asked  leave 
to  retire  for  his  health  to  the  Baths  of  Abano;  and  his  conduct  from 
the  very  first  roused  those  suspicions  which  eventually  led  to  his  doom. 
The  second  campaign  gave  Bergamo  to  the  victorious  Republic.  But 
the  suspicions  of  Venice  were  increased  by  finding  that  the  Duke  of 
Milan  was  in  communication  with  Carmagnola  and  was  prepared  to 
conclude  a  peace  through  him  as  intermediary,  suspicions  confirmed  by 
the  dilatory  conduct  of  their  general  after  the  victory  at  Maclodio, 
when  nothing  lay  between  him  and  Milan.  At  the  opening  of  the  third 
campaign  against  Visconti,  the  Republic  endeavoured  to  rouse  their 
general  to  vigorous  action  by  making  him  large  promises  if  he  would 
only  crush  the  Duke  and  take  his  capital.  But  nothing  would  stir 
Carmagnola  from  his  culpable  inactivity.  The  truth  was  that  he  cared 
not  a  jot  for  Venetian  interests ;  like  all  mercenaries  he  was  playing  his  * 
own  game,  and  that  did  not  counsel  him  to  press  Visconti  too  hard,  for 
it  was  always  possible  that  he  might  one  day  find  himself  again  in  the 
Duke's  service. 

The  patience  of  the  Republic  was  exhausted  at  last.  Carmagnola 
was  summoned  to  Venice  on  the  plea  that  the  government  wished  to 
consult  him.  He  was  received  with  marked  honour.  His  suite  was  told 
that  the  general  stayed  to  dine  with  the  Doge  and  that  they  might  go 
home.  The  Doge  sent  to  excuse  himself  from  receiving  the  Count  on 
the  score  of  indisposition.  Carmagnola  turned  to  go  down  to  his  gon- 
dola. In  the  lower  arcade  of  the  palace  he  was  arrested  and  hurried  to 
prison.  He  was  tried  by  the  Council  of  Ten  on  the  charge  of  treason 
and  executed  in  the  Piazzetta  of  St  Mark  (1432). 

Notwithstanding  their  difiiculties  with  their  mercenary  commander, 
the  Venetians  had  made  very  solid  acquisitions  during  these  wars  with 
Visconti.  Brescia  and  Bergamo  were  now  permanently  added  to  the 
land  empire  of  the  Republic,  and  the  title  was  confirmed  by  an  imperial 
investiture  at  Prague  in  1437,  in  which  Venetian  dominions  are  defined 
as  all  the  land  di  qua,  that  is  east  of  the  Adda,  —  very  nearly  the  ex- 
treme limit  of  mainland  possession  ever  touched  by  the  Republic. 

But  the  possession  of  Brescia  and  Bergamo  was  not  likely  to  be  left 
undisputed  by  Filippo  Maria  Visconti ;  and  a  long  series  of  campaigns, 
conducted  by  such  generals  as  Gonzaga  and  Gattamelata,  exhausting  to 
the  treasury  and  unprofitable  to  the  State,  was  only  brought  to  an  end  by 
the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Milan  in  1447.    During  this  period,  however, 


1453-4] 


The  fall  of  Constantinople 


281 


Venice  had  converted  her  guardianship  of  Ravenna  into  actual  possession 
as  remainder-heir  to  the  Polentani,  Lords  of  that  city ;  a  step  which 
brought  into  the  field  against  her  the  Roman  Curia,  and  was  not  with- 
out important  bearings  on  the  final  combination  of  the  Papacy  with  her 
other  enemies  at  the  League  of  Cambray. 

The  death  of  Filippo  Maria  Visconti  left  Milan  and  the  Visconti 
possessions  without  a  Lord.  Visconti's  only  child  Bianca  was  married  to 
Sforza,  and  in  right  of  her  he  claimed  succession ;  but  the  city  of  Milan 
declared  itself  a  republic.  Venice  seized  Lodi  and  Piacenza  and  offered 
to  support  the  Milanese  Republic  if  it  would  recognise  the  capture. 
Milan  declined.  But  that  city  was  soon  forced  to  open  its  gates  to 
Sforza ;  and  shortly  afterwards  Venice  and  Sforza  came  to  terms  in  the 
Peace  of  Lodi  (1454),  by  which  the  Republic  was  confirmed  in  posses- 
sion of  Bergamo  and  Brescia  and  acquired  Crema  and  Treviglio  as  well, 
thereby  affording  her  enemies  fresh  proofs  for  that  charge  of  insatiable 
greed  which  they  were  already  beginning  to  move  against  her. 

But  Visconti's  death  produced  another  result  still  more  momentous 
not  only  for  Venice  but  for  all  Italy  as  well.  Filippo  Maria  had  left 
no  heirs  male ;  and  the  French  claim  —  that  of  the  House  of  Orleans 
based  upon  the  marriage  of  Valentina  Visconti  with  the  father  of  Charles 
of  Orleans  —  was  immediately  advanced.  It  opened  a  new  epoch  in 
Italian  history,  preparing  the  way  for  the  complications  inseparable 
from  the  advent  of  foreign  princes  in  Italian  politics. 

There  were  two  reasons  which  induced  Venice  to  accept  gladly  the 
Treaty  of  Lodi.  The  long  war  with  Visconti,  though  it  had  brought  her 
a  large  accession  of  territory,  had  also  cost  her  very  dear ;  but  it  was  of 
even  greater  significance  thatall  Europe  and  Venice  especially,  as  the  power 
most  nearly  concerned,  had  been  startled  by  the  news  that  the  Turks  had 
captured  Constantinople  and  that  the  Eastern  Empire  was  at  an  end  for 
ever.    This  event  took  place  in  1453,  the  year  before  the  Peace  of  Lodi» 

We  have  seen  already  that  the  real  desire  of  the  Republic  was  to  trade 
with  the  Turks,  and  not  to  fight  them ;  from  the  very  outset  when  she 
made  a  treaty  with  Sultan  Mohammad  in  1410,  and  again  after  the  victory 
of  Gallipoli,  her  whole  energies  had  been  directed  to  securing  her  colonies 
and  insuring  freedom  of  traffic.  But  now,  with  the  Mussulmans  estab- 
lished in  Constantinople  and  spreading  down  the  Levant,  it  was  inevi- 
table that  Venice  should  be  brought  into  hostile  relations  with  their 
growing  power. 

The  fall  of  Constantinople  was  the  last  external  event  of  moment  in 
the  brilliant  reign  of  Francesco  Foscari.  Internal  events  also  contributed 
to  render  his  Dogeship  remarkable.  He  seems  to  have  come  to  the  throne 
as  the  embodiment  of  the  new  oligarchy  which  had  taken  final  shape  at 
the  Closing  of  the  Great  Council,  and  which  had  consolidated  its  authority 
by  the  creation  of  the  Ten.  He  was  the  first  Doge  in  whose  election  the 
people  had  no  part.    In  presenting  him  to  his  subjects  the  old  formula 


282 


The  aspect  of  the  city 


"  This  is  your  Doge,  an  it  please  you,"  was  changed  to  "  This  is  your 
Doge."  But,  furthermore,  Foscari's  election  is  the  first  in  which  we 
find  any  suggestion  of  bribery.  He  was  accused  of  having  applied, 
while  holding  the  office  of  Procurator,  a  sum  of  money,  which  he  found 
in  the  coffers  of  that  magistracy,  to  securing  support  among  the  poorer 
nobility,  a  class  destined  to  become  both  famous  and  dangerous  under 
the  name  of  the  Barnabotti,  but  of  whom  we  hear  now  for  the  first  time. 
Political  corruption  showed  itself  again  in  1433,  when  a  wide-spread 
conspiracy  to  arrange  election  to  offices  was  discovered  among  the  nobles 
of  the  Great  Council.  The  obscure  case  of  Jacopo  Foscari,  the  Doge's 
son,  showed  to  what  lengths  intrigue  might  be  carried ;  and  the  dramatic 
end  of  the  Doge's  reign,  his  deposition  after  so  long  and  so  brilliant  an 
occupation  of  the  throne,  demonstrated  the  absolute  authority  of  the 
Council  of  Ten  as  sovereign  in  Venice. 

The  epoch  was  one  of  great  outward  splendour.  Commines,  who 
came  to  Venice  some  years  later,  describes  it  as  "  the  most  triumphant 
city  I  have  ever  seen;  the  city  that  bestows  the  greatest  honour  on 
ambassadors  and  on  strangers ;  the  city  that  is  most  carefully  governed ; 
the  city  wherein  the  worship  of  God  is  most  solemnly  conducted." 

It  was  thus  that  Venice  struck  a  competent  observer  towards  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  Commines  is  only  one  of  the  earliest  in  a  long 
list  of  testimonies  to  the  vivid  impression  created  by  the  Capital  of  the 
Lagoons.  Venice  was  at  the  zenith  of  her  splendour ;  a  city  of  pleasure, 
sumptuous  in  her  reception  of  "  ambassadors  and  strangers  "  ;  a  common- 
wealth of  surprising  solidity  and  power,  "  most  carefully  governed  "  ;  a 
palace  of  pomp  where  the  arts  flourished  and  where  the  "  worship  of 
God,"  in  churches,  processions,  pageants  "  was  most  solemnly  conducted." 
Everything  connected  with  the  city,  external  as  well  as  internal,  con- 
tributed to  the  indelible  impression  she  produced.  Her  singular  site ; 
her  water  streets ;  the  beauty  of  her  public  and  private  buildings ;  the 
Doge's  palace  so  audaciously  designed,  glowing  with  the  rose  and  cream 
coloured  marbles  ;  St  Mark's,  a  precious  casket  of  porphyry,  mosaic  and 
oriental  cupolas ;  the  Hall  of  the  Great  Council  adorned  with  records  of 
Venetian  prowess ;  the  rich  Gothic  of  the  Porta  della  Carta ;  the  Piazza 
with  its  noble  bell-tower ;  the  opening  of  the  Piazzetta,  the  vista  of  San 
Giorgio  Maggiore,  the  sweep  of  the  Riva  degli  Schiavoni  leading  away  to 
San  Nicolo  and  the  great  sea  avenue  of  Venice ;  the  domestic  architecture 
of  the  private  palaces,  that  lined  the  Grand  and  the  smaller  canals ;  the 
slender  columns,  the  ogee  windows,  the  balconies  with  their  sea  lions  for 
brackets,  the  perforated  stone  tracery  above  the  windows,  the  glowing 
colour  of  the  plaster  on  the  walls  —  all  combined  to  arrest  attention. 
But  more  than  this ;  behind  the  external  splendour  and  deep  down  as 
the  cause  of  it,  Venice  had  something  further  to  offer  for  the  study  and 


The  life  of  the  Venetians 


283 


the  contemplation  of  the  stranger.  Her  constitution  was  almost  an  ideal 
for  European  statesmen.  Her  declared  object  was  "to  win  the  heart 
and  the  affection  of  her  people,"  and  this  could  only  be  brought  about 
by  attention  to  their  interests  ;  in  the  interests  of  commerce  consuls  had 
been  established  as  early  as  1117 ;  in  those  of  finance  public  funds  and 
government  stock  had  been  created  in  1171;  in  those  of  order  the 
census  was  introduced  about  the  year  1300 ;  in  those  of  property  each 
holding  was  numbered  and  registered ;  in  those  of  justice  the  law  was 
codified  in  1229.  A  factory  act  forbade  the  employment  of  children  in 
dangerous  trades  where  mercury  was  used.  The  nautical  code  provided 
for  a  load-line  on  all  shipping  and  insisted  on  the  proper  treatment  of 
crews.  In  most  departments  of  practical  government  the  Republic  of 
Venice  preceded  all  other  States  of  Europe,  and  offered  material  for 
reflexion  to  their  politicians,  to  whom  was  presented  the  phenomenon  of 
a  fully-matured  and  stable  constitution,  and  of  a  people  fused  together 
in  one  homogeneous  whole. 

For  though  the  Closing  of  the  Great  Council  had  rendered  the 
governing  class  a  close  oligarchy,  it  had  not  produced  class  hatred; 
Venice  showed  no  trace  of  the  feudal  system  with  its  violent  divisions  of 
the  State  into  hostile  camps ;  every  Venetian  was  still  a  Venetian  first 
and  foremost,  and  though  excluded  from  the  functions  of  government 
was  still  in  all  likelihood  closely  connected  with  those  who  exercised 
them.  The  palace  of  the  patrician  was  surrounded  by  a  network  of  small 
alleys  filled  with  his  people,  his  clients.  The  merchant  prince  in  his 
office  was  served  by  a  staff  of  clerks  who  had  their  share  in  the  success  of 
his  ventures.  The  arrival  of  any  merchant's  galleys  was  a  matter  for 
rejoicing  to  the  whole  community  and  was  announced  by  the  great  bell 
of  St  Mark's.  Venice,  in  short,  from  the  commercial  point  of  view  was 
a  great  joint-stock  company  for  the  exploitation  of  the  East,  and  the 
patricians  were  its  directors. 

The  life  of  a  Venetian  noble  could  be  filled  to  the  full  if  he  so 
desired.  Politics,  diplomacy,  trade,  arms  were  all  open  to  him ;  and  he 
frequently  combined  two  or  more  of  these  professions.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-five  he  took  his  seat  in  the  Great  Council  and  became  eligible  for 
any  of  the  numerous  offices  to  which  that  Council  elected.  He  might 
serve  his  apprenticeship  in  the  department  of  trade,  of  finance,  of 
health ;  passing  thence  to  the  Senate,  he  might  represent  his  country 
in  Constantinople,  Rome,  Prague,  Paris,  Madrid,  London.  On  his 
return  he  would  be  made  a  Savio  and  member  of  the  cabinet,  or  serve 
his  turn  of  a  year  on  the  Council  of  Ten,  ending  his  days  perhaps  as  a 
Doge,  at  least  as  Procurator  of  St  Mark.  And  throughout  the  whole  of 
this  official  career  he  was  probably  directing  with  the  help  of  his 
brothers  and  sons  the  movement  of  his  private  family  business,  trade,  or 
banking.  Nothing  is  commoner  than  to  find  an  ambassador  petitioning 
to  be  recalled,  because  his  family  business  is  suffering  through  his  absence 


284 


The  arts 


from  Venice.  There  was,  of  course,  another  aspect  of  the  patrician  class. 
The  vicious  nobles  became  poor,  the  poor  corrupt,  and  political  and 
social  life  both  suffered  in  consequence.  The  Council  of  Ten  was 
frequently  called  upon  to  punish  the  betrayal  of  State  secrets  and  the 
unbridled  license  of  the  nobility. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  people  were  excluded  from  the  direction  of 
State  affairs  they  found  abundant  scope  for  their  energies  in  trade  and 
industries  and  the  guild-life  which  these  created  and  fostered.  Every  art 
and  craft  and  trade  in  Venice,  down  to  the  very  sausage-makers,  was 
erected  into  a  guild.  They  were  self-supporting,  self-governing  bodies, 
supervised,  it  is  true,  by  a  government  office  whose  approval  was  neces- 
sary for  the  validity  of  the  bye-laws.  They  were  carefully  fostered  by 
the  State,  which  saw  in  them  an  outlet  for  the  political  activities 
of  the  people.  At  his  coronation  each  new  Doge  was  expected  to 
entertain  the  guilds,  who  displayed  specimens  of  their  handiwork  in 
the  ducal  palace  ;  on  great  State  occasions,  when  Venice  entertained 
distinguished  guests,  the  guilds  were  called  upon  to  furnish  part  of  the 
pageant ;  but  they  never  acquired,  as  in  Florence  or  other  Italian  cities, 
a  voice  in  the  government  of  the  State.  The  guilds  of  most  Italian 
towns  represented  and  protected  the  people  against  a  nobility  of  arms 
and  of  territory.  In  Venice  such  a  nobility  never  existed  ;  the  patrician 
was  himself  a  merchant  and  very  probably  a  member  of  a  trade  guild. 

And  the  decorative  and  cultured  side  of  all  this  teeming  life  found 
expression  in  the  arts.  Murano  produced  the  earliest  masters  of  that 
school  of  painting  which  was  to  adorn  the  world  by  the  hands  of  the 
Vivarini,  Carpaccio,  the  Bellinis,  Mantegna,  Giorgione,  Veronese,  Titian, 
Palma,  Cima  da  Conegliano,  Tintoretto,  Tiepolo.  Dramatic  in  con- 
ception, gorgeous  in  colour,  untrammelled  by  the  effort  to  express 
philosophic  ideas  or  religious  emotion,  the  art  of  Venice  was  essentially 
decorative,  and  was  dedicated  to  the  adornment  of  public  and  private 
life  in  the  city.  The  great  colonnade  at  the  Rialto,  the  very  heart  of 
Venetian  traffic,  was  already  covered  with  frescoes  and  possessed  that 
famous  planisphere,  or  Mapamondo,  showing  the  routes  followed  by 
Venetian  commerce  throughout  the  world.  The  study  of  letters  received 
a  vital  stimulus,  thanks  to  the  asylum  which  Venice  offered  to  refugees 
from  Constantinople.  Cardinal  Bessarion  made  St  Mark's  Library  the 
legatee  of  his  inestimable  treasures.  The  brilliant  history  of  the  Venetian 
printing  press  was  inaugurated  by  John  of  Speyer  and  Windelin  his 
brother  (1469),  by  Nicolas  Jenson,  by  Waldorfer  and  Erhardt  Radolt, 
and  carried  on  by  Andrea  Torresano  to  the  glories  of  the  Aldine  Press. 
Coming  third  in  chronological  order,  preceded  by  Subiaco  and  Rome, 
the  press  of  Venice  surpassed  all  its  Italian  contemporaries  in  splendour 
and  abundance,  in  range  of  subjects,  in  service  to  scholarship. 

Of  literature  in  the  sense  of  belles-lettres  there  was  but  little; 
but  the  Annali  of  Malipiero,  the  Diarii  of  Sanudo,  and  the  Diaries 


1457-66] 


Symptoms  of  decline 


285 


of  Priuli  afford  us  a  full,  vivid,  and  veracious  narrative  of  Venetian 
history,  of  life  in  the  city,  of  the  wars  and  intrigues  of  the  Republic 
during  her  splendour  and  the  beginning  of  her  decline  (1457-1535).  No 
other  Italian  State  can  show  such  a  monumental  record  of  its  doings  as 
this.  Written  by  capable  men  of  affairs,  the  first  a  soldier,  the  second  an 
official,  the  third  a  great  merchant-banker,  all  of  whom  took  a  large  part 
in  the  deeds  and  events  they  recount ;  written,  not  for  publication,  but 
to  the  honour  and  glory  of  that  beloved  San  Marco  "  whom  "  to  use  the 
phrase  of  a  later  Venetian  ambassador  "  each  of  us  has  engraved  upon 
his  heart  "  ;  written  in  dialect  racy  of  the  soil  and  of  the  people,  —  we 
have  here  a  story,  vigorous,  vivacious,  humorous ;  direct  and  simple  as 
a  ballad ;  a  monument  to  the  city-State  that  produced  it ;  an  illustration 
of  the  central  principle  of  Venetian  "life  that  the  Republic  was  every- 
thing, while  her  individual  sons  were  of  no  account. 

But  this  appearance  of  prosperity,  of  splendour,  of  pomp,  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  masked  the  germs  of  incipient 
decline :  the  corruption  of  the  nobles,  the  suspicious  tyranny  of  the 
Ten,  the  first  signs  of  bank  failures,  the  drop  in  the  value  of  funds, 
the  rise  of  the  national  debt  from  six  to  thirteen  millions.  Land  wars 
continued  to  drain  the  treasury ;  the  Turkish  wars,  conducted  by  Venice 
single-handed,  curtailed  her  Levant  trade  and  entailed  a  continual 
outlay ;  worst  of  all,  in  1486  came  the  news  that  Diaz  had  discovered 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  1497  that  Vasco  da  Gama  had  rounded 
it,  thereby  cutting  the  tap-root  of  Venetian  wealth,  its  Mediterranean 
carrying-trade,  and  drawing  the  great  trade-lines  of  the  world  out  of 
the  Mediterranean  into  the  Atlantic.  Venice  could  alter  neither  her 
geographical  position  nor  her  policy.  She  endeavoured  to  come  to 
terms  with  the  Turk,  and  she  continued  to  expand  on  the  mainland. 
This  course  of  action  brought  down  upon  her  the  charge  of  infidelity  on 
the  one  hand  and  of  insatiable  greed  on  the  other,  and  ended  in  the 
disastrous  combination  of  Cambray. 

After  the  fall  of  Constantinople  the  Turkish  advance  was  steadily 
continued  both  south  and  east.  Athens  surrendered  to  the  Turks  in  1457  ; 
so  did  Sinope  and  Trebizond  ;  and  the  loss  of  the  Morea  in  1462  brought 
them  into  immediate  collision  with  the  Republic.  Venice  perfectly 
understood  that  a  struggle  for  her  possessions  in  the  Levant  was  inevitable 
sooner  or  later  ;  she  therefore  gladly  embraced  Pope  Pius  II's  proposals 
for  a  crusade.  But  the  lamentable  failure  of  the  undertaking,  and 
the  Pope's  death  at  Ancona,  left  the  Republic  to  carry  on,  single- 
handed,  a  war  she  had  undertaken  on  the  promise  and  in  the  expectation 
of  European  support.  Antonio  Michiel,  a  Venetian  merchant  resident  in 
Constantinople,  had  warned  his  government,  in  1466,  that  the  Sultan  was 
mustering  large  forces.  "  I  take  it  the  fleet  will  number  two  hundred 
sail,"  he  says,  "  and  every  one  here  thinks  Negroponte  its  object."  He 
continues  in  a  note  of  serious  warning  that  matters  must  not  be  treated 


286 


The  Turkish  War 


[1466-79 


lightly  to  the  deceiving  of  themselves.  The  Turk  has  a  way  of 
exaggerating  the  enemy's  strength  and  arming  regardless  of  expense. 
Venice  had  better  do  the  same.  This  was  in  1466  ;  three  years  later 
the  blow  was  ready  to  fall,  and  again  Venice  received  warning  through 
another  merchant,  Piero  Dolfin,  resident  in  Chios.  Let  the  government, 
he  wrote,  fortify  its  places  in  the  Levant  and  lose  no  time  about  it ;  "  on 
this  depends  the  safety  of  the  State,  for  Negroponte  once  lost  the  rest  of 
the  Levant  is  in  peril." 

But  Venice,  exhausted  by  the  drain  of  the  land  wars  against  Visconti, 
was  unwilling  to  face  another  and  more  terrible  campaign  by  sea  unless 
she  were  forced  to  do  so.  She  endeavoured  to  open  negotiations  at  Con- 
stantinople on  the  pretext  that  she  was  acting  in  the  name  of  Hungary. 
But  in  1470  Negroponte  fell.  The  Vi^ar  had  already  cost  con- 
siderably over  a  million  ducats,  and  the  government  was  reduced  to 
suspending  either  two-thirds  or  a  half  of  all  official  salaries  which  were 
over  twenty-five  ducats  per  annum.  In  spite  of  this  she  rejected,  as 
extravagant,  terms  of  peace  offered  her  in  1476 ;  and  faced  the  struggle 
once  more.  Scutari  was  attacked  by  the  Sultan  in  person,  who,  in  his 
determination  to  enter  the  town,  blew  besieged  and  besiegers  alike  to 
atoms  before  his  siege  guns.  But  the  Republic  could  not  hold  out 
for  ever  unaided ;  Scutari  was  at  the  last  extremity  ;  a  large  army  was 
rumoured  to  be  on  its  way  to  attack  Friuli.  Venice  was  forced  to  recog- 
nise the  facts,  and  in  1479  she  proposed  terms  of  peace.  Scutari  and 
all  Venetian  possessions  in  the  Morea  were  ceded  to  the  Turk.  Venice 
agreed  to  pay  ten  thousand  ducats  a  year  for  the  privileges  of  trading, 
and  one  hundred  thousand  in  two  years,  as  a  war  indemnity ;  and 
received  permission  to  keep  an  Agent  QBailo)  in  Constantinople. 

The  Peace  of  1470  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Venetian 
relations  with  the  East,  and  indicates  a  return  to  her  original  policy  of 
peaceable  dealings,  whenever  possible,  with  the  Turk. 

Li  truth,  the  Republic  had  every  reason  to  complain  of  the  conduct 
of  Europe.  After  sixteen  years  of  continuous  warfare,  which  she  had 
undertaken  on  the  strength  of  European  promises,  Venice  concluded 
a  ruinous  peace,  by  which  she  lost  a  part  of  her  Levantine  pos- 
sessions and  was  reduced  to  the  position  of  a  tributary.  Yet  instantly 
all  Europe  attacked  her  for  her  perfidy  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  the 
princes  of  Italy  professed  to  believe  that  Venice  had  abandoned  the 
Turkish  War,  merely  in  order  to  devote  herself  to  the  extension  of  her 
power  on  the  mainland.  Had  she  received  any  support  from  Europe  or 
Italy,  she  would  never  have  closed  the  War  with  such  a  balance  against 
herself.  In  truth  the  Republic  was  too  exhausted  to  continue  the  struggle. 
It  was  not  her  fault  that,  the  year  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace,  Italy 
and  all  Europe  were  alarmed  b}^  the  news  that  the  Turks  had  seized 
Otranto.  This  was  the  inevitable  result  of  the  withdrawal  of  Venice 
from  the  struggle,  —  a  withdrawal  in  its  turn  due  to  lack  of  any  support 


1481-4]       Venetian  aggression  on  the  mainland  287 


from  Italy  or  Europe.  When  invited  by  the  Pope  to  join  an  Italian 
league  against  the  Turk,  Venice,  mindful  of  the  results  which  had 
followed  on  her  acceptance  of  the  last  papal  invitation,  replied  that  she 
had  made  peace  with  the  Sultan,  and  confirmed  the  suspicion  that  she 
was  in  secret  understanding  with  the  Turk.  Her  next  step  emphasised 
the  further  suspicion  that  her  object  in  coming  to  terms  with  the  Turk 
had  been  to  allow  herself  a  free  hand  to  extend  in  Italy. 

We  have  seen  that  in  1441  Venice  had  occupied  Ravenna  —  under 
protest  from  Rome  —  as  heir  of  the  Polentani,  Lords  of  Ravenna.  She 
now  (1481)  attacked  the  Marquis  of  Ferrara  on  the  ground  that  he  was 
infringing  a  Venetian  monopoly  by  the  erection  of  salt-pans  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Po.  As  the  territory  of  Ferrara  lay  between  the  Venetian  frontier 
and  Ravenna  it  looked  as  if  Venice  desired  to  unite  her  possessions  in 
that  direction  by  the  acquisition  of  Ferrara.  This  policy  induced  the 
Duke  of  Milan,  the  Pope,  and  the  King  of  Naples  to  combine  in  support 
of  Ferrara  against  Venice.  The  War  was  popular  with  the  Venetians  at 
first,  but  the  strain  on  both  treasury  and  private  purses  soon  became 
insupportable,  and  no  success  crowned  the  Venetian  arms.  The  distressed 
condition  of  the  Republic  is  described  by  Malipiero.  Payment  of  the 
interest  on  the  funds  was  partially  suspended ;  the  shops  on  the  Rialto 
were  mortgaged ;  private  plate  and  jewellery  compulsorily  called  in ; 
salaries  cut  down.  The  revenue  from  the  mainland  was  falling  off.  The 
arsenal  was  nearly  empty.  Famine  and  plague  were  at  the  door.  "  We 
shall  be  forced  to  sue  for  peace  and  restore  all  we  have  gained." 

Malipiero  was  partially  right.  Venice  was  forced  to  sue  for  peace, 
but  not  till  she  had  taken  the  ruinous  step  (which  other  Italian  princes 
took  before  and  after  her)  of  suggesting  to  the  French  that  they  should 
make  good  their  claims  on  certain  Italian  provinces,  —  Charles  VIII 
his  claim  on  Naples,  the  Duke  of  Orleans  his  claims  on  Milan.  Two 
members  of  the  hostile  League,  ^lilan  and  Naples,  were  thus  threatened 
in  their  own  possessions,  with  the  result  that  peace  was  concluded  at 
Bagnolo  in  1484.  Venice  retained  Rovigo  and  the  Polesinc,  but  was 
forced  to  surrender  the  towns  she  had  taken  in  Apulia  during  the  course 
of  the  War. 

This  invitation  to  foreigners  was  fatal  to  all  Italian  princes,  as 
events  were  soon  to  demonstrate.  The  five  Great  Powers  of  Italy, 
Venice,  Milan,  Florence,  the  Pope,  and  Naples,  were  able  to  hold  their 
own  against  each  other,  but  the  moment  the  more  potent  ultra- 
montane sovereigns  appeared  upon  the  scene,  nominally  in  support  of 
one  or  other  of  the  Italian  States,  really  in  pursuit  of  their  own 
aggrandisement,  the  balance  was  irretrievably  upset.  The  sequence  of 
these  events,  culminating  in  the  Wars  of  the  League  of  Cambray,  after 
which  Venice  never  again  recovered  her  commanding  place  among  the 
political  communities  of  Europe,  has  been  narrated  in  a  previous  Chapter. 


CHAPTER  IX 


GEKMANY  AND  THE  EMPIEE 

It  is  a  commonplace  to  contrast  the  political  condition  of  Germany 
on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation  with  that  of  the  great  national  States  of 
Western  Europe.  In  Germany  the  dangerous  confusion  of  the  national 
monarchy  with  the  tradition  of  the  Roman  Empire  had  continued  fatal 
to  the  German  Kingdom,  even  after  the  imperial  idea  had  ceased  to 
exert  any  commanding  influence  over  men's  minds.  The  royal  power 
in  consequence  became  the  merest  shadow  of  its  former  self.  Central 
organisation  ceased  to  exist.  Private  war  and  general  anarchy  were 
chronic.  The  national  life  waxed  cold,  when  uncherished  by  a  strong 
national  monarchy ;  and  in  the  end  salvation  was  to  come  from  the 
development  of  the  rude  feudal  nobility  of  the  Middle  Ages  into  an 
order  of  small  independent  rulers,  so  extraordinarily  tenacious  of  their 
sovereign  rank  that  more  than  a  score  of  them  have  preserved  it  even 
amidst  the  changed  conditions  of  the  nineteenth  century.  While  in 
France,  Spain,  and  England  national  monarchies,  both  autocratic  and 
popular,  were  establishing  national  unity,  ordered  progress,  and  strong 
administration,  Germany  was  forced  to  content  herself  with  the  loosest 
and  most  impotent  of  federal  governments. 

Looking  at  the  course  of  German  history  in  the  fifteenth  century 
with  knowledge  of  what  happened  later,  it  would  be  hard  to  deny  the 
strength  of  this  contrast.  Yet  there  was  no  very  great  or  essential  dis- 
similarity between  the  condition  of  Germany  under  Frederick  III  and 
that  of  the  France  of  the  Armagnac  and  Burgundian  feuds.  The  ele- 
ments of  political  life  were  in  each  case  the  same.  There  was  a  monarchy 
whose  great  history  was  still  remembered  even  in  the  days  of  its  im- 
potence and  ruin.  There  was  a  real  sense  of  national  life,  a  consciousness 
so  strong  that  it  could  bend  even  the  selfish  instincts  of  feudal  nobles 
into  cherishing  an  ambition  wider  and  more  patriotic  than  that  of  mak- 
ing themselves  little  kings  over  their  own  patrimony.  The  strongest 
of  the  German  feudal  houses  was  less  well  organised  on  a  separatist 
basis  than  the  Duchy  of  Britanny  or  the  Duchy  of  Burgundy.  And 
few  indeed  of  them  could  base  their  power  on  any  keenly  felt  local  or 

288 


The  German  monarchy 


289 


national  tradition,  or  upon  anything  more  solid  than  the  habit  of  respect 
for  an  ancient  house.  Moreover,  the  ecclesiastical  States  might  have 
been,  and  both  the  small  nobility  and  the  wealthy,  numerous,  and 
active  free  towns  actu^^lly  were,  permanent  counterpoises  to  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  the  greater  feudatories  in  a  way  to  which  French  history 
supplies  no  parallel.  All  medieval  history  shows  how  the  possibilities 
of  despotism  lurked  even  in  the  most  decrepit  of  feudal  monarchies,  and 
how  the  most  disorderly  of  feudal  barons  could  be  constrained  to  use 
their  swords  to  further  national  ends. 

Even  in  its  worst  decay  the  German  kingship  still  counted  for 
something.  ''The  King  of  the  Romans,"  as  the  German  King  was 
styled  before  the  papal  coronation  gave  him  the  right  to  call  himself 
"  Roman  Emperor,"  was  still  the  first  of  earthly  potentates  in  dignity 
and  rank.  The  effective  intervention  in  European  affairs  of  a  German 
King  so  powerless  as  Sigismund  of  Luxemburg  would  have  been  impos- 
sible but  for  the  authority  still  associated  with  the  imperial  name.  The 
German  Kings  had  indeed  no  longer  a  direct  royal  domain  such  as 
gave  wealth  and  dignity  to  the  Kings  of  France  or  England.  They  were 
equally  destitute  of  the  regular  and  ample  revenue  which  ancient  cus- 
tom or  the  direct  grant  of  the  Estates  allowed  the  Kings  of  France  and 
England  to  levy  in  every. part  of  their  dominions.  But  the  habit  was 
now  established  of  electing  on  each  occasion  a  powerful  reigning  prince  as 
Emperor,  and  a  virtually  hereditary  empire  was  secured  for  the  House  of 
Luxemburg  and  afterwards  for  its  heir  and  sometime  rival,  the  House  of 
Habsburg.  The  Emperors  thus  possessed  in  their  personal  territories 
some  compensation  for  their  lack  of  imperial  domain  proper.  And  feudal- 
ism was  still  sufficiently  alive  in  Germany  to  make  the  traditional  feudal 
sources  of  income  a  real  if  insufficient  substitute  for  grants  and  taxes 
of  the  more  modern  type.  The  imperial  Chancery  issued  no  writ  or 
charter  without  exacting  heavy  fees.  No  family  compact  between 
members  of  a  reigning  house,  no  agreement  of  eventual  succession  between 
neighbouring  princes,  was  regarded  as  legitimate  without  such  dearly 
purchased  royal  sanction.  Even  where  the  Emperor's  direct  power  was 
slight  his  influence  was  very  considerable.  He  no  longer  controlled 
ecclesiastical  elections  with  a  high  hand;  but  there  were  few  bishoprics 
or  abbeys  in  which  he  had  not  as  good  a  chance  of  directing  the 
course  of  events  as  the  strongest  of  the  local  lords,  and  his  influence 
was  spread  over  all  Germany,  while  the  prince  was  powerless  outside  of 
his  own  neighbourhood.  All  over  Germany  numerous  knights,  nobles, 
ecclesiastics,  and  lawyers  looked  forward  to  the  Emperor's  service  as  a 
career,  and  hope  of  future  imperial  favour  often  induced  them  to  do 
their  best  to  further  the  imperial  policy.  If  indirect  pressure  of  this 
sort  did  not  prevail,  the  Roman  Court  more  often  than  not  lent  its 
powerful  aid  towards  enforcing  imperial  wishes.  There  was  no  great 
danger  that  the  feeble  monarchs  of  this  period  would  excite  general 

C.  M.  H.  I.  19 


290 


The  Diet  of  the  Empire 


opposition  by  flagrant  attacks  on  the  traditional  authority  of  their 
vassals ;  and  in  smaller  matters  it  was  more  to  the  interest  even  of  the 
greater  princes  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  Caesar,  than  to  provoke  his 
hostility  by  wanton  and  arbitrary  opposition  to  his^ wishes. 

Another  weighty  advantage  accrued  to  the  German  monarch  from 
the  circumstance  that  his  chief  rivals  were  every  whit  as  badly  off 
in  dealing  with  their  vassals  as  he  was  with  his.  The  well-ordered 
territorial  sovereignties  of  a  later  generation  had  not  yet  come  into 
existence.  The  strongest  of  the  imperial  vassals  were  still  feudal  lords 
and  not  sovereign  princes.  The  resources  at  their  disposal  were  those 
of  a  great  feudal  proprietor  rather  than  those  of  an  independent  ruler. 
Outside  their  own  domains  they  had  few  means  of  exercising  any  real 
power.  Their  vassals  were  as  hard  to  keep  in  hand  as  they  were  them- 
selves impatient  of  control  by  their  sovereign.  When  even  the  imperial 
Court  was  destitute  of  the  appliances  of  a  modern  State,  the  smaller 
princes  could  only  govern  in  a  still  ruder  and  more  primitive  fashion. 
Their  revenue  was  uncertain  ;  their  means  of  raising  money  were  utterly 
inadequate  ;  their  army  consisted  of  rude  feudal  levies ;  and  they  had  no 
police,  no  civil  or  diplomatic  service.  Although  they  could  be  trusted  to 
struggle  stoutly  and  unscrupulously  for  their  immediate  interests,  they 
were  the  last  body  of  men  to  frame  a  general  policy  or  depart  from 
their  traditional  principles  in  order  to  suit  the  temper  of  the  coming 
age.  The  very  numerous  small  princes  were  infinitely  worse  off  than 
their  greater  brethren.  The  free  towns,  though  much  better  able  to 
protect  themselves  than  the  weaker  princes,  were  powerless  for  aggression. 

The  Diet  of  the  Empire  (Reichstag')  was  the  ancient  and  traditional 
council  of  the  Emperor.  It  remained  a  purely  feudal  body  in  which  none 
save  tenants-in-chief  (Reichsunmittelhare)  had  any  right  to  appear.  Its 
powers  were  sufficiently  extensive,  but  its  constitution  was  only  very 
gradually  settled,  and  there  was  no  real  means  of  carrying  out  its  reso- 
lutions. The  method  of  its  convocation  was  extraordinarily  cumbrous. 
Besides  sending  out  regular  writs,  it  was  the  custom  for  the  Emperor 
to  despatch  various  officials  throughout  the  Empire  to  request  the 
magnates'  personal  appearance  at  the  Diet.  In  the  case  of  the  more 
important  princes,  this  process  was  often  several  times  repeated.  Yet  it 
was  seldom,  save  perhaps  at  the  first  Diet  of  a  new  King  or  when  business 
of  extraordinary  importance  was  to  be  discussed,  that  many  princes  con- 
descended to  appear  in  person.  In  their  absence  they  were  represented 
by  commissioners,  who  often  delayed  proceedings  by  referring  to  their 
principals  all  questions  on  which  they  had  not  been  sufficiently 
instructed.  This  habit  was  so  strong  with  the  delegates  of  the 
towns  that  it  seriously  delayed  their  recognition  as  an  Estate  of  the 
realm,  which  they  had  claimed  as  a  right  more  than  fifty  years  before  it 
was  formally  conceded.  When  the  preliminaries  were  over,  there  was 
always,  in  consequence  of  the  lateness  of  the  appearance  of  some  of 


The  Electoral  College 


291 


the  representatives,  a  considerable  delay  before  proceedings  could  be 
opened.  Very  often  the  early  comers  went  home  before  the  last  arrivals 
appeared  at  all.  Proceedings  began  when  the  Emperor  or  his  commis- 
sioners laid  the  royal  proposition  before  the  Estates.  For  ordinary 
debates  the  Diet  was  divided  into  three  curiae^  colleges,  or  Estates.  But 
it  was  not  until  1489  that  the  Estate  of  the  free  and  imperial  towns 
definitely  secured  its  right  to  appear  in  all  Diets  beside  the  higher 
Estates  of  Electors  and  princes.  Procedure  was  extraordinarily  compli- 
cated and  cumbrous.  It  was  not  until  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century 
that  such  elementary  principles  as  the  right  of  the  majority  to  bind  a 
minority,  or  the  obligation  of  absent  members  to  abide  by  the  pro- 
ceedings of  those  that  were  present,  were  definitely  established.  It  was 
often  after  many  months'  discussion  that  the  imperial  recess  (^AbseMed) 
was  issued,  which  concluded  the  proceedings ;  and  the  great  expense 
involved  in  prolonged  residence  at  the  seat  of  the  Diet  was  a  real  burden 
even  on  the  richest  princes.  In  all  the  colleges  voting  was  by  indi- 
viduals; but  so  personal  was  the  right  of  representation,  that  the 
splitting  up  of  a  principality  among  the  sons  of  a  prince  gave  each  ruler 
of  a  part  a  voice  equal  to  that  of  the  ruler  of  the  whole.  The  smaller 
tenants-in-chief,  the  imperial  knights,  were  not  regarded  as  an  Estate  of 
the  Empire  and  were  excluded  from  all  part  in  the  Diet.  Neither  the 
custom  which  secured  that  the  voting  power  of  a  much  divided  house 
should  be  no  greater  than  that  of  a  family  whose  power  was  vested  in  a 
single  hand,  nor  that  which  gave  only  collective  votes  to  the  counts, 
prelates,  and  towns,  had  as  yet  sprung  into  existence. 

The  incompetence  and  costliness  of  the  Diet  made  it  very  ineffective 
in  practice.  The  Emperors  hesitated  to  convoke  an  assembly  which,  by 
its  theoretical  powers,  might  effectually  tie  their  hands,  while  the  Estates 
were  averse  to  wasting  time  and  money  in  fruitless  and  unending  delib- 
erations. Side  by  side  with  the  constitutional  representation  of  the 
Empire,  divers  local  and  private  organisations  had  gradually  come  into 
being  to  discharge  efficiently  some  at  least  of  the  duties  that  the  Estates 
were  incompetent  to  perform.  The  oldest  among  these  was  the  meeting 
of  the  six  Electors  QKurfiirstentag).  Of  these  high  dignitaries  the 
three  Archbishops  of  Mainz,  Cologne,  and  Trier  and  the  Count  Palatine 
of  the  Rhine  commonly  acted  together,  while  the  two  eastern  Electors, 
the  Duke  of  Saxony  and  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg,  had  more 
discordant  interests.  The  seventh  Elector,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  was 
excluded  as  a  foreigner  from  all  electoral  functions  save  the  actual  choice 
of  the  King.  The  Grolden  Bull  of  1356  had  given  privileges  which  raised 
the  Electors  above  their  brother  princes  into  the  first  Estate  of  the 
Empire.  They  had  such  full  jurisdiction  over  their  territories  that  it 
became  the  ideal  of  all  other  princes  to  obtain  the  electoral  privileges. 
Succession  to  their  lands  was  to  go  by  primogeniture,  and  every  Easter 
they  were  to  hold  an  electoral  Diet.     Regular  yearly  meetings  of  the 


292 


The  Leagues  and  Unions 


Electors  as  prescribed  by  the  Crolden  Bull  did  not  become  the  fashion, 
but  the  habit  of  common  deliberation  became  firmly  established,  and  the 
carelessness  of  the  Luxemburg  Emperors,  as  to  all  matters  not  affecting 
their  hereditary  dominions,  gave  the  Electoral  College  an  opportunity  of 
playing  a  foremost  part  in  national  history.  The  Electors  claimed  to  be 
the  successors  of  the  Eoman  Senate,  if  not  the  representatives  of  the 
Roman  people  as  well.  The  attitude  of  a  Wenceslas,  a  Sigismund,  or  a 
Frederick  made  possible  a  real  sharing  of  the  functions  of  government 
between  Emperor  and  Senate,  such  as  is  imagined  to  have  existed  in  the 
primitive  division  of  power  between  Augustus  and  the  Senate  of  his  day. 
The  six  Electors  deposed  the  incompetent  King  Wenceslas  in  1399, 
and  formed  in  1424  the  Electoral  Union  (^Kurfurstenverein)  of  Bingen 
in  which  they  pledged  themselves  and  their  successors  to  speak  with 
one  voice  in  all  imperial  affairs.  Fourteen  years  later  the  same  Electoral 
Union  was  strong  enough  to  adopt  for  imperial  elections  the  precedent, 
already  commonly  set  in  ecclesiastical  elections,  of  prescribing  the  direc- 
tion of  the  policy  of  their  nominee.  The  conditions  imposed  on  Albert  II 
before  his  election  prepared  the  way  for  the  formal  Wahlhapitulation 
which  assumes  so  great  an  importance  in  imperial  history  with  the 
election  of  Charles  V  in  1519.  In  the  same  way  it  was  the  close  under- 
standing between  the  Electors  that  made  possible  the  programme  of 
imperial  reformation  championed  by  Berthold  of  Mainz.  It  was  only 
after  grave  differences  of  policy  had  permanently  divided  the  Electors 
that  Berthold's  dream  of  a  united  Germany  became  impossible. 

Less  constitutional  were  the  extra-legal  combinations  of  those  minor 
Estates  whose  members  found  that  without  corporate  union  they  were 
powerless  to  resist  their  stronger  neighbours.  Before  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century  the  Imperial  Knights  had  formed  a  number  of  clubs 
or  unions,  each  with  its  captain,  and  regular  assemblies,  to  which 
King  Sigismund  had  given  a  formal  legitimation.  Of  these  the  most 
important  v/ere  the  Knights  of  St  George,  an  organisation  of  the  chivalry 
of  Swabia  which  took  conspicuous  part  in  creating  the  Swabian  League. 
Even  earlier  were  the  associations  of  the  towns.  Of  the  unions  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  the  Hanse  League  alone  remained,  and  this  was  now 
steadily  on  the  decline.  But  the  southern  and  western  cities  formed 
local  leagues  with  periodical  deliberative  assemblies.  In  course  of 
time  other  general  Diets  of  town  representatives  were  established. 
Even  after  the  cities  had  definitively  won  their  right  to  a  limited  rep- 
resentation in  the  Diets  these  meetings  continued,  being  held  often,  for 
the  saving  of  expense  and  trouble,  side  by  side  with  the  imperial 
assemblies.  It  was  well  for  the  princes  that  the  antagonism  of  knights 
and  cities  was  as  a  rule  too  strong  to  enable  them  to  work  together. 
The  strength  of  the  Swabian  League  was  in  no  small  measure  due  to 
the  fact  that  towns  and  knights  had  both  cooperated  with  the  princes  in 
its  formation. 


The  need  for  imperial  reform 


293 


Neither  Emperors,  nor  Diets,  nor  the  voluntary  associations  of  classes 
and  districts  sufficed  to  give  peace  and  prosperity  to  the  Empire.  The 
unwieldy  fabric  had  outgrown  its  ancient  organisation  and  no  new  system 
had  arisen  capable  of  supplying  its  needs.  Every  aspect  of  fifteenth 
century  history  shows  how  overwhelming  and  immediate  a  need  existed 
for  thoroughgoing  and  organic  reform.  The  area  of  imperial  influence 
was  steadily  diminishing.  Italy  no  longer  saw  in  the  Emperor  any  one 
but  a  foreigner,  who  could  sometimes  serve  the  turn  of  an  ambitious  upstart 
by  selling  him  a  lawful  title  of  honour  that  raised  him  in  the  social  scale 
of  European  rulers.  Even  the  Hundred  Years'  War  did  not  prevent  the 
spread  of  French  influence  over  the  Middle  Kingdom,  and  the  Arelate  was 
now  no  more  an  integral  part  of  the  Empire  than  was  Italy.  But  parts 
of  the  old  German  kingdom  were  falling  away.  The  outposts  of  Teutonic 
civilization  in  the  east  were  losing  all  connexion  with  the  Power  which 
had  established  them.  Imperfect  as  the  union  established  between  the 
Scandinavian  kingdoms  at  Calmar  proved  to  be,  it  had  dealt  a  mighty 
blow  to  the  power  of  the  Hansa,  wdiile  the  choice  of  the  Danish  king  as 
Duke  of  Schleswig  and  Count  of  Holstein  had  practically  extended  the 
Scandinavian  Power  to  the  banks  of  the  Elbe.  In  the  north-east  the 
Teutonic  Knights  had  been  forced  by  the  Treaty  of  Thorn  to  surrender 
West  Prussia  to  the  Polish  kings  outright,  and  to  hold  as  a  fief  of  the 
Slavonic  kingdom  such  part  of  Prussia  as  the  Poles  still  allowed  them  to 
rule.  Bohemia  under  George  Podiebrad  had  become  an  almost  purely 
Slavonic  State,  whose  unfriendliness  to  German  nationality  and  orthodox 
Catholicism  might  well  threaten  the  renewal  of  those  devastating  Huss- 
ite invasions  from  which  Germany  had  been  saved  by  the  Council  of 
Basel.  In  Hungary  German  influence  had  disappeared  with  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  House  of  Luxemburg ;  the  Magyar  King  Matthias  Corvinus 
conquered  the  Duchy  of  Austria  from  the  Habsburg  Emperor,  and  died 
master  of  Vienna.  The  Swiss  Confederacy  was  gradually  drifting  into 
hostility  to  the  Empire ;  and  the  House  of  Burgundy  was  building  up  a 
great  separatist  State  in  the  Low  Dutch  and  Walloon  provinces  of  the 
Netherlands.  The  utter  defencelessness  of  Germany  was  seen  by  the 
devastations  of  the  Armagnacs  in  Elsass.  No  prince  of  the  Empire 
arrested  their  progress.  The  stubborn  heroism  of  the  Swiss  League 
alone  stayed  the  plague.  And  beyond  all  these  dangers  loomed  the 
terrible  spectre  of  Ottoman  aggression. 

Matters  were  equally  unsatisfactory  in  the  heart  of  Germany. 
Private  war  raged  unchecked,  and  the  feeble  efforts  made  from  time  to 
time  to  secure  the  Public  Peace  (^Landfriede)  were  made  fruitless  by 
the  absence  of  any  real  executive  authority.  The  robber  knights  way- 
laid traders,  and  great  princes  did  not  scruple  to  abet  such  lawlessness. 
The  very  preservation  of  the  Public  Peace  had  long  ceased  to  be  the 
concern  of  the  Emperor  and  Empire  as  a  whole,  and  local  and  voluntary 
unions  (^Landfriedensvereine)  had  sought  with  but  scant  result  to  uphold 


294 


The  policy  of  Frederick  III 


it  within  the  limits  of  local  and  precarious  conditions.  The  lack  of 
imperial  justice  brought  about  such  grave  evils  that  the  Estates  sought 
to  provide  some  sort  of  substitute  for  it  by  private  agreements  (^Aus- 
trdge)  referring  disputed  matters  to  arbitration,  and  by  that  quaint 
etiquette  which  made  it  a  breach  of  propriety  for  a  prince  to  prefer  the 
solemn  judgment  of  his  suzerain  to  such  arbitration  of  his  neighbours. 
The  beginnings  of  an  economic  revolution  threatened  the  ancient  rude 
prosperity  of  the  peasant,  and  embittered  the  relations  of  class  and  class 
within  the  towns. 

The  need  for  reform  was  patent.  From  what  source  however  was  the 
improvement  to  come  ?  Little  was  to  be  expected  from  the  Emperors. 
Yet  even  the  careless  Wenceslas  of  Bohemia  had  prepared  the  way  for 
better  things  when  he  not  only  renewed  once  more  the  publication  of  a 
universal  La7idfriede^  but  also  invested  with  imperial  authority  the  local 
assemblies  representative  of  the  various  Estates  that  were  entrusted  with 
its  execution.  Things  were  worse  under  Sigismund  (1410-37),  who 
could  find  no  middle  course  between  fantastic  schemes  for  the  regene- 
ration of  the  universe  and  selfish  plans  for  the  aggrandisement  of  his 
own  house.  When  his  inheritance  passed  to  his  son-in-law  Albert  II 
of  Austria  (1438-9),  the  union  of  the  rival  houses  of  Habsburg  and 
Luxemburg  at  least  secured  for  the  ruler  a  strong  family  position  such 
as  was  the  essential  preliminary  for  the  revival  of  the  imperial  power. 
Albert  IFs  device  for  securing  the  general  Public  Peace  of  Germany 
rested  upon  an  extension  and  development  of  the  local  executive  authori- 
ties, and  thus  contained  the  germ  of  the  future  system  of  dividing  the 
Empire  into  great  territorial  circumscriptions  known  as  Circles  (^Kreise)^ 
destined  ultimately  to  become  one  of  the  most  lasting  of  imperial  institu- 
tions. But  Albert  passed  away  before  he  was  so  much  as  able  to  visit  the 
Empire,  and  in  the  long  reign  of  his  kinsman  and  successor  Frederick  III 
(1440-93)  the  imperial  authority  sunk  down  to  its  lowest  point.  A 
cold,  phlegmatic,  slow,  and  unenterprising  prince,  Frederick  of  Austria 
busied  himself  with  no  great  plans  of  reform  or  aggression,  but  seemed 
absorbed  in  gardening,  in  alchemy,  and  in  astrology,  rather  than  in 
affairs  of  State.  Under  his  nerveless  rule  the  Luxemburg  claims 
over  Bohemia  and  Hungary  passed  utterly  away.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  Habsburg  hereditary  lands,  including  Tyrol  and  the  scattered 
Swabian  estates,  were  ruled  by  a  rival  branch  of  the  ruling  house  repre- 
sented by  the  Archduke  Sigismund,  while  Austria  itself  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Matthias  Corvinus.  Yet  in  his  cautious  and  slow-minded  fashion 
Frederick  was  by  no  means  lacking  in  ability  and  foresight.  If  he  were 
indifferent  to  the  Empire,  he  looked  beyond  the  present  distress  of  his 
house  to  a  time  when  politic  marriages  and  cunningly  devised  treaties 
of  eventual  succession  would  make  Austria  a  real  ruler  of  the  world. 
Even  for  the  Empire  he  did  a  little  by  his  proclamations  of  a  general 
Landfriede^  while  his  settlement  of  the  ecclesiastical  relations  of  Germany 


1477] 


The  Burgimdian  marriage 


295 


after  the  failure  of  the  Conciliar  movement  at  Basel  implied,  with  all  its 
renunciation  of  high  ideals,  the  establishment  of  a  workable  system  that 
kept  the  peace  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Reformation.  The  Vienna 
Concordat  of  1448  put  an  end  to  that  tendency  towards  the  nationali- 
sation of  the  German  Church  which  had  been  promoted  so  powerfully 
by  the  attitude  of  the  prelates  of  the  German  nation  at  the  Council  of 
Constance,  and  which  had  been  maintained  so  long  when,  under  the 
guidance  of  Emperor  and  Electors,  the  Germans  had  upheld  their 
neutrality  between  both  the  disorderly  fathers  at  Basel  and  the  grasping 
papal  Curia  at  Rome.  In  the  long  run  this  nationalising  tendency  must 
have  extended  itself  from  ecclesiastical  to  political  matters.  Even  in 
the  decline  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  union  within  the  Church  might 
well  have  prepared  the  way  to  the  union  of  the  State.  In  accepting 
a  modus  vivendi  which  gave  the  Pope  greater  opportunities  than  now 
remained  to  the  Emperor  of  exercising  jurisdiction  and  levying  taxation 
in  Germany,  Frederick  proved  himself  a  better  friend  to  immediate 
peace  than  to  the  development  of  a  national  German  State. 

Three  signal  successes  gilded  the  end  of  Frederick's  long  reign.  The 
power  of  the  House  of  Burgundy  threatened  to  withdraw  the  richest  and 
most  industrial  parts  of  the  Empire  from  the  central  authority.  But  the 
sluggish  Emperor  and  the  inert  Empire  were  at  last  roused  to  alarm,  when 
Charles  the  Bold  made  the  attack  on  their  territory  that  began  with 
the  siege  of  Neuss.  It  was  an  omen  of  real  possibilities  for  the  future 
when  a  great  imperial  army  gathered  together  to  relieve  the  burghers  of 
the  Rhenish  town.  The  "  New  League  "  of  the  Alsatian  cities  which  was 
formed  to  ward  off  Charles'  southern  aggressions  was  a  step  in  the  same 
direction.  And  even  the  "Old  League  "  of  the  Swiss  Highlanders,  which 
finally  destroyed  the  Burgundian  power,  was  not  as  yet  avowedly 
anti-German  in  its  policy.  But,  as  in  Church  affairs,  Frederick 
stepped  in  between  the  nation  and  its  goal.  At  the  moment  of  the 
threatened  ruin  of  his  ancient  enemy's  plans,  he  cleverly  negotiated 
the  marriage  of  his  son  Maximilian  with  Mary,  the  heiress  of  Charles 
the  Bold.  Soon  after  the  last  Duke  of  Burgundy  had  fallen  at  Nancy, 
Maximilian  obtained  with  the  hand  of  his  daughter  the  many  rich 
provinces  of  the  Netherlands  and  the  Free  County  of  Burgundy  (1477). 
It  was  not  however  for  the  sake  of  Germany  or  the  Empire  that 
Frederick  sought  a  new  sphere  of  influence  for  his  son.  The  Burgundian 
inheritance  remained  as  particularistic  and  as  anti-German  under  the 
Habsburgs  as  it  had  ever  been  under  Valois  rule.  But  the  future 
fortunes  of  Austria  were  established  by  an  acquisition  which  more  than 
compensated  the  dynasty  for  the  loss  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia. 

The  other  late  successes  of  Frederick  were  likewise  triumphs  of  Aus- 
tria rather  than  victories  of  the  Empire.  The  Duke  of  Bavaria-Munich 
had  profited  by  the  internal  dissensions  of  the  House  of  Habsburg 
and  won  the  good-will  of  the  aged  Archduke  Sigismund  of  Tyrol.  It 


296  The  House  of  Wittelshach  and  Frederick  the  Victorious 


was  arranged  that,  on  Sigismund's  death  without  legitimate  issue,  Tyrol 
and  the  Swabian  and  Rhenish  Habsburg  lands  should  pass  to  the  lord  of 
Munich.  Frederick  bitterly  resented  this  treason,  but  alone  he  could 
hardly  have  prevented  its  accomplishment.  Yet  the  prospect  of  such  an 
extraordinary  extension  of  the  Wittelsbach  power  frightened  every  petty 
potentate  of  Bavaria  and  Swabia.  In  1487  the  princes  and  bishops, 
abbots  and  counts,  knights  and  cities  of  Upper  Germany  united  to 
form  the  Swabian  League,  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  Emperor 
and  to  prevent  the  union  of  Bavaria  and  Tyrol.  Its  action  was  irre- 
sistible. Tyrol  passed  quietly  under  Frederick's  direct  rule,  and  an 
armed  Power  was  set  up  in  the  south  which  enormously  strengthened 
the  effective  authority  of  the  Emperor.  The  subsequent  expulsion  of 
the  Hungarians  from  Vienna  after  the  death  of  Matthias  (1490),  followed 
as  it  was  by  a  renewal  of  the  ancient  contracts  of  eventual  succession 
with  Wladislav  of  Bohemia,  who  now  succeeded  Matthias  in  Hungary, 
restored  the  might  of  Habsburg  in  the  east  as  effectively  as  the 
Burgundian  marriage  had  extended  it  in  the  west.  It  was  characteristic 
of  the  old  Emperor  that  he  grudged  his  son  any  real  share  in  his 
newly  won  power.  The  third  Habsburg  triumph,  the  election  of  Maxi- 
milian as  King  of  the  Romans,  was  carried  through  the  Diet  of  1486  in 
despite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Emperor.  In  consequence  Maximilian 
entered  upon  his  public  career,  as  the  leader  of  the  opposition,  and  as 
favouring  the  plans  of  imperial  reform  to  which  Frederick  had  long 
turned  a  deaf  ear. 

The  purely  dynastic  ambitions  of  Frederick  were  reflected  in  the 
policy  of  the  strongest  princes  of  the  Empire.  We  have  seen  how  anti- 
German  were  the  ideals  of  such  great  imperial  vassals  as  Charles  the 
Bold  of  Burgundy,  and  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria.  Equally  anti-national 
was  the  policy  of  the  elder  or  Palatine  branch  of  the  Wittelsbach  House, 
then  represented  by  the  Elector  Frederick  the  Victorious  (1449-76). 
A  magnificent  and  ambitious  ruler,  who  gathered  round  his  Court  doctors 
of  Roman  law  and  early  exponents  of  German  humanism,  Frederick 
pursued  his  selfish  aims  with  something  of  the  strength  and  ability  as 
well  as  with  something  of  the  recklessness  and  unscrupulousness  of  the 
Italian  despot.  He  made  friends  with  the  Cech  Podiebrad  and  with 
the  Frenchman  Charles  of  Burgundy.  He  was  not  ashamed  to  lure  on  the 
Bohemian  with  the  prospects  of  the  Imperial  Crown,  and  anticipated  the 
Emperor  E'rederick's  boldest  stroke  in  his  scheme  to  marry  his  nephew 
Philip  to  Mary  of  Burgundy.  Not  even  Albert  IV  of  Munich  was  more 
clearly  the  enemy  of  the  Empire  than  his  kinsman  the  "  Wicked  Fritz.'* 
The  dominions  of  the  Elector  Palatine  were  indeed  scattered  and  limited. 
Yet  he  was  not  only  the  strongest  but  the  most  successful  of  the  imperial 
vassals  of  his  time.  The  failure  of  his  dearest  projects  showed  that  the 
day  of  princely  autocracy  had  not  yet  come. 

Two  great  families  had  won  a  prominent  position  in  northern 


The  Houses  of  Hohenzollern  and  Wettin  297 


Germany  in  the  early  years  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  had  somewhat 
pushed  aside  more  ancient  houses,  such  as  the  Guelfs  of  Brunswick,  whose 
habit  of  subdividing  their  territories  for  a  long  time  grievously  weakened 
their  influence.  The  financial  distress  of  the  Emperor  Sigismund  had 
forced  him  to  pledge  his  early  acquisition,  Brandenburg,  to  the  wealthy 
and  practical  Frederick  of  Hohenzollern,  who  as  Burgrave  of  Niirnberg 
was  already  lord  of  Kulmbach  and  of  a  considerable  territory  in  Upper 
Franconia.  Despairing  of  redeeming  his  debt,  Sigismund  was  in  1417 
compelled  to  acquiesce  in  the  permanent  establishment  of  that  house 
in  the  electorate  of  Brandenburg.  Albert  Achilles,  Frederick's  younger 
son,  had  shown  in  his  long  strife  against  Niirnberg  and  the  Wittels- 
bachs  rare  skill  as  a  warrior  and  shrewd  ability  as  a  statesman,  even 
when  his  material  resources  were  limited  to  his  ancestral  Kulmbach 
possessions.  Called  to  the  electoral  dignity  in  Brandenburg  after  his 
brother  Frederick  II's  death  in  1471,  Albert  held  a  position  among  the 
northern  princes  only  paralleled  by  that  of  Frederick  of  the  Palatinate 
among  the  lords  of  the  Rhine.  As  long  as  he  lived  he  made  his  influence 
felt  through  his  rare  personal  gifts,  his  courage,  and  his  craft,  and  his 
fantastic  combination  of  the  ideals  of  the  knight-errant  with  those  of  the 
statesman  of  the  Renaissance.  The  welfare  of  Germany  as  a  whole 
appealed  to  him  almost  as  little  as  to  Frederick  the  Victorious.  All  his 
pride  was  in  the  extension  of  the  power  of  his  house,  and  his  most 
famous  act  was  perhaps  that  Dispositio  Achillea  of  1473  which  secured 
the  future  indivisibility  of  the  whole  Mark  of  Brandenburg  and  its 
transmission  to  the  eldest  male  heir  by  right  of  primogeniture.  Yet 
Albert  died  half  conscious  that  his  ambition  had  been  ill-directed.  All 
projects  and  all  warlike  preparations,  declared  the  dying  hero,  were  of 
no  effect  so  long  as  Germany  as  a  whole  had  no  sound  peace,  no  good 
law  or  law-courts,  and  no  general  currency.  But  with  Albert's  death  in 
1486  the  power  of  Brandenburg,  based  purely  on  his  individuality,  ceased 
to  excite  any  alarm  among  the  princes  of  the  north. 

The  House  of  Wettin,  which  had  long  held  the  margravate  of 
Meissen,  acquired  with  the  district  of  Wittenberg  and  some  other 
fragments  of  the  ancient  Saxon  duchy,  the  electorate  and  duchy  of 
Saxony  (1423).  The  dignity  and  territories  of  the  House  now  made  it 
prominent  among  the  princes  of  Germany,  but  the  division  of  its  lands, 
finally  consummated  in  1485,  between  Ernest  and  Albert,  the  grandsons 
of  the  first  Wettin  Elector,  Frederick  the  Valiant,  limited  its  power. 
The  singular  moderation  and  the  conservative  instincts  of  the  Saxon 
line  saved  it  from  aspiring  to  rival  Albert  Achilles  or  Frederick  the 
Victorious.  The  most  illustrious  representative  of  the  Ernestine  House, 
Frederick  the  Wise,  who  became  Elector  in  1486,  was  perhaps  the  only 
prince  of  the  first  rank  who,  while  giving  general  support  to  the  Em- 
peror, ultimately  identified  himself  with  the  plans  of  imperial  reform 
which  were  now  finding  spokesmen  among  the  princes  of  the  second 


298 


The  small  princes^  counts^  and  knights 


class.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  princes  of  strongest  resources  and  most 
individual  character  were  precisely  those  who  were  most  quickly  realising 
the  ideals  of  localised  and  dynastic  sovereignty,  which,  in  the  next 
century,  became  the  common  ambition  of  German  rulers  of  every  rank. 

Though  the  power  of  the  strongest  of  the  German  princes  was  thus 
limited,  yet  it  was  in  regions  under  the  influence  of  such  great  feudatories 
that  the  nearest  approach  to  order  prevailed.  Habsburg  rule  in  the 
south-east,  Burgundian  rule  in  the  north-west,  were  establishing  settled 
States,  though  rather  at  the  expense  of  Germany  as  a  whole  than  by  way 
of  contributing  to  its  general  peace.  In  a  similar  fashion  Bavaria  and 
the  north-eastern  Marchland  between  Elbe  and  Oder  attained  com- 
parative prosperity  under  Wittelsbachs,  Wettins,  and  Hohenzollerns. 
But  in  the  other  parts  of  Germany  affairs  were  far  worse.  Even  in  the 
ancient  duchy  of  Saxony  the  dissipation  of  the  princely  power  had 
become  extreme :  but  the  Khineland,  Franconia,  and  Swabia  were  in  an 
even  more  unhappy  condition.  The  scattered  Estates  of  the  four  Rhenish 
Electors,  and  powers  such  as  Cleves  and  Hesse,  were  in  no  case  strong 
enough  to  preserve  general  order  in  the  Rhineland.  The  Elector  of 
Mainz,  the  bishops  of  Wiirzburg  and  Bamberg,  and  the  abbot  of  Fulda 
were,  save  the  Kulmbach  Hohenzollerns,  the  only  rulers  over  even  rela- 
tively considerable  territories  in  Franconia.  Wiirtemberg  and  Baden 
alone  broke  the  monotony  of  infinite  subdivision  in  Swabia.  The  char- 
acteristic powers  in  all  these  regions  were  rather  the  counts  and  the 
knights,  mere  local  lords  or  squires  with  full  or  partial  princely  authority 
over  their  petty  Estates.  In  such  regions  as  these  economic  prosperity 
and  ordered  civil  existence  depended  almost  entirely  on  the  number  and 
importance  of  the  free  imperial  cities. 

Neither  from  the  lesser  immediate  nobility  nor  from  the  city  commu- 
nities was  any  real  contribution  to  be  expected  towards  imperial  reform. 
The  counts  and  knights  were  too  poor,  too  numerous,  and  too  helpless,  to 
be  able  to  safeguard  even  their  own  interests.  Their  absurd  jealousies 
of  each  other,  their  feuds  with  the  princes  and  the  towns,  their  chronic 
policy  of  highway  robbery,  made  them  the  chief  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
that  general  Landfriede  which  had  been  proclaimed  so  often  but  never 
realised.  The  towns  were  almost  equally  incompetent  to  take  up  a 
general  national  policy.  They  were  indeed  wealthy,  numerous,  and  im- 
portant :  but  despite  their  unions  with  each  other  they  never  advanced 
towards  a  really  national  line  of  action.  Their  intense  local  patriotism 
narrowed  their  interest  to  the  region  immediately  around  their  walls, 
and  their  parochial  separatism  was  almost  as  intense  as  that  of  their 
natural  enemies  the  lesser  nobles.  While  they  had  thus  scanty  will  to 
act,  their  power  to  do  so  was  perhaps  much  less  than  is  often  imagined. 
Machiavelli's  glowing  eulogies  of  their  liberty  and  capacity  of  resistance 
has  misled  most  moderns  as  to  the  true  position  of  the  German  cities. 
In  no  way  is  their  position  comparable  to  that  of  the  towns  of  Italy. 


The  imperial  cities  ;  the  peasantry  299 


The  great  Italian  cities  largely  owed  their  political  influence  to  the  fact 
that  they  ruled  without  a  rival  over  districts  as  large  as  most  German 
principalities.  But  in  Germany  the  territory  of  many  of  the  strongest 
among  the  free  cities,  such  as  Augsburg,  was  almost  confined  to  the 
limits  of  their  city  walls.  There  were  very  few  towns  which  dominated 
so  wide  a  stretch  of  the  countryside  as  Niirnberg,  but  how  insignificant 
was  the  Niirnberg  territory  as  compared  with  that  of  Florence  !  Even 
the  population  and  wealth  of  the  German  towns  have  probably  been 
exaggerated.  Careful  statistical  investigation  suggests  that  none  of  the 
cities  of  upper  Germany  had  more  than  20,000  inhabitants,  and  those 
which  may  have  been  of  larger  size,  such  as  Cologne  or  Bremen  or  Liibeck, 
are  of  more  importance  in  the  commercial  than  in  the  political  history 
of  Germany.  Though  the  financiers  of  Augsburg  and  Frankfort,  and  the 
merchants  of  Niirnberg  or  Basel  or  Cologne,  were  acquiring  vast  wealth, 
building  palaces  for  their  residence  and  through  their  luxurious  ways 
raising  the  standard  of  civilisation  and  comfort  for  all  ranks  of  Germans, 
they  were  not  yet  in  a  position  so  much  as  to  aspire  to  political  direction. 
Yet  it  was  in  the  towns  only  that  there  could  be  found  any  non-noble 
class  with  even  the  faintest  interest  in  politics.  The  condition  of  the 
country  population  was  steadily  declining.  Feudalism  still  kept  the 
peasant  in  its  iron  grip,  and  the  rise  in  prices  which  opened  the  economic 
revolution  that  ushered  in  modern  times  was  now  beginning  to  destroy 
his  material  prosperity.  In  the  upper  Rhineland  the  condition  of  the 
agricultural  population  seems  to  have  been  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
French  peasantry  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution.  While  their 
Swiss  neighbours  were  free  and  prosperous,  the  peasant  of  Elsass  or  of  the 
Black  Forest  was  hardly  able  to  make  a  living  through  the  over-great 
subdivision  of  the  little  holdings.  It  was  in  this  region  that  the  repeated 
troubles  of  the  BundschuTi  and  the  revolts  of  "  Poor  Conrad  "  showed 
that  deep-seated  distress  had  led  to  the  propagation  of  socialistic  and 
revolutionary  schemes  among  men  desperate  enough  and  bold  enough 
to  seek  by  armed  force  a  remedy  for  their  wrongs.  Outside  this  region 
there  was  very  little  active  revolutionary  propaganda,  or  actual  peasant 
revolt.  However,  in  1515,  formidable  disturbances  broke  out  in  Styria 
and  the  neighbouring  districts. 

The  beginnings  of  a  more  national  policy  at  last  came  from  some  of 
the  princes  of  the  second  rank.  Counts,  knights,  towns,  and  peasants 
were  too  poor,  divided,  and  limited  in  their  views,  to  aim  at  common 
action.  But  among  the  princes  of  secondary  importance  were  men  too 
far-seeing  and  politic  to  adopt  a  merely  isolated  attitude,  while  their 
consciousness  of  the  limitation  of  their  resources  left  them  without  so 
much  as  the  wish  of  aspiring  to  follow  from  afar  the  example  of  Charles 
the  Bold  or  Albert  IV  of  Munich.  To  the  abler  German  lords  of  this 
type  the  feudal  ideal  of  absolute  domination  over  their  own  fiefs  was 
less  satisfying  in  itself  and  moreover  less  probable  of  realisation.  Their 


300 


Berthold  of  Mainz 


[1484 


territories  were  so  small,  and  so  scattered,  their  resources  were  so  meagre 
and  so  precarious,  that  feudal  independence  meant  to  them  but  a  limited, 
localised,  and  stunted  career,  and  afforded  them  few  guarantees  of  pro- 
tection against  the  aggressions  of  their  stronger  neighbours.  In  such 
men  there  was  no  strong  bias  of  self-interest  to  prevent  their  giving 
rein  to  the  wholesome  sentiment  of  love  of  fatherland  which  still 
survived  in  German  breasts.  But  personal  pride,  traditional  feuds  with 
neighbouring  houses,  the  habit  of  suspicion,  and  a  general  low  level 
of  political  sagacity  and  individual  capacity  made  it  difficult  for  this 
class  as  a  whole  to  initiate  any  comprehensive  movement.  All  through 
the  weary  years  of  Frederick's  reign  projects  of  reform  had  been  con- 
stantly shattered  by  the  violence  and  jealousy  of  the  greater  princes 
and  by  the  indifference  and  want  of  unanimity  of  the  petty  ones.  A 
leader  of  ability  and  insight  had  long  been  wanted  to  dominate  their 
sluggish  natures  and  quicken  their  slow  minds  with  worthier  ideals. 
Such  a  leader  was  at  last  found  in  Count  Berthold  of  Henneberg,  who 
in  1484  became  Elector  of  Mainz  at  the  age  of  42.  He  soon  made 
himself  famous  for  the  vigour,  justice,  and  sternness  with  which  he 
ruled  his  dominions,  for  his  eloquence  in  council,  and  for  the  large  and 
patriotic  views  which  he  held  on  all  broad  questions  of  national  policy. 
With  him  the  movement  for  effective  imperial  reform  really  begins. 

Berthold  of  Mainz  had  little  of  the  churchman  about  him,  and 
his  life  was  in  nowise  that  of  the  saint;  but  he  stands  out  among  all 
the  princes  of  his  time  as  the  one  statesman  who  strove  with  great 
ability  and  consummate  pertinacity  to  realise  the  ideal  of  a  free,  national, 
and  united  German  State.  His  courage,  his  resourcefulness,  his  perti- 
nacity, and  his  enthusiasm  carried  for  a  time  everything  before  them. 
But  soon  grave  practical  difficulties  wrecked  his  schemes  and  blasted 
his  hopes.  It  is  even  possible  to  imagine  that  his  policy  was  vicious  in 
principle.  It  was  a  visionary  and  an  impossible  task  to  make  petty 
feudalists  champions  of  order,  law,  and  progress.  It  involved  moreover 
an  antagonism  to  the  monarchy,  which  after  all  was  the  only  possible 
centre  of  any  effective  national  sentiment  in  that  age.  But  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  Berthold's  practical  insight,  the  whole  history  of 
Frederick  III  and  of  his  successors  shows  clearly  that  the  German 
monarchy,  far  from  being  as  in  England  or  France  the  true  mainspring 
of  a  united  national  life,  persistently  and  by  deliberate  policy  operated  as 
the  strongest  particularistic  influence.  After  all,  Germany  was  a  nation, 
and  Berthold  strove  by  the  only  way  open  to  him  to  make  Germany 
what  England  and  France  were  already  becoming.  It  was  not  his  fault 
that  the  method  forced  upon  him  was  from  the  beginning  an  almost 
hopeless  one. 

To  students  of  English  medieval  history  Berthold's  position  seems 
perfectly  clear.  His  ambition  was  to  provide  Germany  with  an  efficient 
central  government ;  but  also  to  secure  that  the  exercise  of  this  authority 


1484-5]  Policy  of  the  German  reformers 


301 


should  be  in  the  hands  of  a  committee  of  magnates,  and  not  under  the 
control  of  the  German  monarch.  This  design  has  been  described  as  an 
attempt  at  federalism  ;  but  the  word  suggests  a  more  conscious  partition 
of  power  between  central  and  local  authority,  and  a  more  organised  and 
representative  control  of  the  supreme  power  than  ever  Berthold  or 
his  associates  dreamed  to  be  necessary.  A  more  complete  analogy  with 
Berthold's  ideals  is  to  be  found  in  the  policy  of  the  great  prelates  and 
earls  of  England  against  the  more  neglectful  or  self-seeking  kings  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries.  The  Clares  and  the  Montforts,  the 
Bohuns,  Bigods,  and  Lancasters,  the  Cantilupes,  the  Winchelseas,  and 
the  Arundels  of  medieval  England  had  no  trace  of  properly  feudal 
ambition.  They  accepted  the  centralised  institutions  of  the  monarchy 
as  ultimate  facts,  and  aspired  only  to  keep  the  centralised  power  under 
their  own  control.  The  heroes  of  the  Provisions  of  Oxford,  the  Lords 
Ordainers,  and  the  Lords  Appellant,  while  upholding  the  representative 
legislative  and  taxative  body  by  frequent  sessions  of  Parliament,  sought 
to  put  the  executive  power  which  properly  belonged  to  the  Crown  into 
the  hands  of  a  commission  roughly  representative  of  the  great  houses. 
It  was  a  nobler  ambition  and  a  finer  career  for  a  Clare  or  a  Bohun  or  a 
Fitzalan  to  take  his  share  in  controlling  the  central  power  than  to  strive 
to  put  a  ring  fence  round  his  estates  and  govern  them  as  he  had  long 
administered  his  Welsh  Marcher  lordships.  Even  the  lord  of  a  great 
Palatinate  might  prefer  to  have  his  share  in  ruling  England  as  a  whole, 
rather  than  limit  his  ambition  to  playing  the  part  of  a  petty  king  on 
his  own  estates.  An  Anthony  Bek  was  a  greater  man  as  minister  of 
Edward  I  than  as  the  mere  sovereign  of  the  lands  of  St  Cuthbert. 

Berthold  and  his  associates  were  in  the  same  position  as  the  English 
baronial  leaders.  As  Archbishop  of  Mainz  Berthold  might  either  be 
a  petty  prince  holding  sway  over  scattered  regions  of  the  Rhineland  and 
of  Franconia,  or  a  great  political  ecclesiastic  like  Arundel  or  Wykeham 
or  George  of  Amboise.  The  wider  career  appealed  alike  to  his  patriot- 
ism, his  interests,  and  his  ambition.  As  feudal  sovereigns  the  Rhenish 
Electors  stood  but  in  the  second  rank  of  German  rulers.  As  prelates,  as 
councillors  of  their  peers,  as  directors  of  the  Diets,  and  as  effective  and 
not  merely  nominal  Chancellors  of  their  suzerain's  domains,  they  might 
well  emulate  the  exploits  of  a  Hanno  or  a  Rainald  of  Dassel.  Under 
the  guidance  of  an  aristocracy  that  was  neither  feudal  nor  particularist, 
and  in  which  the  ecclesiastical  element  was  so  strong  that  the  dangers 
of  hereditary  influence  were  reduced  to  a  minimum,  a  German  State 
might  have  arisen  as  united  and  strong  as  the  France  of  Louis  XI  or 
Francis  I,  while  as  free  as  Lancastrian  England.  Rude  facts  proved  this 
ambition  unworkable.  Monarchy,  and  monarchy  only,  could  be  practi- 
cally efficient  as  the  formative  element  in  national  life.  Since  German 
monarchy  refused  to  do  its  duty,  German  unity  was  destined  not  to  be 
achieved.    Nevertheless  the  attempt  of  Berthold  is  among  the  most 


302      The  reform  movement  under  Frederick  III  [1485-93 


interesting  experiments  in  history,  and  the  spectacle  of  the  feudal 
potentates  of  Germany  reversing  the  role  of  their  French  or  Spanish 
compeers  and  striving  to  build  up  a  united  German  nation,  despite 
the  separatist  opposition  of  the  German  monarch,  shows  how  strong 
were  the  forces  that  made  for  nationality  during  the  transition  from 
medieval  to  modern  times.  And  it  was  no  small  indication  of  the 
practical  wisdom  of  Berthold  that  he  won  over  the  wliole  Electoral 
College  to  his  views.  Less  dignified  princes  were  as  a  rule  content  to 
follow  their  lead.  Only  the  Dukes  of  Bavaria  held  aloof,  obstinately 
bent  upon  securing  Bavarian  interests  alone.  But  perhaps  the  greatest 
triumph  of  the  reformers  was  to  be  found  in  the  temporary  adhesion  of 
the  young  King  of  the  Romans  to  their  plans. 

Berthold  of  Mainz  laid  his  first  plan  of  reform  before  the  Diet  of 
Frankfort  of  1485.  He  proposed  a  single  national  system  of  currency,  a 
universal  Landfriede^  and  a  Supreme  Court  of  Justice  specially  charged 
with  the  carrying  out  of  the  Public  Peace.  After  the  election  of 
Maximilian  in  1486,  the  demand  of  a  special  grant  to  carry  on  war 
against  the  Turks  gave  a  new  opportunity  for  insisting  on  the  policy 
which  the  cold  and  unsympathetic  Emperor  had  done  his  best  to  shelve. 
But  the  princes  now  rejected  the  proposed  tax,  on  the  ground  that  the 
cooperation  of  the  cities  was  necessary  towards  granting  an  aid,  whereas 
no  cities  had  been  summoned  to  this  Diet.  The  result  was  before  long 
the  final  establishment  of  the  right  of  the  cities  to  form  an  integral 
part  of  every  assembly  of  the  German  national  council.  The  Diet  of 
1489  saw  every  imperial  town  summoned  to  its  deliberations.  Within  a 
generation  the  city  representatives  had  become  the  Third  Estate  of  the 
Empire  side  by  side  with  Electors  and  princes. 

Frederick  gave  way  both  on  the  question  of  the  rights  of  the  cities 
and  on  the  programme  of  reform.  He  procured  his  Turkish  grant  in 
return  for  the  promise  to  establish  the  Landfriede  and  an  imperial  court 
of  justice.  But  he  did  nothing  to  give  effect  to  his  general  assurances ; 
and  the  Estates,  closely  brought  together  by  their  common  aim,  continued 
to  press  for  the  carrying  out  of  Frederick's  concessions.  Their  first  real 
victory  was  at  the  Diet  of  Frankfort  in  1489,  when  Maximilian,  intent  on 
getting  help  to  make  himself  master  of  the  Netherlands,  and  now  also 
involved  in  his  fantastic  quest  of  the  hand  of  Anne  of  Britanny,  promised 
the  Diet  to  do  his  best  to  aid  it  in  obtaining  an  effective  constitution 
of  the  imperial  court  of  justice.  A  further  step  in  advance  was  made 
at  the  important  Diet  of  Niirnberg  of  1491,  where  Maximilian  declared 
that  the  Landfi'iede^  already  proclaimed  for  ten  years,  should  be  pro- 
claimed for  ever,  and  that  for  its  execution  a  competent  tribunal  should 
be  set  up  at  his  father's  Court. 

Even  Maximilian's  adhesion  failed  to  secure  the  lasting  triumph  of  the 
Estates.  So  long  as  the  old  Emperor  lived,  nothing  practical  was  done  ; 
but  on  Frederick's  death  in  1493  the  open-minded  heir  became  the  actual 


1493-5]  Maximilian^ s  attitude  toivards  imperial  reform  303 


ruler  of  the  Empire.  Maximilian  was  young,  restless,  ambitious,  and  able. 
He  had  already  embarked  in  those  grandiose  schemes  of  international 
intervention  which  remained  the  most  serious  political  interest  of  the 
rest  of  his  life.  To  these  he  now  added  his  father's  care  for  the  develop- 
ment and  consolidation  of  a  great  Austrian  State.  Having  however 
nothing  of  Frederick's  self-restraint,  he  ever  gave  free  rein  to  the  impulse 
of  the  moment,  and  was  willing  not  only  to  sacrifice  the  Empire,  to  whose 
interests  he  was  indifferent,  but  even  his  own  Austrian  lands  to  obtain 
some  immediate  military  or  diplomatic  advantage  in  the  prosecution  of 
his  more  visionary  ideals.  Since  he  had  become  King  of  the  Romans 
he  had  won  his  share  of  successes ;  but  his  incurable  habit  of  keeping 
too  many  irons  in  the  fire  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  prevail  in 
the  long  run.  It  was  something  that,  despite  the  recent  ignominy  of 
his  Bruges  captivity,  he  was  steadily  increasing  the  influence  which  he 
wielded  in  the  Netherlands  on  behalf  of  his  young  son,  Philip.  But 
he  was  still  involved  in  great  difficulties  in  that  quarter,  and  the 
hostility  of  France,  which  had  robbed  him  of  his  Breton  wife,  still  excited 
powerful  Netherlandish  factions  against  him.  A  new  trouble  arose  with 
Charles  VIII's  expedition  to  Italy  in  1494.  The  triumphant  progress 
of  the  French  King  gave  the  last  blow  to  the  imagined  interests  of  the 
Empire  in  the  Peninsula.  Maximilian  who  had  at  first  hoped  to  fish  on 
his  own  account  in  the  troubled  waters,  became  intensely  eager  to  afford 
all  the  help  he  could  to  the  Italian  League  which  was  soon  formed 
against  the  French.  In  1495  he  formally  adhered  to  the  confederacy. 
But  effective  assistance  to  the  Italians  could  only  be  given  by  Maximilian 
as  the  price  of  real  concessions  to  the  party  of  imperial  reform.  Though 
the  promises  made  by  him  in  his  father's  lifetime  sat  but  lightly  on  the 
reigning  monarch,  impulse,  ambition,  and  immediate  policy  all  combined 
to  keep  him  in  this  case  true  to  his  word. 

On  March  26, 1495,  Maximilian  laid  his  first  proposition  before  a  Diet 
at  Worms,  to  which  despite  the  urgency  of  the  crisis  the  princes  came 
slowly  and  negligently.  He  appealed  strongly  to  the  Estates  to  check 
the  progress  of  the  French  in  Italy.  An  immediate  grant  for  the  relief 
of  Milan,  a  more  continued  subsidy  that  would  enable  him  to  set  up 
a  standing  army  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  could  alone  save  the  Empire 
from  dishonour. 

It  was  the  opportunity  of  the  reformers,  and  on  April  29  Elector 
Berthold  formulated  the  conditions  upon  which  the  Diet  would  give  the 
King  efficient  financial  and  military  support.  The  old  ideas  —  Public 
Peace,  imperial  Court  of  Justice  and  the  rest — were  once  more  elaborated. 
But  Berthold's  chief  anxiety  was  now  for  the  appointment  of  a  permanent 
imperial  Council,  representative  directly  of  the  Electors  and  the  other 
Estates  of  the  Empire,  without  whose  approval  no  act  of  the  King  was 
to  be  regarded  as  valid.  The  only  solid  power  Berthold  wished  to 
reserve  to  the  King  was  that  of  supreme  command  in  war ;  but  no  war 


304 


The  great  Diet  of  Worms 


[1495 


was  to  be  declared  without  the  sEi,nction  of  the  Council.  Matters  of 
too  great  difficulty  for  the  Council  to  determine  were  to  be  referred 
not  to  the  King  alone,  but  to  the  King  and  Electors  in  conjunction ; 
and  both  here  and  on  the  projected  Council  the  King  counted  but  as  a 
single  vote.  If  Maximilian  accepted  this  scheme,  a  Common  Penny  was 
to  be  levied  throughout  the  Empire  and  an  army  established  under  the 
control  of  the  Council. 

To  Maximilian  Berthold's  proposals  must  have  seemed  but  a  demand 
for  his  abdication.  But  he  cleverly  negotiated  instead  of  openly  refus- 
ing, and  finally  made  a  counter-proposal,  which  practically  reduced  the 
suggested  Council  to  a  mere  royal  Council,  whose  independent  action  was 
limited  to  the  periods  of  the  King's  absence,  and  which  otherwise  sat  at 
the  King's  Court  and  depended  upon  the  King's  pleasure.  Long  and 
wearisome  negotiations  followed,  but  a  final  agreement  issued  on  August  7 
showed  that  Berthold's  plan  had  essentially  been  abandoned  in  favour  of 
Maximilian's  alternative  propositions.  The  reformers  preferred  to  give 
up  their  Executive  Council  altogether  rather  than  allow  it  to  be  twisted 
into  a  shape  which  would  have  subordinated  it  to  the  royal  preroga- 
tive. They  went  back  on  the  old  line  of  suggestions,  —  Public  Peace, 
Common  Penny,  imperial  Court  of  Justice,  and  the  rest.  Maximilian 
had  already  professed  his  acceptance  of  these  schemes,  so  that  on  such 
lines  agreement  was  not  difficult.  Even  this  mutilated  plan  of  reform 
was  sufficiently  thorough  and  drastic.  It  makes  the  Diet  of  1495  one  of 
the  turning-points  in  the  constitutional  history  of  the  Empire. 

The  Landfriede  was  proclaimed  without  any  limitation  of  time,  and 
private  war  was  forbidden  to  all  Estates  of  the  Empire  under  pain  of  the 
imperial  ban.  A  special  obligation  to  carry  out  this  Public  Peace  was 
enjoined  on  those  dwelling  within  twenty  miles  of  the  place  of  any 
breach  of  it.  Were  this  not  enough,  the  vindication  of  the  peace 
rested  with  the  Diet.  Law  was  now  to  supersede  violence,  and  an 
adequate  Supreme  Court  was  at  last  to  be  established.  Frederick  III 
had  converted  his  traditional  feudal  Court  (^Hofgerichf)  into  an  insti- 
tution styled  the  Cameral  Tribunal  (Kammergericht)^  without  in  any 
very  material  way  modifying  its  constitution.  A  very  different  Imperial 
Cameral  Tribunal  (^Reiehskammergericht)  was  now  set  up.  Its  head,  the 
Kammerrichter^  was  indeed  the  King's  nominee,  but  the  sixteen  assessors, 
half  doctors  of  law,  half  of  knightly  rank,  who  virtually  overshadowed 
his  authority,  were  to  be  directly  nominated  by  the  Estates.  The  law 
which  the  new  Court  was  to  administer  was  the  Roman  Law,  whose 
doctrines  soon  began  to  filter  downwards  into  the  lower  Courts,  with  the 
result  that  its  principles  and  procedure  speedily  exercised  a  profound 
influence  on  every  branch  of  German  jurisprudence.  The  new  Court  was 
not  to  follow  the  King,  but  to  sit  at  some  fixed  place  (at  first  Frankfort), 
which  could  only  be  changed  by  vote  of  the  Estates.  Its  officers  were  to 
be  paid  not  by  the  Emperor  but  by  the  Empire.    Thus  independent 


1495-6]  The  imperial  Chamber  and  the  Common  Penny  305 


of  the  monarch  and  responsible  to  the  Estates  alone,  they  were  to 
exercise  supreme  jurisdiction  over  all  persons  and  in  all  causes,  and 
immediate  jurisdiction  over  all  tenants-in-chief.  The  Dietfwas  hence- 
forth to  meet  annually,  and  no  weighty  matters  were  to  be  decided,  even 
by  the  King,  without  the  counsel  and  consent  of  the  Estates.  This  was 
practically  the  compensation  which  Maximilian  offered  to  the  reformers 
for  rejecting  their  plan  of  a  permanent  executive  Council.  Frequent 
parliaments  might  be  endured ;  but  a  cabinet  council,  dependent  upon 
the  Estates,  was,  as  Max  saw,  fatal  to  the  continuance  of  his  authority. 
A  general  tax  called  the  Common  Penny  (  G-emeine  Pfennig)  was  to  be 
levied  throughout  the  Empire.  This  was  a  roughly  assessed  and  rudely 
graduated  property-tax,  which  had  also  some  elements  of  an  income-tax 
and  a  poll-tax.  It  was  now  established  for  four  years,  and  was  to  be 
collected  by  the  local  princely  or  municipal  authorities,  but  to  be 
handed  over  to  officials  of  the  Empire  and  ultimately  entrusted  to  seven 
imperial  Treasurers,  appointed  by  King  and  Estates  and  established 
at  Frankfort.  Max  was  authorised  to  take  150,000  florins  from  the 
Common  Penny  to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  Italian  expedition. 

In  September  the  Estates  separated.  Both  King  and  Diet  were 
mutually  satisfied,  and  it  seemed  as  if  brighter  days  were  to  dawn  for 
the  Empire.  But  dark  clouds  soon  began  to  gather  on  every  side. 
Maximilian  was  bitterly  disappointed  with  his  unfortunate  Italian 
campaign  of  1496.  The  German  reformers  soon  found  that  it  was 
easier  to  draw  up  schemes  of  reform  than  to  carry  out  even  the  slightest 
improvement. 

It  was  not  that  the  Edict  of  Worms  was  wholly  inoperative.  The 
proclamation  of  the  Landfriede  was  a  real  boon,  though  of  course  it  did 
not  change  by  magic  a  lawless  into  a  law-abiding  society.  The  Kammer- 
gericTit  provided  justice  in  many  cases  where  justice  would  have  been 
impossible  before.  But  the  collection  of  the  Common  Penny  proved  the 
real  difficulty.  Even  princes  who  were  well  disposed  towards  Berthold's 
policy  showed  no  eagerness  to  levy  a  tax  which  other  men  were  to  spend. 
In  many  districts  nothing  whatever  was  done  to  collect  the  money. 
The  knights  as  a  body  refused  all  taxation,  inasmuch  as  their  service 
was  military  and  not  fiscal.  The  abbots  declined  to  recognise  the  juris- 
diction of  a  court  so  exclusively  secular  as  the  Kammergericht.  The 
princes  not  represented  at  Worms  repudiated  altogether  laws  passed  by 
an  assembly  in  which  they  had  taken  no  part. 

The  weak  point  of  the  new  constitution  was  its  lack  of  any  admini- 
strative authority.  Maximilian  was  in  Italy,  and  his  representatives 
ostentatiously  stood  aloof  from  any  effort  to  enforce  the  new  laws. 
Events  soon  showed  that  Berthold  was  right  in  demanding  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  executive  Council.  The  yearly  Diets  were  too  cumbrous, 
expensive,  and  disorganised,  to  be  of  any  value  in  discharging  admini- 
strative functions.    The  first  Diet  under  the  new  system,  which  was  to 

C.  M.  H.  I.  -  20 


306 


The  Diets  of  Lindau  and  Worms  [1496-7 


meet  in  February,  1496,  and  complete  the  new  constitution,  never  came 
into  being,  neither  Max  nor  the  princes  thinking  it  worth  their  while 
to  attend.  Before  long  want  of  money  and  want  of  coercive  power 
vitiated  the  whole  scheme  of  reform.  The  imperial  Chamber  ceased 
to  be  efficient  when  its  decisions  could  not  be  enforced,  and  when  its 
members,  seeing  no  prospect  of  their  promised  salaries  from  an  empty 
treasury,  compensated  themselves  by  taking  bribes  from  suitors  or 
transferred  themselves  to  more  profitable  employments. 

The  next  few  years  were  marked  by  a  series  of  strenuous  efforts  on 
the  part  of  Berthold  to  carry  through  in  practice  what  had  already  been 
accepted  in  name.  Max's  need  for  money  soon  gave  him  his  chance. 
The  Diet  was  summoned  to  meet  the  Emperor  at  Chiavenna ;  and,  when 
the  princes  refused  to  cross  the  Alps,  its  meeting-place  was  fixed  for 
Lindau  on  the  Lake  of  Constance.  The  remote  and  inconvenient  little 
island  city  was,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  Estates,  selected  because  of  its 
nearness  to  Italy.  The  princes  were  ordered  to  bring  with  them  their 
share  of  the  Common  Penny  and  their  quota  of  troops  to  support  the 
Emperor  in  Italy.  But  the  Diet,  which  was  opened  in  September,  1496, 
was  very  scantily  attended.  The  princes  who  appeared  came  to  Lindau 
without  either  money  or  men.  In  Maximilian's  absence  Berthold  of 
Mainz  stood  forth  more  conspicuously  than  ever  as  the  leader  of  the 
Estates.  He  passionately  exhorted  the  Germans  to  follow  the  example 
of  the  Swiss,  who  through  union  and  trust  in  one  another  had  made 
themselves  respected  and  feared  by  all  the  world.  His  special  object 
was  to  insist  upon  the  execution  of  the  Edict  of  Worms  in  the  Austrian 
hereditary  dominions,  where  but  slight  regard  had  hitherto  been  paid  to 
it.  He  also  secured  the  passing  of  a  resolution  that  the  Common  Penny 
should  be  paid  to  the  imperial  Treasurers  by  March,  1497,  and  that  its 
disposition  should  be  determined  by  a  new  Diet  to  be  summoned  for  the 
spring.  By  promptly  providing  for  the  salaries  of  its  members,  Berthold 
also  prevented  the  dissolution  of  the  Kammergericht^  which  the  Diet 
now  transferred  to  Worms,  because  that  city  was  regarded  as  a  more 
accessible  place  than  Frankfort  for  the  doctors  of  the  Rhenish  Univer- 
sities. 

The  Diet  reassembled  in  the  spring  of  1497  at  Worms ;  but  again  the 
Emperor  did  not  appear.  Despite  the  Landfriede  the  Elector  of  Trier 
waged  a  fierce  war  against  Boppard,  and  with  the  help  of  his  neighbours 
reduced  the  town  to  his  obedience.  The  Swiss  refused  to  recognise  a 
decision  of  the  Kammergericlit,  The  Common  Penny  came  in  but 
slowly.  But  external  political  complications  once  more  helped  forward 
the  schemes  of  the  German  reformers.  Louis  XII  succeeded  Charles  YIII 
as  King  of  France.  Before  long  he  had  occupied  the  Milanese  and  forced 
Maximilian's  own  son  Philip,  as  ruler  of  the  Netherlands,  to  make  a 
separate  peace  with  him  by  which  the  young  Archduke  formally  left 
Burgundy  in  French  hands  for  Louis's  life.    Reduced  to  desperation  by 


1497-9] 


The  Sioiss  War  and  its  results 


307 


these  troubles,  Max  was  again  forced  to  have  recourse  to  the  Estates. 
The  Djet,  which  had  been  dragging  on  its  lengthy  and  unimportant 
sittings  at  Worms,  was  transferred  at  the  Emperor's  request  to  his  own 
city  of  Freiburg  in  the  Breisgau.  Max  complained  bitterly  that  the 
Estates  were  indifferent  to  his  foreign  policy  and  careless  of  the  glories 
of  the  Empire.  "I  have  been  betrayed  by  the  Lombards,"  he  declared, 
"  I  have  been  abandoned  by  the  Germans.  But  I  will  not  again  suffer 
m3^self  to  be  bound  hand  and  foot  as  at  Worms.  I  will  carry  on  the 
war  myself,  and  you  can  say  to  me  what  you  will.  I  would  sooner 
dispense  myself  from  my  oath  at  Frankfort;  for  I  am  bound  to  the 
House  of  Austria  as  well  as  to  the  Empire."  With  King  and  Estates 
thus  utterly  at  variance,  no  great  results  were  to  be  expected.  Maxi- 
milian desired  to  carry  out  his  spirited  foreign  policy:  the  Estates 
wished  to  secure  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  Germany.  It  was  to  little 
purpose  that  Berthold  and  many  of  the  cities  brought  in  their  contri- 
butions towards  the  Common  Penny.  Max  betook  himself  to  the 
Netherlands  to  wage  war  against  Charles,  Count  of  Egmont,  the  self- 
styled  Duke  of  Gelderland,  who  upheld  the  French  cause  on  the  Lower 
Rhine.  With  war  everj^ where  it  was  useless  to  go  on  with  the  farce 
of  assembling  the  Estates.  In  1499  an  attempt  to  hold  a  Diet  at 
Worms  broke  down,  and,  though  Max  went  back  from  Gelderland  to 
Cologne  to  meet  the  Estates,  the  rump  of  a  Diet  assembled  at  Worms 
refused  to  transfer  its  sittings  to  Cologne.  Berthold  lay  dangerously 
sick.    The  helplessness  and  disorder  of  the  Empire  were  as  great  as  ever. 

A  trouble  that  had  long  been  imminent  now  came  to  a  head.  The 
Swiss  Confederacy,  though  still  nominally  a  part  of  the  Empire,  had  long 
been  drifting  into  independence.  It  now  refused  to  be  bound  by  the 
new  policy  of  strengthening  the  links  that  connected  the  various  parts 
of  the  Empire  with  each  other.  The  Swiss,  who  had  recently  given 
great  offence  by  declining  to  join  the  Swabian  League,  now  forbade 
the  collection  of  the  Common  Penny  and  rejected  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
KammergericJit.  They  renewed  their  connexion  with  France  at  the 
very  moment  when  France  went  to  war  with  the  Empire,  and  threatened 
to  absorb  the  confederated  towns  of  Elsass,  as  in  1481  they  had  absorbed 
Freiburg  and  Solothurn.  The  eagerness  of  Max's  Tyrolese  government 
now  forced  him  into  open  war  with  the  Swiss.  But  the  princely 
champions  of  reform  would  not  lift  a  hand  against  the  daring  moun- 
taineers who  defied  the  authority  of  the  Empire.  Only  the  Swabian 
League  gave  Max  any  real  help.  Before  long  his  armies  were  beaten  and 
there  was  no  money  to  raise  fresh  ones.  In  despair  Max  concluded  the 
Peace  of  Basel  (1499)  in  which  he  gave  the  Swiss  their  own  terms. 
They  were  declared  freed  from  the  Common  Penny  and  from  the 
imperial  Chamber  and  all  other  specific  imperial  jurisdiction.  A  vague 
and  undefined  relationship  between  the  Swiss  and  the  Empire  was  still 
allowed  to  remain  until  the  Peace  of  1648.    And  in  the  following  years 


308 


The  Diet  of  Augsburg 


[1500 


matters  were  made  worse  by  the  constant  tendency  of  the  south  German 
States  to  fall  away  from  the  Empire  and  attach  themselves  to  the 
Confederacy,  of  which  in  1501  Basel  and  Schaffhausen,  and  Appenzell 
in  1513,  were  formally  admitted  as  full  members.  It  was  the  mere 
accident  of  some  unsettled  local  disputes  as  to  criminal  jurisdiction  over 
the  Thurgau  that  prevented  Constance  from  following  in  their  steps. 
Such  of  the  Estates  of  Upper  Swabia  as  had  hitherto  preserved  their 
freedom  now  hastened  to  become  "  confederate  "  or  "  protected "  or 
"  allied  "  to  the  strenuous  Confederacy,  which  now  dominated  the  whole 
region  between  the  Upper  Rhine  and  the  Alps,  and  had  also  established 
friendly  relations  with  the  Rhaetian  Leagues  that  were  now  taking  shape. 

It  cost  Maximilian  little  to  renounce  the  rights  of  the  Empire  over  the 
Swiss.  He  looked  upon  the  Confederates  as  most  useful  to  him  in  help- 
ing his  designs  on  Italy,  and  now  trusted  with  their  assistance  to  restore 
his  father-in-law  to  Milan.  But  in  1500  came  the  second  conquest  of 
Milan  by  the  French,  and  Ludovico's  lifelong  captivity  in  a  French 
dungeon.  In  the  same  3^ear  the  agreement  between  Louis  and  Ferdinand 
of  Spain  for  the  partition  of  Naples  still  further  isolated  Maximilian. 
He  was  as  unsuccessful  in  his  schemes  of  foreign  conquest  as  was  Berthold 
in  his  plans  of  internal  reformation.  Within  a  few  years  he  had  fought 
against  Florentines  and  French,  against  Gelderland  and  Switzerland,  and 
on  each  occasion  had  lost  the  day.  And  each  failure  of  Maximilian  threw 
him  more  and  more  completely  on  the  mercy  of  the  German  reformers. 

In  April,  1500,  the  Diet  assembled  at  Augsburg.  Maximilian  himself 
now  offered  important  concessions.  Everybody  hated  the  Common  Fenny, 
and  neither  the  princes  nor  the  cities  were  so  rich  or  public-spirited  as  to 
submit  permanently  to  the  waste  of  money  and  time,  and  to  the  withdrawal 
from  their  own  proper  local  work,  involved  in  the  assembling  of  annual 
Diets.  As  an  alternative  to  the  first  of  these  hitherto  necessary  evils 
the  King  revived  a  proposal  made  at  Frankfort  in  1486,  by  which  the 
Estates  were  to  set  on  foot  a  permanent  army  of  3-1,000  men,  and  to 
provide  means  for  its  maintenance.  In  place  of  the  annual  Diets  a 
permanent  committee  might  be  established.  On  this  basis  the  Estates 
began  to  negotiate  with  the  King,  and  by  July  2  an  agreement  was 
arrived  at.  In  this,  instead  of  the  standing  army  suggested  by  Maximil- 
ian, an  elaborate  scheme  was  devised  for  setting  on  foot  an  army  for  six 
years.  Every  four  hundred  property-holders  or  householders  were  to 
combine  to  equip  and  pay  a  foot-soldier  to  fight  the  King's  battles. 
For  the  assessment  of  this  burden  the  parochial  organisation  was  to  be 
employed,  and  the  sums  levied  were  to  be  roughly  proportionate  to  the 
means  of  the  contribute r.  The  clergy,  the  religious  Orders,  and  the  citi- 
zens of  imperial  towns  were  to  pay  one  florin  for  every  40  florins  of  income. 
The  Jews  were  taxed  at  a  florin  a  head.  Counts  and  barons  of  the 
Empire  were  to  equip  a  horseman  for  each  4000  florins  of  income,  while 
knights  were  to  do  what  they  could.    The  princes  of  the  Empire  were 


1500] 


The  Council  of  Regency 


309 


to  provide  at  least  500  cavalry  from  their  private  resources.  It  vras 
hoped  that  these  arrangements  would  give  the  King  an  army  of  30,000 
men ;  and  the  leaders  of  the  Diet  probably  thought  it  a  clever  stroke 
of  policy  that,  vs^hile  they  were  themselves  let  off  very  lightly,  the 
greater  part  of  the  burden  fell  upon  the  smaller  property-owners. 

The  obligation  to  summon  a  yearly  Diet  was  not  formally  repealed, 
but,  while  legislation  and  supreme  control  of  finance  still  remained 
the  special  functions  of  the  assembled  Estates,  the  executive  business 
with  which  they  were  so  incompetent  to  deal  devolved  upon  a  Council 
of  Regency  (^ReicJisregiment) .  This  was  to  consist  of  twenty-one  mem- 
bers. At  its  head  was  the  King  or  a  deputy  appointed  by  the  King. 
The  further  representation  of  the  King's  interests  was  provided  through 
an  Austrian  and  a  Netherlandish  member  of  the  Council.  But  the 
other  eighteen  Councillors  were  entirely  outside  the  King's  control. 
Each  of  the  six  Electors  had  an  individual  voice  in  the  Council.  One  of 
them  was  always  to  be  present  in  person,  being  replaced  by  a  colleague 
after  three  months.  Each  of  the  five  absent  Electors  personally  nomi- 
nated a  member  of  the  Regency.  The  representation  of  the  other  Es- 
tates was  divided  into  two  categories.  Certain  eminent  imperial  vassals 
were  singled  out  and  granted  a  personal  right  of  occasional  appear- 
ance. Thus  twelve  princes,  six  spiritual  and  six  lay,  were  specified  as 
having  the  privilege  of  sitting  in  the  Council,  by  two  at  a  time.  Simi- 
larly there  were  one  representative  of  the  prelates  (abbots  and  other  lesser 
dignitaries),  one  of  the  Counts  and  two  of  the  Free  and  Imperial  Towns, 
arranged  in  groups  for  the  purpose.  Besides  the  six  Councillors  chosen 
from  this  first  category,  there  were  six  others  representing  the  Estates 
of  six  great  circumscriptions  or  Circles  into  which  Germany,  excluding 
the  electoral  lands,  was  now  for  this  purpose  divided.  No  names  were 
given  to  these  districts,  but  roughly  they  corresponded  to  the  later 
Circles  of  Franconia,  Bavaria,  Swabia,  the  Upper  Rhine,  Lower  Saxony, 
and  Westphalia.  The  whole  constitution  was  so  arranged  that  the  pre- 
ponderance of  power  was  altogether  with  the  princes,  and  especially  with 
the  Electors.  The  inferior  Estates  were  as  scantily  represented  as  was 
the  King  himself. 

The  establishment  of  the  Council  of  Regency  marks  the  highest 
moment  of  Berthold's  triumph.  Germany  had  obtained  her  centralised 
institutions,  her  KammergericJit^  her  annual  Diets,  her  national  army, 
and  her  imperial  taxation.  She  now  also  had  an  executive  government 
as  directly  dependent  upon  the  Estates  as  a  modern  English  Cabinet  or 
as  the  royal  Councils,  nominated  in  the  English  Parliament,  in  the  days 
before  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  had  destroyed  Lancastrian  constitutional- 
ism. The  events  of  the  last  five  years  had  demonstrated  that,  without 
such  executive  authority,  the  reforms  were  unworkable.  But  did  the 
circumstances  and  temper  of  the  times  allow  such  a  system  as  this  any 
reasonable  prospects  of  success?  Lancastrian  constitutionalism  had  failed 


310  Failure  of  the  new  system  [1500 


miserably  and  had  but  paved  the  way  to  Tudor  monarchy.  What 
chance  was  there  of  Berthold's  system  prevailing  under  far  worse  con- 
ditions in  Germany  ? 

Maximilian  was  not  likely  to  acquiesce  in  being  deprived  of  all  that 
made  monarchy  a  reality.  The  knights  with  their  passion  for  lawless 
freedom,  the  cities  with  their  narrow  outlook  and  strong  local  preju- 
dices, might  be  likewise  expected  to  have  no  good-will  towards  a  system 
in  which  the  former  had  no  part  and  the  latter  but  a  very  small  one. 
But  a  still  greater  difficulty  lay  in  the  princes,  whose  sectional 
ambitions  and  want  of  settled  national  policy  wholly  unfitted  them 
for  carrying  out  so  delicate  and  difficult  a  task.  Could  a  group  of 
turbulent  nobles,  trained  in  long  traditions  of  private  warfare  and 
personal  self-seeking,  provide  Germany  with  that  sound  government 
which  lands  with  better  political  prospects  could  only  obtain  from  the 
strong  hand  of  an  individual  monarch?  The  answer  to  these  questions 
was  not  long  in  coming.  In  a  few  years  the  Council  of  Regency  broke 
down  utterly,  bearing  with  it  in  its  fall  the  strongest  pillars  of  the  new 
German  constitution. 

A  final  struggle  between  Maximilian  and  the  Estates  arose  as  to  the 
meeting-place  of  the  Council  of  Regency.  But  Max  had  gone  too  far  on 
the  way  of  concession  to  be  able  to  succeed  in  enforcing  his  wish  that 
the  Council  should  follow  the  Court.  The  Estates  resolved  that  it 
should  meet  in  the  first  instance  at  Niirnberg.  Full  of  anger  and  scorn 
the  King  left  Augsburg,  seeking  the  consolations  of  the  chase  in  Tyrol. 
Berthold  betook  himself  to  Niirnberg,  in  order  to  take  his  turn  as 
resident  Elector  on  the  Council  of  Regency.  The  choice  of  Frederick, 
Elector  of  Saxony,  as  the  imperial  deputy,  made  Berthold's  task  as  easy 
as  was  possible.  But  Frederick  was  very  commonly  absent  from  the 
Council.  He  was  too  great  a  prince  to  be  able  to  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  reform  of  the  Empire.  Upon  Berthold  alone  fell  the  burden 
of  the  new  system.  Yet  he  was  broken  in  health  and  spirits,  and  even  at 
best  only  one  prince  among  many.  It  was  due  to  him  that  the  Council 
had  so  much  as  a  start.  No  political  genius  could  have  given  it  a 
long  life. 

Difficulties  arose  almost  from  the  beginning.  Maximilian  grew  indig- 
nant when  he  discovered  that  there  was  no  probability  of  an  army  being 
levied  to  fight  the  French,  and  still  more  wrathful  when  the  Council 
entered  into  negotiations  on  its  own  account  with  Louis  XII,  with  whom 
it  concluded  a  truce  without  any  reference  whatever  to  Italy.  This 
seemed,  and  perhaps  was,  treason.  But  Maximilian  was  at  the  same  time 
treating  with  Louis,  and,  though  for  a  long  time  he  refused  to  ratify  the 
compact  between  the  French  King  and  the  Estates,  he  made  a  truce  on 
his  own  behalf  and  finally  accepted  also  that  arranged  by  the  Council. 
But  a  new  difference  of  opinion  at  once  arose  as  to  the  proclamation 
of  the  papal  Jubilee  of  1500  in  Germany.    King  and  Council  opened 


1500-2]     Maximilian  and  the  Electors  in  conflict  311 


separate  negotiations  with  Cardinal  Perraudi  the  papal  Legate,  and  Max 
much  resented  the  agreement  made  between  Legate  and  Council,  that 
the  profits  derived  from  the  Jubilee  in  Germany  should  be  devoted 
exclusively  to  the  Turkish  War.  He  avenged  himself  by  allowing  the 
Pope  to  proclaim  the  Jubilee  without  reservation  and  by  quarrelling  with 
the  Legate.  Meanwhile  the  Council  was  failing  in  the  impossible  task  of 
governing  Germany.  The  crisis  came  to  a  head  in  1501  at  the  Diet  of 
Niirnberg,  from  which  Maximilian  was  absent.  The  King  now  broke  openly 
with  the  Council,  and  did  his  best  to  make  its  position  impossible.  Not 
only  did  he  refuse  to  attend  its  sittings,  but  he  neglected  to  appoint  a 
deputy  to  preside  in  his  absence.  He  would  not  even  nominate  the 
Austrian  representative.  He  denounced  Berthold  as  a  traitor  and 
schemer,  and  strove  to  raise  an  army,  after  the  ancient  fashion,  by 
calling  upon  the  individual  princes  to  supply  their  contingents. 

In  the  struggle  that  ensued  both  King  and  reformers  gave  up  any 
attempt  to  observe  the  new  system.  Berthold  fell  back  upon  the  vener- 
able expedient  of  a  Union  of  Electors  (^Kurfurstenverein).  He  has  been 
reproached  with  lack  of  policy  in  thus  abandoning  the  infant  constitu- 
tion, but  his  action  was  probably  the  result  of  inevitable  necessity.  As 
he  had  to  fight  the  King,  he  naturally  chose  the  most  practical  weapon 
that  lay  to  hand. 

After  the  fashion  of  the  Luxemburg  period,  an  Electoral  Diet  was  now 
held  at  Frankfort.  The  Elector  Palatine  Philip  (1476-1508),  nephew 
and  successor  of  Frederick  the  Victorious,  who  had  hitherto  been  at 
feud  with  the  Elector  of  Mainz,  now  made  terms  with  him  and  attended 
the  meeting.  Alarmed  at  the  unity  of  the  Electors,  Maximilian  ordered 
them  to  adjourn  to  Speyer,  where  he  would  meet  them  in  person.  But  the 
Electors  quitted  Frankfort  before  the  King's  messenger  could  arrive. 
Before  separating,  however,  they  renewed  the  ancient  Union  of  the 
Electors,  and  pledged  each  other  to  act  as  one  man  in  upholding  the 
reforms  of  1495  and  1500.  It  was  afterwards  believed  that  the  Electors 
talked  of  deposing  Maximilian,  or  at  least  of  obtaining  still  more  drastic 
reforms.  This  however  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  case.  It  was 
futile  to  seek  further  changes,  when  the  innovations  already  approved  of 
could  not  be  carried  out  in  practice. 

The  Electors  resolved  that,  if  the  King  did  not  summon  a  Diet,  they 
would  themselves  meet  in  November  at  Gelnhausen,  and  invite  the  other 
Estates  to  join  them.  Before  this  parliamentary  convention  of  the 
German  Estates,  they  resolved  to  a  programme  of  policy  that  far 
surpassed  in  comprehensiveness  any  previous  plan  of  reformation.  This 
scheme  provided  not  merely  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Landfriede^  the 
restoration  of  the  Kammergericht^  and  the  strengthening  of  the  Reichs- 
regiment.  It  distinguished  itself  from  its  predecessors  by  going  beyond 
the  interests  of  the  princes  and  taking  some  thought  of  the  welfare 
of  the  ordinary  poor  man,  whom  it  sought  to  protect  from  the  personal 


312 


Growth  of  a  royalist  party 


[1500-2 


services,  taxes,  ecclesiastical  Courts  and  other  grievances  weighing 
heavily  upon  him.  But  a  body  which  could  not  carry  through  a 
simple  political  programme  showed  temerity  in  dealing  with  schemes  of 
social  reformation.  Meanwhile  the  relations  between  King  and  princes 
became  more  and  more  embittered.  "  The  King,"  said  a  Venetian  ambas- 
sador, "  speaks  ill  of  the  princes,  and  the  princes  speak  ill  of  the  King." 

Maximilian  had  grown  wiser  with  experience.  He  at  last  saw  that 
to  maintain  a  stiff  attitude  of  resistance  and  to  dwell  upon  his  prerogative 
only  served  to  unite  his  vassals  against  him.  About  this  time  he  gradually 
drifted  into  a  more  temporising,  but  also  a  more  dangerous,  attitude.  He 
was  now  content  to  bide  his  time  and  wait  on  events.  In  the  long  run 
the  single  will  of  the  King  was  more  likely  to  prevail  than  the  divided 
wills  of  a  host  of  magnates.  Maximilian  now  endeavoured  to  break  up 
the  Electoral  Union,  and  to  make  a  party  for  himself  among  the  younger 
princes.  He  employed  all  his  rare  personal  talents,  all  the  charm  and 
fascination  which  belonged  to  him,  in  order  to  attract  to  himself  on  per- 
sonal grounds  the  devotion  of  the  rising  generation.  He  cleverly  sowed 
dissension  between  the  mass  of  the  immediate  nobility  and  the  little  knot 
of  reformers,  who  practically  controlled  the  whole  of  the  opposition.  Why 
should  a  small  ring  of  elderly  princes  of  the  second  rank  deprive  the 
younger  generation  of  all  power  at  home  or  prospect  of  distinction  abroad? 
He  appealed  to  the  particularistic  interests,  which  were  endangered,  like 
his  own,  by  the  unionist  policy  of  the  Electors.  He  invoked  the  chivalrous 
and  adventurous  spirit  which  might  well  find  a  more  glorious  career  in 
fighting  Turks  and  French  under  the  brilliant  ruler  than  in  wrangling 
about  constitutional  reform  at  home.  He  exerted  all  his  interest  at 
episcopal  and  abbatial  elections,  and  not  seldom  succeeded  in  carrying 
his  candidate.  He  sought  to  win  over  Alexander  VI  to  his  side,  and 
with  that  object  did  not  hesitate  to  negotiate  directly  with  the  papal 
Curia  over  the  head  of  the  Legate.  A  few  years  of  hard  work  in  these 
directions  wrought  a  surprising  difference  in  Maximilian's  position. 
With  increasing  prosperity  he  grew  more  cheerful  and  good-tempered. 
Only  against  Berthold  of  Mainz  did  he  show  any  great  bitterness,  and 
he  now  sought  to  obtain  the  Archbishop's  resignation  on  the  ground  of 
ill-health  in  favour  of  one  of  his  young  followers,  the  Margrave  Casimir 
of  Brandenburg- Kulmbach.  The  very  Electors  began  to  despair  of 
their  policy  of  opposition.  They  resolved  that  it  was  but  a  waste  of 
time  and  money  to  hold  Diets  in  the  absence  of  the  King.  Two  years 
before  it  had  been  the  highest  goal  of  their  ambition  to  summon  the 
Estates  without  waiting  for  the  formality  of  the  royal  writ. 

Concurrently  with  these  new  developments,  Maximilian  forged  other 
weapons  against  the  reforming  oligarchy.  So  long  as  he  possessed  but 
a  purely  personal  authority,  he  was  powerless  against  the  new  system. 
He  therefore  resolved  to  start  counter-organisations,  emanating  from  the 
royal  prerogative,  which  might  be  taken  into  account  against  those 


1497-1500]  The  Aulic  Council  and  monarchical  reform  313 


established  by  the  Estates  at  the  expense  of  his  supreme  authority. 
Besides  this  general  motive,  he  found  a  particular  object  for  such  action 
in  the  condition  of  his  Austrian  territories,  which  were  as  disunited 
and  disorderly  as  feudal  States  were  ever  wont  to  be.  He  had  already 
begun  to  combine  the  ordered  administration  of  his  hereditary  lands 
with  a  rival  imperial  system  that  sprang  from  the  royal  initiative. 
The  first  great  step  was  Maximilian's  RofratJisordnung  of  1497.  Since 
the  ancient  Hofrath  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  been  merged  in  the 
Kammergerieht  of  Frederick  III,  which  had  in  its  turn  been  superseded 
by  the  Reichskammergericht  of  the  reformers,  there  was  no  royal  Court 
adequate  to  support  and  represent  the  Crown  either  in  the  Empire  or 
the  hereditary  lands  of  the  House  of  Austria.  Maximilian  now  set  up  a 
permanent  Aulic  Council  {HofraiK)^  competent  to  deal  with  "all  and 
every  business  that  can  flow  in  from  the  Empire,  Christendom  at  large, 
or  the  King's  hereditary  principalities."  This  body  was  to  follow  the 
royal  Court,  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  King,  and  was  to  decide  on  all 
matters  by  a  majority.  It  was  not  only  a  High  Court  of  Justice, 
exercising  concurrent  jurisdiction  with  the  ReicJishammergericht.  It  was 
also  a  supreme  administrative  body.  It  was  to  stand  to  the  Empire 
and  the  Estates  as  the  Concilium  Ordinarium  of  the  late  medieval 
English  Kings  stood  to  England  and  the  English  Parliament.  Next 
year,  Maximilian  further  improved  his  executive  government.  The 
Hofkammerordnung  of  1498  set  up  a  separate  financial  administration, 
dependent  on  the  Emperor,  and  subordinated  also  to  the  Aulic  Council, 
which  heard  appeals  from  its  decisions.  This  body,  which  was  to  sit  at 
Innsbruck,  was  to  centralise  the  financial  machinery  of  the  Empire  and 
hereditary  dominions  alike  under  four  Treasurers,  one  for  the  Empire, 
one  for  Burgundy,  and  two  for  Austria.  About  the  same  date  the 
Hqfkanzleiordnung  completed  these  monarchical  reforms  by  setting 
up  a  Chancery  or  Office  of  State  on  modern  lines  and  with  powers 
such  as  could  never  be  given  to  hereditary  Chancellors  like  the  Rhenish 
Archbishops.  In  these  measures  the  King  offered  to  his  subjects  rival 
guarantees  for  order,  peace,  and  prosperity  to  those  procured  for  them 
by  the  Diet.  After  the  Gelnhausen  meeting  he  proceeded  still  further 
on  the  same  course.  He  set  up  a  new  Kammergerieht^  consisting  of 
judges  appointed  by  himself,  and  this  body  actually  had  a  short  and 
troubled  life  at  Ratisbon.  He  also  talked  of  a  new  Reichsregiment^ 
which  was  to  be  a  Privy  Council  dependent  on  King  alone ;  but  this 
scheme  never  came  into  being. 

Had  Max  been  a  great  statesman,  aiming  at  one  thing  at  a  time, 
this  system  might  have  been  the  beginning  of  a  centralised  bureaucracy 
that  would  have  soon  pervaded  the  whole  Empire  with  monarchical 
ideas  of  administration.  But  he  was  neither  persevering,  nor  whole- 
hearted, nor  far-seeing  enough  to  pursue  deliberately  the  policy  of  making 
himself  a  despot;  and  his  reforms  soon  showed  themselves  to  be  but  the 


314 


The  Diet  of  Innsbruck 


[1501-18 


temporary  expedients  of  an  ingenious  but  superficial  and  temporising 
waiter  on  events.  In  a  few  years  fresh  royal  ordinances  upset  the  system 
as  easily  as  it  had  been  called  into  being ;  and  in  practice  Maximilian's 
reforms  were  not  much  better  carried  out  than  those  of  the  Diet. 
The  Aulic  Council  ceased  to  exist,  and  its  revival  was  only  forced  upon 
Maximilian  by  the  Estates  of  his  own  dominions,  which  saw  in  a  standing 
council  of  this  sort  a  means  of  checking  arbitrary  prerogative.  Max 
died  before  the  renewed  Aulic  Council  came  into  working  order.  Later, 
its  permanent  establishment  was  secured,  and  as  time  went  on  it  proved 
a  rather  formidable  rival  to  the  imperial  Chamber.  In  after  ages  it 
was  found  more  advantageous  to  take  suits  before  the  Emperor's  Court 
than  before  the  Court  of  the  Empire,  because  justice  was  cheaper, 
quicker,  and  more  certain  in  the  Aulic  Council  than  in  the  imperial 
Chamber. 

Maximilian  soon  ceased  to  take  much  interest  in  reforming  the  Empire 
by  royal  prerogative.  But  he  continued  to  busy  himself  with  schemes 
for  strengthening  and  unifying  the  administration  of  his  hereditary 
dominions.  He  had  long  ago  chased  away  the  Hungarian  conquerors  of 
Vienna,  and  put  an  end  to  the  division  of  the  Austrian  lands  between 
two  rival  branches  of  the  Habsburg  House.  The  Aulic  Council  and  the 
Innsbruck  Chamber  had  a  less  direct  bearing  on  the  Empire  than  on  the 
hereditary  dominions,  for  the  whole  of  which  the  Chamber  might  well  have 
been  the  source  of  a  single  financial  system.  But  Maximilian  soon  set 
up,  in  place  of  the  single  Hofkammer^  two  Chambers  sitting  at  Vienna 
for  Lower  Austria  (i.e.  Austria,  Carinthia,  Carniola,  Styria,  and  Istria), 
and  at  Innsbruck  for  Upper  Austria  (Tyrol,  Vorarlberg,  and  East 
Swabia),  with  perhaps  a  third  organisation  for  the  scattered  Vorlande 
in  the  Black  Forest  and  Elsass.  In  1501  followed  an  elaborate  plan  of 
administrative  reform  for  Lower  Austria,  which  established  six  executive, 
judicial,  and  financial  bodies  at  Linz,  Vienna,  and  Wiener  Neustadt. 
These  are  the  first  signs  of  a  reaction  from  Maximilian's  centralising 
policy  which  became  stronger  towards  the  end  of  his  reign.  It  is  hard 
to  determine  how  far  this  proceeded  from  his  instability,  and  how  far 
from  the  pressure  of  the  local  Estates  of  the  Austrian  dominions  to 
which  his  financial  embarrassments  ever  made  him  peculiarly  liable.  In 
the  end,  however,  it  was  the  Estates  that  took  the  lead,  in  Austria  as  in 
the  Empire.  The  meeting  at  Innsbruck  in  1518,  famous  in  Austrian  his- 
tory, of  deputations  from  the  various  Landtage  of  the  hereditary  lands, 
is  justly  regarded  as  the  first  establishment  of  any  organic  unity  within 
the  Austrian  dominions.  Maximilian  shared  with  the  Estates  the  merit 
of  convoking  the  meeting;  and  it  was  this  body  that  sanctioned  the 
scheme  for  the  erection  of  a  Beichshofrath,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.  Of  the  eighteen  members  of  this  Aulic  Council 
of  the  Empire,  five  were  to  be  presented  by  the  Empire,  nine  by  the 
various  Austrian  lands,  and  the  remainder  were  to  consist  of  great 


1504]  Maximilian's  triumph  in  Landshut  Successio7i  War  315 


officials.  Side  by  side  with  it  a  Chancery  for  the  Empire  and  hereditary 
lands  was  erected,  whose  Chancellor  was  to  act  with  the  help  of  three 
secretaries,  one  for  the  Empire,  one  for  Lower,  and  one  for  Upper 
Austria.  Finance  was  once  more  to  be  reorganised,  and  the  Innsbruck 
Chamber  restored  to  something  of  its  old  position.  Tribunals  were 
instituted  to  hear  complaints  against  officials ;  the  prince's  domain  was 
not  to  be  alienated,  and  three  local  administrations  were  set  up,  at  Bruck 
on  the  Mur  for  Lower  Austria,  at  Innsbruck  for  Upper  Austria,  and  at 
Ensisheim  for  the  Vorlande.  Maximilian's  death  within  a  few  months 
prevented  these  schemes  from  being  carried  out,  and  the  history  of  the 
Emperor's  Austrian,  as  of  his  German  policy,  ends  with  the  characteristic 
note  of  failure.  Nevertheless  he  had  truly  won  for  himself  the  position 
of  founder  of  the  unity  of  the  Austrian  dominions.  If  he  accomplished 
little  for  Germany,  he  had  done  much  for  Austria. 

The  soundness  of  the  newer  imperial  policy  of  Maximilian  was  soon 
to  be  tested.  On  the  death  of  George  the  Rich,  Duke  of  Bavaria- 
Landshut  (1504),  a  contest  arose  as  to  the  succession.  By  family  settle- 
ments and  by  the  law  of  the  Empire,  the  next  heirs  to  the  deceased 
Duke  were  his  kinsmen,  Albert  and  Wolfgang,  Dukes  of  Bavaria-Munich. 
But  differences  had  arisen  between  the  Munich  and  Landshut  branches 
of  the  ducal  House  of  Wittelsbach,  and  George,  in  the  declining  years 
of  his  life,  had  formed  a  scheme  for  the  succession  of  his  nephew  and 
son-in-law,  the  Count  Palatine  Rupert,  second  son  of  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine Philip,  by  his  wife,  George's  sister,  and  the  husband  of  Elizabeth, 
the  Duke  of  Landshut's  only  child.  On  his  death  he  left  his  wealth 
and  dominions  to  Rupert  and  Elizabeth,  who  at  once  entered  into 
possession  of  their  inheritance. 

The  Dukes  of  Munich  immediately  appealed  to  Max,  and  the 
newly-constituted  royal  Kammergericht  speedily  issued  a  decision  in 
their  favour.  All  the  dominions  of  Duke  George  were  to  go  to  the 
Dukes  of  Munich,  except  those  in  which  the  King  had  an  interest. 
Maximilian  at  once  put  Rupert  and  his  wife  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire, 
and  prepared  to  vindicate  by  arms  the  decision  of  his  lawyers.  For 
the  first  time  since  his  accession  the  young  princes  of  Germany  flocked 
to  his  standard.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  Elector  Palatine  appealed 
to  his  French  and  Swiss  allies  to  help  his  son.  A  few  French  nobles 
fought  on  his  side ;  but  Louis  XII  preferred  to  profit  by  Maximilian's 
need  to  obtain  recognition  as  Duke  of  Milan.  The  struggle  was  too 
one-sided  to  be  of  long  duration,  and  the  death  of  Rupert  and  his  wife 
made  its  termination  the  more  easy.  The  mass  of  the  Landshut 
dominions  was  now  secured  to  the  Dukes  of  Munich,  henceforth  the 
sole  lords  of  the  Bavarian  duchy.  But  Maximilian  himself  appropriated 
considerable  districts  for  himself,  while  he  compensated  the  Elector 
Palatine  by  the  region  of  Sulzbach  and  Neuburg  —  the  so-called  Junge 
Pfalz.    With  Maximilian's  triumph  in  the  Landshut  Succession  War 


316 


The  Diet  of  Cologne 


[1505 


died  the  last  hopes  of  the  constitutional  reformers  of  the  Empire.  Their 
best  chance  had  ever  been  the  necessities  of  their  King's  enterprising 
foreign  policy ;  but  these  years  also  saw  the  realisation  of  the  brightest 
dreams  of  the  House  of  Austria.  The  Archduke  Philip  was  wedded  to 
Joanna,  the  heiress  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain.  On  Isabella's 
death  in  1504  Philip  became  King  of  Castile.  To  this  great  dignity 
was  added  the  prospect  of  the  inheritance  of  the  aged  Ferdinand  in 
Aragon  and  in  Naples.  With  such  an  extension  of  his  European 
influence  it  seemed  unlikely  that  Maximilian  would  again  come  before 
his  Estates  the  helpless  suitor  that  he  had  been  of  old. 

The  history  of  the  Diet  of  Cologne  of  1505  brings  out  clearly  the 
different  position  now  attained  by  King  and  Estates  respectively.  To 
this  Diet  Maximilian  came  triumphant  from  his  hard-earned  victory  in 
Gelderland,  attended  by  a  great  crowd  of  enthusiastic  nobles  and  soldiers. 
He  had  no  longer  to  face  his  ancient  enemies.  Berthold  of  Mainz  had 
died  in  the  midst  of  the  Landshut  troubles,  worn  out  with  disease  and 
anxiety,  and  already  conscious  of  the  complete  failure  of  his  plans.  His 
former  ally,  John  of  Baden,  Elector  of  Trier,  had  died  before  him  in 
1503.  Their  successors,  Jacob  of  Liebenstein  at  Mainz  and  Jacob  of 
Baden  at  Trier,  were  mere  creatures  of  the  King,  and  the  latter  Maxi- 
milian's near  kinsman.  Hermann  of  Hesse,  the  Elector  of  Cologne, 
had  never  been  of  much  personal  importance,  and  was  now  quite  content 
to  float  in  the  royalist  tide.  The  Count  Palatine  Philip,  the  chief  of 
the  secular  opposition  since  his  reconciliation  with  Berthold,  had  suffered 
so  severely  during  the  Landshut  Succession  War  that  he  dared  no  longer 
raise  his  voice  against  the  King.  The  young  Elector  Joachim  of  Bran- 
denburg, who  had  succeeded  to  his  dignity  in  1499,  was  eager  to  put  his 
sword  at  the  service  of  Maximilian.  Of  the  old  heroes  of  the  consti- 
tutional struggle  only  Frederick  the  Wise  of  Saxony  remained,  and 
without  Berthold's  stimulus  Frederick  was  too  passive,  too  discreet,  and 
too  wanting  in  strenuousness  to  take  the  lead.  Yet  his  pleading  for  the 
disgraced  Elector  Palatine,  unsuccessful  as  it  was,  was  the  only  sign  of 
opposition  raised  from  among  the  Electors  in  this  Diet.  Even  more 
devoted  to  the  Crown  were  the  princes  who  had  won  their  spurs  in  the 
Bavarian  War  and  the  prelates  who  owed  their  election  to  Court  influence. 
Well  might  the  Venetian  ambassador  report  to  his  Republic,  that  his 
imperial  Majesty  had  become  a  true  Emperor  over  his  Empire. 

Encouraged  by  the  prospect  of  the  unwonted  support  of  his  Estates, 
Maximilian  took  a  real  initiative  in  the  question  of  imperial  reform.  In 
a  speech  in  which  he  could  not  conceal  his  bitter  hatred  of  the  dead 
Elector  of  Mainz,  he  urged  the  establishment  of  a  new  Council  of 
Regency,  dependent  upon  the  Crown,  resident  at  the  imperial  Court, 
and  limited  to  giving  the  King  advice  and  acting  under  his  direction. 
But  the  Diet  had  had  enough  of  new-fangled  reforms.  "  Let  his 
Majesty,"  said  the  Estates,  "  rule  in  the  future  as  he  has  ruled  in  the 


1507]       The  matricula. —  The  Diet  of  Constance  317 


past."  They  also  rejected  the  scheme  when  Maximilian  put  it  before 
them  in  a  modified  form,  which  allowed  the  Electors  and  princes  a  large 
voice  in  the  appointment  of  the  Council.  Equally  averse  was  the  Diet 
to  the  novel  method  of  taxation.  Maximilian  soon  withdrew  a  proposal 
for  a  new  Common  Penny,  and  cheerfully  contented  himself  with  the 
proffer  of  an  army  of  4000  men,  which  he  proposed  to  employ  to  protect 
his  ally  Ladislas  of  Hungary  from  the  revolted  Hungarian  nobles  under 
John  Zapolya.  For  the  expenses  of  this  and  for  other  supplies,  money 
was  to  be  raised  by  the  matricula^  that  is,  by  calling  upon  the  various 
Estates  of  the  Empire  to  pay  lump  sums  according  to  their  ability. 
The  matricula  ignored  the  union  of  the  Empire  and  the  obligation  of 
the  individual  subject,  which  had  been  emphasised  by  the  Common 
Penny.  But  King  and  subjects  had  alike  ceased  to  look  upon  the 
Empire  as  anything  but  a  congeries  of  separate  States. 

Save  in  the  matters  of  the  Council  of  Regency  and  the  Common 
Penny,  the  Augsburg  reforms  were  once  more  confirmed  by  King  and 
Estates.  The  Landfriede  of  1495  was  solemnly  renewed,  and  orders 
were  given  to  revive  the  Kammergericht^  which  had  ceased  to  meet  during 
the  recent  troubles.  For  two  years,  however,  the  restoration  remained 
on  paper,  until  at  last  the  Diet  of  Constance  of  1507,  which  in  more 
than  one  way  completed  the  work  of  the  Diet  of  Cologne,  approved  of 
an  elaborate  scheme  for  its  reconstitution.  By  this  ordinance  the  impe- 
rial Chamber  took  its  permanent  shape.  At  its  head  was  still  to  be  a 
Kammerrichter  chosen  by  the  King,  and  sixteen  assessors  representa- 
tive of  the  Estates.  But  .  while  at  Worms  in  1495  the  assessors  had 
been  appointed  by  the  King  with  the  counsel  and  consent  of  the 
Estates,  the  method  by  which  their  election  was  now  arrived  at  was 
particularist  rather  than  national.  The  assessors  were  henceforth  to  be 
nominated  by  the  chief  territorial  powers.  Two  were  named  by  Maxi- 
milian as  Duke  of  Austria  and  Lord  of  the  Netherlands.  The  six 
Electors  similarly  had  each  a  nomination  to  a  seat,  and  the  remaining 
eight  assessors  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  rest  of  the  Estates,  grouped 
for  the  purpose  into  six  large  Circles.  The  place  for  the  session  of  the 
Court  was  still  to  be  fixed  by  the  Estates.  After  a  year  at  Regensburg 
it  was  to  be  established  at  Worms.  To  please  Maximilian,  who  preferred 
an  ecclesiastic,  the  Bishop  of  Passau  was  the  first  Kammerrichter.  His 
successor,  however,  was  to  be  a  count  or  a  secular  prince.  The  judge 
was  to  be  paid  by  the  King,  and  the  assessors  by  the  authorities  that 
presented  them  to  their  offices.  Thus  the  Kammergericht  became  a 
permanent  institution,  which,  after  various  wanderings  and  a  long  stay 
at  Speyer,  finally  settled  down  at  Wetzlar,  where  it  remained  until  the 
final  dissolution  of  the  Empire.  But  no  care  was  taken  to  secure  that 
the  Court  should  administer  a  reasonable  law  or  adopt  a  rapid  or  an 
economical  procedure.  The  delays  of  the  Kammergericht  soon  became  a 
bye-word,  and  the  ineffectiveness  of  its  methods  very  materially  attenuated 


318         Maxiinilian'' s  increased  respojisibUities  [15O6 


the  permanent  gain  accruing  from  the  establishment  of  an  imperial 
High  Court.  Nor  were  any  efficient  means  taken  at  Cologne  or  Con- 
stance to  secure  the  execution  of  the  sentences  of  the  imperial  Chamber. 
Max  himself  was  not  chiefly  to  blame  for  this.  He  renewed  at  Con- 
stance a  wise  proposal  that  had  fallen  flat  at  Cologne.  This  was  a  plan 
for  the  nomination  by  the  King  of  four  marshals  to  carry  out  the  law 
in  the  four  districts  of  the  Upper  Rhine,  Lower  Rhine,  Elbe  and  Danube 
respectively.  Each  marshal  was  to  be  assisted  by  twenty-five  knightly 
subordinates  and  two  councillors.  An  under-marshal,  directly  dependent 
on  the  Chamber,  was  to  execute  criminal  sentences.  But  the  princes 
feared  lest  this  strong  executive  should  intrench  upon  their  territorial 
rights.  Now  that  the  Emperor  and  not  the  Estates  controlled  the 
Empire,  a  prince  had  every  inducement  to  give  full  scope  to  his  par- 
ticularistic sympathies.  Very  weak,  however,  was  the  system  of  exe- 
cution that  found  favour  at  Constance.  It  was  thought  enough  that 
the  Kammerrichter  should  be  authorised  to  pronounce  the  ban  of  the 
Empire  against  all  who  withstood  his  authority.  If  the  culprit  did  not 
yield  within  six  months,  the  Church  was  to  put  him  under  excom- 
munication. If  this  did  not  suffice,  then  Diet  or  Emperor  was  to  act. 
In  other  words,  there  was  no  practical  way  of  carrying  out  the  sentence 
of  the  Chamber  against  over-powerful  offenders. 

The  Diet  of  Constance  placed  on  a  permanent  basis  the  closely  allied 
questions  of  imperial  taxation  and  imperial  levies  of  troops.  Brilliant 
though  the  prospects  of  the  House  of  Austria  now  seemed,  Maximilian's 
personal  necessities  only  increased  with  the  widening  of  his  hopes.  It 
cost  him  much  trouble  to  maintain  Wladislav  of  Hungary  on  his  throne, 
though  in  the  end  he  succeeded ;  and  the  betrothal  of  Anne,  Wladislav's 
daughter  and  heiress,  to  one  of  Maximilian's  grandsons,  an  infant  like 
herself,  further  guaranteed  the  eventful  succession  of  the  Habsburgs  in 
Hungary  and  Bohemia  (March,  1506).  The  death  in  the  same  year  (Sep- 
tember) of  his  son  Philip  of  Castile  had  involved  him  in  fresh  responsi- 
bilities. Philip's  successor,  the  future  Charles  V,  was  only  six  years  old, 
and  it  taxed  all  Maximilian's  skill  to  guard  the  interests  of  his  grandson. 
He  now  felt  it  urgently  necessary  that  he  should  cross  the  Alps  to  Italy, 
and  should  receive  the  imperial  Crown  from  the  Pope.  With  this  object 
he  besought  the  Estates  at  Constance  for  liberal  help.  He  gave  his  word 
that,  if  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  men  were  voted  to  him,  all  conquests 
he  might  make  in  Italy  should  remain  for  ever  with  the  Empire  ;  that 
they  should  not  be  granted  out  as  fiefs  without  the  permission  of  the 
Electors ;  and  that  an  imperial  Chamber  should  be  established  in  Italy 
to  secure  the  payment  by  the  Italians  of  their  due  share  in  the  burdens 
of  the  Empire.  But  these  glowing  promises  only  induced  the  Diet  to 
make  a  grudging  grant  of  twelve  thousand  men  with  provision  for  their 
equipment.  The  matricular  system,  already  adopted  at  Cologne,  was  again 
employed  to  raise  the  men  and  the  money.    Henceforward,  so  long  as 


1508-10]      His  assumption  of  the  imperial  title 


319 


imperial  grants  continued,  this  method  alone  was  employed.  But  grave 
difficulties  arose  as  to  the  quotas  to  be  contributed  by  the  various  States. 
One  of  the  chief  among  these  related  to  princes,  who  were  tenants-in-chief 
for  some  part  of  their  territories,  while  they  held  the  rest  mediately 
of  some  other  vassal  of  the  Empire.  None  of  these  problems  was 
settled  during  Maximilian's  life. 

The  chief  interest  of  German  history  shifts  for  the  next  few  years 
more  and  more  to  questions  of  foreign  policy.  Maximilian's  War  with 
Venice,  his  share  in  the  League  of  Cambray  and  the  renewal  of  hostilities 
with  France,  which  followed  the  dissolution  of  that  combination  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Holy  League,  absorbed  his  energies  and  exhausted 
his  resources.  Very  little  success  attended  his  restless  and  shifting 
policy.  He  did  not  even  obtain  the  imperial  Crown  for  which  he 
sought.  Unable  to  wait  patiently  until  the  road  to  Rome  was  open  to 
him,  Max  took  on  February  4,  1508,  a  step  of  some  constitutional 
importance.  He  issued  a  proclamation  from  Trent,  where  he  then 
was,  declaring  that  henceforward  he  would  use  the  title  of  Roman 
Emperor  Elect,  until  such  time  as  he  received  the  Crown  in  Rome. 
Julius  n,  anxious  to  win  his  support,  formally  authorised  the  adoption 
of  this  designation.  For  the  next  few  years  the  Venetian  War  blocked 
his  access  to  Rome,  and  later  he  made  no  effort  to  go  there.  He 
was  now  universally  addressed  as  Emperor;  and  the  time  had  passed 
when  the  form  of  papal  coronation  could  be  expected  to  work  miracles. 
Maximilian's  assumption  of  the  imperial  title  without  coronation  served 
as  a  precedent  to  all  his  successors.  Henceforward  the  Elect  of  the 
seven  Electors  was  at  once  styled  Roman  Emperor  in  common  phrase, 
Roman  Emperor  Elect  in  formal  documents.  During  the  three  centuries 
through  which  the  Empire  was  still  to  endure,  Maximilian's  grandson 
and  successor  was  the  only  Emperor  who  took  the  trouble  to  receive  his 
Crown  from  the  Pope.  As  time  went  on,  the  very  meaning  of  the  phrase 
"  Emperor  Elect"  became  obscure,  and  was  occasionally  thought  to  point 
to  the  elective  nature  of  the  dignity  rather  than  to  the  incomplete  status 
of  its  uncrowned  holder. 

During  these  years  of  trouble  in  Italy,  Maximilian  was  constantly 
demanding  men  and  money  from  the  German  Estates  and  was  involved 
in  perpetual  bickering  with  the  numerous  Diets,  which  received  his  pro- 
positions coldly.  The  royal  influence,  which  had  become  so  great  after 
1504,  broke  down  as  hopelessly  as  had  the  authority  of  the  Estates. 
The  conditions  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  reign  were  renewed  when  the 
Emperor's  financial  necessities  once  more  led  him  to  make  serious  pro- 
posals of  constitutional  reform.  The  most  important  of  them  was  the 
scheme  which  in  March,  1510,  Maximilian  laid  before  a  well-attended  Diet 
at  Augsburg.  As  usual  the  Emperor  wished  for  a  permanent  imperial 
army,  and  long  experience  had  convinced  him  that  this  could  only  be 
obtained  by  great  concessions  on  his  part.    He  now  suggested  that 


320 


Diets  of  Augsburg  and  Cologne 


[1510-12 


a  force  of  40,000  foot  and  10,000  horse  should  be  raised  by  the  Estates 
of  the  Empire,  including  in  them  the  Austrian  hereditary  dominions. 
In  return  for  this  he  promised  once  more  to  establish  an  efficient 
imperial  executive.  The  Empire  was  to  be  divided  into  four  Quarters, 
over  each  of  which  a  Captain  (^Hauptmanri)  was  to  be  appointed  as 
responsible  chief  of  the  administration.  From  these  Quarters  eight 
princes,  four  spiritual  and  four  temporal,  were  to  be  chosen,  who,  under 
the  presidency  of  an  imperial  Lieutenant,  were  to  act  as  a  central 
authority.  This  body  was  to  sit  during  the  Emperor's  absence  in  the 
same  place  as  the  imperial  Chamber.  While  the  Emperor  was  in  the 
Empire,  he  had  the  right  to  summon  it  to  take  up  its  residence  at 
his  Court. 

This  proposal,  although  it  has  been  described  as  the  most  enlightened 
plan  of  fundamental  imperial  reform  that  the  age  produced,  nevertheless 
found  little  favour  with  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  which  shelved  it  after 
the  traditional  fashion  by  referring  its  further  consideration  to  another 
Diet.  Fears  for  their  territorial  sovereignty  may  have  partly  induced 
the  princes  to  bring  about  this  result.  But  it  seems  probable  that 
distrust  of  Maximilian  was  the  real  motive  which  led  to  the  rejection 
of  the  scheme.  Bitter  experience  had  taught  the  Estates  that  the 
Emperor  could  be  tied  down  to  no  promises,  and  could  be  entrusted 
with  the  execution  of  no  settled  policy.  The  best  proof  of  this  is  that, 
as  soon  as  Maximilian  died,  the  Diet  went  back  to  the  ideas  of  Berthold 
of  Mainz  and  restored  the  ReicJisregiment, 

The  obligations  involved  by  Maximilian's  participation  in  the  Holy 
League  speedily  forced  upon  him  once  more  the  necessity  of  consulting 
his  Estates.  In  April,  1512,  the  Emperor  travelled  to  Trier  to  meet  the 
Diet.  Much  time  was  now  wasted,  and  finally  Max,  in  despair  as  to  any 
transaction  of  business,  went  to  the  Netherlands,  taking  with  him  many 
of  the  assembled  princes.  A  remnant  of  the  Diet  lingered  on  at  Trier 
until  Maximilian,  returning  from  the  Netherlands,  prorogued  it  to 
Cologne.  Here  the  Emperor  once  more  brought  forward  the  plan  of 
1510.  As  it  met  with  little  approval,  he  proposed  as  an  alternative  that 
a  Common  Penny  should  once  more  be  levied  after  the  fashion  adopted 
at  Augsburg  in  1500,  and  that,  by  way  of  improvement  on  the  Augsburg 
precedent,  a  levy  of  one  man  in  a  hundred  should  provide  him  with  an 
adequate  array.  It  was  ridiculous  to  expect  that  the  Estates  would  grant 
an  army  four  times  as  large  as  the  levy  of  1500,  when  no  great  concession 
like  that  of  the  Reichsregiment  was  offered  in  return.  The  Emperor 
gradually  reduced  his  terms,  but  after  much  haggling  obtained  no  per- 
manent assistance  and  only  inadequate  temporary  help. 

One  result  of  future  importance  came  from  the  Diet  of  Cologne.  This 
was  a  scheme  for  the  extension  of  the  system  of  Circles  into  which  portions 
of  the  Empire  had  been  divided  since  1500.  Maximilian  now  proposed 
to  add  to  the  existing  six  further  new  Circles,  formed  from  the  electoral 


1512]  The  Circles  and  the  renewal  of  the  Swahian  League  321 


and  Habsburg  territories  which  had  been  excluded  from  the  earlier 
arrangement.  A  seventh  Circle,  that  of  the  Lower  Rhine,  was  to 
comprise  the  dominions  of  the  four  Rhenish  Electors.  An  eighth 
Circle  of  Upper  Saxony  took  in  the  lands  of  the  Electors  of  Saxony  and 
Brandenburg,  together  with  those  of  the  Dukes  of  Pomerania  and  some 
other  minor  Powers  transferred  from  the  original  Saxon  Circle.  Arch- 
bishop Berthold's  greatest  wish  was  realised  in  the  proposal  to  include 
Max's  hereditary  dominions  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  Circles  of  Austria 
and  Burgundy.  Thus  every  large  tract  of  imperial  territory  became 
part  of  a  Circle,  save  only  the  foreign  kingdom  of  the  Cechs.  Definite 
names  were  given  to  the  older  Circles,  and  in  each  Circle  a  Captain 
appointed  by  it  was  empowered  to  carry  out  with  the  help  of  a  force  of 
cavalry  the  decisions  of  the  imperial  Chamber.  The  Estates  however 
took  alarm  at  the  proposal  to  put  the  Captains  of  the  Circles  at  the  head 
of  an  armed  force ;  and  the  result  was  that  the  division  of  the  Empire 
into  ten  Circles  never  came  into  working  order  until  after  Maximilian's 
death,  and  even  then  certain  small  districts  were  left  outside  the 
system. 

The  Diet  of  1512  was  practically  the  last  of  the  reforming  Diets. 
The  chief  interest  in  the  immediately  succeeding  period  centred  round 
the  renewal  of  the  Swabian  League.  This  confederacy  had  for  a  genera- 
tion powerfully  contributed  towards  the  peace  and  welfare  of  South 
Germany.  It  had  extended  its  limits,  until  it  included  not  only  the 
Estates  of  Swabia,  but  Rhenish  and  Franconian  magnates  such  as  the 
Elector  Palatine,  the  Elector  of  Mainz,  and  the  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg. 
But  it  comprehended  within  it  very  diversified  elements,  and  the  lesser 
Estates  looked  with  jealousy  upon  the  increasing  influence  of  the  greater 
princes  upon  its  policy.  Conspicuous  among  these  magnates  was  Ulrich, 
the  turbulent  and  unruly  young  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg.  The  split 
declared  itself  when  the  princes  refused  to  take  a  share  even  in  paying 
the  cost  of  the  destruction  of  the  robber-nest  of  Hohenkrahen  in  the 
Hegau,  which  the  League,  inspired  by  the  Emperor,  now  captured  after 
a  short  siege.  Accordingly  when  the  League  was  renewed  for  ten  years 
in  October,  1512,  the  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg  with  his  allies,  the  Elector 
Palatine,  the  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg,  and  the  Margrave  of  Baden,  were 
excluded  from  it.  The  excluded  princes  promptly  set  up  a  counter- 
league,  which  in  1515  received  the  adhesion  of  Frederick  the  Wise  of 
Saxony.  Thus  the  element  of  disunion,  which  had  prevented  any  organ- 
ised combination  of  the  Empire  as  a  whole,  now  also  threatened  to 
destroy  the  most  successful  of  the  local  unions  of  parts  of  the  Empire. 
In  the  midst  of  this  confusion,  the  last  Diets  of  Maximilian's  reign 
were  even  more  incompetent  than  their  predecessors.  The  characteristic 
features  of  these  years  were  the  war  of  Franz  von  Sickingen  against 
Worms  and  the  feud  between  Ulrich  of  Wiirtemberg  and  the  Swabian 
League.    The  Emperor  was  now  conscious  of  his  impending  end.   In  the 

C.  M.  H.  I.  21 


322    Death,  character,  and  policy  of  Maximilian  [1517-19 


hope  of  furthering  his  grandson's  election  as  his  successor,  he  relieved 
Sickingen  from  the  ban  which  had  been  pronounced  against  him.  The 
aggrieved  Estates  refused  in  their  turn  their  help  against  the  disobedient 
Ulrich.  New  troubles  now  arose  to  complicate  the  situation.  The  early- 
triumphs  of  Francis  I  deprived  Maximilian  of  his  last  hopes  of  acquiring 
influence  or  territory  in  Italy.  After  Marignano  his  military  impotence 
was  clearly  demonstrated  to  all  the  world,  while  his  shifty  and  tortuous 
diplomacy  became  a  bye-word  for  incompetence.  Since  1517  ecclesiasti- 
cal troubles  had  assumed  an  acute  shape  by  the  crusade  of  Martin  Luther 
against  papal  Indulgences.  But  the  old  Emperor  still  calmly  pursued  his 
way,  finding  amusement  with  his  literary  and  artistic  schemes,  and  occupy- 
ing himself  more  solidly  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  world-Empire  of 
his  grandson  Charles,  and  in  setting  the  administration  of  the  Austrian 
hereditary  lands  on  a  more  satisfactory  basis.  He  was  still  as  full  of 
dreams  as  ever  and  talked  so  late  as  1518  of  leading  a  crusade  against 
the  Infidel.  But  the  contrast  between  his  projects  and  achievements  was 
never  more  strikingly  brought  out  than  in  the  last  months  of  his  life. 
The  great  schemes  of  the  Diet  of  Innsbruck  were  in  no  wise  carried  out. 
The  imperial  coffers  were  so  empty  that  Maximilian  could  not  pay  the 
tavern  bills  of  his  courtiers.  Bitterly  vexed  at  the  indignities  to  which 
his  poverty  exposed  him,  he  left  Tyrol  and  travelled  down  the  Inn  and 
Danube  to  Wels.  There,  prostrated  by  a  long-threatened  illness,  he 
breathed  his  last  on  January  19,  1519. 

A  review  of  the  political  history  of  Germany  brings  out  Maximilian's 
character  almost  at  its  weakest.  Yet  the  impression  derived  from  his 
calamitous  European  wars,  his  ineffective  negotiations,  and  his  pitiable 
shifts  for  raising  money  is  even  more  unfavourable.  Nevertheless  the 
unsuccessful  ruler  was  a  man  of  rare  gifts  and  many  accomplishments. 
"  He  was,"  says  a  Venetian,  "  not  very  fair  of  face,  but  well  proportioned, 
exceedingly  robust,  of  sanguine  and  choleric  complexion,  and  very 
healthy  for  his  age."  His  clear-cut  features,  his  penetrating  glance, 
his  dignified  yet  affable  manner,  marked  him  as  a  man  of  no  ordinary 
stamp.  He  lived  simply  and  elegantly,  loving  good  cheer  and  delicate 
meats,  but  always  showing  the  utmost  moderation,  and  being  entirely 
free  from  the  hard  drinking  habits  of  most  of  the  German  rulers  of  his 
time.  He  was  the  bravest  and  most  adventurous  of  men,  risking  his  life 
as  freely  in  the  rough  chase  of  the  chamois  among  the  mountains  of 
Tyrol  as  in  the  tiltyard  or  on  the  field  of  battle.  He  was  an  admirable 
huntsman,  and  a  consummate  master  of  all  knightly  exercises.  Good- 
humoured,  easy-going,  and  tolerant,  he  possessed  in  full  measure  the 
hereditary  gift  of  his  house  for  combining  kingly  dignity  with  a  genial 
kindliness  that  took  all  hearts  by  storm.  He  was  equally  at  home  w^ith 
prince,  citizen,  and  peasant.  He  had  so  little  gall  in  his  composition 
that,  save  Berthold  of  Mainz,  he  had  hardly  ever  made  a  personal  enemy. 
Frederick  of  Saxony  eulogised  him  as  the  politest  of  men,  and  the 


Maximilian^s  ministers 


323 


Countess  Palatine  found  him  the  most  charming  of  guests.  The  per- 
sonal devotion  of  the  younger  generation  of  princes  to  the  Emperor  did 
more  than  anything  else  to  break  up  the  party  of  constitutional  reform. 
The  rough  Landsknechte  called  him  their  father  ;  the  artists  and  scholars 
looked  to  him  for  liberal  support  and  discriminating  sympathy ;  the 
Tyrolese  peasantry  adored  him,  and  he  was  ever  the  favourite  of  women, 
whether  of  high-born  princesses,  or  of  the  patrician  ladies  of  Augsburg 
or  Niirnberg.  He  relieved  the  tedium  of  his  attendance  at  long  Diets  by 
sharing  fully  in  the  life  of  the  citizens  of  the  town  at  which  the  assembly 
was  held.  He  attended  their  dances,  their  mummings,  their  archery- 
meetings,  himself  often  winning  the  prize  through  his  skill  with  the 
cross-bow  and  arquebus.  Yet  he  was  as  readily  interested  in  serious  sub- 
jects as  in  his  pleasures.  His  quickness  was  extraordinary,  and  the  range 
of  his  interests  extremely  wide.  He  could  discuss  theology  with  Geiler 
and  Trithemius,  art  with  Diirer  or  Burgkmaier,  letters  with  Celtes  or 
Peutinger.  On  all  matters  of  horsemanship,  hunting,  falconry,  fortifica- 
tion, and  artillery,  he  was  himself  an  authority.  Yet  all  these  gifts 
were  rendered  ineffective  by  his  want  of  tenacity  and  perseverance,  by 
his  superficiality,  and  by  his  strange  inability  to  act  with  and  through 
other  men. 

Maximilian  was  ever  restless,  a  hard  and  quick,  though  by  no  means 
a  thorougli,  worker,  with  real  insight  into  many  knotty  problems  and  no 
small  power  of  judging  and  knowing  men.  Keenly  conscious  of  his  own 
ability,  and  morbidly  jealous  of  his  own  authority,  he  strove  to  keep  the 
threads  of  affairs  in  his  own  hands,  and  seldom  or  never  gave  implicit 
confidence  even  to  his  most  trusted  ministers.  He  was  a  good-humoured 
and  indulgent  master,  blind  to  the  vices  of  his  servants  so  long  as  they 
pleased  him  or  were  found  useful  to  him.  But  the  same  habit  of  mind 
that  impelled  him  to  act  on  his  own  initiative  led  him  to  prefer  minis- 
ters of  lowly  origin  who  owed  everything  to  his  favour.  These  he 
treated  indulgently  and  well,  but  regarded  as  mere  secretaries,  or  agents 
for  carrying  out  the  policy  which  his  master  mind  had  conceived.  Few 
princes  of  the  Empire  enjoyed  his  confidence,  and  among  these  none  of 
the  first  rank.  Yet  among  his  better  known  servants  were  two  Counts 
of  the  Empire,  Henry  of  Fiirstenberg,  and  Eitelfritz  of  Hohenzollern, 
Swabians  both,  as  were  so  many  of  Maximilian's  favourites.  As  diplo- 
matists he  preferred  Burgundians  to  Germans.  The  smaller  posts  he 
commonly  filled  up  with  his  favourite  Tyrolese.  But  the  most  famous 
of  his  ministers  was  Matthaeus  Lang,  an  Augsburg  burgher's  son,  by  pro- 
fession a  churchman  and  a  lawyer,  who  early  became  his  secretary,  and 
served  him  with  great  fidelity  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  Maximilian 
rewarded  him  nobly,  forced  the  well-born  Canons  of  Augsburg  to  accept 
their  social  inferior  as  Provost,  and  soon  procured  for  him  the  bishopric 
of  Gurk,  the  archbishopric  of  Salzburg,  and  a  Cardinal's  hat.  Leo  X 
compared  Lang  to  Wolsey,  and  wrongly  supposed  that  both  ruled  their 


324 


Maximilian's  military  reforms 


masters.  Like  Wolsey,  Lang  was  accused  of  arrogance  and  venality,  and 
became  exceedingly  unpopular.  A  like  fate  befel  Maximilian's  minor 
ministers,  the  Tyrolese  Serntein  and  Lichtenstein,  and  the  Augsburger 
Gossembrot,  head  of  the  Tyrolese  financial  administration.  Public 
opinion  regarded  them  as  corrupt  and  greedy  and  as  ill-advisers  of  the 
popular  Emperor.  "  His  counsellors  were  rich,"  said  a  contemporary, 
"  and  he  was  poor.  He  who  desired  anything  of  the  Emperor  took  a 
present  to  his  Council  and  got  what  he  wanted.  And  when  the  other 
party  came,  the  Council  still  took  his  money  and  gave  him  letters  con- 
trary to  those  issued  previously.  All  these  things  the  Emperor  allowed." 
The  removal  of  Maximilian's  counsellors  was  one  of  the  conditions  im- 
posed on  Charles  V  before  his  election.  Nor  was  their  lot  an  easy  one 
during  the  life  of  their  lord.  They  often  had  a  very  hard  task  in  finding 
out  what  the  wishes  of  their  fickle  and  inconstant  master  really  were,  and 
they  were  sometimes  quite  at  a  loss  as  to  the  direction  of  the  policy 
which  they  were  expected  to  carry  out.  Yet  the  Emperor  was  ever  ready 
to  trim  the  sails  of  his  statecraft  to  suit  any  passing  wind  of  casual 
counsel.  As  Machiavelli  said  of  him,  he  took  advice  of  nobody  and  yet 
believed  everybody,  and  was  in  consequence  badly  served.  His  mind  was 
always  running  over  with  fresh  ideas  and  impulses,  which,  when  half 
carried  out,  were  displaced  by  other  whims  of  the  moment.  What  he 
said  at  night  he  repudiated  in  the  morning.  No  promises  could  bind 
him ;  not  even  self-interest  could  keep  him  straight  in  a  single  course  for 
any  length  of  time.  True  child  of  the  Renaissance  as  he  was,  his  emo- 
tional, sensitive,  superficial,  susceptible,  and  capricious  nature  stood  in 
the  strongest  contrast  to  the  pursuit  of  statecraft  for  its  own  sake  by  the 
politic  and  self-seeking  princes  of  Italy,  who  used  the  giddy  and  volatile 
Caesar  as  an  easy  tool  of  their  purposes.  Yet  few  of  the  most  ruthless  of 
Italians  had  occasion  to  stoop  to  greater  meanness,  more  wanton  lying, 
and  more  barefaced  deceit,  than  this  model  of  honour  and  chivalry.  And 
Maximilian's  wiles  were  easily  seen  through  and  seldom  effected  their 
object.  Too  open-minded  to  hold  strongly  to  his  opinions,  too  versatile 
and  universal  in  his  tastes  to  deal  with  any  subject  thoroughly,  he 
remained  to  the  end  of  his  life  a  gifted  amateur  in  politics.  He  was 
at  his  best  when  strong  personal  interest  gave  free  scope  to  his  in- 
dividuality. 

As  a  general  Maximilian  was  scarcely  more  successful  than  he  was  as 
a  statesman.  But  as  a  military  organiser  he  did  much  to  further  the 
revolution  in  the  art  of  war  that  attended  the  growth  of  the  modern 
system  of  States.  He  improved  the  weapons  and  equipment  of  his  cavalry, 
though  the  lightly  armoured  horsemen  of  the  Empire  never  seem  in  his 
days  to  have  been  able  to  hold  their  own  against  the  heavier  cavalry  of 
France  and  Italy.  More  famous  by  far  was  the  rehabilitation  of  German 
infantry,  which  owed  so  much  to  his  personal  impulse.  In  his  early 
Burgundian  Wars  he  began  the  reorganisation  of  the  German  foot-soldier, 


Maximilian  and  the  Renaissance 


325 


which  soon  made  the  German  Landsknecht  a  terror  to  all  Europe.  Turbu- 
lent, undisciplined,  and  greedy,  Maximilian's  infantry  proved  admirable 
fighting  material,  brave  in  battle,  patient  of  hardship,  and  passionately 
devoted  to  the  King,  whom  they  regarded  as  their  father.  For  their 
equipment  he  discarded  the  useless  and  cumbersome  shield,  and  gave  them 
as  their  chief  weapon  an  ashen  lance,  some  eighteen  feet  long,  though  a 
certain  proportion  were  armed  with  halberds,  and  others  with  firearms  that 
were  portable  and  efficient,  at  least  as  compared  with  earlier  weapons  of 
the  same  sort.  The  rejection  of  the  heavy  armour  that  still  survived  from 
former  days  made  Maximilian's  infantry  much  more  mobile  than  most  of 
the  cumbrous  armies  of  the  time,  while,  when  they  stood  in  close  array, 
their  forest  of  long  spears  easily  resisted  the  attacks  of  cavalry.  However 
disorderly  after  victory,  the  Landsknecht  preserved  admirable  discipline 
in  the  field.  Maximilian's  inventive  genius  was  at  its  best  in  improving 
the  artillery  of  his  time.  However  poor  he  was,  he  always  found  the 
means  for  casting  cannon  of  every  calibre.  He  invented  ingenious  ways 
of  making  cannon  portable,  and  it  was  largely  through  his  talents  as  a 
practical  artillerist  that  light  field-pieces  were  made  as  serviceable  in 
pitched  battles  in  the  open  as  heavy  pieces  of  ordnance  had  long  been  in 
the  siege  of  fortified  places. 

Maximilian  played  no  small  part  in  the  intellectual  and  artistic 
life  of  his  time.  The  religious  movement  which  burst  out  at  Witten- 
berg and  Ziirich  in  the  last  years  of  his  life  lay  outside  his  sphere. 
Though  he  was  wont  to  discuss  theological  problems  with  interest  and 
freedom,  he  was  in  his  personal  life,  as  in  his  ecclesiastical  policy, 
orthodox  and  conservative.  Yet  this  orthodox  Emperor  discussed  the 
temporal  dominion  of  the  Popes  as  an  open  question,  and  argued  that 
the  Lenten  fast  should  be  divided  or  mitigated,  since  the  rude  German 
climate  made  the  rigid  observance  of  the  laws  of  the  Church  dangerous 
to  health.  He  urged  on  the  Papacy  the  reformation  of  the  Calendar 
very  much  on  the  lines  afterwards  adopted  by  Gregory  XIH.  He  was 
pious  and  devout  after  his  fashion,  and  was  specially  devoted  to  the 
Saints  whom  he  claimed  as  members  of  the  House  of  Habsburg.  He  had 
also  inherited  some  of  his  father's  love  for  astrology.  More  important, 
however,  than  these  things  is  the  large  share  taken  by  him  in  the  spread 
of  the  New  Learning  of  the  humanists  in  Germany.  He  reorganised 
the  University  of  Vienna,  and  established  there  chairs  of  Roman  law, 
mathematics,  poetry,  and  rhetoric.  He  fostered  the  younger  Habsburg 
university  at  Freiburg  in  the  Breisgau.  Under  the  direction  of  Conrad 
Celtes,  he  set  up  a  college  of  poets  and  mathematicians  as  a  centre  for 
liberal  studies  in  Vienna.  He  called  Italian  humanists  over  the  Alps  to 
his  service.  He  was  the  friend  of  Pirkheimer,  Peutinger,  and  Trithemius. 
He  was  devoted  to  music,  and  his  Court-chapel  was  famous  for  its 
singing.  In  art  he  was  a  most  magnificent  patron  of  the  wood  engraver. 
He  had  friendly  relations  with  Diirer,  while  Burgkmaier  did  some  of 


326      Maximilian's  literary  and  artistic  projects 


his  best  work  for  him.  He  loved  history,  and  was  a  great  reader  of 
romances.  He  regretted  that  the  Germans  were  not  in  the  habit  of 
writing  chronicles,  and  interested  himself  in  the  printing  and  composition 
*  of  works  illustrating  the  history  of  Germany  and  especially  that  of  his 
own  House.  His  vanity,  perhaps  the  most  constant  feature  in  his 
character,  led  him  to  project  a  long  series  of  literary  and  artistic  under- 
takings ;  but  as  was  usual  with  him,  his  designs  were  far  too  comprehensive 
to  be  ever  carried  out.  One  only  of  his  literary  enterprises  saw  the 
light  during  his  lifetime.  This  was  The  Dangers  and  Adventures  of  the 
famous  Hero  and  Knight^  Sir  Teuerdanh^  which  Melchior  Pfintzing 
published  in  1517  at  Niirnberg,  and  which  sets  forth  in  dull  and  halting 
German  verse,  illustrated  by  Schaufelein's  spirited  woodcuts,  an  allegori- 
cal account  of  Maximilian's  own  exploits  during  the  wooing  of  Mary  of 
Burgundy.  What  part  of  the  composition  belongs  to  Maximilian  him- 
self and  what  the  final  redaction  owed  to  the  earlier  designs  of  his 
secretary.  Max  Treitzsaurwein,  and  of  his  faithful  counsellor  Sigismund 
von  Dietrichstein,  is  not  clear,  but  at  least  the  general  scheme  and 
many  of  the  incidents  are  due  to  the  Emperor.  At  his  death,  he 
left  behind  him  masses  of  manuscripts,  fragments  of  proofs,  and  great 
collections  of  drawings  and  wood-blocks  to  represent  the  other  compo- 
sitions which  he  had  contemplated.  In  comparatively  recent  times  the 
piety  of  his  descendants  has  given  these  works  to  the  world  in  sump- 
tuous form.  Weisshunig^  drawn  up  by  Treitzsaurwein  and  illustrated  by 
Burgkmaier,  describes  in  German  prose  the  education  and  the  chief  ex- 
ploits of  Maximilian.  In  the  Triumph  of  Maximilian  the  vast  resources 
of  Albert  Diirer's  art  nobly  commemorate  the  Emperor  in  one  of  the 
most  grandiose  compositions  that  the  wood-engraver  has  ever  produced. 
In  Freydal  Maximilian's  joustings  and  mummeries  are  depicted  with  the 
help  of  Burgkmaier's  pencil.  Other  literary  projects,  such  as  the  lives 
of  the  so-called  "Saints  of  the  House  of  Habsburg,"  were  only  very 
partially  carried  out.  In  the  last  years  of  his  life  Maximilian  planned 
the  erection  of  a  splendid  tomb  for  himself  at  Wiener  Neustadt,  and 
called  upon  the  best  craftsmen  of  Tyrol  to  adorn  it  with  a  series  of 
bronze  statues.  The  Austrian  lands  were  not  able  to  supply  his  wants, 
and  before  long  he  was  ransacking  Germany  for  artists  capable  of  carry- 
ing out  his  ideas.  To  this  extension  of  his  plan  we  owe  the  magnificent 
statues  of  Theodoric  and  Arthur,  which  Peter  Vischer  of  Niirnberg  cast 
by  his  orders.  But  this  scheme  too  remained  incomplete  at  his  death. 
His  last  wishes  were  carried  out  as  imperfectly  as  he  had  himself  carried 
out  his  designs  during  his  life.  His  request  to  be  buried  at  Wiener 
Neustadt,  the  town  of  his  birth,  was  forgotten.  But,  among  the  orna- 
ments of  the  sumptuous  tomb  erected  over  his  remains  by  his  grandsons 
in  the  palace  chapel  at  Innsbruck,  room  was  found  for  the  works  of  art 
which  he  himself  had  collected  to  adorn  his  last  resting-place.  In  the 
hoart  of  his  favourite  Tyrol,  under  the  shadow  of  the  mountains  that  he 


Progress  of  Germany  under  Maximilian  327 


loved,  the  most  glorious  monument  of  the  German  Renaissance  worthily 
enshrines  the  prince  who,  with  all  his  faults  and  failures,  had  no  small 
share  in  bringing  his  country  into  the  full  blaze  of  modern  light. 

Was  any  real  progress  achieved  by  Germany  during  the  reign  of 
Maximilian?  The  failure  both  of  the  Emperor  and  of  the  Estates  is 
painfully  obvious ;  ;5^et  so  much  strenuous  activity,  so  much  preaching  of 
new  political  doctrine,  could  not  pass  away  without  leaving  its  mark  in 
history.  Very  few  actual  results  were  at  the  moment  obtained ;  but  the 
ideal  was  at  least  set  up  which  later  generations  were  able  in  some  slight 
measure  to  realise.  The  policy  of  imperial  reform  seemed  to  have  hope- 
lessly broken  down ;  but  it  was  something  gained  that  the  Landfriede 
had  been  proclaimed,  the  constitution  and  powers  of  the  Diet  settled,  and 
the  Kammergericht  established.  The  next  generation  took  up  and  made 
permanent  some  of  the  measures  which  during  Maximilian's  lifetime  had 
been  utterly  abandoned.  The  division  of  the  Empire  into  ten  Circles 
was  actually  carried  out.  The  Aulic  Council  became  the  rival  of  the 
imperial  Chamber.  Even  the  Council  of  Regency  was  for  a  short  time 
revived.  In  the  worst  days  of  disunion  these  institutions  remained,  the 
decrepit  survivals  of  the  age  of  abortive  reformation,  which  with  all  their 
feebleness  at  least  faintly  embodied  the  great  idea  of  national  union  that 
had  originally  inspired  them.  And  if  all  these  institutions — such  as  they 
were  —  made  for  order  and  progress,  the  peace  and  well-being  of  Germany 
were  much  more  powerfully  secured  by  the  strengthening  of  the  terri- 
torial sovereignties  which  accompanied  the  reaction  from  the  reformers' 
policy.  The  example  set  by  Maximilian  in  unifying  and  ordering  the 
government  of  the  Austrian  dominions  was  faithfully  followed  by  his 
vassals,  both  great  and  small.  The  stronger  princes  become  civilised 
rulers  of  modern  States.  The  lesser  princes  at  least  abandon  their  ancient 
policy  of  warfare  and  robbery.  The  improved  condition  of  Germany  dis- 
plays itself  most  clearly  in  the  extraordinary  development  of  the  towns, 
which  Maximilian  had  himself  helped  to  foster.  Thus  the  population  of 
Niirnberg  seems  to  have  doubled  during  the  sixteenth  century ;  while  the 
growth  of  material  comfort,  and  of  a  high  standard  of  living,  were  as 
marked  as  was  the  undoubted  advance  in  spiritual  and  intellectual  inter- 
ests, in  art  and  in  letters.  But  most  important  of  all  was  the  great  fact 
that  the  national  idea  had  survived  all  the  many  failures  of  the  attempts 
made  to  realise  it.  Nowhere  was  its  force  felt  more  strongly  than  in 
Elsass  and  along  the  Rhine,  where  a  genuine  though  mainly  literary 
enthusiasm  responded  to  Maximilian's  efforts  at  keeping  a  watch  over 
the  national  borderlands.  And  if  the  age  of  the  collapse  of  the  German 
State  was  simultaneously  the  period  of  the  revival  of  national  scholarship, 
historical  learning,  literature,  art,  and  language,  it  was  the  national  idea 
that  gave  unity  of  direction  and  aim  to  the  German  Renaissance,  and 
inspired  all  that  was  best  in  German  Protestantism.  To  this  national 
idea  the  Reformation,  while  completing  the  political  break-up  of  the 


328  Survival  of  the  German  nation 


German  national  State,  gave  new  life,  endowing  Germany  with  a  com- 
mon language  and  inspiring  her  with  fresh  motives  for  independence. 
It  was  in  no  small  measure  due  to  these  influences  —  the  influences  of 
Maximilian's  time  and  in  a  measure  of  Maximilian  himself  —  that  in  the 
long  and  dreary  centuries  when  there  was  no  German  State  there  re- 
mained a  German  nation,  able  to  hand  on  the  great  traditions  of  the  past 
to  a  happier  age  which  could  realise,  though  in  a  fresh  shape,  the  ancient 
ideal  of  Berthold  of  Mainz,  that  side  by  side  with  the  German  nation 
there  should  also  be  a  German  National  State. 


CHAPTER  X 


HUNGAKY  AND  THE  SLAVONIC  KINGDOMS 

In  the  generation  preceding  the  rise  of  the  Reformation,  the  Magyar 
and  Bohemian  kingdoms  underwent  an  internal  decay  that  finally,  in 
1526,  led  to  their  incorporation  with  the  empire  of  the  Habsburgs, 
while  Poland,  although  far  from  being  sound  or  strongly  organised, 
continued  to  maintain  her  imposing  position  against  Turks  and  Tartars 
on  the  one  hand,  and  Muscovites  and  Germans  on  the  other.  The  decay 
of  Hungary  and  Bohemia  was  unexpected  and  has  always  offered  one 
of  the  most  perplexing  problems  of  modern  history.  About  the  middle, 
and  still  more  during  the  sixth  and  seventh  decades  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  both  kingdoms  seemed  firmly  established,  the  one  (Hungary) 
in  the  immense  basin  of  the  middle  Danube ;  the  other  (Bohemia,  to- 
gether with  Moravia  and  Silesia)  on  the  vast  plateau  of  the  great  water- 
shed of  central  Europe.  Their  rulers  had  real  international  importance ; 
their  armies  were  numerous  and  well  disciplined ;  and  their  administra- 
tion and  revenues  furnished  them  with  ample  means  for  making  war  or 
securing  peace.  Yet  within  a  comparatively  short  period  the  prospects 
of  the  two  kingdoms  were  blighted,  their  independence  as  national 
States  was  lost,  and  both  were  made  to  swell  the  rising  imperial  power 
of  a  dynasty  that,  a  few  years  previously,  had  seemed  to  have  lost  the 
last  vestige  of  its  pretensions  to  greatness,  and  that  had  moreover  re- 
peatedly been  worsted  in  the  field  and  in  diplomacy  by  both  Bohemia 
and  Hungary. 

The  power  of  the  Habsburgs  during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  is  intimately  connected  with,  and  conditioned  by,  their  ac- 
quisition of  the  Crowns  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary  in  1526 ;  and,  since 
that  central  fact  of  Austrian  history  has  at  the  same  time  also  told 
on  most  of  the  international  currents  of  European  history,  its  cause, 
that  is  to  say  the  decay  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia  during  the  last  years 
of  the  fifteenth  and  the  first  twenty-six  years  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
must  necessarily  be  viewed  as  possessing  a  more  than  local  or  temporary 
importance.  A  glance  at  the  map  of  Europe  in  the  period  just  indi- 
cated will  suffice  to  show  that  there  were,  in  central  and  east-central 

329 


330 


The  reason  of  Austria's  success 


Europe,  no  less  than  four  serious  aspirants  for  a  comprehensive  mon- 
archy, which  should  comprise  all  the  fertile  countries  of  the  middle 
Danube,  the  upper  Elbe,  and  the  upper  Oder.  The  Dukes  of  Bavaria, 
the  Archdukes  of  Austria,  the  Kings  of  Bohemia,  and  the  Kings  of  Hun- 
gary had  long  been  bidding,  intriguing,  and  warring  for  the  great  prize. 
The  spoils  went  to  the  House  of  Habsburg.  The  burden  of  the  narra- 
tive to  be  attempted  in  this  chapter  is  implied  in  this  one  historic  result ; 
and  only  by  a  comprehension  of  its  gradual  accomplishment  can  the  more 
or  less  incoherent  events  which  passed  over  the  scene  of  south-eastern 
Europe  before  the  advent  of  Luther,  Charles  V,  and  the  great  Popes  of 
the  Counter-Reformation  be  made  really  intelligible. 

Thus  a  clear  solution,  one  might  almost  say  a  technical  answer,  may 
be  found  for  the  problem,  why  Austria,  and  not  Bavaria,  Bohemia,  or 
Hungary,  was  to  become,  in  1526,  the  political  centre  of  gravity  of 
a  part  of  Europe,  where  for  geographical  and  historical  reasons  small 
independent  States  could  not  well  hope  for  enduring  existence,  and 
out  of  which  Poland  was  to  retreat  behind  the  Oder,  leaving  central 
Europe  unaffected  by  her  influence.  All  personal  or  accidental  events 
and  causes  were  overruled  by  one  potent  general  cause,  working  on 
behalf  of  the  Habsburgs.  However  bad  the  tactics  of  the  Austrian 
rulers,  however  insufficient  or  dishonourable  their  means,  they  surpassed 
their  rivals  in  respect  of  political  strategy,  more  particularly  in  the  strat- 
egy of  foreign  or  international  policy,  and  thus  carried  the  day  in  a 
period  when,  all  over  Europe,  international  forces  had  a  decided  as- 
cendancy over  local  or  national  influences.  To  this  remarkable  result 
the  shortcomings  of  their  rivals  contributed  perhaps  more  than  their 
own  superiority  in  political  insight.  The  glaring  and  fatal  mismanage- 
ment, or  rather  neglect,  of  foreign  policy  by  Austria's  three  rivals 
rendered  fruitless  all  their  efforts  for  the  consolidation  of  their  States. 

In  approaching  the  melancholy  history  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia 
from  1490  to  1526,  one  cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  analogies, 
amounting  to  complete  resemblance,  both  in  the  circumstances  and  in 
the  institutions  of  the  Cech  and  Magyar  kingdoms  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  In  natural  conditions,  in  number  and  quality  of  population, 
and  in  the  conjuncture  of  circumstances  historical  and  historico-geo- 
graphical,  there  is  indeed  a  great  difference  between  the  two  countries. 
The  Magyars  are  a  Turanian,  the  Cechs  an  Aryan  people.  In  their 
languages,  their  customs,  their  music,  they  have  little  in  common.  The 
Cechs  have  always  been,  and  were  especially  in  the  earlier  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  profoundly  troubled  by  religious  movements  of  their 
own  ;  while  we  can  detect  no  parallel  in  Hungary  to  the  rise  and  progress 
of  the  Bohemian  Hussites.  The  international  position  of  Bohemia  was 
centred  in  a  close,  if  latently  hostile  relation  to  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  the  King  of  Bohemia  being  one  of  the  seven  Electors.  The 
claims  to  overlordship  over  Hungary  put  forward  by  earlier  Emperors 


Parallelism  of  Magyar  and  Cech  history  331 


were  mere  pretences.  Bohemia,  after  the  fashion  of  small  States  hard 
pressed  on  all  sides  by  an  overpowering  empire,  was  naturally  led  to 
intensify  her  powers  of  resistance  by  fanatic  nonconformity,  and  her 
religious  warriors  (Ziska,  the  two  Procops)  held  large  parts  of  central 
Germany  in  terror  for  several  years  (1419-34).  In  Hungary  there 
were  no  such  motives  for  religious  isolation  and  fanaticism,  and  the 
relations  of  the  Kings  of  Hungary  to  the  German  Emperors  were 
purely  international  or  political. 

Yet  notwithstanding  all  these  differences  there  is,  in  historical 
antecedents  and  in  institutions,  an  unmistakable  similarity  between 
Bohemia  and  Hungary.  Until  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century 
both  these  countries  were  under  native  Kings,  Hungary  till  1301, 
Bohemia  till  1306.  Then  followed  in  both  of  them  foreign  dynasties,  — 
in  Hungary  the  Angevins,  in  Bohemia  the  Luxemburgs  ;  and  so  it 
came  about  that  in  both  the  Crown  was  made  elective.  In  both 
countries,  during  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  and  the  former 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Estates  won  political  ascendancy, 
and  in  both  the  protectorate  of  successful  leaders  in  war  or  politics 
led  to  the  throne,  —  in  Hungary  in  the  person  of  Matthias  Corvinus, 
in  Bohemia  in  that  of  George  Podiebrad.  Neither  of  these  very  able 
princes  was,  however,  fortunate  enough  to  found  a  new  dynasty ;  and 
both  were  succeeded  by  two  princes  of  the  Polish  House  of  the  Jagellos, 
Wladislav  and  his  son  Louis,  each  of  whom,  though  incapable  and 
unworthy  of  his  position,  became  King  of  Bohemia  and  of  Hungary  at 
the  same  time. 

This  profound  parallelism,  indicated  by  the  mere  external  sequence 
and  form  of  rule,  becomes  still  more  striking  and  symptomatic  of  deeper 
analogies  when  we  turn  to  the  social  and  political  structure  of  the 
two  kingdoms. 

In  the  last  quarter  of  the  fifteenth  century  Bohemia  consisted  legally 
of  Bohemia  proper,  together  with  the  margravate  of  Moravia,  the  duchy 
of  Silesia,  and  Lower  Lusatia.  Since  the  Peace  of  Olmiitz  in  1477, 
most  of  Moravia,  Silesia,  and  Lusatia  were  under  Hungarian  sovereignty, 
Matthias  Corvinus  having  forced  Wladislav  of  Bohemia  to  cede  these 
territories.  The  population  of  Bohemia  was  not  over  400,000  ;  and  then, 
as  now,  it  was  made  up  of  German  and  of  Slav-speaking  inhabitants. 
The  Bohemians  were  settled  in  the  centre,  and  the  "  Germans  "  around 
them. 

Hungary  was  in  1490  a  very  large  kingdom,  stretching  from  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  modern  kingdom  of  Saxony  through  Silesia 
and  Moravia,  to  Hungary  proper,  occupying  wide  tracts  of  fortified 
lands  on  the  Drave,  Save,  Una,  Bosna,  and  Drina,  as  far  as  the  Aluta 
or  Olt  river,  thus  comprising  large  portions  of  modern  Bosnia,  Servia, 
and  of  western  Rumania.  The  population  of  Hungary  amounted 
towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  about  1,100,000 ;  we  may 


332 


The  constitution  of  Hungary  [i490-i526 


therefore  assume  that  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  it  had  reached  about 
800,000.  Venetian  diplomatic  agents  were,  it  is  true,  repeatedly 
assured  by  the  Magyars  of  the  time  of  Wladislav  (1490-1516)  that 
Hungary  could  muster  an  army  of  no  less  than  200,000  men.  This 
assurance,  however,  cannot  be  taken  as  a  basis  for  serious  computations 
of  the  population,  and  undoubtedly  possesses  patriotic  and  political 
interest  rather  than  any  statistical  value.  Hungary  was  then,  as  it  is 
now,  the  meeting-ground  of  a  very  large  number  of  nationalities.  The 
towns  were  mostly  inhabited  by  Germans  who,  as  a  rule,  could  not  even 
speak  the  language  of  their  masters.  The  mountainous  regions  in  the 
north  were  thinly  inhabited  by  Slav  peoples,  those  in  the  south-east  by 
Romance-speaking  Rumanians,  by  Dalmatians,  Servians,  Armenians, 
Cumanians,  etc.  All  social  and  political  prestige  and  power  was 
with  the  Magyars  —  or,  to  speak  more  correctly,  with  the  Magyar 
noblemen. 

The  political  structure  of  either  country  was  likewise  analogous  to 
that  of  the  other.  In  both,  the  aristocracy  was  the  paramount  element, 
endowed  with  chartered  or  traditional  ^rmY^^es,  to  the  practical  exclusion 
from  political  power  of  certain  classes  of  citizens  endowed  with  rights  in 
the  modern  sense  of  the  term.  In  Hungary  the  ruling  Order  was, 
in  general  terms,  the  nobility.  It  consisted  of  the  great  prelates 
of  the  Church  (^Domini  Praelati^  fopapok},  the  magnates  QBarones  et 
Magnates^  zdszldsurak  es  orszdgnagyok)  and  the  common  gentry  (nohileSj 
nemesek^.  To  these  three  classes  of  personal  nobles  were,  since  1405, 
added  the  corporate  nobles  of  the  free  royal  towns  (szahad  kirdlyi 
vdrosoh)^  which  as  corporations  enjoyed  some  of  the  rights  of  Hun- 
garian nobility.  Of  the  prelates,  the  first  in  dignity  and  power  was 
the  Archbishop  of  Esztergom  (in  German,  Gran)  who  was  the  Primate 
of  Hungary,  the  legatus  natus  of  the  Pope,  and  the  Chancellor  of  the 
King ;  next  to  him  ranked  the  Bishops  of  Eger,  of  Veszprdm,  of  Agram, 
of  Transylvania,  and  the  Abbot  of  Pannonhalma,  in  the  county  of 
Gy<5r  (^G-ermanice :  Raab).  The  magnates  were  not,  with  just  two 
exceptions  (the  Eszterhdzys  and  the  Erdodys),  distinguished  from  the 
common  gentry  in  the  way  of  title ;  —  for  such  titles  as  "  Baron," 
"  Count,"  or  "  Prince "  were  first  introduced  into  Hungary  by  the 
Habsburgs,  after  1526.  They  consisted  of  noblemen  who  were  either 
very  wealthy,  or  incumbents  of  one  of  the  great  national  offices  of  the 
country.  In  perfect  keeping  with  the  medieval  character  of  the  entire 
social  and  political  structure  of  Hungary,  these  great  offices  implied 
immense  personal  privileges  rather  than  constituting  their  bearers 
definite  organs  of  an  impersonal  State.  The  highest  office  was  that  of 
the  Count  Palatine  QRegni  Palatinus^  nddor^,  the  King's  legal  represen- 
tative, and  when  he  was  a  minor  his  legal  guardian  ;  judge  and  umpire 
on  differences  between  King  and  nation  ;  Captain-general  of  the  country, 
and  Keeper  of  the  King's  records.    After  the  Count  Palatine  followed 


1490-1526]  The  constitution  of  Hungary 


333 


the  Judex  Curiae  regiae ;  the  Banus^  or  Seneschal,  of  Croatia ;  the 
Tavernicorum  regalium  magister  (^fotdrnokmester)  or  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer;  the  vajddk  or  Seneschals  of  Transylvania  and  the  minor 
border-provinces  on  the  Danube ;  and  the  Lord-lieutenants  of  the 
counties  (^fdispdnok) . 

The  common  gentry,  about  15,000  families,  consisted  of  persons 
forming  the  populus  as  distinguished  from  the  plehs.  They  alone 
possessed  real  political  rights ;  they  alone  enjoyed  the  active  and 
passive  franchise ;  their  estates  could  not  be  taken  away  from  them 
(a  right  called  osiseg^  ;  they  were  exempt  from  taxation ;  they  alone 
were  the  leading  officials  of  the  county-government,  and  their  chief 
duty  lay  in  their  obligation  to  defend  the  country  against  any  enemy 
attacking  it.  Even  in  point  of  common  law  they  were,  unlike  Roman 
patricii  or  English  gentry,  in  a  position  very  much  more  advantageous 
than  that  allowed  either  to  the  urban  population,  called  hospites,  or 
to  the  rest  of  the  unfree  peasantry  Qjohhdgyok), 

On  this  stock  of  privileged  nobility  was  grafted  a  system  of  local 
and  national  self-government  closely  resembling  that  of  England, 
although  the  similarity  holds  good  far  more  with  regard  to  the  Hun- 
garian county-system  than  in  respect  of  the  Diet.  In  the  former  the 
local  nobility  managed  all  the  public  affairs  with  complete  autonomy, 
and  there  was,  especially  in  the  fifteenth  century,  a  strong  tendency 
to  differentiate  each  county  as  a  province,  unconcerned  in  the  interests 
of  the  neighbouring  counties,  if  not  positively  hostile  to  them.  Inter- 
municipal  objects,  such  as  the  common  regulation  of  the  unbridled 
Tisza  river,  proved  as  impossible  of  achievement  as  was  the  uniform 
assertion  in  all  counties  of  recent  legislative  acts.  Yet  it  was  the 
county  organisation,  itself  the  outcome  of  the  rapid  conquest  of  all 
Hungary  by  one  victorious  people  in  the  last  decade  of  the  ninth 
century,  which  preserved  the  unity  of  the  Magyar  kingdom. 

The  Diet  (orszdggyiiles)  on  the  other  hand  differed  from  the  English 
Parliament  in  two  essential  points.  It  consisted,  not  of  delegates  or 
deputies,  but  of  the  mass  of  the  nobles  assembled  in  full  arms  on  the 
field  of  Rakos,  near  Budapest,  or  elsewhere.  Examples  of  delegates  at 
Diets  are,  it  is  true,  not  entirely  unknown  in  the  period  preceding 
the  disaster  of  Mohdcs  (1526)  ;  yet  as  late  as  1495,  and  repeatedly 
in  1498,  1500,  1518,  special  acts  were  passed  enjoining  every  individual 
noble  to  attend  the  Diet  in  person.  It  may  readily  be  seen  that  such 
an  assembly  possessed  the  elements  neither  of  statesmanlike  prudence 
nor  of  sustained  debate.  The  poorer  members,  always  the  great 
majority,  soon  tired  of  the  costly  sojourn  far  away  from  their  homes, 
and  hastened  back  to  their  counties.  The  other  essential  difference 
from  the  English  Parliament  lay  in  the  fact  that  down  to  the  end  of 
the  period  under  review  (1526)  the  Hungarian  Diet  consisted  of  a 
single  Chamber  only.    Thus  both  in  structure  and  in  function,  the 


334 


The  constitution  of  Bohemia 


[1490-1526 


Diets,  although  very  frequent,  very  busy,  and  very  noisy,  remained  in  a 
rudimentary  state. 

This  short  sketch  of  the  political  constitution  of  pre-Reformation 
Hungary  would,  however,  be  incomplete  without  laying  special  stress 
on  the  fact  that  there  was  no  trace  of  Western  feudalism  either  in 
the  social  or  the  political  institutions  of  the  country.  Medieval  no 
doubt  the  structure  of  Hungary  was,  even  in  the  opening  period  of 
modern  history ;  it  was,  however,  a  type  of  early,  almost  pre-feudal 
times,  tempered  by  strong  and  wholesome  elements  of  the  modern 
national  State.  The  adherence  of  Hungary  to  this  medieval  type 
rendered  her  less  capable  of  progressing  by  the  side  of  the  far  advanced 
and  modernised  States  of  the  West  with  anything  like  equal  rapidity  ; 
the  factors  of  national  life,  on  the  other  hand,  afforded  her  the 
possibilities  of  a  greater,  if  belated,  future.  Thus  the  Magyar 
kingdom  stood  in  point  of  time  between  the  Middle  Ages  and  modern 
times ;  just  as  in  point  of  space  it  lay  between  the  Orient  and  the 
Occident. 

In  Bohemia,  again,  only  noblemen  enjoyed  the  actual  rights  of  full 
citizenship.  However,  owing  to  the  constant  intercourse  between 
Bohemia  and  Germany,  German  feudal  ideas  penetrated  into  the  Cech 
kingdom  ;  and  in  the  fifteenth  century  Cech  noblemen  were  divided,  not 
merely  de  facto^  as  in  Hungary,  but  de  lege^  as  in  Germany,  into  two 
classes  —  the  Vladyks  or  magnates  (in  Cech  also :  pdni^  slechtici),  and  the 
knights  (in  Cech,  rytierstvo^  meaning  the  Estate  or  Order  of  the  knights). 
The  most  important  gentes  of  the  Bohemian  magnates  were  the  Vitkovici, 
Hronovici,  Busici,  Markwartici  (to  whom  belonged  in  the  seventeenth 
century  the  famous  Wallenstein),  Kounici,  each  branching  off  into  a 
number  of  noble  families,  frequently  with  German  names  (Riesenburg, 
Schellenberg,  etc.).  The  tendency  to  make  of  the  Vladyks  or  magnates 
a  real  caste,  differing  in  rights,  power,  and  prestige  not  only  from  the 
burgesses  and  unfree  classes,  but  also  from  the  knights,  was  so  strong, 
and  was  so  much  aided  by  the  terrible  Hussite  movement,  from  whicli 
the  magnates  contrived  to  derive  more  benefit  than  any  other  section 
of  the  population,  that  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  they  had  in 
Bohemia  proper  monopolised  the  whole  government  of  the  countr}^,  and 
were  possessed  of  most  valuable  and  almost  regal  rights  as  lords  on  their 
estates.  The  Moravian  high  gentry,  by  a  convention  of  1480,  entered 
on  the  statute-book,  actually  went  so  far  as  to  restrict  the  number  of 

Vladyks  to  fifteen,  and  thus  practically  established  themselves  as  a  closed 
caste.  In  Hungary,  as  we  have  seen,  the  magnates  were  never  able  to 
assert  similar  privileges  at  the  expense  of  the  ordinary  gentry. 

The  Bohemian  peasantry  (in  Cech  :  sedldk^  rolnlk)  were,  previous 
to  the  Hussite  Wars,  in  a  tolerable  position,  although  there  always  was 
among  them  a  very  large  number  of  villains  and  half -serfs  (in  Cech : 

Map^  sluh) .  The  introduction  of  German  law  into  Bohemia  undoubtedly 


l458-8o]       Hungary  under  Matthias  Corvinus  335 


helped  to  mitigate  the  condition  of  the  rural  population.  The  burgesses 
of  the  towns,  mostly  Germans,  played  —  as  in  Hungary  and  Poland  — 
a  very  subordinate  part,  and  were  admitted  to  the  Diet  only  after  the 
great  Hussite  upheaval,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
Diet  of  Bohemia  (snem)^  and  that  of  Moravia,  were  considerably  better 
organised  for  efficient  work  than  was  the  case  with  the  Diet  in  Hungary. 
In  Moravia  there  were  four  Estates  (magnates,  prelates,  knights,  and 
towns),  in  Bohemia  only  three,  the  clergy  having  here,  as  in  England 
about  the  same  time,  disappeared  as  a  separate  Estate  from  the  Diet. 
The  assemblies  were  not  frequented  by  unmanageable  numbers,  and 
were  accordingly  less  tumultuous  and  more  efficient  than  the  national 
assemblies  in  Hungary.  Yet  the  propher  sphere  of  the  influence  wielded 
by  the  gentry  was  the  Privy  Council  (rada  zemskd')^  where  the  Kmets^ 
or  Seniores^  advised  and  controlled  the  King.  When  we  reach  the 
period  specially  treated  here,  we  find  Bohemia  practically  governed  by 
a  caste-like  oligarchy,  and  uncontrolled  either,  as  in  Hungary,  by  a 
numerous  and  strong  minor  gentry,  or,  as  in  England,  by  a  strong  King. 

From  1458  to  1490  Hungary  had  been  ruled  by  King  Matthias  Cor- 
vinus, son  of  John  Hunyadi,  the  great  warrior  and  crusader.  Matthias 
was  in  many  ways  the  counterpart  of  his  contemporary  Louis  XI  of 
France,  except  that  he  surpassed  the  French  ruler  in  military  gifts. 
Both  of  them  were,  like  so  many  of  their  fellow-monarchs  of  that 
time,  historical  illustrations  of  Machiavelli's  Prince  ;  —  unscrupulous, 
cold,  untiringly  at  work,  filled  with  great  ambitions,  orderly,  systematic, 
and  patrons  of  learning.  Matthias,  whom  the  popular  legend  in 
Hungary  has  raised  to  the  heights  of  an  ideally  just  ruler  ("  King 
Matthias  is  dead,  justice  has  disappeared"  said  the  common  people) 
had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  made  short  work  of  many  of  the  liberties 
and  rights  of  his  subjects.  He  controlled  and  checked  the  turbulent 
oligarchs  with  an  iron  hand;  and  his  "black  legion"  of  Hussite  and 
other  mercenaries,  —  his  standing  army,  in  a  word,  and  as  such  an  illegal 
institution  in  Hungary,  —  was  employed  by  him  with  the  same  relentless 
vigour  against  refractory  Magyars  as  against  Turks  or  Austrians.  In 
his  wars  he  was  particularly  fortunate.  On  the  Turks  he  inflicted  severe 
punishment,  and  his  Herculean  general  Paul  Kinizsi,  aided  by  Stephen 
Bdtori,  completely  routed  them  at  Keny^rmezo  near  Szaszv4ros  (Broos) 
on  the  Maros  River  in  Transylvania,  October  13,  1479. 

It  has  already  been  seen  how  in  1477,  Matthias,  after  a  successful 
war  against  Wladislav  of  Bohemia,  obtained  by  the  Treaty  of  Olmiitz 
the  larger  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  Bohemian  Crown.  In  1485 
the  great  Corvinus  was  still  more  successful.  On  May  23  of  that  year, 
Vienna  capitulated  to  him  as  victor  over  the  Emperor  Frederick  III; 
and  thus  he  added  Lower  Austria  to  his  vast  domain.  Nor  were  his 
successes  gained  only  by  laborious  fighting.     His  diplomatic  activity 


336 


Hungary  under  Wladislaw  II 


[1490-1506 


was  hardly  less  comprehensive  and  elaborate  than  were  his  numerous 
campaigns.  Yet,  with  all  his  successes  and  triumphs,  Matthias,  like  the 
Emperor  Charles  V  at  a  later  date,  belongs  to  a  class  of  rulers  more 
interesting  by  their  personality  than  important  by  reason  of  their  work. 
Like  Charles,  Matthias  triumphed  over  persons  rather  than  over  causes. 
He  humbled  nearly  all  his  opponents,  and  his  statue  or  image  was  set 
up  at  Bautzen  as  well  as  at  Breslau,  in  Vienna,  and  in  the  border- 
fortress  of  Jajcza,  far  down  in  Bosnia.  When  on  April  6,  1490, 
Matthias  breathed  his  last,  he  left  the  interests  of  his  only,  but 
illegitimate  son,  John  Corvinus,  and  those  of  his  realm,  in  so  insecure 
a  condition  that  no  less  than  four  or  five  rival  candidates  were  striving 
for  the  Crown  which  he  had  fondly  hoped  to  secure  for  his  amiable  but 
weakly  son. 

The  oligarchs  decided  to  confer  the  Crown  upon  Wladislavof  Bohemia, 
a  prince  of  the  Polish  House  of  the  Jagellos,  whose  indolent  character 
promised  well  for  their  ardent  desire  of  retrieving  the  ascendancy  which 
they  had  long  since  lost  under  Matthias'  stern  rule.  The  campaign 
of  his  competitor  Maximilian,  the  Emperor's  son,  broke  down,  while 
Wladislav's  other  competitor,  his  brother  Albert,  since  1492  King  of 
Poland,  was  persuaded  by  him  to  withdraw.  Thus  began  the  period 
of  Wladislav  II's  reign  over  Hungary  (1490-1516),  during  which  the 
country,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  was  rapidly  falling  into  ruin.  The 
King,  commonly  called  '•^ Bohzse  Ldszlo'''  from  his  habit  of  saying 
"  dobzse  "  ("  all  right ")  to  everything,  was  a  mere  plaything  in  the  hands 
of  Thomas  Bakocz,  the  all-powerful  Primate,  of  George  Szakmdry,  the 
Bishop  of  Pecs,  and  of  Emericus  Per^nyi,  the  Palatine.  This  Primate 
is  the  Hungarian  Cardinal  Wolsey.  Like  the  great  English  prelate 
he  commanded  all  the  resources  of  clerical  subtlety,  and  knew  how  to 
humiliate  himself  for  a  season.  Like  Wolsey,  he  aimed  at  the  highest 
object  of  ecclesiastic  ambition,  the  Papacy,  and  because  of  the  same  fatal 
conflict  within  him  of  two  contradictory  ambitions  failed  alike  to  render 
good  service  to  his  country,  and  to  fulfil  his  hierarchical  aspirations. 

The  Court-party  centring  in  Bakocz  was  opposed  by  the  adherents 
of  the  powerful  House  of  the  Z4polyai,  who  after  Stephen  Zapolyai's 
death  in  1499,  put  up  his  son  John  as  the  national  candidate  for  the 
Crown.  John's  friends,  chiefly  the  childless  and  wealthy  Lawrence 
Ujlaky,  counted  on  the  King's  imbecility  in  council  and  war;  and 
finally  John  proposed  to  Wladislav  repeatedly,  and  even  in  threaten- 
ing fashion,  a  marriage  between  him  and  the  King's  first  child  Anne. 
Wladislav,  however,  with  the  cunning  which  often  accompanies  dul- 
ness,  contrived  to  obtain  delay  after  delay,  together  with  new  treaty- 
assurances  from  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  until  his  French  wife,  Anne 
de  Candale,  a  kinswoman  of  Louis  XII,  King  of  France,  bore  him 
in  1506,  a  son,  Louis,  whose  birth  put  an  end  to  the  intrigues  of  Johu 
Zapolyai. 


1506-26]  Hungary  under  Wladislav  II  and  Louis  II  337 


All  through  these  years  the  achievements  in  arms  of  the  kingdom,  if 
not  of  the  King,  were  by  no  means  altogether  unsatisfactory.  In  the  early 
years  of  Wladislav's  reign,  the  old  hero  Paul  Kinizsi  still  continued  to 
inflict  heavy  losses  on  the  ever  aggressive  Turk ;  and  John  Zdpolyai,  too, 
earned  some  military  glory.  Ujlaky's  rebellion  was  put  down  by  the 
King's  general  Dragfy  in  1495.  The  internal  dissensions,  however,  were 
sapping  the  very  foundation  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  in  1514  Hungary  was 
afflicted  with  one  of  the  terrible  peasant  revolts  then  not  infrequent 
in  Austria  and  Germany,  which  invariably  led  to  the  most  inhuman  as 
well  as  illegal  treatment  of  the  defeated  peasants.  A  crusade  against 
the  infidel  Turk,  announced  by  Bakocz  as  legate  of  the  Pope,  gave  rise 
to  vast  gatherings  of  peasants  and  other  poor  people  who,  on  finding 
that  the  nobles  refrained  from  joining  them,  took  umbrage  at  this  re- 
fusal, and  speedily  turned  their  pikes  on  the  nobility  as  their  oppressors. 
A  large  number  of  noble  families  were  cruelly  and  infamously  murdered 
by  the  Hungarian  Jacquerie  led  by  George  Dozsa.  The  untrained 
masses  of  the  insurgents,  however,  fell  an  easy  prey  to  John  Zapolyai's 
soldiers.  Dozsa  was  roasted  alive,  and  the  peasants  were  by  a  special 
statute  degraded  to  everlasting  serfdom. 

After  the  death  of  Wladislav  II  (March,  1516)  his  son,  a  boy  of  ten 
years,  became  King,  under  the  name  of  Louis  II.  He  had  been  brought 
up  under  the  baneful  influence  of  his  cousin.  Margrave  George  of 
Brandenburg  (Prince  of  Jagerndorf),  and  knew  only  of  untrammelled 
indulgence  in  pleasures  and  pastimes.  Under  such  conditions  there 
was  no  vigorous  reform  to  be  expected,  and  the  new  Sultan,  Sulayman 
the  Magnificent,  occupied  in  1521  the  important  border-fortresses  of 
Szab^cs  and  Nandorfeh^rv4r  (Belgrade),  after  their  Hungarian  garrisons 
had  exhausted  every  effort  of  the  most  exalted  heroism.  However, 
even  the  loss  of  these  places,  the  two  keys  to  Hungary,  failed  to  pro- 
duce a  sensible  change  in  the  indolence  and  factiousness  of  the  people. 
In  vain  was  Verboczy  —  an  able  and  truly  patriotic  statesman  —  made 
Palatine  in  1525 ;  in  vain  good  laws  were  passed  to  meet  the  imminent 
danger  at  the  hands  of  the  victorious  Sultan.  The  disaster  of  Mohacs, 
August  29,  1526,  described  in  an  earlier  chapter  of  this  volume,  showed 
but  too  clearly  that  the  Sultan's  destructive  plans  were  prompted  and 
aided  rather  by  the  fatal  disorganisation  of  Hungary  than  by  the  num- 
ber and  valour  of  his  troops.  The  Jagellos  ceased  to  exist,  and  at 
the  same  time  an  integral  portion  of  Hungary,  soon  to  be  increased  to 
one-third  of  the  whole  country,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turk.  Other 
nations  before  this  had  suffered  their  Cannae,  Hastings,  or  Agnadello  ; 
but  either  the  victor  was  equal  if  not  superior  in  degree  of  civilisation 
to  the  vanquished,  or  the  latter  afterwards  found  means  at  home  or 
abroad  to  shake  off  the  torpor  of  defeat.  Hungary,  with  the  exception 
of  Transylvania,  was  after  Mohacs  not  only  defeated  but  paralysed ; 
and  for  three  centuries  she  could  not  resume  her  historical  mission. 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


22 


338  Bohemia  before  Molidcs  [1476-1526 


inasmuch  as  she  was  able  to  repel  her  foreign  enemy  only  by  the  aid 
of  her  domestic  oppressor,  Austria,  and  of  Austria's  allies.  Cannae 
steeled  Rome,  and  Hastings  made  England  an  organic  part  of  Europe ; 
Mohacs  buried  the  greater  part  of  Hungary  for  more  than  nine  genera- 
tions. 

Passing  now  to  events  in  Bohemia,  we  find  them  full  of  similar 
perturbations.  Here,  since  1476,  the  Vladyks  were  involved  in  inter- 
minable struggles  with  the  towns.  The  common  people,  especially  the 
German  settlers,  had  suffered  exceedingly  at  the  hands  of  the  Hussites 
who,  by  impoverishing  or  massacring  the  industrial  population  of  their 
own  country,  paved  the  way  for  an  uncontrolled  oligarchy.  Of  these 
class-wars,  the  cruel,  not  to  say  inhuman,  campaign  waged  by  the 
Vladyk  Kopidlansky  of  Kopidlno  against  the  city  of  Prague,  from  1507 
onwards,  is  perhaps  the  most  remarkable.  It  was  not  until  October  24, 
1517,  that  the  higher  gentry  and  the  towns  arrived  at  an  arrange- 
ment in  the  so-called  Treaty  of  St.  Venceslas.  The  leading  politicians 
and  generals  of  those  internecine  troubles  were  John  Pashek  of  Wrat, 
William  of  Pernstein,  Zdenko  Lew  of  Rozmital,  and  Peter  of  Rosen- 
berg. After  1520  the  old  religious  dissensions,  now  intensified  by  the 
introduction  of  Luther's  ideas,  were  resuscitated.  The  Kings,  Wladislav 
and  Louis,  were  quite  unable,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  they  were 
willing,  to  stem  the  tide  of  internal  strife.  At  any  rate,  they  appear 
to  have  counted  for  nothing,  and  Bohemia  as  well  as  Moravia  was 
practically  handed  over  to  a  very  limited  number  of  aristocrats,  un- 
controlled either  by  the  small  gentry,  as  was  the  case  in  contemporary 
Hungary,  or  by  the  towns  or  peasants.  Even  without  a  battle  of 
Mohacs  Bohemia  had  reached  the  stage  when  any  bold  and  able  foreign 
prince  might  very  well  hope  to  possess  himself  of  a  country  important 
alike  by  its  situation  and  its  resources.  The  Habsburgs  were  not  slow 
to  see  and  appreciate  their  opportunity. 

The  political  and  moral  gloom  weighing  upon  Hungar}^  and  Bohemia 
during  the  reign  of  the  Jagello  Kings  is  undeniable.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  easy  to  exaggerate  its  consequences.  The  historians  of  both 
countries,  and  more  especially  the  Magyar  authors  writing  on  the 
reigns  of  Wladislav  H  and  Louis  H,  seem  at  a  loss  for  sufficient  terms 
of  reproach  and  recrimination  with  which  to  assail  the  Hungarians  of 
this  period ;  and  they  agree  in  tracing  its  catastrophe  entirely  to  the 
moral  and  unpatriotic  shortcomings  of  the  Zdpolyais  and  their  contem- 
poraries. Yet  these  authorities  abound  in  statements  implying  high- 
spirited  actions  of  good  and  great  men,  and  serious  and  well-meant 
efforts  for  the  preservation  of  the  country.  It  is  precisely  in  dark 
periods  such  as  this  that  an  advance  in  statesmanship  and  earnest 
patriotism  is  apt  to  make  itself  manifest.    Any  age  of  Hungarian 


1490-1526]  Magyar  legislation, — Renaissancein  Hungary  339 


history  might  have  been  proud  of  a  patriot,  jurist,  and  statesman  such 
as  Stephen  Verboczy,  the  author  of  the  first  authoritative  if  not  strictly 
official  codification  of  Magyar  law,  written  and  unwritten,  the  Decretum 
Tripartitum  juris  corisuetudinarii  inelyti  recjni  Hungariae :  {Hdrma 
skonyv^.  Utterances  nobler  and  truer  than  the  speeches  delivered  by 
him  at  the  Diets  never  fell  from  the  lips  of  a  sincere  and  wise  patriot. 
Nor  was  Bornemisza  a  commonplace  or  mediocre  politician :  while  Paul 
Tomory,  Archbishop  of  Kalocsa,  both  as  an  ecclesiastic  and  as  a  com- 
mander, to  whom  the  defence  of  the  south  of  the  country  was  entrusted, 
deserved  highly  of  his  country. 

The  existence  of  an  ample  stock  of  public  and  private  virtues  even 
in  those  dark  times  becomes,  however,  more  evident  still  when  we  study 
the  collective  actions  of  the  Diets.  After  making  all  due  allowance 
for  their  ultimate  barrenness,  one  cannot  but  acknowledge  that  the 
public  of  that  time,  that  is  to  say,  the  bulk  of  the  magnates  and 
common  gentry,  were  at  least  very  anxious  to  bring  about  in  the 
government  of  the  country  a  tolerable  equilibrium  between  the  powers 
possessed  by  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  authorities  re- 
spectively. As  to  the  legislative,  they  carried  two  great  principles  which 
in  any  other  age  would  have  been  considered  a  distinct  gain  for  any 
liberal  constitution.  One  was  the  law  that  taxes  can  be  levied  by 
decree  of  the  Diet  alone ;  the  other  was  the  equally  important  law 
contained  in  the  decrees  of  1495,  1498,  and  especially  1507,  by  virtue  of 
which  the  common  gentry  (not  knights,  there  being  no  such  Order  in 
Hungary)  were  always  to  have  an  equal  share  with  the  magnates  in  the 
government  of  the  nation,  particularly  in  the  Privy  Council.  Other 
important  laws,  salutary  in  themselves  though  still-born,  were  passed 
in  great  number;  and  immediately  before  the  disastrous  campaign 
of  Mohdcs  the  gentry  of  their  own  accord  temporarily  abandoned 
their  exemption  from  taxation.  Highly  commendable  from  the  same 
point  of  view  are  the  motives  discoverable  in  numerous  measures  of  the 
time,  endeavouring  to  regulate  the  working  of  the  county  organisation  ; 
and  the  very  high  reputation  of  Verboczy,  who  was  rewarded  by  a  national 
gift  for  his  codification,  tends  to  show  the  genuine  interest  taken  by  the 
commonalty  in  the  important  work  of  legal  reform. 

The  Renaissance,  it  must  be  admitted,  left  but  a  faint  impression 
on  Hungary.  The  magnificence  with  which  Matthias  had  patronised 
Italian  scholars  and  artists,  and  established  his  famous  collection  of 
books,  the  Corvina,  was  only  feebly  imitated  by  a  few  noblemen  and 
churchmen.  As  late  as  1491  we  find  that  the  Judex  Curiae  (Lord  Chief 
Justice)  of  Hungary,  Stephen  Bdtori,  was  so  illiterate  as  to  be  unable 
to  sign  his  name  at  the  treat}^  negotiations  between  Maximilian  and 
Wladislav  II  at  Pozsony  (Pressburg).  In  the  field  of  architecture  there 
was  some  progress.  Thus  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  cathedral  in  the 
Gothic  style  in  Hungary,  that  of  Kassa,  was  finished  under  the  Jagello 


340    The  Reformation  in  Hungary  and  in  Bohemia 


Kings  ;  and  Bakocz  embellished  the  great  cathedral  of  Esztergom  with 
much  exquisite  work.  Nor  were  the  seats  of  the  nobles  neglected,  and 
the  pleasant  manor-style  of  fifteenth  century  Italy  may  still  be  admired 
in  the  northern  counties  of  Zemplen  and  Abauj,  whither  the  Turk 
seldom  extended  his  ravaging  expeditions. 

But  if,  as  will  be  noted  below  in  connexion  with  other  equally 
deplorable  facts,  the  Renaissance  proper  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as 
having  attained  to  any  national  importance  in  Hungary,  the  Re- 
formation soon  penetrated  into  the  various  regions  and  social  strata 
of  the  country.  Already  in  1518  traces  appear  of  the  influence  of  the 
teachings  of  Luther  and  Melanchthon  in  B4rtfa,  Eperjes,  Locse,  and 
other  towns  of  northern  Hungary.  Even  among  the  magnates  we  find 
several  adherents  or  patrons  of  the  new  creed,  such  as  Peter  Per^nyi, 
Th.  Nadasdi,  Valentine  Torok.  The  bulk  of  the  population,  however, 
remained  faithful  to  the  old  religion,  and  in  1523,  1524,  and  1525  very 
stringent  laws  were  passed  against  the  '''Luther am. 

In  Bohemia  the  Hussite  movement  and  the  aspirations  of  the  Utra- 
quists,  which  were  not  appeased  before  the  Diet  of  Kuttenberg  in  1485, 
paved  the  way  for  the  Reformation.  Gallus  Cahera,  a  butcher's  son, 
who  became  vicar  of  the  great  Teyn-church  at  Prague,  and  John 
Hlawsa  of  Libocan  were  the  chief  leaders  of  a  religious  revival  in  the 
sense  of  Lutheranism. 

There  can  thus  be  little  doubt  that,  with  all  the  undeniable  draw- 
backs of  oligarchic  or  aristocratic  misgovernment,  both  Hungary  and 
Bohemia  still  possessed  numerous  elements  of  prosperity,  and  that  the 
relatively  sudden  downfall  of  both  kingdoms,  while  certainly  connected 
with  some  moral  failing  in  rulers  and  ruled  alike,  cannot  be  attributed 
to  ethical  deficiencies.  These  were  certainly  not  so  exceptional  as  to 
account  for  the  disappearance  of  national  independence  after  a  single 
great  defeat  on  the  battlefield.  As  was  remarked  at  the  outset  of  this 
chapter,  the  unexpected  dissolution  of  the  two  kingdoms  and  their 
absorption  by  a  Power  not  very  much  better  organised  than  themselves 
and  suffering  from  many  similar  evils,  remains  one  of  the  great  diffi- 
culties besetting  this  earliest  period  of  modern  history.  To  seek  to 
remove  such  difficulties  by  moralising  on  the  selfishness  or  greed  of 
this  Palatine  or  that  magnate,  supplies  no  historic  synthesis  of  the  true 
relation  of  facts.  Whenever  a  disaster  like  that  of  Moh4cs  stands  at 
the  end  of  a  long  series  of  events,  it  is  only  fair  to  assume  that  the 
country  in  question  must  have  been  terribly  misgoverned.  The  neglect, 
not  so  much  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  ordinary  virtues  indispensable 
under  all  circumstances,  but  rather  of  one  of  the  directive  forces  of 
national  life  and  progress,  will  —  except  when  a  nation  is  specially 
protected  by  nature,  as  for  instance  by  the  geographical  configuration  of 
the  country  —  invariably  land  it  in  serious  predicaments,  and  eventually 
in  political  ruin.   One  of  those  directive  forces  is  what  is  commonly  called 


Enclaves  and  international  policy  341 


foreign  policy.  In  Europe  at  any  rate,  and  most  certainly  since  the 
downfall  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  in  1453,  the  action  and  reaction  of 
its  several  countries  on  one  another  have  been  so  powerful,  that  Giuseppe 
Ferrari's  suggestion  of  writing  history  in  a  binary  form  ought  to  have 
been  carried  out  long  since  for  every  one  of  them,  as  fortunately  it 
•  actually  has  been  for  some. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  whole  tenor  and  nature 
of  state-craft  and  policy  changed  from  what  it  had  been  in  the  preced- 
ing centuries.  The  Middle  Ages  knew  only  of  two  "  universals "  in 
politics,  the  Empire  proper,  that  is,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  the  Byzantine  Empire  having  little  if  anything  to  say 
in  questions  of  Western  policy  since  the  days  of  Charlemagne.  Of  those 
two  empires  that  of  the  Church  alone  possessed  adequate  organisation 
and  means  for  the  purpose  of  efficient  government.  The  Holy  Roman 
Empire  was  a  fiction,  or  at  best  an  ideal,  lacking  all  the  realities  of 
power.  In  the  face  of  that  vague  "  Empire,"  the  less  ambitious  but 
more  practical  smaller  sovereigns  and  lords  in  Germany,  France,  Spain, 
and  Italy,  and  likewise  those  of  Bohemia,  Hungary,  and  Poland, 
endeavoured  during  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  centuries 
to  build  up  well-knit  and  well-organised  smaller  realms.  In  this  some 
of  them  succeeded  but  too  well ;  and  by  about  1475  Europe  was  again 
divided  into  two  groups,  — but  groups  of  a  character  totally  different 
from  the  medieval  classification. 

Instead  of  a  loose  fiction,  such  as  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and 
the  Church,  Europe  then  displayed  a  series  of  relatively  large  and  fairly 
centralised  monarchies,  such  as  England,  France,  Aragon,  Bohemia, 
Poland,  and  Hungary  on  the  one  hand ;  and  small  semi-monarchies 
or  still  smaller  but  highly  organised  city-States,  such  as  the  duchy  of 
Bavaria,  the  electorate  of  Saxony,  the  free  imperial  towns,  and  the 
Italian  city-States  on  the  other.  The  old  political  "  universals  "  how- 
ever, the  Empire  and  the  Church,  were  not  yet  extinct.  The  Church, 
although  undermined  by  deleterious  influences,  internal  as  well  as 
external,  could  still  draw  on  vast  resources  of  policy,  treasure,  and  men  ; 
the  Empire,  although  antiquated  as  an  institution,  still  possessed 
stores  of  vitality  as  a  diplomatic  contrivance  and  a  political  allure- 
ment. Owing  to  the  "  universal  "  character  of  both  Emperor  and  Pope, 
nothing  but  an  international  policy  could  be  expected  from  either;  but 
all  the  minor  sovereigns  who  were  constantly  striving  to  enlarge  their 
domain  were  likewise  inevitably  driven  into  the  maze  of  this  species  of 
policy.  However,  there  was  a  great  difference  (though  hitherto  this  has 
remained  almost  unnoticed)  between  the  realms  east  and  west  of  the 
Oder  and  the  March.  All  the  States  west  of  these  rivers,  especially 
Austria,  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Burgundy,  and  France  —  to  mention  only  the 
most  important  ones  —  consisted  not  of  continuous  territory,  but  of 
larger  or  smaller  enclaves^  broken  territory  straggling  irregularly  over 


342 


Enclaves  and  foreign  policy 


several  latitudes,  and  sometimes  severed  by  hundreds  of  miles.  Austria 
since  the  acquisitions  of  Archduke  Leopold  III  in  the  fourteenth  century 
had  enclaves  on  the  Rhine,  in  Swabia,  in  Wiirtemberg,  not  to  mention 
those  in  Switzerland,  Tyrol,  and  Friuli.  Bavaria's  map  in  the  fourteenth 
century  is  as  bevrildering  as  Italy's  in  the  thirteenth,  or  that  of  the 
Thuringian  Princes  in  our  days.  The  same  remark  holds  good  as 
to  Burgundy,  France,  and  even  England,  vrith  her  enclaves  in  France, 
Ireland,  and  Scotland. 

To  this  singularly  disjoined  state  of  the  territory  in  all  the  sovereign- 
ties west  of  the  Oder  and  March  rivers  (with  the  solitary  exception  of 
Bohemia),  the  realms  east  of  that  boundary,  such  as  Poland  and  Hun- 
gary, offer  a  remarkable  and  suggestive  contrast.  Whether  Hungary 
extended,  as  it  did  under  Louis  the  Great  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
from  Pomerania  to  Bulgaria,  or  as  under  Matthias,  from  Saxony  to 
Servia,  the  Magyar  kingdom  always  had  an  unbroken  continuity  of 
territory  such  as  is  in  our  own  times  possessed  only  by  the  several  great 
States  of  Europe.  The  same  remark  applies  to  Poland,  with  a  few 
insignificant  allowances,  and  also  to  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia. 

This  then  is  the  chief  difference  between  the  States  of  Bohemia, 
Poland,  and  Hungary  as  they  are  found  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  the  rest  of  the  western  States  of  Europe.  The  unbroken 
continuity  of  those  eastern  States  might  have  seemed  to  imply  a  greater 
unity,  and  thus  greater  strength.  In  reality,  however,  the  effect  was 
entirely  different.  The  western  sovereigns,  from  a  natural  desire  to 
round  off  their  far  outlying  possessions,  and  the  western  peoples  from 
an  equally  natural  desire  to  render  their  nationality  coextensive  with 
their  land,  were  constantly  anxious  to  improve  and  strengthen  their 
organisation  at  home,  while  at  the  same  time  taking  a  deep,  practical, 
and  incessant  interest  in  the  affairs  of  their  neighbours  and  rivals. 
The  very  fact  of  the  situation  of  their  States,  and  of  the  fundamental 
desires  and  needs  to  which  it  gave  rise,  thus  made  the  western  monarchs 
of  the  fifteenth  century  at  the  same  time  better  or  at  any  rate  more 
efficient  rulers  at  home,  and  trained  diplomatists  abroad.  They  soon 
learned  the  lesson,  so  indispensable  in  all  foreign  policy,  that  no  depend- 
ence can  be  placed  on  any  alliance  unless  it  is  based  on  substantial 
and  mutual  "  consideration,"  —  to  use  a  lawyer's  term.  To  render  them- 
selves valuable,  that  is,  eventually  dangerous,  was  their  first  and  most 
pressing  object,  and  their  subjects  could  not  but  feel  that  at  a  time 
when  a  consistent  treatment  of  foreign  policy  was  the  supreme  need  of 
their  country,  the  monarch  and  his  counsellors  justly  claimed  absolute 
power. 

The  intimate  connexion,  then,  which  existed  in  the  case  of  the 
western  monarchies  between  the  discontinuity  of  their  territories,  and 
absolutism  on  the  one  hand,  and  their  spirited  foreign  policy  on  the 
other,  goes  far  to  explain  the  political  failure  of  Hungary  and 


1490-1526] 


The  Diets  and  foreign  policy 


343 


Bohemia  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  in  spite  of  their 
brilliant  beginnings  fifty  years  before.  Precisely  at  the  times  when 
the  western  States,  even  England,  practically  abandoned  their  faith 
in  parliamentary  institutions,  and  fell  into  more  and  more  complete 
subjection  to  an  efficient  absolutism,  the  eastern  countries  were 
intent  upon  weakening  the  central  power  and  drifted  into  a  quite 
modern  system  of  Diets  and  Parliaments.  Their  territory  being  con- 
tinuous and  large,  neither  their  Kings  nor  the  peoples  underwent  any 
pressure  from  the  outside  urging  them  to  undertake  the  consolidation  of 
their  political  fabric  at  home  with  any  degree  of  superior  efficiency,  or 
to  devote  careful  study  and  effort  to  the  cultivation  of  foreign  policy. 
Without  such  pressure  from  the  outside  no  nation  has  ever  persisted 
in  the  arduous  work  of  reform  for  any  lengthy  period.  In  the  times 
of  Matthias,  it  is  true,  we  notice  that  foreign  policy  was  made  a  sub- 
ject of  constant  and  rigorous  attention  on  the  part  of  the  King,  who 
even  tried  to  bring  up  a  trained  body  of  diplomatists,  such  as 
Balthasar  Batthydnyi,  Peter  D6czi,  Gregory  Labatlan,  Benedictus 
Turoczi,  and  others.  These  were,  however,  mere  beginnings,  and  very 
inferior  indeed  to  the  systematic  work  of  the  foreign  representatives  of 
Burgundy,  or  Austria,  not  to  speak  of  Venice  and  the  Pope.  Under  the 
Jagellos  even  these  feeble  attempts  were  abandoned,  and  Hungary  and 
Bohemia  were  from  1490  to  1526  quite  outside  the  main  current  of  the 
international  policy  of  Europe ;  alien  to  all  the  great  interests  then  at 
issue ;  neither  valued  as  allies,  nor  dangerous  to  any  one  except  to  minor 
countries  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood.  When  therefore  the  Turk 
in  1526  invaded  Hungary  with  overwhelming  forces,  no  serious  attempt 
whatever  was  made  to  save  Hungary  on  the  part  of  any  of  the  Powers, 
and  the  Turk,  instead  of  meeting  a  European  coalition,  like  that  which 
he  was  to  encounter  at  Lepanto  in  1571,  when  he  planned  the  ruin  of 
Venice,  was  only  confronted  by  a  tiny  Magyar  army  which  he  easily 
destroyed. 

One  has  only  to  compare  the  incessant  activity  in  foreign  policy  of 
Maximilian,  or  P^erdinand  I  of  Austria,  with  that  of  Wladislav  II  and 
Louis  II  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  in  order  to  see  how  utterly  inferior 
Magyar  political  strategy  was  to  that  of  the  House  of  Habsburg.  Maxi- 
milian's great  wars  with  Venice,  France,  and  Switzerland,  his  incessant 
diplomatic  campaigns  with  the  Curia  of  Rome,  with  the  princes  of 
Germany,  with  Venice,  are  all  discussed  in  other  parts  of  this  work.  It 
will  be  sufficient  here  to  limit  our  attention  to  Maximilian's  eastern 
policy.  In  addition  to  his  repeated  action  in  favour  of  the  Teutonic 
Knights  in  what  was  afterwards  known  as  East  Prussia,  he  made  several 
treaties  with  the  "  White  Czar,"  such  as  those  of  1490,  1491,  and 
especially  that  of  August  9,  1514,  concluded  at  Gmunden  with  Czar 
Wasiliei  Ivanovic,  through  an  embassy  previously  sent  to  Russia  and 
intended  to  bring  pressure  upon  Sigismund,  King  of  Poland,  who  tried 


344    Austrian  and  Hungarian  foreign  policy  contrasted 


to  thwart  Maximilian's  plans  in  Hungary.  With  the  Jagellos  of  Hun- 
gary he  carried  on  several  wars,  all  of  them  being  in  point  of  fact 
designed  on  one  pretext  or  another  to  renew  and  improve  upon  the 
original  treaty,  dated  July  19, 1463,  between  the  Emperor  Frederick  III 
and  King  Matthias,  in  virtue  of  which  the  Habsburgs  were  eventually 
entitled  to  claim  the  crown  of  St  Stephen.  The  Treaty  of  Pozsony 
(Nov.  7,  1491)  as  well  as  the  negotiations  of  March,  1506,  leading  to 
the  Treaty  of  July  19, 1506,  and  the  "Congress"  of  Vienna  (July,  1515), 
all  terminated  at  the  last-named  date  in  an  arrangement  according  to 
which  Wladislav's  daughter  Anne  was  to  marry  Ferdinand,  Maximilian's 
grandson,  and  Wladislav's  son  Louis  was  to  become  the  husband  of 
Maximilian's  grand-daughter  Mary.  By  these  double  marriages  the 
Habsburg  claim  to  the  kingdom  of  Hungary  was  brought  within 
measurable  distance  of  consummation.  It  is  impossible  here  to  do  more 
than  indicate  the  immense  diplomatic  activity  of  Maximilian  in  this  the 
most  lasting  of  his  achievements.  All  the  levers  of  the  international 
policy  then  in  operation  were  put  in  motion  by  him.  His  policy  to- 
wards Louis  XII  of  France,  and  that  towards  the  Dukes  of  Milan ;  his 
European  league  against  Venice  (the  so-called  League  of  Cambray),  all 
and  everything  was  utilised  by  him  to  flatter,  threaten,  bribe,  or  cajole 
Hungary  into  accepting  his  House  as  the  eventual  heir  of  the  Jagellos. 
In  July,  1510,  his  ambassadors,  together  with  those  of  France  and 
Venice,  pleaded  before  the  Hungarian  Diet  at  Tata,  pretending  to  be 
very  anxious  for  the  participation  of  Hungary  in  the  league  against 
Venice. 

As  against  this  business-like  and  powerful  policy  of  the  ingenious 
Habsburg,  what  do  we  find  in  Hungary?  Nothing.  Hungary  had 
neither  standing  ambassadors  at  the  various  Courts,  nor  any  class  of 
trained  diplomatists.  At  Tata  the  assembled  gentry  listened  with  self- 
complacency  to  the  eloquent  foreign  orators,  but  as  usual  the  noblemen 
soon  lost  patience  and  dispersed.  Venice  rightly  judged  the  nullity 
of  Hungary's  international  position,  when  even  in  the  midst  of  her 
danger  she  refused  to  make  any  concessions  whatever  to  the  "  Venetian  " 
party  amongst  the  Magyar  nobles.  The  Popes,  whose  still  very  valuable 
countenance  Hungary  might  have  secured  by  a  more  aggressive  policy 
against  Venice  in  Daliaatia,  or  in  Friuli,  likewise  dropped  Hungary. 
Ignorant  of  what  passed  beyond  the  Carpathian  Mountains ;  unable  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  currents  and  counter-currents  of  the  international 
policy;  rendering  no  service  to  the  chief  Powers  of  the  day,  —  the  Hun- 
garians were  left  in  the  hour  of  their  greatest  danger  to  their  own 
slender  resources  as  against  the  most  formidable  military  Power  of  the 
time.  The  Habsburgs,  both  from  having  worn  the  imperial  dignity 
for  ages,  and  because  their  countless  enclaves  brought  them  into 
incessant  conflicts  with  nearly  all  the  Powers  of  Europe,  had  by  long 
and  patient  study  learned  the  priceless  value  of  a  sound  and  sustained 


1445-1526] 


TJie  Polish  constitution 


345 


foreign  policy.  In  that  vital  point  neither  the  Bavarian  Dukes,  from 
the  exiguity  of  their  domain,  nor  the  Bohemian  or  Hungarian  Kings, 
from  their  totally  different  habits  of  political  thought,  could  vie  with 
them.  Even  Matthias  could  not,  in  the  end,  have  prevailed  against 
Maximilian,  inasmuch  as  the  Hungarians  from  the  very  nature  of  their 
unbroken,  self-sustaining  territory  would  neither  have  understood,  nor 
have  readily  followed  a  Habsburg  policy  carried  out  by  a  Magyar  King. 
Mohdcs,  then,  was  the  necessary  outcome  of  the  neglect  of  foreign 
policy  at  a  time  when  it  was  most  needed;  and  this  neglect  again 
cannot  but  be  ascribed  chiefly  to  habits  of  political  thought  inevitable 
in  a  nation  which  lacked  all  those  geographical  and  economic  incentives 
to  the  maturing  of  a  foreign  policy  that  raised  the  nations  ruled  by 
the  Valois  and  Habsburgs  above  all  other  nations  of  the  continent. 
It  is  infinitely  more  becoming  to  lament  Mohacs  as  an  unavoidable 
calamity,  than  to  use  it  as  a  text  on  which  to  lecture  an  unfortunate 
nation. 

The  fatal  failings  of  Hungarian  policy  may  be  traced  in  Poland  also. 
In  the  first  quarter  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  great  Prince  of  Lithu- 
ania, Vitovt,  had  had  indeed  far-reaching  ideas  about  the  foundation  of 
a  vast  Cech-Polish  empire,  which  was  to  dominate  the  whole  east  of 
Europe.  However  he  failed,  chiefly  because  he  was  antagonistic  to 
the  Catholic  or  national  Church  of  Poland.  Kasimir  IV  (1445-92), 
father  of  Wladislav  II  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  successfully  combated 
the  Teutonic  Order  and  other  neighbouring  Powers.  Doubtless,  like  his 
contemporary  Matthias  Corvinus,  he  had  clear  views  about  the  necessity 
of  reorganising  his  country  on  the  basis  adopted  by  the  monarchs  of 
the  West.  However,  both  he  and  his  sons  and  successors  after  him, 
John  Albert  (1492-1501)  and  Alexander  I  (1501-6),  tried  in  vain  to 
break  the  power  of  the  magnates  by  countenancing  the  minor  gentry 
{szlachta).  In  1496  the  peasants  were  completely  disfranchised ;  against 
the  urban  population,  mostly  Germans,  and  termed  hospites^  several  very 
damaging  laws  were  passed ;  and  the  royal  power  was  seriously  reduced 
by  the  magnates.  After  suffering  more  particularly  from  the  Statute 
of  Nieszava,  1454, — the  G-olden  Bull  rather  than  the  Magna  Charta 
of  the  Polish  oligarchs,  —  and  from  the  Constitution  Nihil  novi''  of 
1505,  the  monarchy  became  practically  helpless  in  the  hands  of  Sigis- 
mund  I  (1506-48),  brother  to  his  predecessors.  It  was  during  this 
period  that  both  the  General  Diet  (izha  poselska,  Chamber  of  Deputies) 
of  all  the  various  absolutely  autonomous  provinces  of  Poland,  and  the 
several  Provincial  Diets,  acquired  the  fulness  of  actual  authority  in  the 
legislative  and  administrative  branches  of  government.  The  King  might 
appoint,  but  might  not  remove  officials.  The  nuntii  terrae  or  repre- 
sentatives at  the  national  Diets  were  inviolable  and  omnipotent.  Thus 
in  Poland  too,  Parliamentarism  in  a  rather  extreme  form  arose  at  the 


346        Poland's  lack  of  a  clear  foreign  policy 


very  conjuncture  when  it  had  proved  inefficient  in  all  the  occidental 
countries.  As  in  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  so  in  Poland,  its  undue 
development  crippled  any  consistent  and  sound  foreign  policy ;  and  we 
accordingly  find  that  although  during  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth 
century  Poland  still  appears  imposing  and  still  achieves  many  a  re- 
markable success,  yet  she  can  neither  stop  the  growth  of  hostile  Russia 
in  the  east,  nor  the  insidious  rise  of  Prussia  in  the  west ;  she  can  neither 
amalgamate  her  population  into  one  nation,  nor  endow  it  with  a  less 
anarchical  constitution. 

With  a  country  three  times  as  large  as  modern  France,  and  terri- 
torially unbroken,  besides  possessing  a  fair  outlet  to  the  sea,  the  Poles 
were  in  possession  of  many  of  the  factors  that  contribute  to  establish  a 
State,  and  to  give  an  assured  balance  to  its  position.  That  pressure 
from  the  outside,  however,  which  has  probably  done  more  for  the  good  of 
nations  than  most  of  their  virtuous  and  patriotic  qualities,  was  wanting. 
In  proverbial  prodigality  and  pleasure-seeking,  the  nobility  of  Poland 
spent  the  intervals  of  war  on  their  neglected  estates,  leaving  the  great 
sea  commerce  to  the  German  patricians  of  Danzig,  the  internal  trade  to 
the  Jews,  what  little  industry  there  was  to  the  German  burgesses,  and 
the  schools  to  the  priests.  Although  most  Polish  noblemen  of  the 
wealthier  classes  had  received  a  careful  education  at  the  universities  of 
Italy,  and  many  of  them  were  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  classics,  and 
fired  by  the  ideals  of  true  patriotism,  yet  all  these,  and  many  other  fine 
qualities  of  this  most  distinguished  of  Slavonic  nations,  were  rendered 
useless  and  barren  by  the  apathy  and  indolence  of  the  great  body  of 
the  nobles.  Surely  in  a  nation  which  could  produce  a  Copernicus  and 
so  many  great  poets,  there  must  have  been  much  natural  endowment 
even  for  the  highest  spheres  of  thought.  In  the  midst  of  general 
indifference,  however,  the  richest  soil  must  lie  fallow.  The  Poles,  like 
the  Hungarians,  were  utterly  without  any  power  of  self-orientation  in 
matters  to  the  west  of  their  vast  country;  they  neglected  European 
interests  —  both  the  Renaissance,  the  new  international  movement  in  the 
realm  of  intellect,  and  the  new  international  policy  of  contemporary 
monarchs.  In  return,  Europe,  indifferent  to  Poland,  as  she  was  to 
the  Magyars,  suffered  her  to  sink  slowly  but  surely  into  inevitable 
dissolution. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  CATHOLIC  KINGS 

Cut  off  from  the  world  by  the  Pyrenees  and  the  still  unnavigated 
ocean,  broken  up  into  small  kingdoms,  largely  absorbed  in  their  quarrels 
and  in  the  reconquest  of  the  land  from  the  Saracens,  Spain  for  many 
centuries  played  a  comparatively  small  part  in  the  affairs  of  Europe. 
Down  to  1479  the  peninsula  contained  five  independent  kingdoms : 
Castile,  with  Leon,  occupying  62  per  cent,  of  the  entire  surface ; 
Aragon,  with  the  kingdom  of  Valencia  and  the  principality  of  Catalonia, 
occupying  15  per  cent. ;  Portugal  20 ;  Navarre  1 ;  and  Granada,  the  last 
stronghold  of  the  Saracens,  occupying  2.  The  marriage  (1469)  of  Isabel, 
daughter  of  John  II  of  Castile,  with  Ferdinand,  son  of  John  II  of 
Aragon,  united  the  two  branches  of  the  House  of  Trastamara,  and 
merged  the  claims  of  husband  and  wife  to  the  Crown  of  Castile.  Isabel 
succeeded  her  brother,  Henry  IV,  in  1474.  Ferdinand,  who  had  already 
received  from  his  father  the  Crowns  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  inherited 
in  1479  the  remaining  dominions  of  Aragon.  Aragon  and  Castile 
remained  distinct,  each  keeping  its  separate  laws,  parliaments,  and 
fiscal  frontier.  Isabel,  as  queen  in  her  own  right,  retained  the  Crown 
patronage  and  revenues  within  Castile,  but  general  affairs  were  trans- 
acted under  a  common  seal.  In  Aragon  Ferdinand's  authority  was  not 
shared  by  his  queen.  The  Spanish  possessions  in  Italy  belonged  to 
Aragon  exclusively,  as  America  afterwards  belonged  to  Castile.  A 
common  policy,  and  the  vastly  increased  resources  of  a  kingdom  uniting 
under  its  sway  77  per  cent,  of  the  peninsula,  at  once  gave  prepon- 
derating weight  at  home.  During  the  greater  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century  Spain  was  the  chief  Power  in  the  world.  The  half  century  from 
1474  to  1530,  which  witnessed  the  rise  of  this  Power,  may  be  subdivided 
into  periods  distinguishable  as  that  of  organisation  and  reconstruction, 
1474-1504 ;  that  of  lawlessness  and  revolution,  1504-23 ;  that  of 
absolute  monarchy,  1523-30. 

The  reforms  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabel,  "  the  Catholic  Kings,"  put  an 
end  to  anarchy,  and  formed  the  bridge  between  the  division  of  power  of 
the  Middle  Ages  and  the  absolute  monarchy  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

347 


348 


Castile  in  the  Middle  Ages 


To  understand  them,  we  must  briefly  recall  some  peculiarities  of  the 
institutions  of  the  larger  States  of  the  united  kingdom.  The  organisa- 
tion  of  the  kingdom  of  Castile  was  the  direct  result  of  its  gradual 
reconquest  from  the  Saracens.  Including  in  its  population  Asturians, 
Galicians,  and  Basques,  as  well  as  Castilians  and  the  mixed  peoples  of 
Andalucla,  the  land  is  divided  ethnologically  and  geographically  into 
well-marked  districts,  never  thoroughly  welded  together.  Castile  was 
governed  by  traditional  municipal  usages  and  local  charters,  rather  than 
by  national  laws.  Conquered  lands  were  retained  by  the  Crown,  or 
granted  to  lords  temporal  or  spiritual,  or  to  corporations.  The  Crown 
in  some  cases  retained  feudal  rights,  but  in  others  alienated  the  whole 
authority.  The  owners  in  the  latter  case  became  almost  independent 
princes.  Lands  conquered  without  his  help  owed  nothing  to  the  King» 
Their  conquerors  divided  them,  and  elected  a  chief  to  rule  and  defend 
them.  Thus  were  formed  hehetrias  (henefactoria)^  independent  com- 
munities boasting  that  they  could  change  their  lord  seven  times  a  day, 
and  distinguished  according  as  the  lord  might  be  chosen  among  all 
subjects  of  the  Crown  or  only  among  certain  families.  At  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  the  hehetrias  were  disappearing.  Their  factions  made 
them  an  easy  prey  to  their  neighbours,  the  great  nobles,  or  the  Crown, 
Unclaimed  lands  became  the  property  of  those  who  settled  on  them. 
The  great  estates  of  the  Crown  and  titled  nobles  were  subdivided  among 
the  free  men  (hidalgos)  of  their  following.  Those  who  settled  on 
owned  lands  became  the  vassals  of  the  owner.  The  power  of  a  lord 
over  his  vassal  was  unlimited,  unless  defined  by  charter :  down  to  the 
thirteenth  century  the  law  ran  "  he  may  kill  him  by  hunger,  thirst,  or 
cold."  Under  these  conditions  it  was  impossible  to  attract  settlers  to 
newly  conquered  and  dangerous  lands  near  the  frontier.  King  and 
noble  vied  with  one  another  in  the  attempt  to  attract  population  by 
grant  of  charter  (fuero).  To  grant  Sifuero  is  to  define  the  obligation 
of  vassals  to  their  lord.  Under  the  local  fueros  sprung  up  the  munici- 
palities, electing  their  magistrate  to  administer  public  lands  and  to 
carry  out  the  laws  of  the  fuero.  As  the  power  of  the  municipalities 
increased,  that  of  the  nobles  or  the  Crown  shrank  within  the  district.  The 
municipalities  were  the  basis  of  political  organisation  of  the  commons. 
By  siding  with  the  Kings  in  their  long  struggle  with  the  nobles  they 
increased  their  liberties  as  against  the  nobles,  but  fell  more  under  the 
authority  of  the  Crown.  The  royal  judge  and  tax-gatherer  replaced 
the  officers  of  the  overlord  or  municipality.  The  King  interfered  in 
local  matters,  nominating  the  magistrates  and  appointing  a  president 
over  them,  the  corregidor^  whose  vast  and  undefined  powers  gradually 
superseded  municipal  authority. 

The  legal  and  political  classification  of  persons  corresponded  to  the 
division  of  the  land.  The  three  Estates  were  formed  by  ecclesiastics ; 
nobles,  including  the  titular  nobility,  and  the  minor  free  or  feudal 


The  three  Estates 


349 


holders  (Jiidalgos) ;  and  commons,  in  many  cases  the  descendants  of  the 
serfs  of  the  soil. 

The  privileges  of  the  first  two  Orders  were  enormous.  They  were 
exempt  from  direct  taxation :  their  lands  were  inalienable :  they  were 
liable  neither  to  arrest  for  debt  nor  to  torture.  The  nobles  were  bound 
to  the  King  only  by  the  lands  they  held  from  him.  The  law  recog- 
nised their  right  of  formally  renouncing  their  allegiance  and  making 
war  upon  the  King.  Their  rights,  like  those  of  the  municipalities,  had 
been  granted  to  settlers  on  the  frontier.  When  the  frontier  moved 
forward,  the  right  remained  undiminished;  and  the  result  was  anarchy. 
Under  weak  Kings  the  nobles  extended  their  authority  over  the  muni- 
cipalities, and  extorted  large  grants  of  lands  and  incomes  guaranteed 
on  the  royal  patrimony.    Strong  Kings  exacted  restitution. 

The  commons,  while  still  paying  as  vassals  certain  dues  to  the  Crown 
or  to  nobles,  had,  by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  won  the  right 
of  changing  lords,  and  the  ownership  of  the  land  on  which  they  lived, 
with  right  of  transferring  it  by  sale  or  bequest.  Their  condition 
was  notably  better  under  the  Crown  than  under  the  nobles.  In  order 
to  check  desertion,  the  nobles  were  forced  to  follow  the  more  liberal 
policy  of  the  Kings.  Slaves  were  rare,  consisting  in  the  main  of 
foreigners,  captives  in  the  Saracen  Wars,  or  negroes  imported  through 
Portugal.  Jews  and  Moslems  enjoyed  the  special  protection  of  the 
Crown. 

The  Castilian  Cortes  originated  in  a  Council  of  prelates  and  nobles 
advising  the  King  on  all  matters  civil  and  religious.  In  the  thirteenth 
century  the  commons  of  the  municipalities  won  the  right  of  assisting, 
by  deputies,  at  the  Council.  At  first,  neither  the  number  of  munici- 
palities represented  nor  the  number  of  their  deputies  was  limited ;  for 
they  had  no  vote.  They  assembled  merely  to  receive  communication 
of  royal  decrees,  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  successor  to  the  throne,  and 
to  receive  confirmation  of  their  charters  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  reign. 
Later,  the  representatives  of  the  municipalities  won  the  control  of  direct 
taxation,  to  which  their  Order  alone  was  subject.  But  by  this  time 
many  of  them,  by  delegating  their  powers  to  their  neighbours,  or  through 
neglecting  the  royal  summons,  had  lost  the  right  of  representation. 
Thus  by  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  right  of  sending  two 
deputies  to  parliament  belonged  only  to  the  cities  of  ^Burgos,  Toledo, 
Leon,  Seville,  Cordova,  Murcia,  Jaen,  Segovia,  Zamora,  Avila,  Salamanca, 
and  Cuenca,  and  the  towns  of  Toro,  Valladolid,  Soria,  Madrid,  and 
Guadalajara.  Granada  was  added  after  the  Conquest.  The  privileged 
municipalities  successfully  resisted  any  addition  to  their  numbers. 
Large  districts  remained  practically  unrepresented  ;  the  little  town  of 
Zamora  spoke  in  the  name  of  the  whole  of  Galicia.  The  Proctors 
were  chosen  among  the  municipal  magistrates,  by  vote  or  lot  according 
to  local  custom.    In  some  towns  the  choice  was  restricted  to  certain 


350 


The  Cortes 


families.  At  first  the  Proctors  were  merely  mandataries  commissioned 
to  give  certain  answers  to  questions  set  forth  in  the  royal  summons.  If 
further  matters  were  proposed,  they  were  obliged  to  refer  to  their 
electors.  No  law  prescribed  the  interval  at  which  Cortes  should  be 
called  ;  but  extraordinary  supply  was  generally  voted  for  three  years, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time  parliament  was  summoned  to  vote  a  fresh 
supply.  When  the  King  was  in  no  need  of  money  and  the  succession 
was  secured,  the  intervals  were  longer  ;  no  parliament  met  between  1482 
and  1498.  The  time,  place,  number  of  sessions,  and  subjects  for  dis- 
cussion were  fixed  by  the  King. 

Cortes  were  general  or  particular,  according  as  the  three  Estates,  or 
the  commons  alone,  were  summoned.  The  three  Orders  deliberated 
separately.  General  Cortes  met  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and  to 
receive  confirmation  of  privileges.  When  supply  was  the  only  business, 
the  commons  alone  attended.  As  exempt  from  taxation,  the  nobles  and 
clergy  finally  ceased  to  attend  after  1538.  The  King  swore  to  maintain 
the  liberties  of  his  subjects  only  after  receiving  their  oath  of  allegiance ; 
nor  was  it  till  after  voting  supply  that  the  commons  presented  their 
petition  demanding  redress  of  grievances,  extension  of  privileges,  and 
fulfilment  of  promises.  The  articles  of  these  petitions  ranged  from  the 
widest  reforms  to  trivial  local  matters ;  they  were  severally  granted, 
refused,  or  evaded  by  the  King  according  to  his  own  judgment  or  the 
advice  of  his  Council.  The  only  remedy  of  the  Cortes  was  to  refuse  or 
reduce  supply  on  the  next  occasion.  In  order  to  secure  their  sub- 
servience, the  Kings  sought  to  usurp  the  right  of  nominating  Proctors ; 
to  dictate  an  unlimited  commission  in  a  prescribed  form ;  to  win  over 
the  Proctors  themselves  by  bribes ;  and  to  impose  an  oath  of  secrecy 
with  regard  to  their  deliberations. 

The  Cortes  had  no  legislative  power.  Their  suggestions,  if  accepted 
by  the  King,  at  once  became  law.  But  the  King  was  the  sole  lawgiver, 
and  consent  of  parliament  was  not  necessary  to  the  validity  of  his 
decrees. 

Besides  being  lawgiver,  the  King  was  the  sole  fountain  of  civil  and 
criminal  justice.  His  powers  were  delegated  (1)  to  his  Council,  as 
supreme  Court  of  Appeal ;  (2)  to  the  alcaldes  de  corte^  a  judicial  body, 
part  of  which  held  irregular  assizes,  while  part  accompanied  the  royal 
Court,  superseding  local  tribunals  ;  (3)  to  the  Chancery,  or  Court  of 
Appeal,  of  Valladolid  (a  second  for  Spain  south  of  the  Tagus  was 
founded  in  1494  and  established  at  Granada,  1505 ;  in  the  sixteenth 
century  these  audiencias  or  High  Courts  superseded  the  adelantados 
and  merinos)  ;  (4)  to  the  corregidores  ;  (5)  to  municipal  judges  locally 
elected  under  the  fuero.  Besides  these  there  existed  ecclesiastical  Courts 
partially  independent  of  the  Crown. 

Since  its  feudal  oligarchy  had  been  broken  down  (1348)  Aragon  had 
enjoyed  a  constitution  capable,  under  an  energetic  King,  of  securing 


Aragon  and  Catalonia 


351 


good  government.  It  differed  from  that  of  Castile  in  its  more  aristo- 
cratic theory  and  more  democratic,  or  rather  oligarchic,  practice.  The 
free  population  was  divided  into  four  Estates,  — the  clergy,  the  greater 
nobility,  the  petty  nobility,  and  the  citizens  or  commons.  Each  of  these- 
Orders  was  represented  in  parliament.  The  numbers  of  their  deputies 
varied;  in  1518  we  find  the  clergy  with  fifteen  ;  the  greater  nobles  (rieos 
homes')  with  twenty-seven  ;  the  petty  nobility  (infanzones)  with  thirty-six  ; 
and  the  commons  with  thirty-six.  The  parliament  thus  formed  had  far 
greater  power  than  that  of  Castile.  Custom  demanded  that  it  should 
meet  every  two  years,  and  that  the  King  should  attend  all  its  sessions. 
Absolute  unanimity  was  required  to  give  validity  to  its  decisions.  It 
exacted  confirmation  of  liberties  before  swearing  allegiance,  and  redress 
of  grievances  before  voting  supply.  So  exorbitant  did  its  claim  seem 
to  the  Castilian  Isabel,  as  to  cause  her  to  declare  that  she  would  rather 
conquer  the  country  than  suffer  the  affronts  of  its  parliament.  When 
parliament  was  not  sitting,  its  place  was  taken  by  a  permanent 
commission  of  two  members  of  each  Estate,  which  jealously  watched 
over  the  public  liberties  and  the  administration  of  the  public  moneys. 
Below  the  four  Estates  stood  the  serfs  of  the  Crown  and  of  the  nobles^ 
who  formed  the  majority  of  the  population.  They  were  little  more^ 
than  chattels,  without  legal  or  political  privileges. 

The  Justicia  was  originally  an  arbiter  between  King  and  nobles. 
He  afterwards  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  personification  and  guardian 
of  the  liberties  of  the  Aragonese.  He  was  appointed  by  the  Crown,  but 
after  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  held  office  for  life.  His  powers 
consisted  of  the  right  of  manifestacidn^  or  removal  of  an  accused  person 
to  his  own  custody  until  the  decision  of  his  case  by  the  proper  Court ; 
and  of  that  of  granting  firmas,  or  protection  of  the  property  of  litigants 
until  sentence  was  given.  The  office  of  justicia,  the  importance  of 
which  has  been  greatly  exaggerated,  was  similar  to  that  of  "inspector 
of  wrongs"  among  the  Arabs.  The  municipal  liberties  were  of  high 
significance.  Some  communities  had  the  right  of  owning  vassals  and 
administering  public  revenues,  as  well  as  that  of  jurisdiction.  The 
municipalities  elected  their  magistrates,  generally  by  lot;  but  privileges^ 
differed  locally,  and  in  some  districts  the  powers  of  the  nobles  were 
almost  unlimited. 

The  constitution  of  Catalonia  bore  traces  of  the  ancient  and  close 
connexion  of  this  principality  with  France,  and  formed  the  most  com- 
plete type  of  feudalism  south  of  the  Pyrenees.  As  such  it  resembled  that 
of  Aragon  more  closely  than  that  of  Castile.  The  preponderance  of  the 
nobles  was  very  great,  though  the  three  Estates  were  represented  in 
parliament.  The  vassals  remained  in  a  condition  of  the  harshest 
serfdom,  until  it  was  ameliorated  by  John  II  in  his  struggle  with  the 
nobles  (1460-72).  The  "  evil  customs  "  under  which  they  groaned  were 
finally  swept  away  by  King  Ferdinand  (1481). 


352  Valencia  and  the  Basque  provinces  [i475-6 


Valencia  at  the  time  of  its  conquest  in  the  thirteenth  century 
received  a  constitution  modelled  on  that  of  Catalonia.  The  land  was 
shared  among  the  great  nobles:  its  Saracen  cultivators  became  their 
vassals,  and  the  main  source  of  their  wealth  and  power.  In  the  towns  a 
mixed  and  busy  Christian  population  sprang  up,  drawn  from  Italy  and 
France  as  well  as  from  Catalonia  and  other  provinces  of  Spain. 

Of  the  three  Basque  provinces  Biscay  was  a  semi-independent  princi- 
pality until  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  when  marriage  made  the 
King  of  Castile  its  Senor.  Alava  and  Guipuzcoa  were  originally 
behetrias ;  the  Kings  of  Castile  became  their  overlords  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  former  was  incorporated  as  a 
province  of  Castile  in  1332.  While  the  local  liberties  of  other 
provinces  were  sacrificed  to  the  centralising  policy  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabel,  the  Basques  of  Biscay  and  Guipuzcoa,  owing  partly  to  respect 
for  tradition,  and  partly  to  the  necessity  of  securing  the  loyalty  of  a 
frontier  people,  obtained  the  confirmation  of  their  privileges  and  the 
right  of  self-government.  Their  contribution  to  the  revenue  was  a 
"free  gift"  granted  only  after  redress  of  grievances.  In  royal  decrees 
they  are  called  ''a  separate  nation" ;  as  such  they  upheld  their  freedom 
from  direct  taxation  and  their  right  of  bearing  arms,  —  the  special  marks 
of  nobility.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  certain  Castilian  towns  enjoyed 
a  similar  privilege. 

The  first  two  years  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabel's  reign  were  occupied  by 
a  war  of  succession.  Many  of  the  Castilian  grandees,  supported  by  the 
Kings  of  Portugal  and  France,  maintained  the  claim  of  Juana,  called 
la  Beltraneja^  whom  Henry  IV  had  acknowledged  as  his  daughter  and 
successor,  but  whose  legitimacy  was  doubtful.  Aragon  took  no  share  in 
the  war;  for  in  this  kingdom  Ferdinand  had  not  yet  succeeded  his  father. 
The  Portuguese  and  the  Castilian  malcontents  overran  the  western  frontier, 
and  seized  Burgos  and  strong  positions  in  the  Douro  valley.  The  battle 
of  Toro  (1476)  put  an  end  to  the  danger,  and  left  leisure  for  reforms. 
During  the  two  preceding  reigns  Castile  had  been  given  up  to  anarchy ; 
the  municipalities  had  become  almost  independent;  the  nobles  had 
usurped  the  privileges  of  royalty  and  devastated  the  country  by  their 
private  wars.  Centralisation,  repression,  and  assertion  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  Crown,  were  the  remedies  applied.  The  primary  need  was  personal 
security.  Outside  the  walls  of  the  towns  all  men  were  at  the  mercy  of 
the  lawless  nobility,  or  of  robber  bands.  As  far  back  as  the  thirteenth 
century  the  municipalities  of  Castile  had  formed  leagues  or  "  brother- 
hoods "  for  defence  in  time  of  war,  or  to  resist  encroachment  by 
Kings  or  nobles.  Isabel's  first  parliament  (Madrigal,  1476)  revived  and 
generalised  this  practice  by  founding  the  Holy  Brotherhood.  Through- 
out Castile  each  group  of  a  hundred  houses  furnished  a  horseman  for 
the  repression  of  crimes  of  violence  in  the  open  country  and  for  the  arrest 
of  criminals  who  fled  from  the  towns.    Judges  of  the  Brotherhood  resided 


1476-80]   Reforms  of  the  Catholic  Kings,  —  The  nobles  353 


in  all  important  towns  and  summarily  tried  offenders.  Their  sentences, 
of  mutilation  or  death,  were  carried  out  by  the  troopers  on  the  scene  of 
the  crime.  The  whole  organisation  was  placed  under  a  central  assembly 
appointed  by  the  municipalities,  whose  president  was  a  bastard  brother 
of  King  Ferdinand.  The  nobles  at  first  objected  to  this  curtailment  of 
their  right  of  exercising  justice  ;  but  their  opposition  was  overcome.  A 
few  years  later  the  Hermandad  was  extended  to  Aragon.  Lawlessness 
disappeared,  and  the  2000  trained  troops  of  the  Brotherhood,  together 
with  its  treasury,  were  made  use  of  in  the  Conquest  of  Granada.  So 
well  had  the  Holy  Brotherhood  fulfilled  its  purpose,  that  within  twenty 
years  of  its  foundation  it  had  become  unnecessary.  In  1492  the  Cortes 
of  Castile  complained  of  its  cost.  The  Crown  hereupon  took  over  its 
troops,  and  in  1495  it  was  reduced  to  the  standing  of  a  country 
constabulary;  in  Aragon  it  was  abolished  in  1510. 

The  resources  of  the  Crown  were  outweighed  by  the  enormous  wealth 
and  power  of  the  nobility.  The  danger  of  a  combination  between  the 
grandees  had  been  proved  by  the  War  of  Succession,  when  a  mere  section 
of  them  came  near  to  imposing  its  will  on  the  country.  The  reduction 
and  humiliation  of  the  whole  Order  was  undertaken  and  made  easy  by  its 
continual  feuds.  The  grandees  had  wrested  from  Henry  IV  almost  the 
whole  of  the  royal  patrimony,  adding  Crown  lands  to  their  own,  tres- 
passing upon  common  lands,  and  extorting  huge  pensions  guaranteed  upon 
the  revenue.  It  was  urgently  necessary  to  set  free  the  royal  revenues  ; 
and  in  accomplishing  this  the  Crown  was  sure  of  the  support  of  the 
people,  which  groaned  under  the  burden  of  taxation  made  necessary  by 
the  loss  of  these  resources.  As  soon  as  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  felt  their 
position  assured,  they  revoked  the  whole  of  the  grants  made  by  their 
predecessor  (Cortes  of  Toledo,  1480).  All  titles  were  subjected  to 
review,  and  only  property  held  on  ancient  tenure,  or  as  a  reward  for 
public  service,  was  left  to  the  nobles. 

The  power  of  the  grandees  was  still  excessive.  One  of  its  chief 
sources  was  the  wealth  of  the  Crusading  Orders,  at  once  military  and 
religious,  which  had  long  neglected  the  vows  of  poverty  and  obedience, 
imposed  at  the  time  of  their  foundation  in  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth 
century.  The  purpose  of  that  foundation  itself,  the  work  of  reconquest, 
was  well-nigh  forgotten.  The  Grand  Masterships  conferred  on  their 
holders  the  independent  command  of  an  army,  and  the  disposal  of  many 
rich  commanderies ;  nor  had  they  been  wrongly  called  the  chains  and 
fetters  of  the  Kings  of  Spain.  Instead  of  crushing  them,  as  the  Templars 
had  been  crushed,  Isabel  took  over  their  power.  In  1476  she  brought 
forward  her  husband  for  the  Grand  Mastership  of  Santiago.  On  this 
occasion  she  allowed  the  election  to  go  against  him  ;  but  afterwards,  as 
vacancies  occurred,  he  became  successively  Grand  Master  of  Santiago, 
Alcantara  and  Calatrava.  The  Pope  granted  investiture  on  each  occasion, 
with  reversion  to  Isabel.    Adrian  VI  (1523)  and  Clement  VII  (1530) 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


23 


354     Reforms  of  the  Catholic  Kings, — The  army 


attached  the  Grand  Masterships  perpetually  to  the  Crown.  The  King 
gained  the  respect  due  to  their  semi-religious  character,  as  well  as  their 
riches  and  authority. 

Many  of  the  great  offices  of  State,  such  as  those  of  Constable, 
Admiral,  and  Adelantado^  were  hereditary.  Shorn  of  their  powers,  these 
titles  now  became  merely  honorary  in  families  of  proved  loyalty.  The 
grandees  were  compelled  to  lay  aside  the  insignia  of  royalty  which  they 
had  usurped,  and  their  mutinous  spirit  was  checked  by  a  few  startling 
examples  of  royal  justice.  Their  children  were  educated  under  the  eye  of 
the  Queen,  and  learnt  to  respect  the  Crown.  Careers  were  found  for  them 
in  the  Moorish  and  Italian  wars  or  as^  officers  of  a  stately  Court.  The 
class  which  had  broken  the  power  of  Alvaro  de  Luna,  deposed  Henry  IV, 
and  disputed  Isabel's  succession,  ceased  in  a  few  years  to  be  formidable. 
Isabel  revived  the  custom  of  administering  justice  in  person.  During  a 
progress  through  Andalucia  (1477)  she  stamped  out  the  great  factions 
whose  wars  had  devastated  the  land.  A  royal  commissioner,  accompanied 
by  an  army,  suppressed  the  lawlessness  of  Galicia,  and  razed  the  castles 
of  its  robber  barons. 

At  the  time  of  the  War  of  Succession  the  only  regular  force  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Crown  was  a  bodyguard  of  500  men-at-arms  and  500  light 
horse.  During  the  war  against  Granada  this  was  increased,  and  received 
the  addition  of  the  trained  troops  of  the  Holy  Brotherhood.  The  rest 
of  the  army  was  made  up  of  feudal  contingents  and  local  militias, 
arrayed  each  under  its  own  banner  and  commanded  by  district 
governors.  Grand  Masters,  grandees,  or  captains  chosen  by  the  munici- 
palities. The  period  for  which  these  militias  could  be  kept  in  the  field 
was  limited  by  law  and  by  the  scanty  royal  revenues.  Accordingly,  they 
could  not  be  moved  far  from  home,  and  wars  were  local  in  character. 
The  burden  as  well  as  the  reward  of  the  Conquest  of  Granada  fell  chiefly 
to  the  Andalucians.  At  its  close,  a  guard  of  2500  horse  was  retained  in 
the  royal  service,  and  the  powerful  force  of  artillery  that  had  been  brought 
together  was  carefully  kept  up.  When  the  troops  of  the  Holy  Brother- 
hood were  disbanded,  this  force  was  found  insufficient,  and  the  local 
militias  were  revived  upon  a  better  plan.  The  old  law  binding  all 
citizens  to  provide  themselves  with  arms  according  to  their  condition 
having  fallen  into  disuse,  a  decree  was  promulgated  (at  Valladolid  in 
1496)  declaring  one-twelfth  of  the  males  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and 
forty-eight  liable  to  military  service  at  home  or  abroad.  Captains  were 
appointed,  and  the  militias  were  mustered  and  drilled  on  holidays.  But 
victories  abroad  made  soldiering  popular,  and  volunteers  in  abundance  were 
found  to  submit  to  the  discipline  and  learn  the  new  tactics  of  the  Great 
Captain.  The  militia  was  neglected ;  taxation  had  taken  the  place  of 
personal  service,  and  the  municipalities  refused  to  bear  a  double  burden. 

The  Castilian  navy  dates  its  origin  from  the  Moorish  Wars,  when 
the  Cantabrian  sailors  sailed  round  the  coast  and  cooperated  with  the 


The  royal  Council. — The  clergy 


355 


land  forces.  Together  with  the  Catalans  they  were  afterwards  employed 
in  stopping  communications  between  the  Moriscos  and  their  African 
brethren.  The  connexion  with  Italy,  Flanders,  and  Africa  increased  the 
importance  of  the  service,  and  the  convoys  required  by  the  trade  of  the 
Indies  rapidly  developed  a  formidable  fleet. 

The  vast  powers  centred  in  the  Crown  were  exercised  through  the 
royal  Council.  Originally  a  deliberative  assembly  of  members  of  the 
royal  family,  prelates,  and  nobles,  it  was  entirely  reformed  by  Ferdinand 
and  Isabel  (1480).  Its  former  members  were  not  excluded,  but  their 
votes  were  taken  from  them,  and  their  places  supplied  by  lawyers  nomi- 
nated by  the  Crown.  The  president,  generally  a  bishop,  was  the  second 
person  in  the  kingdom.  The  new  Council  was  organised  into  depart- 
ments, the  chief  of  which  were  the  Council  of  State,  controlling  the  public 
forces  and  foreign  affairs,  and  the  Council  of  Castile,  the  supreme  Court 
of  justice,  and  the  centre  of  the  executive.  The  royal  authority  was  no 
longer  shared  by  grandees  and  prelates  of  noble  rank ;  a  professional  class, 
midway  between  nobles  and  people,  and  entirely  dependent  on  the  Crown, 
had  sprung  up.  The  lawyers  of  the  Council  formed  the  real  legis- 
lature ;  their  education  had  steeped  them  in  Roman  law,  and  their 
efforts  were  directed  to  the  unification  and  centralisation  of  authority. 
As  the  powers  of  the  Council  rose,  those  of  the  Cortes  dwindled. 

Over  the  clergy  too  the  royal  authority  was  extended,  and  the  civil 
and  the  ecclesiastical  power  were  united  to  such  a  degree,  that  the 
separation  of  Church  and  State  even  now  remains  inconceivable  to 
Spaniards.  The  morals  and  discipline  of  the  clergy  had  become  much 
relaxed.  Preferment  in  Spain  was  obtained  by  intrigues  at  Rome  ;  and 
those  who  obtained  it  often  neglected  to  visit  their  sees  or  benefices. 
Public  opinion  supported  the  Crown  in  its  desire  for  reform.  In  1476 
the  Cortes  protested  against  the  abuses  of  the  ecclesiastical  Courts,  which 
usurped  jurisdiction  in  civil  matters  and  enforced  their  sentences  by 
religious  penalties.  The  enormous  and  ever-increasing  estates  held  by  the 
Church  in  mortmain  had  now  come  to  be  looked  upon  with  jealousy  and 
anxiety.  The  revenues  of  the  great  sees  were  immense;  the  Archbishops 
of  Toledo  and  Santiago  nominated  the  governors  of  their  provinces. 
Little  by  little  they  were  shorn  of  part  of  their  wealth,  and  of  the  whole 
of  their  civil  jurisdiction  and  military  power.  The  annexation  of  the 
Grand  Masterships  of  the  Military  Orders  by  the  Crown  weakened  the 
Church  as  well  as  the  nobles.  At  the  same  time  the  sees  were  filled  by 
men  of  learning  and  piety,  and  ceased  to  be  an  appanage  of  the  nobility. 
At  Toledo  the  turbulent  Archbishop  Carillo  was  succeeded  by  the  soldier 
and  statesman  Mendoza,  known  from  his  influence  as  "  the  Third  King  " 
(1483).  The  next  Archbishop,  the  Franciscan  Ximenes  de  Cisneros, 
though  still  a  statesman  and  a  warrior,  was  a  crusader  instead  of 
a  leader  of  faction,  a  prelate  of  saintly  life,  and  a  lover  of  learning, 
as  is  proved  by  his  foundation  (in  1508)  of  the  University  of  Alcaic 


356 


Trade  and  taxation 


(Complutum).  By  a  diligent  reform  of  the  mendicant  orders,  he  purified 
and  strengthened  the  Church.  In  1482  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  wrested 
from  the  Pope  the  right  of  supplication  in  favour  of  their  nominees  to 
bishoprics.  This  right,  at  a  later  date,  Adrian  VI,  urged  by  Charles  V, 
converted  into  one  of  presentation.  In  the  kingdom  of  Granada  and 
in  the  Indies,  ecclesiastical  patronage,  together  with  part  of  the 
tithes,  was  reserved  by  the  Crown.  In  1493  a  decree  forbade  the 
publication  of  bulls  without  the  royal  exequatur.  In  general,  it  may 
be  noted  that  after  the  death  of  Isabel  the  attitude  of  the  Spanish 
Kings  towards  the  Papacy  became  more  and  more  independent.  Fer- 
dinand and  Charles,  when  opposed,  openly  threatened  to  break  with 
Rome  ;  and  the  latter  obtained  large  assignments  of  ecclesiastical 
revenues.  The  Inquisition  was  an  ecclesiastical  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  the  civil  power ;  and  when,  in  1497,  the  Pope  abandoned  the  right  of 
hearing  appeals,  this  power  became  supreme.  Thus  religious  was  added 
to  civil  despotism ;  indeed,  the  majority  of  Spanish  clergy  were  always 
found  to  side  with  the  King  against  the  Pope. 

The  natural  products  of  Spain  are  as  varied  as  her  climates,  but  her 
chief  riches  have  always  been  cattle,  corn,  wine,  and  minerals.  Cattle 
breeding  was  specially  favoured  by  legislators,  because  of  the  ease  with 
which  its  stock  could  be  put  beyond  reach  of  invaders.  Climate  made 
a  change  of  pasturage  necessary  in  spring  and  autumn.  So  long  as  the 
land  was  thinly  populated  this  was  an  easy  matter.  When  agriculture 
became  general,  the  rich  owners  of  the  migratory  flocks  formed  a  guild 
for  the  protection  of  their  traditional  rights,  and  obtained  many  privi- 
leges injurious  to  cultivators.  The  enclosure  of  waste  lands  was  for- 
bidden, and  broad  tracks  were  reserved,  even  through  the  richest  valleys, 
to  provide  pasturage  for  the  travelling  flocks.  In  spring  and  after 
harvest  they  ranged  at  will  through  corn-lands  and  vineyards.  Never- 
theless, at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  Castile  still  exported  corn, 
while  Aragon,  and  even  Valencia,  in  spite  of  the  fabulous  richness  of  its 
irrigated  fields,  were  forced  to  import  from  the  Balearic  Islands  and 
Sicily.  In  1480  the  export  duty  on  food  passing  from  Castile  to  Aragon 
was  abolished.  The  result  was  a  revival  of  agriculture,  particularly  in 
Murcia;  but  the  flocks  diminished,  and  the  policy  of  protecting  them 
was  resumed.  For  many  years  the  Spaniards  in  America,  intent  upon 
nothing  but  the  finding  of  gold,  imported  the  necessaries  of  life  from 
the  mother-country.  Until  1529  the  trade  with  the  Indies  was  reserved 
exclusively  to  Seville,  and  the  result  was  a  great  development  of  corn  and 
wine  growing  in  parts  of  Andalucia.  But  agriculture  was  ruined  by  the 
alcabala,  a  tax  of  one-tenth  on  all  sales.  Bread  paid  three  times  over,  as 
corn,  as  meal,  and  as  manufactured.  To  remedy  this  the  alcabala  was 
assessed  at  a  fixed  sum  levied  by  districts  (1494) ;  but  now  a  larger  horizon 
was  beginning  to  dawn,  brilliant  actions  took  place  in  the  New  World 
and  in  Italy,  and  agriculture  still  remained  neglected.    Gold  began  to  be 


Commerce.  —  Population,  —  Coinage  357 


imported  in  large  quantities,  and  prices  trebled.  The  evil  was  further 
increased  by  disturbances  among  the  industrious  Moriscos,  b}^  bad 
seasons,  and  by  the  ruinous  policy  of  fixing  a  maximum  price,  which 
still  further  depressed  the  greatest  national  industry  and  drove  the 
country  population  to  the  towns,  which  overflowed  with  beggars. 

Spain's  position  made  her  a  natural  half -way-house  for  sea-borne 
trade  between  the  Mediterranean  and  Atlantic.  Her  exports  were 
chiefly  raw  products  —  silk,  fruit,  and  oil  from  the  south ;  iron,  wool, 
wine,  and  leather  from  the  north.  By  prohibiting  the  export  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  by  the  imposition  of  heavy  export  and  import  dues,  it 
was  sought  to  encourage  manufactures  and  to  prevent  the  necessity  of 
buying  back  home  products  manufactured  abroad.  In  spite  of  repeated 
protests  of  the  Cortes,  the  settlement  of  foreign  artisans  was  encouraged 
by  the  Kings.  Manufactures,  chiefly  wool  and  silk,  increased  tenfold  in 
the  course  of  a  century  ;  the  great  fairs  drew  buyers  from  foreign  lands  ; 
it  seemed  as  though  the  inborn  Spanish  dislike  of  commerce  and 
industry  had  been  overcome.  But  the  progress  which  thus  manifested 
itself  was  not  destined  to  endure.  The  Revolt  of  the  Oomuneros^  to 
be  noticed  below,  ultimately  resulted  in  the  partial  ruin  of  a  rising 
middle  class;  the  most  enterprising  of  the  population  emigrated  as 
soldiers  or  settlers ;  and  the  great  discoveries  of  precious  metals  in 
America  raised  prices  to  such  a  pitch  that  Spanish  goods  could  no 
longer  compete  in  foreign  markets.  A  mistaken  economic  policy  led 
to  a  neglect  of  the  objects  in  favour  of  the  means  of  exchange,  and 
encouraged  the  accumulation  of  unproductive  wealth.  Nevertheless,  a 
fictitious  prosperity  was  for  a  time  maintained.  The  period  of  Spain's 
greatest  commercial  energy  falls  within  the  reign  of  Charles  I. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  Spanish  population  sank  rapidly  during 
the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  data  on  which  this  calcula- 
tion was  made  have,  however,  been  proved  to  be  misleading.  It  is 
probable  that  population  remained  nearly  stationary  at  about  eight 
millions,  or  somewhat  less  than  half  its  present  amount. 

Trade  was  hampered  by  a  coinage  made  up  of  foreign  pieces  of 
various  values,  and  of  debased  money  issued  from  local  and  private 
mints.  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  asserted  their  exclusive  right  of  minting, 
and  established  a  high  standard  in  their  ducats  (1476).  These  ducats 
were  coined  at  the  rate  of  65^  from  a  mark  of  gold  of  the  standard  of 
23|  carats.  The  silver  coin  of  these  sovereigns  was  the  real  (67  to  the 
mark  of  silver,  the  standard  being  67  parts  out  of  72).  The  maravedi 
(3I5  ducat)  was  the  basis  of  calculation ;  there  was,  however,  no 

actual  coin  of  this  value  or  name,  but  the  real  was  worth  34  maravedis. 
In  1518  the  money  of  Aragon  was  made  uniform  with  that  of  Castile. 

The  chief  sources  of  revenue  were  the  dues  and  rents  of  the  Crown 
lands,  and  the  alcahala.  The  last-named,  a  tax  of  a  tithe  on  all  sales, 
was  in  1494  commuted  for  a  fixed  sum  assessed  on  districts.    Isabel's  will 


358 


Revenue.  —  The  statute-hook 


forbade  alteration  of  its  amount,  but  a  new  assessment  was  made  in  1512. 
To  these  sources  of  revenue  has  to  be  added  extraordinary  supply,  —  the 
one  direct  impost.  In  Castile  this  amounted  to  50  millions  of  maravedis 
yearly.  Under  Charles,  an  additional  supply  was  demanded.  The  total 
supply  received  by  the  Crown  of  Aragon  amounted  to  less  than  one-fifth 
of  that  received  by  the  Crown  of  Castile,  and  the  whole  sum  was  less  than 
a  quarter  of  that  produced  by  the  alcahala.  Customs-dues,  the  sale  of 
indulgences  under  a  constantly  renewed  Bull  of  Crusade,  the  revenues  of 
the  Grand  Masterships,  the  tax  of  two-ninths  on  ecclesiastical  tithes,  and 
the  King's  fifth  of  the  gold  of  the  Indies,  brought  up  the  revenue  at  the 
beginning  of  Charles'  reign  to  about  600  millions  maravedis.  Almost 
the  whole  of  this  was  farmed  by  Jews  and  Genoese,  and  above  all  by 
the  Fuggers.  When  it  proved  insufficient,  fines  were  levied  for  a  renewal 
of  the  assessment  of  the  alcahala^  and  loans  were  raised  at  high  rates  of 
interest.  The  law  forbidding  alienation  of  the  royal  patrimony  was  con- 
stantly infringed.  Charles  sold  royal  and  municipal  offices,  letters  of 
naturalisation  and  legitimacy,  and  patents  of  nobility.  Though  the 
sum  produced  by  the  taxes  increased  thirtyfold  within  sixty  years,  the 
burdens  on  the  people  were  not  augmented  in  like  proportion.  Much 
alienated  revenue  was  recovered ;  the  value  of  gold  sank  to  less  than  a 
third ;  industry  and  commerce  had  vastly  increased.  The  exemption  of 
the  nobles  and  of  certain  districts  and  towns  from  direct  taxation  was, 
financially,  not  very  important. 

A  source  of  much  injustice  was  the  lack  of  a  recognised  code  of  laws. 
Since  the  promulgation  (1348)  of  the  Partidas  and  Ordenamiento  de 
Alcald  as  supplementary  to  municipal  law,  a  great  number  of  statutes 
had  been  enacted,  while  others  had  fallen  into  disuse  without  being 
repealed.  Isabel  sought  to  remedy  the  confusion  by  ordering  the 
scattered  decrees  to  be  collected  and  printed  in  the  Ordenamiento  de 
Montalvo  (1485).  But  neither  this  nor  a  further  collection  (1503) 
proved  satisfactory.  Montalvo's  book  left  many  important  matters 
doubtful,  and  the  laws  it  contained  were  not  faithfully  transcribed. 
Isabel's  will  (1504)  provided  for  the  continuation  of  the  work  of  unifi- 
cation. The  result  was  the  Laws  of  Toro  (1505),  a  further  attempt  to 
reconcile  conflicting  legislation.  The  Cortes  of  1523  still  complained 
of  the  evil ;  nor  was  it  remedied  until  the  publication  of  the  Nueva 
Recopilacidn  (1567). 

Under  firm  government  the  country  recovered  rapidly  from  its 
exhaustion,  and  reconquest  was  again  taken  in  hand.  For  ten  years 
(1481-91)  it  was  carried  on  untiringly  by  the  heroic  resolution  of 
Isabel  and  the  stubborn  valour  of  Ferdinand.  In  spite  of  disasters,  like 
that  of  the  Axarqufa  (1483),  and  obstinate  resistance,  like  that  of 
Baza  (1489),  and  notwithstanding  the  enormous  difficulties  of  transport, 
the  slender  resources  of  the  Crown  and  the  unserviceable  nature  of  their 
feudal  army,  the  kingdom  of  Granada  fell  piecemeal  into  the  hands  of 


1478-92]      The  alien  races  and  the  Inquisition  359 


the  Catholic  Kings.  Owing  to  internal  feuds  and  the  treachery  of 
the  last  of  its  Naserite  dynasty,  not  more  than  half  of  its  natural 
defenders  were  ranged  at  one  time  against  the  Christians.  Some  cities, 
like  Malaga,  were  treated  with  great  harshness,  while  others  capitulated 
on  favourable  terms  ;  for  the  victor  was  eager  to  press  forward  and 
it  lay  with  him  to  decide  whether  or  not  he  would  be  bound  by  his 
word.  At  last  the  city  of  Granada,  isolated  and  helpless,  submitted 
almost  without  a  struggle  (1492).  The  terms  of  capitulation  included 
a  guarantee  of  the  lives  and  property  of  the  citizens,  with  full  enjo5^ment 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  the  right  to  elect  magistrates  to  administer 
the  existing  laws,  and  exemption  from  increase  of  the  customary  taxa- 
tion. Ferdinand  thus  sought  to  gain  time  to  establish  his  authority 
over  the  excitable  and  still  formidable  population. 

Even  before  the  fall  of  Granada  the  problem  of  the  alien  races  had 
presented  itself.  Living  under  the  special  protection  of  the  Crown,  the 
Jews  in  Spain,  in  spite  of  occasional  massacres  and  repressive  edicts, 
enjoyed  great  prosperity  and  were  very  numerous.  They  controlled 
finance,  and  had  made  their  way  even  into  the  royal  Council.  The 
noblest  families  were  not  free  from  the  taint  of  Jewish  blood,  and  it 
was  known  that  many  professing  Christians  shared  their  beliefs.  In 
1478  a  bull  granted  at  the  request  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  established 
in  Castile  the  Inquisition  —  a  tribunal  founded  in  the  thirteenth  century 
for  the  repression  of  heresy.  Its  object  was  now  to  detect  and  punish 
Jews  who  had  adopted  Christianity  but  had  afterwards  relapsed.  Two 
years  of  grace  were  allowed  for  recantation.  In  1481  the  Inquisition 
began  its  work  at  Seville  ;  in  1483,  in  spite  of  protests  on  the  ground  of 
illegality,  it  was  extended  to  Aragon,  where  the  first  Inquisitor,  St  Peter 
Arbues,  was  murdered  in  the  cathedral  of  Saragossa  (1485).  Under  the 
presidency  of  Torquemada  (1482-94)  the  Inquisition  distinguished 
itself  by  the  startling  severity  of  its  cruel  and  humiliating  autos  and 
reconciliations. 

Sixtus  IV  made  several  attempts  (1482-3)  to  check  the  deadly 
work,  but  was  obliged  by  pressure  from  Spain  to  deny  the  right  of 
appeal  to  himself.  The  Inquisitors  were  appointed  by  the  Crown,  which 
profited  by  their  ruthless  confiscations.  Their  proceedings  checked  in- 
stead of  promoting  conversion,  and  a  large  body  of  professing  Jews  re- 
mained isolated  and  stubborn  among  the  Christian  population.  Against 
these  was  turned  the  religious  and  national  enthusiasm  that  greeted  the 
fall  of  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Infidel.  The  achievement  of  political 
unity  made  the  lack  of  religious  unity  more  apparent.  It  was  rumoured 
that  the  Jews  were  carrying  on  an  active  propaganda ;  old  calumnies 
were  revived ;  they  were  accused  of  plotting  against  tlie  State,  of  sacrific- 
ing Christian  children,  and  of  torturing  and  insulting  the  Host.  In  1478 
an  edict  expelled  them  from  Seville  and  Cordova ;  the  severest  repres- 
sive measures  were  renewed  in  1480 ;  and  in  March,  1492,  in  spite  of 


360 


The  Jews  and  the  Saracens 


Ferdinand's  protest,  the  Jews  of  Castile  were  bidden  to  choose  within 
four  months  between  baptism  and  exile.  On  the  strength  of  an  existing 
law  prohibiting  the  export  of  precious  metals,  they  were  stripped  of  a 
great  part  of  their  wealth,  and  many  hundred  thousands  quitted  Spain. 
The  treasury  seized  their  abandoned  property ;  but  Spain  was  the  poorer 
for  the  loss  of  a  thrifty  and  industrious  population.  The  work  of  the 
Inquisition  now  increased.  Many  of  the  exiles  returned  as  professing 
Christians,  while  many  suspected  families  of  converts  had  been  left  behind. 
Pedigrees  were  subjected  to  the  closest  scrutiny ;  not  even  the  highest 
position  in  the  Church,  or  the  most  saintly  life,  secured  those  whose 
blood  was  tainted  from  cruel  persecution.  Even  if  their  faith  was 
beyond  suspicion,  they  were  made  social  outcasts.  Statutes  as  to  purity 
of  blood  excluded  them,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  Church,  at  first 
from  universities.  Chapters,  and  public  offices,  and  later  even  from  reli- 
gious Congregations  and  trade  guilds.  Torquemada  died  in  1498  ;  but 
the  persecution  went  on  until  Cordova  rose  against  the  fierce  and  fanat- 
ical Lucero  (1506-7).  Ximenes  became  Grand  Inquisitor  (1507),  and 
the  tribunal  became  less  savage,  while  its  sphere  of  activity  widened. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  century  the  baptised  Saracens  had  been  placed 
under  its  authority.  When  Islam  was  proscribed  throughout  Castile 
(1502),  the  Inquisition  stamped  out  its  last  embers,  by  methods  hardly 
less  rigorous  than  those  directed  against  the  Jews ;  afterwards,  it  w^as 
employed  to  further  absolutism  in  Church  and  State.  Such  are  the 
passions  roused  by  the  very  name  of  the  Inquisition,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  judge  its  work.  The  Jesuit  Mariana,  a  bold  and  impartial  critic, 
calls  it  "a  present  remedy  given  by  Heaven  against  threatened  ills." 
He  admits,  however,  that  the  cure  was  a  costly  one;  that  the  good 
name,  life,  and  fortune  of  all  lay  in  the  hands  of  the  Inquisitors ; 
that  its  visitation  of  the  sins  of  fathers  upon  children,  its  cruel  punish- 
ments, its  secret  proceedings,  and  prying  methods  caused  universal 
alarm ;  and  that  its  tyranny  was  regarded  by  many  "  as  worse  than 
death." 

For  nearly  eight  years  after  its  conquest  the  kingdom  of  Granada 
was  ruled  with  firmness  and  moderation  by  its  Captain-general,  the  Count 
of  Tendilla,  and  by  Talavera,  Archbishop  of  the  newly-created  see. 
The  capitulation  had  been  respected ;  men's  minds  were  reassured ;  and 
many,  who  had  at  first  preferred  exile  to  submission,  had  returned. 
Talavera,  a  man  of  earnest  but  mild  temper,  devoted  all  his  energies  to 
the  conversion  of  the  Muslims ;  he  secured  their  confidence  and  respect, 
and,  by  encouraging  the  study  of  Arabic,  partly  broke  down  the  barrier 
of  language.  Already  the  results  of  his  good  work  were  apparent, 
when  his  persuasive  and  forbearing  policy  was  abandoned. 

To  the  religious  advisers  of  the  Queen  the  results  attained  seemed 
paltry :  shocked  at  what  they  considered  a  stubborn  rejection  of  evident 
truths,  they  regarded  the  respect  shown  to  the  religious  and  social 


1499-1501] 


Revolts  of  the  Saracens 


361 


peculiarities  of  the  Muslims  as  impious  trafficking  with  evil,  while  the 
salvation  of  thousands  was  at  stake.  Ximenes  shared  the  fanaticism  of 
his  age  and  country.  Having  obtained  a  commission  to  aid  the  Arch- 
bishop in  his  work,  he  assembled  the  Muslim  doctors,  harangued, 
flattered,  and  bribed  them  till  many  received  baptism  (1499).  Still 
unsatisfied,  he  adopted  more  violent  measures.  He  began  to  ill-treat  the 
descendants  of  renegades  and  to  tear  their  children  from  them ;  he 
imprisoned  the  more  obstinate  of  his  opponents,  and  confiscated  and 
publicly  burned  all  books  treating  of  their  religion.  A  savage  revolt 
within  the  city  was  quelled  only  by  the  influence  of  the  Captain-general 
and  the  Archbishop.  Ximenes,  when  recalled  to  Court  to  be  repri- 
manded for  his  high-handed  action,  succeeded  in  winning  over  the  Queen 
to  his  views.  A  commission  was  sent  to  punish  a  revolt  provoked  by  the 
infraction  of  guaranteed  rights.  It  was  evident  that  the  capitulation 
was  no  longer  to  be  respected,  and  while  thousands,  cowed  but  uncon- 
vinced, received  baptism,  others  quitted  Spain  for  Africa.  The  dis- 
tricts round  Granada  showed  none  of  the  submissive  spirit  of  the  city. 
On  hearing  of  the  injustice  done  to  their  fellow-countrymen  the 
mountaineers  of  the  Alpujarras  revolted,  and  the  Count  of  Tendilla, 
with  Gonzalo  de  Cordova,  then  a  young  soldier,  undertook  a  difficult 
and  dangerous  campaign  in  an  almost  inaccessible  region.  In  the  spring 
of  1500  Ferdinand  himself  assumed  the  command,  and  the  rebellion  was 
crushed  out  by  irresistibly  superior  forces.  Each  little  town  perched 
upon  its  crag  had  to  be  stormed.  Men  taken  with  arms  in  their 
hands  were  butchered  as  rebels ;  the  survivors  were  punished  by 
enormous  fines,  and  cajoled  or  forced  to  receive  baptism. 

No  sooner  was  this  rising  repressed,  than  a  still  more  formidable  one 
broke  out  in  the  Sierra  Bermeja  on  the  western  side  of  the  kingdom. 
Christians  were  tortured  and  murdered,  and  the  alarm  was  increased  by 
the  belief  that  the  rebels  were  in  communication  with  Africa.  A 
splendid  force,  hastily  raised  in  Andalucia,  marched  into  the  fastnesses 
of  the  mountains ;  but,  becoming  entangled  among  passes  where  the 
heavy-armed  horsemen  were  helpless,  it  was  nearly  exterminated  at  Rio 
Verde  (March,  1501).  The  rebels,  however,  were  terrified  by  their 
success ;  the  revolt  spread  no  further;  and  when  Ferdinand  hurried  to 
Ronda,  prepared  for  a  campaign,  they  sued  for  peace.  Again  the 
choice  between  baptism  and  exile  was  offered,  and  thousands  quitted  the 
country. 

In  July,  1501,  the  whole  kingdom  of  Granada  was  declared  to  be 
Christian  ;  and  the  only  Muslim  element  left  within  the  realms  of  Castile 
consisted  of  small  groups  settled  in  cities  even  as  far  north  as  Burgos 
and  Zamora,  under  the  protection  of  the  Crown.  These  Muddjares  were 
now  forbidden  to  communicate  with  their  newly  converted  brethren  of 
the  south.  Six  months  later,  all  who  refused  to  become  Christians  were 
banished.    In  Aragon  and  Valencia  the  Mudejares  were  allowed,  for  a 


362        Conquests  in  Italy.  —  The  Succession  [i493-i503 


time,  the  private  exercise  of  their  religion.  The  harsh  treatment  of  the 
Saracens  seemed  justified  by  fear  of  their  numbers  and  of  their  intrigues 
with  the  African  corsairs.  They  sank  into  a  state  of  serfdom,  being 
left  dependent  for  protection  upon  the  landowners  who  throve  on  their 
industry.  Even  so  they  clung  to  their  faith,  and  the  Inquisition  found 
a  hundred  years  insufficient  for  rooting  it  out.  The  results  of  intoler- 
ance are  still  to  be  traced  in  the  wide  wastes,  once  rich  in  corn,  vine,  and 
olive,  of  central  and  southern  Spain.  While  the  rest  of  the  land  had 
been  won  back  in  a  half-ruined  and  desolate  state,  Granada  was  seized 
in  full  prosperity,  but  even  she  was  not  spared. 

Profiting  by  the  eagerness  of  the  King  of  France  to  settle  outstanding 
differences  before  invading  Italy,  Ferdinand  in  1493  recovered  by  nego- 
tiation the  counties  of  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne,  which  had  been  pledged 
by  his  father  to  Louis  XI. 

In  1494,  following  the  traditions  of  the  Crown  of  Aragon,  he  began 
actively  to  interfere  in  European  politics  by  forming  the  League  of 
Venice  for  the  purpose  of  driving  the  French  out  of  Italy.  A  period 
of  peace  followed  the  death  of  Charles  VIII  (1498).  When  the  War  was 
resumed  the  Crown  of  Naples  was  added  by  the  Great  Captain,  Gonzalo 
de  Cordova,  to  those  of  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Sicily  (1503).  The  New 
World  had  been  discovered,  but  its  supreme  importance  was  misunder- 
stood ;  Spain  was  embarked  upon  the  current  of  European  politics,  which 
was  to  drag  her  to  her  ruin.  Defeated  in  Italy  and  baffled  in  negotia- 
tion, the  French  King  decided  to  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country. 
In  the  autumn  of  1503  two  armies  set  out  to  invade  Spain,  one  through 
the  western  passes  of  the  Pyrenees,  and  the  other,  supported  by  a  fleet, 
through  the  eastern.  The  former  never  reached  its  destination.  The 
latter  entered  Roussillon  unopposed ;  but  wasted  time  in  besieging  the 
castle  of  Salsas  near  Perpignan,  until  Ferdinand  marched  to  its  relief. 
The  French  retreated  to  Narbonne  without  fighting.  The  loss  of  the 
fleet  in  a  storm  completed  the  disaster  of  the  French,  and  a  humiliating 
peace  ended  the  War. 

In  1496  were  negotiated  the  marriages  which  eventually  gave  the 
Crown  of  Spain  to  the  House  of  Austria.  Juan,  only  son  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabel,  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Maximilian,  Archduke  of 
Austria  and  King  of  the  Romans.  His  sister,  Juana,  married  Maxi- 
milian's son  Philip  the  Fair,  who  had  inherited  (1493)  from  his  mother, 
the  Netherlands,  Flanders,  Artois,  and  Franche-Comt^.  The  death  of 
the  Infante  Juan  left  his  sister,  Isabel,  Queen  of  Portugal,  heiress 
apparent  to  the  throne  of  Castile  (1497).  By  her  death  (1498)  and 
that  of  her  infant  son  (1500)  the  hope  of  the  union  of  the  whole 
Peninsula  under  one  Crown  was  defeated.  The  succession  fell  to  Juana 
and  her  husband  Philip.  From  the  first  their  marriage  had  been  an 
unhappy  one.  Philip  gave  his  wife  abundant  cause  for  jealousy,  and 
repressed  her  violent  outbreaks  by  making  her  a  prisoner  within  her 


1501-5]   Death  of  Queen  Isabel.  —  Ferdinand^ s  regency  363 


palace.  Her  mind  became  disordered,  and  she  soon  showed  signs  of  the 
intermittent  insanity  which  later  overtook  her.  It  became  necessary  for 
Juana  and  Philip  to  visit  Spain  to  receive  the  oath  of  allegiance  as  heirs 
to  the  Crown.  But  Philip  delayed  till  the  end  of  the  year  1501,  and 
caused  additional  displeasure  by  seeking  the  friendship  of  Louis  XII 
and  doing  formal  homage  to  him  as  he  passed  through  France.  The 
Cortes  of  Castile  swore  allegiance  to  Juana  and  her  husband  at  Toledo 
(1502).  The  Cortes  of  Aragon,  which  had  previously  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge her  sister  Isabel,  alleging  that  females  were  excluded  from  the 
succession,  now  took  the  usual  oath.  At  the  beginning  of  1503  Philip 
quitted  Spain,  leaving  his  wife  with  her  parents.  He  again  passed 
through  France,  and  concluded  a  peace  with  King  Louis.  But  this  peace 
Ferdinand,  on  hearing  news  of  the  victories  of  the  Great  Captain, 
repudiated,  alleging  that  Philip  had  exceeded  his  instructions.  The 
War  in  Italy  went  on  as  before. 

After  the  birth  of  Ferdinand,  her  second  son,  Juana's  insanity  in- 
creased. In  March,  1504,  she  quitted  Spain  against  her  mother's  will, 
leaving  her  in  feeble  health.  Isabel  was  broken  by  long  years  of  toil, 
and  by  family  sorrows.  She  died  of  dropsy  at  the  end  of  the  year.  The 
character  of  the  great  Queen  is  well  described  in  the  simple  words  of 
Guicciardini :  "  a  great  lover  of  justice,  most  modest  in  her  person,  she 
made  herself  much  loved  and  feared  by  her  subjects.  She  was  greedy  of 
glory,  generous,  and  by  nature  very  frank."  Her  will  named  Juana  as 
her  successor ;  but  a  codicil  directed  "  that  Don  Fernando  should  govern 
the  realm  during  the  absence  of  Queen  Juana,  and  that  if,  on  her  arrival, 
she  should  be  unwilling  or  unable  to  govern,  Don  Fernando  should 
govern."  Ferdinand  proclaimed  Juana  and  Philip,  and  undertook  the 
regency ;  but  Isabel's  death  marks  the  beginning  of  a  period  of  anarchy 
which  lasted  until  Charles  established  his  rule  (1523). 

The  year  1505  was  spent  in  plots  and  counter-plots.  Philip,  sup- 
ported by  a  strong  party  in  Spain,  attempted  to  drive  out  Ferdinand. 
Instigated  by  Don  Juan  Manuel,  he  intrigued  with  Gonzalo  de  Cordova, 
and  with  the  King  of  France.  Ferdinand,  on  his  side,  was  ready  to 
sacrifice  the  union  of  Spain  to  private  ambition :  his  first  plan  was  to 
marry  and  revive  the  claims  of  Princess  Juana,  la  Beltraneja.  When 
this  failed,  he  married  Germaine  de  Foix,  niece  to  the  King  of  France 
(October,  1505).  King  Louis  made  over  to  her  as  dowry  his  claims  on 
the  disputed  portions  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  with  reversion  to  the 
French  Crown  should  the  union  prove  childless.  In  this  way  Ferdinand 
broke  up  the  dangerous  alliance  between  Louis,  Philip,  and  Maximilian ; 
but  he  also  alienated  from  his  cause  a  large  portion  of  the  Castilians, 
who  regarded  his  hasty  marriage  as  an  insult  to  the  memory  of  their 
Queen.  At  the  same  time  Philip's  agents  in  Spain  were  undermining 
Ferdinand's  authority,  and  had  won  over  many  of  the  nobles  ot 
Andalucia ;  for  he  was  still  regarded  as  a  foreigner  in  the  land  which 


364 


Death  of  PJiilip  the  Fair 


[1505-7 


he  had  so  long  ruled,  and  his  harsh,  suspicious,  and  niggardly  nature 
increased  his  unpopularity. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Salamanca  (November,  1505)  it  was  agreed  that 
Ferdinand,  Juana,  and  Philip  should  rule  jointly,  and  divide  the  revenues 
and  patronage.  In  the  following  spring  Philip  was  obliged  by  stress  of 
weather  to  land  at  Corunna.  It  had  been  his  intention  to  sail  round  to 
Seville  and  collect  his  partisans,  since  neither  party  meant  to  abide  by 
the  agreement.  Ferdinand  hastened  to  meet  his  son-in-law ;  but  Philip 
evaded  an  interview,  for  every  day  more  grandees  joined  him,  and  he 
would  soon  be  able  to  dictate  his  own  terms.  When  the  meeting 
actually  took  place  (June),  Ferdinand's  following  was  reduced  to  three 
or  four  old  friends,  and  he  was  compelled  to  declare  that,  owing  to 
Juana's  infirmity,  her  interference  would  be  disastrous  to  the  kingdom. 
In  consideration  of  a  pension  he  gave  up  the  regency,  and  sulkily  with- 
drew into  Aragon  with  his  young  wife,  and  otherwise  unaccompanied, 
''holding  it  unworthy  to  exercise  delegated  powers  in  realms  over 
which  he  had  been  absolute  King."  He  was  welcomed  by  the  Arago- 
nese,  who  rejoiced  to  have  shaken  off  the  union  with  the  preponderating 
power  of  Castile.  Shortly  afterwards  he  sailed  for  Naples,  where  the 
conduct  of  Gonzalo  de  Cordova  had  excited  his  suspicions. 

In  July  Philip  met  the  Castilian  Cortes  at  Valladolid.  Aided  by 
Ximenes,  he  attempted  to  have  his  wife  declared  incapable  of  govern- 
ing ;  but  he  was  successfully  opposed  by  a  party  led  by  the  Admiral  of 
Castile.  Juana  was  acknowledged  as  Queen  in  her  own  right,  Philip  as 
King  by  right  of  marriage,  and  their  infant  son  Charles  as  heir  to  the 
throne.  Acting  in  his  wife's  name,  Philip  hereupon  conferred  the  offices 
of  State  and  wardenships  of  the  royal  castles  on  members  of  his  own 
party.  The  malcontents  began  to  draw  together  to  liberate  the  Queen, 
whom  they  believed  to  be  sane  and  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  her 
husband.  The  threatened  rebellion  was,  however,  for  the  moment 
arrested,  and  Philip  was  called  away  northward  to  watch  the  frontier. 
He  evaded  the  danger  of  invasion  by  means  of  a  treaty  with  the 
French  King,  from  which  Ferdinand  was  excluded.  In  September,  1506, 
Philip  died  suddenly  at  Burgos,  leaving  Spain  in  a  ferment  of  rival 
factions.  Within  Castile  no  authority  existed ;  for  Juana  refused  to  act. 
The  grandees  nominated  Ximenes  with  six  members  of  the  Council  to 
carry  on  the  regency  until  the  guardianship  of  the  infant  heir  to  the 
throne  should  be  decided.  They  summoned  the  Cortes ;  but  their 
summons  was  disregarded  as  unconstitutional.  Ferdinand  had  already 
reached  Italy,  when  the  news  overtook  him.  He  sent  a  commission  to 
Ximenes  to  carry  on  the  government  during  his  absence.  On  his  return 
to  Spain  (July,  1507)  he  crushed  the  party,  headed  by  Juan  Manuel, 
which  supported  the  claim  of  Maximilian  to  act  as  regent  for  his 
daughter-in-law  and  grandson.  Ferdinand's  position  was  a  strong  one, 
for  the  event  foreseen  in  Isabel's  will  had  come  to  pass:  Juana, 


1507-9]  Fei'dinand's  second  regency,  —  Conquest  of  Oran  365 


wandering  from  village  to  village  with  the  weird  procession  that  bore 
her  husband's  corpse,  stubbornly  refused  to  sign  papers  of  State.  Most 
of  the  Flemish  party  fled ;  then  Burgos  and  Jaen,  held  for  a  time  in 
Maximilian's  interest,  submitted,  and  ''calm  fell  upon  Castile  "  ;  for  the 
majority  welcomed  the  prospect  of  speedy  repression  of  the  disorder 
which  had  broken  out  during  Ferdinand's  absence.  After  a  meeting 
with  Juana,  who  refused  to  lend  herself  to  his  schemes  by  marrying 
Henry  of  England,  he  gave  out  that  she  had  resigned  the  government  to 
him,  and  thus  remained  undisputed  master  of  the  kingdom.  Ferdinand 
showed  no  wish  to  avenge  himself  upon  those  who  had  driven  him  with 
ignominy  from  the  kingdom,  but  bore  himself  ruthlessly  towards  those 
who  now  questioned  his  authority.  Don  Juan  Manuel  had  fled.  The 
Duke  of  Nagera  refused  to  deliver  up  his  fortresses ;  but,  when  an  army 
was  sent  against  him,  he  submitted,  and  his  lands  and  titles  were  given 
to  his  eldest  son.  At  Cordova  the  Marquis  of  Priego  revolted.  Fer- 
dinand called  out  all  Andalucia  to  crush  him.  He  threw  himself  on 
the  King's  mercy,  but  was  condemned  to  death.  The  interest  of  the 
Great  Captain,  his  kinsman,  availed  only  to  obtain  a  commutation  of  his 
sentence  to  confiscation,  fine,  and  banishment. 

Although  the  suspicions  against  him  were  probably  groundless,  the 
Great  Captain  felt  the  weight  of  Ferdinand's  jealousy.  They  had 
returned  from  Italy  together,  and  Ferdinand  had  shown  him  all  defer- 
ence and  had  promised  him  the  Grand  Mastership  of  Santiago.  But 
the  promise  was  never  fulfilled ;  he  was  treated  with  marked  coolness, 
and  withdrew  to  his  estates  near  Loja,  where  he  ended  his  days  in 
haughty  and  magnificent  retirement.  Once  only  —  after  the  battle  of 
Ravenna  (1512),  when  it  was  believed  that  he  alone  could  save  Spain's 
possessions  in  Italy,  he  received  a  commission  to  enlist  troops.  Thou- 
sands had  already  joined  his  banner,  when  the  danger  passed  away,  and 
Ferdinand,  alarmed  and  jealous,  withdrew  his  commission. 

The  Barbary  pirates  not  only  rendered  the  sea  unsafe,  but  acting  in 
concert  with  the  Moriscos,  made  frequent  descents  upon  the  Spanish 
coast,  spreading  terror  and  devastation  far  inland.  In  1505,  at  the 
instigation  of  Ximenes,  Mers-el-Kebir,  one  of  their  strongholds,  had 
been  captured.  The  disturbed  condition  of  Spain  made  it  impossible 
immediately  to  follow  up  this  success,  but  Ximenes  had  not  lost  sight  of 
his  policy  of  African  conquest.  A  war  against  the  Infidel  always  stirred 
the  crusading  spirit  of  the  Spaniards,  and  Ferdinand  saw  in  it  a  way  of 
turning  public  attention  from  late  events.  In  1508  a  small  expedition 
under  Pedro  Navarro  captured  Penon  de  la  Gomera.  In  the  following 
year  a  larger  one  was  prepared.  Ximenes  lent  money  out  of  the  vast 
revenues  of  his  see,  and  himself  accompanied  the  army  of  14,000  men  to 
Oran  (May,  1509).  The  city  was  captured,  and  many  Christian  captives 
were  set  free  :  but  the  glory  of  the  victory  was  stained  by  a  brutal 
massacre  of  unarmed  inhabitants.     Within  a  month  Ximenes  was  back 


366     '  Ferdinand  seizes  Navarre  [1512 


in  Spain.  He  had  quarrelled  with  Pedro  Navarro,  the  general  in  com- 
mand of  the  expedition,  and  was  moreover  alarmed  by  reports  that  Fer- 
dinand was  plotting  to  deprive  him  of  his  archbishopric  in  favour  of  his 
illegitimate  son,  the  Archbishop  of  Saragossa.  Pedro  Navarro  remained 
behind,  and  in  a  few  months  effected  a  series  of  brilliant  conquests. 
Bugia  fell  after  a  siege  ;  Algiers  and  Tlemcen  surrendered  ;  Tripolis  was 
stormed.  Grown  overbold,  Navarro  fell  into  an  ambuscade  among  the 
sandhills  of  the  waterless  island  of  Gelves ;  the  greater  part  of  his  army 
perished ;  and  the  tide  of  Spanish  conquest  in  Africa  was  stayed  for  a 
time  (August,  1510). 

The  recovery  of  Roussillon  and  Cerdagne  gave  Ferdinand  command 
of  the  eastern  passes  of  the  Pyrenees  ;  but  Spanish  unity  was  still  incom- 
plete, while  the  kingdom  of  Navarre  lying  astride  of  the  western  end 
of  the  range  held  the  keys  of  Spain.  Torn  by  the  continual  wars  of  her 
two  great  factions,  the  Beaumonts  and  Grammonts,  and  crushed  by 
the  neighbourhood  of  more  powerful  States,  Navarre  could  not  hope  to 
preserve  her  independence.  She  was,  moreover,  ruled  by  a  feeble 
dynasty  that  had  not  taken  root  in  the  soil.  Navarre  had  belonged  to 
Ferdinand's  father  in  right  of  his  first  wife,  but  had  passed  by  right 
of  marriage  to  her  great-grandson  Francois  Ph^bus,  Count  of  Foix,  and, 
later,  to  his  sister  Catherine.  Ferdinand  sought  to  secure  the  prize 
by  marrying  his  son  to  Catherine.  The  scheme  was  frustrated  by 
her  mother  Madeleine,  sister  of  Louis  XII ;  and  Catherine  married 
Jean  d'Albret,  a  Gascon  nobleman  whose  large  estates  lay  on  the  border 
of  Lower  Navarre.  Nevertheless  Ferdinand  found  means  of  frequently 
interfering  in  the  affairs  of  his  neighbours.  He  protected  the  Beaumont 
faction  and  the  dynasty  against  King  Louis,  who  supported  the  claims 
of  a  younger  branch  of  the  House  of  Foix,  represented  first  by  the 
Viscount  of  Narbonne,  and  later  by  Gaston  Ph^bus,  brother  of  Fer- 
dinand's second  wife. 

In  1511  Pope  Julius  II,  the  Emperor,  the  Venetians,  Ferdinand,  and 
Henry  VIII  of  England  formed  the  Holy  League  for  the  purpose  of 
crushing  France.  Bent  on  his  scheme  of  recovering  Guyenne  Henry 
sent  an  army  to  Guipuzcoa  to  cooperate  with  the  Spaniards  (1512). 
Ferdinand's  opportunity  had  now  come.  He  demanded  a  free  passage 
for  his  troops  through  Navarre,  and  the  surrender  of  fortresses  as  a 
guarantee  of  neutrality.  Jean  d'Albret  tried  to  evade  compliance  by 
allying  himself  with  the  French.  Ferdinand  retaliated  by  a  manifesto 
declaiming  against  his  faithlessness  and  ingratitude,  and  by  ordering  the 
Duke  of  Alva  to  invade  Navarre  (July,  1512).  Five  days  later  the 
Spaniards,  aided  by  the  Beaumontais,  encamped  before  Pamplona,  and 
Jean  d'Albret  fled  to  seek  help  from  the  French  army  encamped  near 
Bayonne.  Pamplona  surrendered  on  receiving  guarantees  of  its  liber- 
ties, which  it  held  dearer  than  its  foreign  dynasty. 

Failing  to  get  help  from  the  French,  Jean  d'Albret,  though  his 


1515] 


Navarre  incorporated  with  Castile 


367 


capital  was  already  in  the  enemy's  hands,  attempted  negotiation,  pro- 
fessing his  readiness  to  accept  any  terms  that  might  be  dictated. 
Ferdinand,  however,  insisted  on  his  claim  to  hold  Navarre  until  he 
should  complete  his  holy  enterprise  against  France.  Most  of  the 
Navarrese  towns  and  fortresses  now  surrendered ;  Tudela  was  besieged 
by  the  Aragonese  under  the  Archbishop  of  Saragossa.  Early  in  August 
Ferdinand  renewed  his  promise  to  give  up  the  kingdom  at  the  end  of 
the  war.  His  messenger  was  seized  and  imprisoned,  and  on  the  21st  of 
the  month  he  published  at  Burgos  the  bull  Pater  ille  coelestis,  excom- 
municating all  who  resisted  the  Holy  League,  and  declaring  their  lands 
and  honours  forfeited  to  those  who  should  seize  them.  Although  Jean 
d'Albret  and  Catherine  were  not  named,  the  bull  specially  mentioned  the 
Basques  and  Cantabrians,  and  dread  of  its  threats  brought  about  the  sur- 
render of  the  few  places  that  still  held  out  in  Upper  Navarre.  Ferdinand 
now  threw  off  the  mask  and  took  the  title  of  King  of  Navarre.  Meanwhile 
Alva  had  crossed  the  mountains,  and  summoned  the  Marquis  of  Dorset 
from  his  camp  near  San  Sebastian  to  aid  in  the  conquest  of  Lower 
Navarre.  The  English,  however,  declared  that  they  had  come  to 
conquer  not  Navarre  but  Guyenne  ;  and  since  it  was  now  too  late  in  the 
year  for  that  purpose  they  sailed  home  after  plundering  a  small  part  of 
the  frontier.  A  French  army  advanced  against  Alva,  who  recrossed  the 
mountains  without  fighting  and  shut  himself  up  in  Pamplona.  But, 
after  two  fierce  assaults,  the  French  in  turn  withdrew  on  the  approach  of 
Spanish  reinforcements.  The  whole  of  Upper  Navarre  and  the  district 
of  Ultrapuertos  north  of  the  mountains  remained  in  Ferdinand's  hands. 
In  1513  the  Navarrese  Cortes  swore  allegiance  to  him,  and  the  French 
King  abandoned  his  allies  by  concluding  a  truce.  Navarre  was  in- 
corporated with  Castile  (1515)  ;  Ultrapuertos  was  however  afterwards 
abandoned  on  account  of  the  expense  of  keeping  up  an  outpost  beyond 
the  mountains  (1530). 

The  last  three  years  of  Ferdinand's  life  were  uneventful,  so  far  as 
Spain  is  concerned.  Although  he  was  involved  in  the  tangled  skein  of 
alliances  and  plots  by  which  the  fate  of  Italy  was  decided,  his  interest  in 
politics  was  no  longer  active.  His  chief  anxiety  was  to  leave  a  son  to 
succeed  to  his  patrimony.  One  had  been  born  of  his  second  marriage,  but 
had  died  shortly  after  birth.  Although  he  was  eager  to  become  a  father 
once  more,  he  was  not  destined  to  undo  his  life's  work, — Spanish  unity. 
He  fell  ill  (1513),  and  with  the  restlessness  of  a  dying  man,  wandered 
through  the  mountain  villages  of  Castile  pursuing  his  favourite  occu- 
pation of  hunting.  A  strong  Spanish  party,  led  by  Don  Juan  Manuel 
and  supported  by  France,  still  opposed  him,  scheming  in  favour  of 
Maximilian's  claim  to  govern  Spain  as  regent  for  his  grandson.  King- 
Ferdinand  held  them  in  check,  and  set  up  against  Charles  his  younger 
brother  Ferdinand,  who  had  been  brought  up  in  Spain  and  was  now 
regarded  as  the  probable  successor  to  the  united  Crowns,  or,  at  least,  to 


368 


Death  of  King  Ferdinand 


[1516 


that  of  Aragon.  In  1515  King  Ferdinand  visited  Aragon  for  the  last 
time,  and  held  Cortes  at  Calatayud.  His  arbitrary  temper  had  grown 
upon  him,  and,  when  supply  was  refused,  he  struck  a  last  fierce  blow  at 
his  country's  liberties  by  angrily  dismissing  the  deputies  and  imprisoning 
their  president.  When  his  end  was  known  to  be  near  (September,  1515) 
the  Flemish  party  sent  to  Adrian  of  Utrecht  to  act  in  the  name  of  his 
former  pupil,  the  Infante  Charles. 

King  Ferdinand  died  in  the  village  of  Madrigalejo  (January,  1516) 
leaving  behind  him  a  reputation  for  political  wisdom,  astonishing  when 
it  is  remembered  that  he  was  an  unlettered  man.  But  it  was  his 
unscrupulousness  that  left  the  deepest  mark  upon  the  age.  During 
Isabel's  lifetime  he  had  screened  his  grasping  policy  behind  her  religious 
enthusiasm,  and  had  used  her  haughty  and  upright  spirit  as  an  instru- 
ment for  attaining  his  selfish  ends.  He  had  never  sought  to  be  loved, 
and  after  her  death  his  character  stood  revealed  in  its  native  harshness. 

No  reproach  attaches  to  him,"  says  Guicciardini,  "  save  his  lack  of 
generosity  and  his  faithlessness  to  his  word."  Shortly  before  his  death 
he  revoked  a  will  which  favoured  his  younger  grandson  and  namesake, 
and  now  bequeathed  to  him  only  a  pension  so  modest  as  to  preclude  all 
chance  of  rivalry  with  his  brother.  He  left  the  Crowns  of  Aragon  and 
the  two  Sicilies  to  his  daughter  Juana,  Queen  of  Castile,  appointing  her 
son  Charles  regent  in  her  name.  To  Ximenes  he  entrusted  the  govern- 
ment of  Castile,  and  to  his  bastard  son,  the  Archbishop  of  Saragossa, 
that  of  Aragon. 

Ximenes,  although  more  than  eighty  years  old,  undertook  the  charge 
with  his  wonted  energy.  Acting  under  instructions  from  Flanders,  and 
disregarding  the  protests  of  the  Castilians,  he  proclaimed  Charles  as 
King  conjointly  with  his  mother  (May,  1516).  He  reformed  the  house- 
hold of  Queen  Juana,  who  had  been  ill-treated  by  a  brutal  governor. 
He  fixed  the  seat  of  government  at  Madrid,  on  account  of  its  central 
position.  He  secured  the  person  of  the  Infante  Ferdinand,  whose  discon- 
tent was  being  fomented  by  interested  advisers.  By  sheer  force  of  character 
he  set  aside  Adrian  of  Utrecht,  who  had  been  sent  to  share  the  regency. 
He  revoked  all  grants  of  lands  and  pensions  made  since  Isabel's  death ; 
when  a  commission  of  grandees  waited  upon  him  to  enquire  by  virtue 
of  what  power  he  had  taken  this  step,  he  pointed  to  the  artillery  massed 
below  his  palace. 

Not  content  with  the  regular  forces  of  the  Crown,  he  attempted  to 
revive  in  more  efficient  form  the  old  militia,  and  sent  commissioners  to 
enroll  a  force  of  31,000  men.  Exemption  from  taxation  was  promised 
to  all  who  gave  in  their  names.  A  certain  number  in  each  district  were 
to  be  armed  and  drilled,  and  to  receive  pay  when  called  out.  The 
nobles  took  alarm,  and  stirred  up  the  municipalities  to  resist  what  was 
represented  as  a  new  burden  and  an  encroachment  on  their  liberties. 
Valladolid  and  other  cities  rose  in  revolt,  and  forwarded  a  protest  to 


1516-17] 


Ximenes  as  governor  of  Castile 


369 


Charles  in  Flanders.  The  matter  was  ordered  to  stand  over  until  his 
arrival.  Four  years  later,  the  municipalities  had  reason  to  regret  their 
lack  of  military  organisation. 

Thinking  to  profit  by  the  unsettled  state  of  Spain  Jean  d'Albret 
invaded  Navarre  and  laid  siege  to  St  Jean  Pied-de-Port.  He  was 
supported  by  native  exiles,  who  broke  in  through  the  pass  of  Roncal, 
hoping  for  a  rising  within  the  country.  They  were  met  before  effecting 
a  junction  with  the  King,  and  were  utterly  defeated  (March,  1516).  Jean 
d'Albret  gave  up  the  enterprise ;  he  died  three  months  later,  leaving  his 
claims  to  his  son  Henri.  Ximenes  began  to  fortify  Pamplona  as  a 
stronghold  for  the  Castilian  garrison,  while  he  dismantled  a  number  of 
outlying  castles  which  might  give  protection  to  invaders. 

In  pursuit  of  his  policy  of  African  conquest  Ximenes  sent  an 
expedition  against  Algiers,  which  had  been  seized  by  Barbarossa, 
the  famous  renegade  corsair  (September,  1516).  In  consequence  of 
the  incapacity  of  its  leader,  the  expedition  met  with  a  crushing  defeat, 
and  was  almost  annihilated. 

Ximenes'  schemes  were  everywhere  thwarted  by  Charles'  Flemish 
councillors.  With  their  chief,  William  de  Croy,  Seigneur  de  Chi^vres,  he 
had  tried  unsuccessfully  to  establish  a  good  understanding.  Flemish 
interests  required  alliance  with  France,  and  in  pursuit  of  this  object 
they  were  ready  to  sacrifice  Spanish  interests  in  Italy  and  Navarre.  For 
a  time  they  were  successful.  By  the  Treaty  of  Noyon  (October,  1516) 
Charles  became  betrothed  to  Francis'  infant  daughter,  promising  to 
satisfy  the  claims  of  the  Albrets  in  Navarre  and  to  give  up  Queen 
Germaine's  dowry.  Moreover,  a  growing  feeling  of  discontent  was  pro- 
Toked  in  Spain  by  the  shameless  traffic,  in  Spanish  offices  of  dignity 
and  profit,  carried  on  by  Flemish  courtiers.  The  grandees,  who  writhed 
under  Ximenes'  strong  hand,  flocked  with  their  complaints  to  Flanders 
and  obtained  a  ready  hearing.  The  people  were  persuaded  that  Juana 
was  sane  and  shut  out  from  her  rights  by  a  cruel  plot.  Ximenes, 
surrounded  by  difficulties,  wrote  repeatedly  urging  Charles  to  come  to 
Spain,  and  warning  him  of  the  rising  discontent  of  the  municipalities. 
At  last,  in  September,  1517,  Charles  landed  on  the  Asturian  coast.  He 
was  only  seventeen  years  old ;  his  health  was  delicate  ;  and  his  diffi- 
dence had  been  increased  by  his  being  brought  up  under  such  masterful 
spirits  as  Chi^vres  and  his  aunt  Margaret.  He  found  himself  in  a 
strange  country  seething  with  half-repressed  rebellion ;  he  could  not 
speak  a  word  of  Spanish.  The  grandees  hastened  to  welcome  the  King ; 
but  access  to  his  presence  was  barred  by  the  Flemings.  Ximenes  too 
journeyed  northward  to  meet  the  prince  whom  he  had  so  manfully 
served.  He  wished  before  his  death  to  explain  the  policy  by  which  the 
mutinous  spirit  of  Castile  might  be  appeased  and  the  anarchy  of  Aragon 
quelled.  The  Flemings,  foreseeing  that  their  influence  would  be  at  an 
•end  if  Charles  fell  under  the  influence  of  the  Cardinal's  powerful  will,  did 

C.  M,  H.  I.  24 


370 


Charles  arrives  in  Spain 


[1517 


their  utmost  to  prevent  a  meeting.  Ximenes  was  accordingly  checked  by 
a  letter  in  which  Charles  thanked  him  for  his  services  and  invited  him  to 
an  interview,  after  which  he  was  ordered  to  retire  to  his  diocese  and  take 
such  rest  as  his  health  demanded.  Ximenes  did  not  survive  his  political 
downfall.  His  death  (November  8)  left  Spain  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  foreigners,  among  whom  his  honours  were  speedily  divided.  Adrian 
was  made  Cardinal,  Chievres  became  chief  minister  of  the  Crown ;  his 
youthful  nephew,  William  de  Croy,  Archbishop  of  Toledo ;  and  Jean 
le  Sauvage,  Chancellor.  Ximenes'  policy  had  been  directed  to  assure 
the  supremacy  of  the  Crown  while  giving  to  the  people  such  rights  and 
cohesion  as  should  balance  the  power  of  the  nobles.  He  had  also 
attempted  to  found  a  Spanish  empire  in  Africa.  The  latter  scheme  was 
intermittently  prosecuted  after  his  death ;  but  its  special  importance  was 
lost  sight  of  amid  dreams  of  universal  empire.  The  natural  develop- 
ment of  the  political  rights  of  the  people  was  checked,  and  their 
hardly-won  municipal  liberties  were  crushed,  in  the  struggles  that 
followed.  Charles  aimed  from  the  first  at  the  absolute  power  which  in 
the  end  swallowed  up  the  liberties  of  nobles  and  commons  alike. 

After  a  brief  visit  to  his  mad  mother  at  Tordesillas,  where  she  passed 
fifty  years  of  her  life,  Charles  made  a  triumphal  entry  into  Valladolid 
(November,  1517).  Here,  in  the  following  spring,  the  Castilian  Cortes 
assembled.  The  grandees  were  disgusted  to  find  that  all  favours  fell  to 
foreigners.  The  sessions  opened  stormily  ;  for  Spanish  jealousy  had  been 
aroused  by  the  appointment  of  a  Fleming  to  preside  in  conjunction  with 
the  Bishop  of  Badajoz,  a  known  ally  of  the  foreign  party.  Two  legal 
assessors  watched  the  proceedings  on  behalf  of  the  Crown.  The  com- 
mons had  hoped  to  profit  by  the  inexperience  of  tlie  prince  in  order  to 
extend  their  rights.  Led  by  Dr  Zumel,  proctor  of  Burgos,  they  adopted 
a  haughty  tone,  reminded  Charles  of  his  duties  as  King  and  actually 
addressed  him  as  "  our  hireling."  They  claimed,  contrary  to  custom, 
that  he  should  swear  to  observe  their  liberties  before  receiving  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  and  should  hear  petitions  before  they  granted  supply. 
Charles  submitted  to  the  former  demand,  and  was  acknowledged  as 
sovereign  in  conjunction  with  his  mother.  This  was  a  disappointment ; 
for  he  had  hoped  to  rule  alone.  The  Cortes  voted  a  supply  of  some- 
what more  than  the  usual  amount,  spread  over  three  years.  In  answer 
to  a  long  list  of  petitions,  the  King  promised  to  learn  to  speak  Spanish; 
to  forbid  illegal  exportation  of  gold  and  silver;  to  grant  no  further 
offices  or  letters  of  naturalisation  to  foreigners  ;  to  keep  his  brother 
in  Spain  till  the  succession  should  be  assured ;  not  to  alienate  Crown 
property ;  and  not  to  give  up  Navarre. 

Charles  then  hurried  on  to  hold  Cortes  at  Saragossa.  The  Aragonese 
proved  more  stubborn.  Freed  from  Ferdinand's  strong  hand,  the  nobles 
had  shaken  off  all  respect  for  the  Crown,  and  moreover,  Charles  was 
thoroughly  distrusted.    Regardless  of  his  late  promises,  he  had  sent  his 


1520] 


The  gathering  discontent 


371 


brother  Ferdinand  to  Flanders,  and,  on  the  death  of  Jean  le  Sauvage, 
had  appointed  another  foreign  Chancellor  (Arborio  de  Gattinara).  The 
Aragonese  first  disputed  Charles'  right  to  call  Cortes ;  they  next  demanded 
proof  of  Juana's  incapacity ;  and  when,  finally,  they  consented  to  acknow- 
ledge him  as  King  in  conjunction  with  her,  they  insisted  on  declaring 
that,  if  she  should  recover,  she  alone  would  be  Queen  in  Aragon.  Charles 
was  forced  to  adopt  a  submissive  attitude ;  he  sought  to  win  over  the 
people  by  breaking  down  the  usurped  privileges  of  the  nobles ;  but  it 
cost  him  eight  months,  and  he  had  to  undergo  many  affronts,  before  he 
could  obtain  a  grant  of  money  so  small  that  it  was  insufficient  for 
paying  his  expenses.  In  order  to  replenish  the  treasury,  the  supply 
voted  by  the  Castilians  was  farmed ;  offices  were  sold ;  and  the  Inquisi- 
tion was  urged  to  ruthless  confiscation.  The  tide  of  discontent  rose 
higher  than  ever. 

At  Barcelona  objection  was  again  taken  to  swearing  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  Charles  during  his  mother's  lifetime.  Only  after  ten 
months  were  bribery  and  flattery  able  to  break  down  opposition  and 
elicit  a  moderate  grant.  Charles  was  preparing  to  meet  the  Parliament 
of  Valencia  (January,  1520),  when  news  was  brought  of  his  election  as 
King  of  the  Romans  in  succession  to  his  grandfather  Maximilian.  The 
report  that  the  King  was  about  to  quit  Spain  roused  the  indignation 
against  him  to  the  highest  pitch.  The  Castilian  cities  were  jealous  of  the 
time  he  had  spent  in  Aragon  and  Catalonia,  haggling  to  obtain  small 
supplies,  while  loyal  Castile,  which  had  voted  an  extra  sum,  was  neglected. 
There  was  now  reason  to  fear  that  Spain  would  sink  to  the  level  of  a  mere 
province  of  the  Empire.  Already  in  November,  Toledo  had  sent  a  circular 
letter  to  the  cities  possessing  votes  in  the  Cortes,  urging  them  to  combine 
in  order  to  prevent  the  departure  of  the  King,  the  export  of  gold,  and 
government  by  foreigners.  Some  made  no  reply ;  others,  like  Salamanca, 
joined  eagerly  in  the  protest.  A  commission  was  appointed  to  lay 
before  Charles  the  demands  of  the  kingdom,  whereupon  he  sent  to 
Toledo  a  new  and  more  energetic  corregidor  to  check  the  spirit  of 
mutiny.  Wishing  to  obtain  money  and  at  the  same  time  to  tranquillise 
the  public  mind  by  explanations  and  promises,  he  summoned  Parliament 
to  meet  him  at  Santiago  de  Compostela  (February,  1520).  As  he  hur- 
ried northward,  he  was  overtaken  at  Valladolid  by  the  commissioners 
from  Toledo  and  Salamanca,  who  insisted,  in  spite  of  his  orders,  on 
fulfilling  their  charge.  He  bade  them  follow  the  Court  until  he  could 
find  time  to  attend  to  them.  A  report  that  Queen  Juana  was  to  be 
carried  out  of  the  country  provoked  a  riot  and  a  rash  attempt  to  check 
the  King's  departure  from  Valladolid.  The  cruelty  with  which  these 
excesses  were  avenged  still  further  irritated  the  people.  At  Villalpando 
the  promised  audience  was  granted  to  the  commissioners  of  the  cities ; 
but  Charles  was  in  no  mood  for  yielding.  He  harshly  bade  them  await 
the  meeting  of  Parliament  to  lay  their  wishes  before  him.  Meanwhile  the 


372 


Revolt  of  the  Comuneros 


[1520 


Court  party  was  doing  its  utmost  to  secure  submissive  deputies.  A 
royal  decree  directed  that  an  unlimited  commission  should  be  given  to 
the  proctors  according  to  a  prescribed  form.  Toledo  refused  to  comply ; 
her  proctors  were  instructed  merely  to  hear  and  report  on  the  pro- 
posals of  the  King.  Other  cities,  while  granting  a  commission  in  the 
prescribed  form,  limited  it  by  secret  instructions  to  resist  all  demands 
for  money. 

It  was  amid  the  gloomiest  forebodings  that  the  Cortes  met  at  Sant- 
iago (March,  1520).  The  selection  of  a  place  so  far  removed  from  the 
centre  of  Spain  was  suspicious;  even  if  promises  were  wrung  from  the 
departing  King,  their  fulfilment  was  unlikely :  at  such  a  distance  from 
their  electors  deputies  might  easily  be  bribed  or  intimidated.  The 
chief  cause  of  complaint,  however,  was  the  demand  for  further  supply, 
while  the  grant  of  1518  had  still  a  year  to  run.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  soothe  irritation  by  the  appointment  of  a  Spanish  president ; 
and  a  conciliatory  speech  from  the  throne  was  read  by  the  Bishop  of 
Badajoz  in  the  presence  of  Charles  himself.  Toledo  was  unrepresented, 
having  refused  to  grant  the  prescribed  commission ;  the  deputies  of 
Salamanca  were  excluded  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  before  petitions 
had  been  heard.  The  nobles,  disgusted  at  their  exclusion  from  the  royal 
favour,  had  quitted  the  Court.  Charles  hurried  on  to  Corunna,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  embark  at  a  moment's  notice  and  reach  England  (iVpril). 
The  remaining  deputies  followed,  and  were  cajoled  and  threatened 
until,  by  a  narrow  majority,  they  voted  a  supply  of  300  millions  of 
maravedis.  They  petitioned  for  a  Spanish  regent ;  for  the  speedy  return 
of  the  King ;  for  the  better  administration  of  justice ;  against  the 
nomination  of  deputies  by  the  Crown,  and  the  exaction  of  unlimited 
commissions ;  that  the  Cortes  should  meet  every  three  years  ;  that  the 
summons  should  contain  a  list  of  the  matters  to  be  discussed ;  and  that 
deputies  should  be  compelled  to  render  an  account  to  their  electors 
within  a  stated  time.  Most  of  these  petitions  were  refused,  or  left 
unanswered ;  the  Cortes  were  dismissed ;  and  in  May  Charles  set  sail, 
leaving  nobles  and  people  equally  discontented.  Adrian  of  Utrecht 
was  appointed  by  him  regent  in  his  absence. 

The  return  of  the  deputies  from  Corunna  was  the  signal  for  rioting 
in  many  cities.  Some  who  had  voted  supply  contrary  to  instructions 
were  murdered  by  the  mob.  Led  by  Toledo,  the  cities,  from  Leon  to 
Murcia  and  from  Burgos  to  Jaen,  formed  a  league  under  the  name  of 
the  Santa  Comunidad,  and  expelled  their  corregidores  to  the  cry  of 
"  Long  live  the  King ;  down  with  the  bad  ministers  !  "  Avila  was  chosen 
on  account  of  its  central  position  as  the  meeting-place  of  their  Junta 
(July,  1520),  which  included  nobles  and  ecclesiastics  as  well  as  commons. 
It  began  by  declaring  itself  independent  of  the  Regent  and  Council,  and 
organising  the  levies  of  the  cities  under  the  command  of  Juan  de  Padilla, 
a  nobleman  of  Toledo.     Adrian's  attempts  to  check  the  revolt  were 


1520] 


Revolt  of  the  Comuneros 


373 


feeble  and  unsuccessful.  A  small  body  of  troops,  sent  with  Ronquillo, 
a  judge  of  notorious  severity,  to  punish  Segovia,  where  the  outbreak  had 
been  specially  violent,  was  easily  beaten  off.  An  attempt  made  by 
Fonseca,  one  of  the  royal  captains,  to  seize  the  artillery  which  Ximenes 
had  kept  in  readiness  at  Medina  del  Campo,  not  only  failed,  but  resulted 
in  the  destruction  by  fire  of  the  town,  one  of  the  richest  in  Spain. 
Adrian  was  obliged  to  disband  Fonseca's  army  and  disavow  his  action. 
A  more  serious  blow  to  the  royal  cause  followed.  Padilla  seized 
Tordesillas,  and  with  it  the  person  of  Queen  Juana  (August  29).  The 
Santa  Junta  now  removed  to  Tordesillas,  and  proclaimed  that  the  Queen 
was  sane  and  approved  its  actions.  Valladolid,  the  seat  of  the  regency, 
was  captured ;  some  members  of  the  royal  Council  were  imprisoned ; 
others,  among  them  Adrian  himself,  fled  (October  18).  The  Great  Seal 
of  the  kingdom  and  the  State  papers  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels. 
Led  by  Adrian,  who  despaired  from  the  first,  the  friends  of  Charles  in 
Spain  wrote  to  him  that  all  was  lost,  unless  he  returned  at  once  and  came 
to  terms  with  the  Comuneros.  But  Charles  never  yielded.  His  cause  was 
aided  more  by  the  incapacity  of  its  opponents  than  by  the  energy  of 
the  royalists.  Instead  of  setting  up  a  government  in  the  place  of  that 
which  it  had  overthrown,  the  Junta  continued  to  declare  its  loyalty; 
unable  to  conceive  any  authority  other  than  that  of  the  monarchy,  it 
wasted  its  time  in  trying  to  persuade  the  imbecile  Queen  to  confirm  its 
acts.  Juana  had  received  its  members,  when  they  broke  into  Tordesillas, 
with  some  show  of  favour  ;  but  her  steady  refusal  to  sign  documents  was 
not  to  be  shaken.  The  main  theory  of  the  revolution  —  that  the  Queen 
was  sane,  and  that  her  faithful  commons  were  to  deliver  her  and  shake 
off  the  hated  yoke  of  the  foreigner  —  had  broken  down.  Juana's 
obstinacy  acted  as  a  physical  obstacle.  Disheartened  and  irresolute, 
the  Junta  betook  itself  to  the  only  other  source  of  legitimate  authority, 
and  sent  a  deputation  to  Flanders  to  assure  the  King  of  its  loyalty  and 
beg  confirmation  of  its  acts.  At  the  same  time  it  forwarded  a  long  list 
of  petitions.  These  included  Charles'  return  to  Spain  and  marriage ; 
the  reform  of  the  Court  on  the  model  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabel's ;  the 
reduction  of  taxes  to  the  standard  of  1494 ;  the  better  administration  of 
justice  ;  together  with  demands  that  corregidores  should  not  be  appointed 
without  a  request  on  the  part  of  the  municipality  concerned,  and  then 
only  for  two  years  ;  that  municipalities  should  elect  their  proctors  without 
interference  ;  that  the  commission  of  the  proctors  should  not  be  prescribed, 
and  that  death  should  be  the  penalty  for  accepting  bribes  ;  that  the  Cortes 
should  meet  every  three  years,  and  that  the  three  Orders  should  be  repre- 
sented; that  nobles  should  be  excluded  from  municipal  and  financial 
offices,  and  from  the  exclusive  use  of  waste  and  common  lands ;  that  such 
lands  as  they  had  seized  should  be  restored  within  six  months  ;  that 
Isabel's  will  and  Charles'  own  oath  forbidding  the  alienation  of  any  part 
of  the  royal  patrimony  should  be  observed,  so  as  to  obviate  the  necessity 


374 


Revolt  of  the  Comuneros 


[1520 


for  extraordinary  taxation.  These  petitions  never  reached  Charles,  for 
the  messengers'  hearts  failed  them,  and  they  turned  back  ;  but  they  show- 
that  the  Junta  utterly  misunderstood  its  position  and  the  character  of 
the  King.  The  last  two  clauses  mark  a  change  of  spirit ;  they  are 
directed  against  the  nobles,  some  of  whom  had  acquiesced  in  or  favoured 
the  insurrection.  So  soon  as  their  usurped  privileges  were  threatened, 
they  began  to  rally  round  the  throne.  This  tendency  was  furthered  by 
a  masterly  stroke  of  policy.  Urged  by  Adrian's  despairing  appeals  for 
help,  Charles  nominated  two  Spanish  grandees,  the  Constable  and  the 
Admiral  of  Castile,  to  share  the  regency :  he  bade  them  temporise  and 
dissimulate,  call  Cortes  in  his  name  if  advisable,  but  sanction  no  curtail- 
ment of  the  royal  authority.  The  Constable  raised  an  army  in  the 
north  under  the  command  of  his  son,  the  Count  of  Haro  ;  and,  aided 
by  Zumel,  who  a  year  before  had  figured  as  a  champion  of  popular 
rights,  but  had  been  brought  over  by  a  bribe,  he  recovered  the  city  of 
Burgos,  where  jealousy  of  Toledo's  leadership  was  strong.  The  Admiral 
joined  Adrian  at  Rioseco,  which  forthwith  became  the  rallying-place  of 
the  royalists,  and  began  to  treat  with  the  Comuneros,  These  appoint- 
ments silenced  the  complaints  of  the  grandees  as  to  the  neglect  of  their 
order ;  nor  could  the  popular  party  any  longer  complain  that  the  land 
was  left  to  the  government  of  strangers. 

Internal  quarrels  still  further  weakened  the  Comuneros.  Flattered 
by  the  adhesion  of  Pedro  Giron,  a  nobleman  with  a  private  grievance, 
they  made  him  captain  in  place  of  Padilla  (November).  This  was 
considered  as  a  slight  by  the  Toledans,  and  their  contingent  marched 
home.  The  loss  of  Padilla  and  his  men  was  compensated  by  the  arrival 
of  Alonso  de  Acuna,  Bishop  of  Zamora,  one  of  the  boldest  and  most 
skilful  captains  of  the  time.  Giron  marched  against  Rioseco ;  but, 
either  betraying  the  cause  he  served  or  fooled  by  sham  negotiations,  he 
let  his  opportunity  slip.  His  army  melted  away ;  the  Count  of  Haro 
relieved  Rioseco  and  recaptured  Tordesillas  together  with  the  Queen 
and  some  members  of  the  Junta  (December  5).  The  cry  of  treachery 
was  raised,  and  Giron  became  a  fugitive. 

An  amnesty  and  a  few  conciliatory  measures  would  now  have  put 
an  end  to  the  movement;  but  the  Regents  were  hindered  by  Charles' 
obstinacy.  He  not  only  sternly  forbade  further  concession,  but  dis- 
avowed the  moderate  conditions  under  which  Burgos  had  returned  to 
its  loyalty.  He  seemed  utterly  reckless,  leaving  his  agents  to  fight  alone, 
and  even  allowing  their  letters  to  remain  unanswered.  But  the  Regents 
had  now  the  nobility  on  their  side,  for  the  Comuneros  became  daily  more 
democratic  and  radical. 

When  the  Junta  reassembled  at  Valladolid,  its  disorganisation  was 
more  than  ever  apparent ;  its  authority  was  lost ;  it  had  not  even  a 
definite  rallying-cry.  Now  that  his  rival  was  gone,  Padilla  returned 
with  his  troops  from  Toledo.    Though  his  unfitness  for  command  was 


1521-2]       Rout  of  the  Comuneros  at  Villalar  375 


known,  he  was  elected  captain  by  popular  acclaim.  A  French  army  was 
on  the  point  of  invading  Navarre,  and  a  powerful  noble,  the  Count  of 
Salvatierra,  had  revolted  in  the  north.  But  again  the  forces  of  the 
Comuneros  were  divided  ;  for  Bishop  Acuna,  hearing  that  the  see  of 
Toledo  was  vacant,  marched  southward,  hoping  for  the  second  time  in 
his  life  to  win  a  mitre  by  force  of  arms.  The  royalist  party  was  not 
more  united ;  Adrian  wrote  "  that  any  one  of  the  grandees  would  gladly 
lose  an  eye,  in  order  that  his  fellow  might  suffer  the  same."  The 
Constable  and  the  Admiral  had  fallen  out  as  to  the  proper  course  of 
action;  the  former  advocated  force,  the  latter  the  continuation  of 
negotiations. 

In  the  spring  of  1521  Padilla  led  out  his  ill-equipped  forces  and, 
by  a  stroke  of  fortune,  captured  the  strong  castle  of  Torrelobaton. 
Instead,  however,  of  following  up  his  success,  he  lingered  while  the 
Constable,  after  defeating  the  Count  of  Salvatierra  in  the  north,  marched 
with  a  fresh  army  to  join  his  son  at  Tordesillas.  Fear,  and  a  suspicion 
that  their  leaders  were  busy  making  terms,  spread  confusion  in  the 
Comuneros'  ranks.  Many  of  the  soldiers  deserted,  others  betook 
themselves  to  indiscriminate  plunder.  Convinced  that  to  risk  a  battle 
with  the  remainder  of  his  disheartened  force  would  be  madness,  Padilla 
retired  as  the  Count  of  Haro  advanced.  While  making  his  way  down 
the  valley  of  the  Douro  to  the  protection  of  the  castle  of  Toro,  he  was 
overtaken  at  Villalar  (April  23, 1521)  ;  his  troops  were  easily  dispersed, 
and,  though  he  sought  death,  he  was  himself  captured  alive.  On  the 
following  day  he  was  put  to  death,  together  with  his  second  in  command. 
An  enthusiastic  but  not  unselfish  supporter  of  the  popular  cause,  he  had 
devoted  his  valour  to  its  service ;  but  his  jealousy  and  incompetence 
unfitted  him  alike  for  command  and  for  the  rank  of  hero  to  which 
latter-day  liberals  have  raised  him.  Bishop  Acuna,  after  one  or  two 
skirmishes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ocana,  wasted  his  time  and  popu- 
larity in  an  attempt  to  compel  the  Chapter  of  Toledo  to  accept  him 
as  Archbishop.  On  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  disaster  of  Villalar  he 
fled.  Padilla's  widow,  whose  family  connexions  and  high  spirit  gave 
her  great  authority,  held  out  at  Toledo  for  a  few  months.  After  a 
useless  struggle  she  escaped  to  Portugal,  and  the  War  of  the  Comuneros 
was  at  an  end. 

When  Charles  returned  to  Spain  (July,  1522)  he  was  received,  as  he 
states,  "  with  much  humility  and  reverence."  But  he  came  accompanied 
by  a  foreign  guard,  and  determined  to  punish  ruthlessly.  At  Palencia 
the  Regents  laid  before  him  their  proposals  for  amnesty.  Not  only  were 
these  rejected,  but  pardons  granted  in  his  name  were  withdrawn.  On 
All  Saints'  Day  at  Valladolid  he  mounted  a  dais  and  declared  that  he 
would  be  justified  in  punishing  all  who  had  shared  in  the  late  rebellion, 
—  the  municipalities  by  deprivation  of  their  liberties,  and  individuals 
by  confiscation  and  death ;  nevertheless,  he  promised  to  pardon  all  save 


376 


The  Germania  of  Valencia 


[1519 


three  hundred.  This  proscription  in  the  form  of  an  amnesty  was 
mercilessly  carried  out.  The  list  contained  the  names  of  many 
members  of  noble  families.  The  supplications  of  relatives  who  had 
fought  on  the  royalist  side  availed  nothing  ;  and  the  sum  brought 
into  the  treasury  by  confiscation  amounted  to  two  million  ducats. 
Many  executions  followed,  and  even  as  late  as  1528  the  Cortes  still 
prayed  for  mercy  on  fugitives. 

The  revolt  of  the  Comuneros  originated  in  indignation  against 
particular  acts  of  misgovernment,  and  hatred  of  foreigners,  rather  than 
in  any  meditated  scheme  for  winning  popular  liberties.  It  has  been 
represented  as  an  attempt  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the  Crown,  but 
was  really  an  attempt  to  limit  its  traditional  privileges.  Under  the 
weak  Kings  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Castilian  Cortes  had  neglected 
to  secure  the  abolition  of  the  antiquated  forms  which  represented  the 
King  as  everywhere  paramount.  Under  strong  Kings  the  strict  letter  of 
the  law  was  enforced.  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  were  despots  with  the  consent 
of  their  subjects ;  Charles  was  strong  enough  to  disregard  the  popular 
will.  The  movement  never  spread  beyond  Castile.  The  Andalucians 
offered  to  suppress  it,  but  their  aid  was  not  required ;  it  was  crushed  by 
Castilian  troops.  So  soon  as  its  democratic  character  became  pronounced, 
it  was  opposed  by  the  nobles,  whose  aid,  or  acquiescence,  was  essential  to 
its  success.  It  failed  through  local  jealousy,  respect  for  tradition,  and 
lack  of  a  leader  and  of  a  plan.  It  was  not  openly  directed  against  the 
Crown.  The  Junta  denied  the  accusation  of  disloyalty,  asserting  that 
"  never  did  Spain  breed  disobedience  save  in  her  nobles,  nor  loyalty  save 
in  her  commons"  (January,  1521).  The  failure  of  the  movement  so 
depressed  the  popular  cause,  that  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  Spanish  commons  but  rarely  again  raised  up  their  heads 
beneath  the  sceptre  of  their  absolute  Kings. 

While  the  rising  of  the  Comuneros  stirred  Castile  into  a  ferment,  a 
distinct  and  much  more  violent  rebellion  was  in  progress  in  Valencia. 
This  was  entirely  social  in  character.  The  city  population  was  composed 
of  restless  and  turbulent  artisans,  descendants  of  the  adventurers  who 
had  settled  here,  when  the  land  was  won  back  from  the  Saracens.  The 
country  population  was  chiefly  made  up  of  Saracen  peasants,  vassals 
of  the  nobles.  Between  nobles  and  people  stood  the  rich  burgesses, 
despised  by  the  former  and  envied  by  the  latter.  The  industry  of  the 
Saracens,  stimulated  by  a  heavy  burden  of  taxation,  pressed  hard  on  the 
Christians.  In  the  autumn  of  1519,  while  most  of  the  magistrates 
were  absent  on  account  of  the  plague,  the  forty -eight  trade-guilds  of  the 
city  took  up  arms  to  resist  an  expected  attack  of  the  Barbary  pirates. 
The  contemplation  of  their  own  strength  gave  rise  to  a  feeling  of 
independence  among  the  commons ;  they  began  to  claim  a  larger  share 
in  the  government,  and  appointed  a  Junta  of  thirteen  members  to  rule 
over  them.    The  nobles  sought  to  interfere,  but  the  guilds  formed  a 


1519-23] 


The  Germania  of  Valencia 


377 


brotherhood  (^Germania)  to  resist  them,  and  petitioned  Charles  to  pre- 
vent the  dispersion  of  their  forces.  On  receipt  of  a  favourable  reply 
the  movement  spread  to  such  an  alarming  degree,  that  the  nobles  called 
upon  the  King  to  come  in  person  and  check  the  disorder.  A  com- 
mission was  sent  to  examine  the  situation,  and,  in  accordance  with  its 
report,  the  Crermania  was  ordered  to  lay  down  its  arms.  By  this  con- 
cession Charles  thought  to  persuade  the  Valencian  nobles  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance,  and  to  vote  supply  without  insisting  on  his  presence 
at  their  Cortes.  On  their  refusal  he  again  changed  his  policy,  favouring 
the  G-ermania  and  sending  Adrian  of  Utrecht  to  enquire  into  its  griev- 
ances (February,  1520).  In  view  of  their  danger  the  nobles,  when 
Charles  was  on  the  point  of  quitting  Spain,  consented  to  receive  his  oath 
by  deputy  ;  and,  in  answer  to  their  appeal,  he  sent  Diego  de  Mendoza, 
a  nobleman  of  haughty  temper,  to  restore  order  (April,  1520).  After 
an  interval  of  quiet  riots  broke  out  again.  In  June  the  city  was  left 
in  the  hands  of  the  G-ermania  by  the  flight  of  the  governor.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  was  driven  from  J4tiva  to  Denia,  while  all  the  cities  of  the 
kingdom  of  Valencia,  with  the  exception  of  Morella,  rose  against  their 
magistrates  and  appointed  Juntas  like  that  of  the  mother  city.  The 
movement  spread  as  far  as  the  Balearic  Islands,  and  now  began  to  show 
itself  in  its  true  light.  The  grievances  originally  put  forward  were,  that 
the  people  were  deprived  of  their  rightful  share  in  the  government,  that 
taxes  were  excessive,  and  that  justice  was  badly  administered.  But  when 
the  rabble  gained  the  upper  hand,  instead  of  attempting  political  reforms, 
they  plundered  the  houses  of  the  nobles,  and  called  upon  them  to  pro- 
duce the  titles  by  which  they  held  their  estates.  This  attack  on  property 
alienated  the  burgesses,  who  henceforth  sided  with  the  nobles ;  and  the 
action  of  the  Germania  became  more  violent  and  fanatical  than  before. 
Despairing  of  help  from  the  regency,  the  nobles  armed  their  vassals.  The 
army  of  the  Germania  marched  out  against  them,  but  was  crushingly 
defeated  at  Oropesa  and  Almenara  (June  and  July,  1521).  The  governor,, 
however,  was  again  routed  at  Gandia  and  driven  to  seek  refuge  at  Peniscola. 
Meanwhile,  owing  to  the  frantic  excesses  of  the  populace,  which  now 
openly  avowed  its  intention  of  exterminating  nobles  and  infidels,  the 
moderate  party  was  increasing.  At  its  head  was  the  Marquis  of  Zenete, 
a  nobleman  of  well-known  benevolence  and  impartiality.  Negotiating 
between  the  opposing  factions  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  submission 
of  the  city  and  bringing  back  the  governor.  But  the  more  violent 
members  of  the  Germania  were  still  encamped  at  Jdtiva.  Having  im- 
prudently put  himself  into  their  power  he  was  treacherously  imprisoned, 
but  escaped  to  Valencia,  rallied  all  the  moderate  citizens,  seized  and 
executed  the  ringleaders  of  the  mob,  and  after  a  fierce  fight  remained 
master  of  the  city.  Jativa  and  a  few  outlying  towns  were  not  subdued 
until  after  Charles'  return.  In  March,  1523,  the  Queen  Dowager, 
Germaine,  was  sent  as  regent  to  punish  the  guilty.    The  pardons 


378  Henri  (TAlbret  invades  Navarre  [1521-2 


granted  in  return  for  submission  were  revoked ;  a  ruthless  proscrip- 
tion and  many  executions  followed;  thousands  fled;  and  the  guilds 
were  ruined  by  heavy  fines.  Like  the  Comuneros  the  Agermanados 
never  ceased  to  proclaim  their  loyalty.  The  two  revolts  were  simul- 
taneous, and  were  at  all  events  directed  against  the  same  enemy ;  but 
cooperation  was  never  attempted.  Local  jealousy  and  traditional  hatred 
were  still  strong  ;  the  Castilian  in  the  eyes  of  a  Valencian  was,  nay,  is 
to  this  day,  a  foreigner. 

The  rebellion  of  the  Comuneros  had  hardly  been  suppressed,  when 
Navarre  was  invaded  by  Henri  d' Albret  with  the  connivance  of  Francis  1. 
Charles  had  engaged  to  restore  Navarre  to  the  House  of  Albret ;  but 
negotiations  had  failed  to  bring  about  fulfilment,  or  confirmation  of  the 
promise.  Henri  d' Albret  entered  into  communication  with  the  Comu- 
neros^ with  a  view  to  combined  action  ;  but  his  army  came  too  late.  It 
was  commanded  with  more  courage  than  discretion  by  a  scion  of  the 
exiled  family,  Andre  de  Foix  d'Asparros,  or  Lesparre.  The  garrison  of 
Navarre  had  been  greatly  weakened  by  the  withdrawal  of  troops  to  crush 
the  revolt  in  Castile.  St  Jean  Pied-de-Port  was  easily  captured,  the 
fortifications  of  Pamplona  were  not  yet  sufficiently  strong  to  offer  more 
than  a  feeble  resistance.  Henri  d' Albret  was  welcomed  by  his  partisans 
within  the  kingdom,  and  the  whole  of  Navarre  was  overrun.  Elated  by 
his  easy  conquest,  Asparros  crossed  the  frontier  of  Castile  and  laid  siege 
to  Logrono.  The  Duke  of  Nagera,  viceroy  of  Navarre,  had  hurried 
south  to  obtain  assistance  from  the  Regents.  Logrono  made  a  heroic 
defence,  while  he  marched  to  its  relief  with  the  troops  lately  victorious 
at  Villalar.  Meanwhile  Sangiiesa  had  been  recaptured  in  the  rear  of  the 
French,  who  now  retired  towards  Pamplona,  fearing  to  have  their  retreat 
cut  off.  They  were  overtaken  by  the  Spanish  army,  two  leagues  from 
the  city ;  the  garrison  which  they  had  left  for  its  defence  was  unable  to 
join  them.  Driven  to  bay,  Asparros  ordered  an  immediate  attack  while 
the  Spaniards  were  resting  after  their  long  march.  He  was  utterly 
defeated  and  taken  prisoner  at  Noain  (June,  1521).  The  Albrets  never 
again  attempted  to  win  back  their  kingdom  by  force  of  arms. 

Charles  returned  to  Spain  (1522),  no  longer  a  diffident  and  delicate 
young  man,  passive  in  the  hands  of  his  advisers.  His  views  had  broad- 
ened, and  his  temper  was  haughty  and  autocratic.  Spain  was  now  part 
of  a  larger  whole.  The  accident  of  the  possessions  of  the  Aragonese 
Crown  in  Italy,  the  election  to  the  Empire,  and  the  inheritance  of  the 
House  of  Burgundy  checked  and  warped  her  development  as  an  African 
and  Atlantic  Power ;  but  foreign  courtiers  were  no  longer  allowed  to  treat 
her  as  a  conquered  country.  The  Emperor  learnt  to  know  and  respect  the 
Spaniards;  Spanish  statesmen  sat  in  his  Council ;  Spanish  soldiers  formed 
the  mainstay  of  his  power  abroad.  The  overthrow  of  the  Comuneros  had 
compelled  their  fear  and  respect ;  association  in  world-wide  schemes 
of  universal  monarchy  and  championship  of  the  Church  endeared  him  to 


Literature  and  learning  in  Spain  379 


them,  and  roused  them  from  their  natural  lethargy  and  absorption  in 
provincial  and  class  differences.  Military  glory  turned  away  attention 
from  the  burden  and  sufferings  of  the  land  and  increased  the  national 
contempt  for  all  professions  save  that  of  arms.  The  middle  class  which 
under  the  Catholic  Kings  was  struggling  into  existence  almost  dis- 
appeared. But  Charles  attempted  to  found  his  world-wide  power  on 
submission,  and  not  on  political,  social,  and  economic  well-being.  Spain 
was  indeed  formally  united,  and  political  unity  was  based  on  religious 
unity  as  Isabel  had  intended ;  but  the  vigorous  provincial  and  municipal 
life,  checked  by  harsh  centralisation,  became  a  source  of  weakness  instead 
of  a  reserve  of  strength. 

A  memorable  intellectual,  literary,  and  artistic  development  accom- 
panied the  political  expansion  and  the  growth  of  military  glory.  The 
striking  originality  of  the  new  generation  contrasts  with  the  effete 
imitation  that  sufficed  for  its  predecessor.  The  predominance  of  the 
Castilian  dialect  was  already  secured ;  but  even  in  the  fifteenth  century 
poets  sought  models  in  Provengal,  Gallegan,  and  Italian.  Ausias  March 
(who  died  in  1466),  the  most  notable  among  them,  wrote  in  his  native 
Lemosin.  Literature  was  an  exotic  cultivated  at  Court ;  hardly  a  poem 
of  the  hundreds  collected  into  the  Cancioneros  of  Baena,  Stuniga,  and 
Hernando  del  Castillo  (published  in  1511)  possesses  more  than  histori- 
cal interest.  The  frivolity,  artificiality,  and  disorder  of  the  reigns  of 
John  II  and  Henry  IV  were  reflected  by  their  poets,  and  their  tragedy 
by  the  chronicles,  —  probably,  too,  by  ballads  now  modernised  beyond 
recognition. 

The  introduction  of  printing  coincides  with  the  accession  of  the 
Catholic  Kings,  and  the  next  half  century  produced  translations  of  the 
Latin  and  Italian  classics  in  abundance.  Though  the  Revival  of  Learning 
influenced  Spain,  it  bore  no  fruit  there  till  later.  The  scholars  who 
brought  the  new  learning  to  the  Peninsula  were  mostly  foreigners,  or 
Spaniards  trained  abroad.  Peter  Martyr  of  Anghera,  the  two  brothers 
Geraldino  and  Marineus  Siculus,  were  Italians ;  Arias  Barbosa,  a  Portu- 
guese, ta.ught  Greek  by  the  side  of  Fernan  Nunez  de  Guzman,  a  Spanish 
nobleman ;  but  Spain  produced  no  Hellenists  of  note.  Luis  Vives,  the 
humanist,  tutor  to  William  de  Croy,  the  boy  Archbishop  of  Toledo,  and 
to  Mary  of  England,  was  Spanish  only  by  the  accident  of  his  birth. 
Antonio  de  Nebrija,  or  Lebrija,  the  most  distinguished  native  scholar  of 
his  age,  was  educated  at  Bologna,  though  his  teaching  was,  like  his 
Latin  Dictionary  (1492)  and  Spanish  and  Latin  Grammars,  addressed 
to  his  fellow-countrymen.  His  daughter  Francisca  was  one  of  a  company 
of  learned  women  who  carried  their  teaching  even  to  the  universities  and 
the  Court.  Ferdinand  himself  was  all  but  illiterate,  but  Isabel  had  a 
taste  for  learning.  After  her  accession  she  acquired  some  knowledge  of 
Latin ;  so  carefully  were  her  children  educated,  that  Queen  Juana  could 
make  impromptu  speeches  in  the  learned  tongue.    Isabel's  schemes  of 


380 


Literary  progress 


reform  included  the  education  of  the  nobility ;  by  her  command  Peter 
Martyr  opened  a  school  at  Court.  His  success  exceeded  his  hopes,  and 
learning  became  so  fashionable  that  the  sons  of  grandees  lectured  at  the 
universities.  The  Church,  though  impoverished,  aided  the  cause  with 
splendid  benefactions.  Schools  were  founded  at  Toledo  (1490);  the 
decayed  studium  generals  of  Valencia  was  revived  (1500);  Barcelona 
followed  suit  (1507).  The  noble  college  of  Santa  Cruz  at  Valladolid  was 
finished  in  1492 ;  that  of  Santiago  at  Salamanca  some  thirty  years  later. 
Both  were  founded  by  Archbishops  of  Toledo.  As  a  patron  of  learning 
no  less  than  as  a  statesman  Ximenes  de  Cisneros  led  the  way.  In  1508 
he  founded  the  University  of  Alcal4  (Complutum),  alma  mater  of  so 
many  famous  Spaniards,  with  professorial  chairs  of  grammar,  philosophy, 
and  medicine.  Its  chief  purpose,  however,  was  the  study  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  its  first-fruits  were  the  earliest  Polyglot  Bible  (of  which 
the  first  part  was  published  in  1514).  The  Semitic  text  is  the  w^ork  of 
converted  Jews ;  a  Greek  cooperated  with  Spanish  scholars  on  the 
Latin  and  Greek  texts.  The  level  of  education  was  raised,  and  founda- 
tions were  laid  from  which  the  Golden  Age  of  Spanish  Literature  could 
take  its  rise. 

But  the  notable  books  of  the  period  owe  little  or  nothing  to  classical 
or  foreign  influence.  Play-acting  did  not  become  popular  till  the  time 
of  Lope  de  Rueda  (about  1550),  and  even  then  its  methods  were  rude 
and  simple ;  but  the  secular  drama  emerged  from  the  religious  early  in 
the  century.  In  the  annus  mirabilis  1492  the  first  drama  was  publicly 
acted  by  a  regular  company.  The  "  representations  "  of  Juan  del  Encina 
(1468-1534),  the  "  comedies  "  of  Torres  de  Naharro  (published  in  1517), 
and  those  of  Gil  Vicente  (1470-1534),  are  much  more  than  mere 
dialogues  without  action,  like  the  one  in  which  Princess  Isabel  had 
taken  the  part  of  a  muse  on  a  birthday  of  her  brother  Alfonso  (who 
died  in  1468).  Gil  Vicente  was  a  Portuguese,  and  the  other  two  lived 
long  in  Italy ;  but,  although  there  the  drama  was  already  established,  the 
Spaniards  took  their  own  line.  Encina  calls  his  simple  plays  "  eclogues 
Torres  de  Naharro  cites  Horace  for  method,  and  awkwardly  divides 
drama  into  fact  (noticia^  and  fiction  (^fantasia} ;  but  these  classical 
reminiscences  are  merely  superficial.  Figures  of  everyday  life  were  put 
upon  the  stage,  and  dialogue  was  cast  in  Castilian  octosyllabic  verse 
instead  of  in  foreign  hendecasyllables. 

A  book  that  may  be  read  for  its  own  sake  as  well  as  for  its  historical 
importance  is  the  Tragicomedy  of  Calixto  and  Melihea  (published  in 
1499),  generally  known  as  La  Celestina.  The  authorship  of  the  first  part 
is  disputed ;  but  probably  the  whole  is  the  work  of  Fernando  de  Rojas. 
La  Celestina  is  a  story  told  throughout  in  dialogue,  and  divided  into 
twenty-two  acts.  Its  length  is  only  one  of  the  circumstances  that  unfit 
it  for  acting ;  but  its  vivacious  and  natural  dialogue  furnished  a  model 
for  the  drama.    Its  hero  and  heroine  are  the  typical  lady  and  gallant, 


Romance  and  history 


381 


the  stock  romantic  characters  of  the  comedy  "  of  cloak  and  sword,"  the 
primitive  Romeo  and  Juliet.  Celestina,  witch  and  go-between,  with  her 
train  of  thieving  lackeys,  low  women  and  bullies,  more  than  foreshadows 
the  realistic  and  comic  characters  of  the  drama  and  novel,  the  rogues 
(^picaros)  and  buffoons  (^graciosos)  who  in  later  days  were  to  play  so 
prominent  a  part.  The  book  was  translated  into  many  tongues;  its 
influence  at  home  and  abroad  is  incalculable. 

Another  masterpiece  solitary  in  its  kind,  and  contrasted  in  its  noble 
earnestness  with  the  artificiality  of  the  other  poems  of  its  author  and  his 
generation,  is  the  Coplas  de  Manrique^  —  verses  by  Jorge  de  Manrique 
on  the  death  of  his  father  (which  occurred  in  1476,  two  years  before 
his  own).  Longfellow  has  done  all  that  a  translator  can  do  for  this 
unsurpassed  elegy ;  but  half  its  beauty  is  lost  with  the  language  in  which 
it  is  written.  Its  stately  pageant  of  mourning  and  final  resignation 
realise  Christian  chivalry  as  poets  have  dreamed  of  it,  and  the  solemn 
knell  of  the  majestic  verse  is  worthy  of  "  the  noblest  daughter  of  Latin." 
At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  knightly  chronicle  de- 
generated into  the  romance  of  chivalry.  Amadis  of  Gaul^  the  first  and 
best  of  the  kind,  perhaps  originated  in  a  French  fabliau.  More  than 
one  allusion  to  it  is  found  in  Spanish  writers,  before  it  was  published 
(1508)  by  Garcia  Ordonez  de  Montalvo  as  a  translation  from  the  Portu- 
guese. The  success  produced  many  imitations  and  "  continuations " 
dealing  with  exploits  of  "the  innumerable  lineage  of  Amadis."  These 
heroes  of  the  romances  of  chivalry  are  impossible  beings,  living  in  a 
shadowy  and  impossible  world.  The  first  of  them  exhausted  the 
capability  of  the  species ;  the  others  surpass  it  only  in  absurdity,  while 
the  abuse  of  the  supernatural  makes  their  stories  tame  and  un- 
interesting. A  Cervantes  was  hardly  needed  to  dispel  this  fantastic 
dream  of  a  debased  chivalry. 

The  advance  from  chronicle  to  history  due  to  the  Revival  of  Learning 
was  not  made  in  Spain  till  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The 
story  of  the  reign  of  -  the  Catholic  Kings  down  to  1492  was  written  by 
their  official  chronicler  Hernando  del  Pulgar  in  the  form  of  annals. 
Despite  some  graphic  descriptions  and  florid  speeches,  it  is  in  general 
heavy  and  arid,  lacking  in  the  simple  dignity  of  its  kind,  and  inferior  to 
the  Claros  Varones  de  Oastilla^  a  gallery  of  contemporary  portraits  drawn 
with  skill  and  energy  by  the  same  pen.  Andres  Bernaldez,  curate  of  Los 
Palacios,  expanded  his  memoirs  into  a  history  of  his  time.  He  is  at  his 
best  when  he  forgets  the  gravity  of  his  subject  and  is  content  to  gossip 
about  the  events  of  which  he  was  an  eyewitness.  Nebrija  condensed 
Pulgar's  Chronicle ;  Peter  Martyr  left  a  collection  of  letters  on  contem- 
porary events,  a  rich  but  untrustworthy  and  puzzling  mine  of  information. 
These  books,  like  the  De  Rebus  Hispaniae  of  Marineus  Siculus,  are  Latin 
exercises  upon  historical  subjects. 

Spain  has  never  lacked  learned  men ;  but,  except  perhaps  in  theology, 


382 


The  arts 


the  Spaniards  have  never  been  a  learned  nation.  The  foreigners  who 
came  with  Charles  V  were  struck  by  the  ignorance  and  contempt  of 
letters  prevalent  in  Spain,  as  well  as  by  the  semi-savagery  of  the  bulk 
of  its  people.  The  Revival  of  Learning  could  not  at  once  produce 
fruit  on  soil  so  scorched  and  seamed  by  centuries  of  war.  Moreover  the 
richest  fruits  of  Spanish  genius  are  indigenous.  Inspiration  for  the 
noblest  poetry  of  Spain  was  found  in  the  Bible  and  in  her  own  history 
rather  than  in  Latin  and  Italian  writers ;  her  novel  and  drama  sprang 
from  her  own  rough  but  teeming  soil. 

With  the  exception  of  painting,  which  was  still  in  its  infancy,  the 
arts  had  already  reached  the  fullest  expression  to  which  they  have  at 
any  time  attained  in  this  country.  In  architecture,  in  sculpture,  in 
pottery,  in  gold,  silver,  and  iron  work,  and  in  embroidery  Spain  never 
improved  upon  the  skill  of  the  Saracens  and  the  masterpieces  of  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  influences  which  moulded  her  art 
are  to  be  found  partly  in  race,  partly  in  climate,  and  partly  in  history. 
Possessing  great  power  of  adaptation,  she  set  her  mark  upon  all  that 
she  produced.  In  the  northern  and  central  regions  design  and  initia- 
tive in  architecture  are  mostly  French ;  but  the  influence  of  the  Saracens 
leavens  this  northern  style  and  informs  it  with  richer  beauty,  "  the  songs 
and  shrines  being  equally  tinged  with  the  colouring  of  northern  piety  and 
oriental  fancy."  Introduced  at  first  as  a  mere  accessory  in  vestments 
and  jewelry,  and  in  Moorish  caskets  which  guarded  the  relics  of  saints, 
little  by  little  this  more  gorgeous  ornamentation  permeated  the  whole 
building.  It  was  still  a  Christian  cathedral;  yet  the  lavishness  with 
which  the  minor  arts  were  used  in  decoration  produced  a  result  that 
is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere,  and  is  known  as  the  plateresque  or  silver- 
smith's style.  Typical  examples  are  the  Puerta  del  Perdon  of  Seville 
Cathedral,  the  horseshoe  arch  of  a  mosque  overlaid  with  Christian 
emblem  and  decoration  (1519),  and,  in  less  mixed  form,  San  Marcos 
of  Leon  (1514).  To  this  period  belong  some  of  the  choicest  works  of 
expiring  Gothic  and  dawning  Renaissance  building.  The  Church  of 
San  Juan  de  los  Reyes  at  Toledo  perpetuates  the  memory  of  the  battle 
of  Toro.  Cathedrals  were  planned  for  Salamanca,  Segovia,  Plasencia, 
and  Granada;  but  the  most  valuable  work  of  the  age  was  the  com- 
pletion and  decoration  of  the  splendid  designs  of  an  earlier  time  at 
Burgos,  at  Toledo,  and  at  Seville.  To  it  belong  also  the  church  set 
down  in  the  midst  of  the  great  mosque  of  Cordova,  and  the  splendid 
but  incongruous  palace  of  Charles  V  on  the  Alhambra  Hill. 

Sculpture  in  Spain  is  usually  associated  with  religious  architecture. 
It  is  often  in  bolder  relief  and  of  more  intense  expression  than  elsewhere, 
and  attains  its  greatest  perfection  in  altar-pieces  and  sepulchral  monu- 
ments. Such  are  the  marvels  of  marble  and  wood  created  by  Philip 
de  Vigarny  or  de  Bolona  (about  1500-43),  Alonso  de  Berruguete,  a 
Spanish  pupil  of  Michael  Angelo  (about  1520),  and  Damien  Forment 


The  arts 


383 


of  Valencia  (about  1511-32),  the  tombs  of  King  Juan^  II  in  the 
Cartuja  de  Miraflores,  that  of  the  Infante  Don  Juan  at  Avila,  those 
of  liiigo  de  Mendoza  and  his  wife  at  Burgos,  and  the  kneeling  statue  of 
Padilla.  They  are,  it  must  be  confessed,  delicate  and  gorgeous  rather 
than  grand.  Marble  and  alabaster  are  treated  like  metal  and  lace ; 
beauty  is  sought  in  details  and  no  longer  in  grand  and  simple  lines. 
To  the  Spanish  Saracens  belongs  the  invention  of  a  dwelling  combin- 
ing with  convenience  and  suitability  to  their  climate  a  high  degree  of 
beauty.  Nowhere  else  has  a  fortress  been  made  a  home  of  strength 
and  beauty  like  the  Alhambra  (mainly  fourteenth  century)  and  the 
other  alcazars  of  Spain.  The  semi-oriental  domestic  architecture  adopted 
by  the  Christians  of  Andalucia  is  seen  at  its  best  in  the  so-called  Casa 
de  Pilatos  at  Seville  (1521).  Here  there  is  no  need  to  guard  against 
the  weight  of  snow,  no  cold  to  be  kept  out,  no  smoke  to  blacken ;  so 
the  roof  becomes  a  terrace,  the  arch  is  reared  in  fairy  lightness,  the  glaze 
and  colour  of  brilliant  tiles  replace  the  heavy  wainscot  and  arras  ;  stucco 
moulded  into  geometrical  designs  and  harmoniously  coloured  makes  up 
for  the  lack  of  pictures  and  for  the  scantiness  of  the  furniture.  The 
Lonja  or  Silk-Exchange  at  Valencia  (1482)  is  an  example,  not  without 
parallel,  of  the  successful  wedding  of  late  Gothic  design  to  Saracen 
detail  of  window  (^ajimez)  and  decoration.  As  a  subject  race  the 
Saracens  continued  almost  to  monopolise  the  more  delicate  industrial 
arts.  Theirs  are  the  pottery  of  metallic  sheen,  and  the  exquisite 
designs  of  lace  and  filigree,  damascening  and  inlaying  —  which  with  the 
rich  silks  and  velvets  testify  to  their  skill  as  handicraftsmen  and  to 
their  exquisite  taste  in  form  and  colour. 


CHAPTER  XII 

FRAISrCE 

Four  reigns  almost  fill  up  the  space  of  time  from  Agincourt  to 
Marignano.  In  that  century  the  slow  consistent  policy  of  four  Kings 
and  their  agents  raises  France  from  her  nadir  almost  to  her  zenith. 
The  institutions  and  the  prosperity  built  up  by  Louis  the  Fat,  Philip 
Augustus,  Louis  IX,  and  Philip  the  Fair  had  been  shattered  under  the 
first  two  Valois  ;  the  prosperity  had  been  in  part  restored,  the  institutions 
further  developed  under  Charles  V.  In  the  long  anarchy  which  we  call  the 
reign  of  Charles  VI,  all  bonds  had  been  loosened,  all  well-being  blighted, 
all  order  overwhelmed.  Slowly  the  old  traditions  reassert  themselves, 
the  old  principles  resume  their  domination,  and  from  chaos  emerges  the 
new  monarchy,  with  all  and  more  than  all  the  powers  of  the  old. 

Communal,  feudal,  representative  institutions  have  proved  too  weak 
to  withstand  the  stress  of  foreign  and  civil  war.  The  monarchy  and 
the  monarchical  system  alone  retain  their  vitality  unimpaired,  and  seem 
to  acquire  new  vigour  from  misfortune.  Under  Charles  VII  the  new 
regime  was  begun ;  under  Louis  XI  and  his  daughter  the  ground  was 
ruthlessly  cleared  of  all  that  could  impede  regal  action  at  home,  while 
the  wars  of  Charles  VIII  and  Louis  XII,  purposeless  and  exhausting  as 
they  were,  without  seriously  diminishing  domestic  prosperity,  satisfac- 
torily tested  the  strength  and  solidity  of  the  new  structure. 

Thus  equipped  and  prepared,  France  enters  on  the  race  of  modern 
times  as  the  most  compact,  harmonious,  united  nation  of  the  European 
continent.  All  that  she  has  suffered  is  forgotten.  The  sacrifice  of 
individual  and  local  liberty  is  hardly  felt.  In  the  splendour  and  power 
of  the  monarchy  the  nation  sees  its  aspirations  realised.  Nobility,  clergy, 
commons,  abandon  their  old  ideals,  and  are  content  that  their  will 
should  be  expressed,  their  being  absorbed,  their  energy  manifested  in 
the  will  and  being  and  operations  of  the  King. 

Institutions  of  independent  origin  give  up  their  strength  to  feed  his 
power,  and  exist  if  at  all  only  by  his  sufferance.  Time  had  been  when 
clergy,  nobility,  even  towns,  had  been  powers  in  the  State  with  which  the 
King  needed  to  reckon,  not  as  a  sovereign,  hardly  as  a  superior.  Before 

384 


The  French  Church 


385 


the  Reformation  two  of  these  powers  had  been  yoked  in  complete  sub- 
mission, and  the  third  was  far  on  the  way  to  final  subjugation. 

Critical  in  all  respects,  the  period  of  Charles  VII  and  his  three 
successors  was  not  least  so  in  respect  of  the  King's  relations  with  the 
Church  and  the  Papacy.  The  Conciliar  movement,  fruitless  on  the 
whole,  had  an  important  effect  in  France.  It  initiated  a  fresh  stage  in 
the  struggle  between  Church  and  State  in  France ;  and  for  a  time 
Galilean  liberties  were  conceived  as  something  different  from  the 
authority  of  the  French  King  over  the  French  Church,  and  especially 
over  her  patronage. 

From  the  beginning  the  King  played  a  conspicuous  part,  and  in  the 
end  he  succeeded  in  seizing  the  chief  share  of  all  that  was  won  from  the 
Pope.  But  at  first  he  assumed  the  air  of  an  impartial  and  sovereign 
arbiter  between  Council  and  Pope.  In  1438  the  majority  of  the  Council 
of  Basel  were  in  open  rupture  with  the  Pope,  Eugenius  IV.  Charles  VII, 
while  negotiating  on  the  one  hand  with  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  and 
on  the  other  with  the  Pope,  and  outwardly  maintaining  his  obedience  to 
Eugenius,  was  careful  to  preserve  his  liberty  of  action.  In  the  same  year 
a  deputation  of  the  Council  waited  upon  Charles  and  communicated  to 
him  the  text  of  the  decrees  of  reform  adopted  up  to  that  time  by  the 
Fathers.  The  King  called  an  assembly  of  the  clergy  of  his  kingdom  to 
meet  at  Bourges,  where,  together  with  himself  and  a  considerable  number 
of  his  chief  councillors,  ambassadors  of  Pope  and  Council  were  present. 
The  result  was  the  royal  ordinance  issued  on  July  7, 1438,  and  known  as 
the  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges. 

In  this  solemnedict,  issued  by  the  sovereign  authority  of  the  prince,but 
supported  by  the  consent  an.d  advice  of  the  august  assembly  which  he  had 
summoned,  more  of  conciliar  spirit  is  observable  than  of  royal  ambition. 
The  superiority  of  the  Council  to  the  Pope  was  acknowledged  in  matters 
touching  the  faith,  the  extirpation  of  schism,  and  the  reform  of  the 
Church  in  Head  and  members.  Decennial  Councils  were  demanded. 
Election  by  the  Chapter  or  the  Convent  was  to  be  the  rule  for  the  higher 
ecclesiastical  dignities ;  but  the  King  and  the  magnates  were  not  debarred 
from  recommending  candidates  for  election.  The  general  right  of  papal 
reservation  was  abolished,  and  a  strict  limit  placed  on  the  cases  in  which 
it  was  permissible.  No  benefice  was  to  be  conferred  by  the  Pope  before 
vacancy  under  the  form  known  as  an  expectative  grace. 

Provisions  were  made  in  favour  of  University  graduates.  In  every 
cathedral  church  one  prebend  was  to  be  given  on  the  earliest  opportunity 
to  a  graduate  in  theology,  who  was  bound  to  lecture  at  least  once  a  week. 
Furthermore,  in  every  cathedral  or  collegiate  church  one-third  of  the 
prebends  were  to  be  reserved  for  suitable  graduates,  and  the  same 
principle  was  to  obtain  in  the  collation  of  other  ecclesiastical  benefices. 
Graduates  were  also  to  be  entitled  to  a  special  preference  in  urban  parish 
churches. 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


25 


386  The  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bonrges  [i438 


No  appeals  or  evocation  of  causes  to  Rome  were  to  be  allowed  until 
the  other  grades  of  jurisdiction  had  been  exhausted.  Moreover,  where  the 
parties  should  be  distant  more  than  four  days'  journey  from  the  Curia, 
all  ordinary  cases  were  to  be  judged  by  those  judges  inpartihus  to  whom 
they  belonged  by  custom  and  right.  The  decree  of  the  Council  limiting 
the  number  of  Cardinals  to  twenty-four  was  approved.  Annates  were 
abolished  with  a  small  reservation  in  favour  of  the  existing  Pope.  A 
number  of  edicts  of  the  Council,  relating  to  the  order  of  divine  service 
and  the  discipline  of  the  clergy,  were  confirmed.  The  decrees  of  the 
Council  accepted  without  modification  were  to  be  put  in  force  im- 
mediately within  the  kingdom,  and  the  assent  of  the  Council  was  to  be 
solicited  where  modifications  had  been  introduced.  These  purport  to 
have  been  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Bourges,  and  the  King  at  its 
request  ordered  that  they  should  be  obeyed  throughout  the  kingdom  and 
in  Dauphine,  and  enforced  by  the  Royal  Courts. 

Yet  republican  as  is  the  constitution  of  the  Church  as  sanctioned  at 
Basel  and  Bourges,  it  must  be  noticed  that  the  sovereign  authority  of 
the  King  is  expressly  invoked  by  the  Council  of  Bourges  as  necessary  to 
secure  execution  of  the  reforms  proposed ;  and  in  so  far  the  Church  of 
France  is  subordinated  to  the  State,  and  the  ultimate  issue  of  these 
developments  foreshadowed.  The  usurpation  of  authority  is  patent; 
and  forgery  was  needed  to  support  it.  Few  now  believe  in  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction  of  St  Louis,  which  seems  first  to  have  seen  the  light 
after  1438.  On  the  other  hand  the  freedom  of  election  conferred  meant 
little  more  than  the  freedom  to  entertain  recommendations  from  the 
King  and  other  great  personages.  For  the  conflict  of  intrigue  at  the 
Court  of  Rome  was  substituted  a  conflict  of  influence  within  the  king- 
dom, and  the  share  of  patronage  obtained  in  this  by  the  King  was  not 
destined  long  to  satisfy  him. 

The  position  of  the  clergy  and  people  was  so  far  improved  that  the 
drain  of  treasure  from  France  to  Rome  caused  not  only  by  the  annates, 
but  also  in  great  measure  by  the  receipts  of  non-resident  beneficiaries,  by 
the  fees  incident  to  litigation  at  Rome,  and  by  the  presents  required 
from  suitors  and  petitioners  for  favour,  was  under  the  Pragmatic  greatly 
diminished.  But  the  abuses  in  the  Church,  due  to  the  holding  of 
benefices  in  plurality,  were  not  directly  touched  by  the  decree.  The 
holding  of  abbeys  and  priories  in  eommendam^  so  detrimental  to  the 
discipline  of  the  religious  orders,  remained  unaffected.  The  University 
received  considerable  privileges,  and  the  power  of  the  Parlement  over 
the  Church  was  greatly  increased. 

Charles  VII,  though  consistent  in  supporting  Eugenius  against  the 
CounciFs  Anti-Pope,  as  steadily  maintained  the  Pragmatic  against  the 
repeated  protests  of  successive  Popes,  and  a  very  liberal  Concordat 
offered  by  Eugenius  for  some  reason  never  came  into  effect.  The  King 
did  not  however  always  respect  the  liberty  of  election  which  he  had 


1461-84] 


History  of  the  Pragmatic 


387 


restored  to  the  Church,  and  we  even  find  him  approaching  the  Pope  to 
solicit  his  nomination  for  certain  benefices.  Louis  on  his  accession  went 
further.  It  was  said  that  during  his  exile  at  Genappe  he  had  promised 
to  abolish  the  Pragmatic  Sanction.  No  doubt  he  hoped  in  cooperation 
with  a  friendly  Pope  to  secure  more  complete  control  over  the  appoint- 
ment to  prelacies  than  was  possible  under  the  system  of  elections  estab- 
lished by  the  Sanction.  He  hoped  at  the  same  time,  by  making  a  favour 
of  the  repeal,  to  secure  the  Pope's  support  for  the  Angevin  claims  on 
Naples  against  Ferrante.  Accordingly,  towards  the  end  of  1461  the 
Pope  was  in  possession  of  his  formal  promise  to  abolish  the  obnoxious 
edict ;  and  the  Parlement  was  forced  to  register  the  letter  of  abolition 
as  a  royal  ordinance.  But  the  Pope  was  too  deeply  pledged  to  Ferrante, 
and  saw  too  clearly  the  danger  of  French  intervention  in  Naples.  John 
of  Calabria,  the  representative  of  the  Angevin  claims,  met  an  open 
enemy  in  Pius  II.  Neither  did  Louis  find  that  promotion  in  France 
proceeded  entirely  according  to  his  wishes.  Thus  from  1463  an 
anomalous  situation  prevailed. 

The  Pragmatic  was  not  formally  restored,  but  a  series  of  edicts  were 
passed  against  the  oppression  and  exactions  of  papal  agents,  against 
those  who  applied  at  Rome  for  expectative  graces  or  the  gift  of  prela- 
cies, against  papal  jurisdiction  in  questions  relating  to  the  possession  of 
benefices,  and  against  the  export  of  treasure.  In  1472  a  Concordat  was 
arranged  between  Louis  and  Sixtus  IV  for  the  division  of  patronage 
between  the  Ordinary  and  the  Pope,  and  to  regulate  other  matters  of 
dispute ;  but  hardly  any  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  to  carry  this 
agreement  into  effect.  On  the  whole,  the  policy  of  Louis  seems  to  have 
been  to  keep  the  whole  question  open ;  to  resist  as  far  as  possible  the 
export  of  treasure ;  to  discourage  the  independent  exercise  by  the  Pope 
of  his  power  to  provide  for  prelacies ;  to  oppose  reservations  and  expec- 
tative graces ;  to  keep  the  jurisdiction  in  question  of  prelacies  and 
benefices  in  the  hands  of  the  royal  judges;  and  thus,  sometimes  by 
suggestion  at  the  Court  of  Rome,  sometimes  by  election  under  pressure, 
sometimes  by  means  of  the  King's  influence  on  the  Parlement  and  other 
Courts,  and  not  infrequently  by  the  blunt  use  of  force,  to  retain  all 
important  ecclesiastical  patronage  at  his  own  disposal ;  —  and  this  without 
any  acute  breach  with  Rome  or  with  the  Galilean  clergy.  His  means 
were  various  and  even  inconsistent,  but  his  general  policy  is  clear. 

The  great  Estates  of  Tours  in  1484  showed  the  trend  of  feeling,  both 
lay  and  ecclesiastical.  The  Estate  of  the  Church  demanded  the  restitu- 
tion of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction.  And  the  third  Estate  speaks  feelingly 
of  the  "  Evacuation  de  pScune  "  resulting  from  the  papal  exactions,  and 
prays  for  reform.  The  Bishops  indeed  protested  in  defence  of  the 
authority  of  the  Holy  See.  But  the  King's  Council  took  no  decisive 
step.  The  old  confusion  continued  ;  it  was  impossible  to  say  whether 
the  Pragmatic  was  or  was  not  in  force. 


388 


The  Concordat  of  1516 


Louis  XII  on  his  accession  confirmed  the  Pragmatic,  and  the  Parle- 
ment  as  before  seized  every  opportunity  to  enforce  it  by  its  decisions. 
But  so  long  as  the  King  and  the  Pope  were  on  good  terms  no  serious 
question  arose ;  for  Amboise  held  continuously  the  office  of  legate  for 
France  and  was  in  effect  a  provincial  Pope.  Julius  promised  to  nomi- 
nate to  prelacies  in  France  only  titularies  approved  by  the  King.  After 
the  breach  between  Louis  and  Julius  the  kingdom  was  in  open  dis- 
obedience, and  the  law  was  silent.  It  was  left  for  Francis  I  and  Leo  X 
to  put  aside  the  principle  of  free  election  so  long  defended  by  Parlement 
and  clergy,  and  to  agree  upon  a  division  of  the  spoils,  which  ignored  the 
liberties  of  the  Galilean  Church,  while  conferring  exceptional  privileges 
on  the  King  of  France. 

The  result  was  the  Concordat  of  1516.  Elections  were  abolished. 
The  King  was  to  nominate  to  metropolitan  and  cathedral  churches,  to 
abbeys  and  conventual  priories,  and  if  certain  rules  were  observed  the 
papal  confirmation  would  not  be  refused.  Reservations  and  expectative 
graces  were  abolished.  The  third  of  benefices  was  still  reserved  to 
University  graduates.  The  regular  degrees  of  jurisdiction  were  to  be 
respected,  unless  in  cases  of  exceptional  importance.  By  implication 
though  not  by  open  stipulation  annates  were  retained.  The  Lateran 
Council  accepted  this  agreement.  The  Pragmatic  was  finally  con- 
demned. Although  the  Parlement  and  the  University  of  Paris  pro- 
tested energetically,  resistance  was  in  vain.  No  power  in  France  could 
withstand  this  alliance  of  King  and  Pope,  by  which  the  material  ends  of 
each  were  secured,  without  any  conspicuous  tenderness  being  shown  for 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Church. 

During  the  same  period  the  proud  independence  of  the  University  of 
Paris  was  successfully  attacked.  In  1437  the  exemption  from  taxation 
claimed  for  its  numerous  dependents  was  abolished.  In  1446  it  was 
first  made  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Parlement,  In  1452  the 
Cardinal  d'Estouteville,  acting  in  concert  with  the  King  and  the  King's 
Parlement^  imposed  upon  it  a  scheme  of  reformation,  and  its  inde- 
pendence of  secular  jurisdiction  was  at  an  end.  Under  Louis  XII  the 
old  threat  of  a  cessation  of  public  exercises  was  used  in  resistance  to 
royal  proposals  of  reform.  The  scholars  soon  found  that  the  King  was 
master,  and  were  like  the  rest  of  the  kingdom  obliged  to  submit.  The 
condemnation  of  the  Nominalists  by  Louis  XI  is  a  grotesque  but 
striking  proof  that  even  the  republic  of  letters  was  no  longer  exempt 
from  the  interference  of  an  alien  authority. 

The  Church,  whose  independence  was  thus  impaired  by  progressive 
encroachments,  could  not  claim  that  its  privileges  were  deserved  by 
virtues,  efficiency,  or  discipline.  Plurality,  non-residence,  immorality, 
neglect  of  duty,  worldliness,  disobedience  to  rule,  were  common  in  France 
as  elsewhere.  Amboise  did  something  for  reform  in  the  Franciscan, 
Dominican,  and  Benedictine  Orders ;  but  far  more  was  needed  to  effect  a 


1363-1468] 


The  Dukes  of  Burgundy 


389 


cure.  Unfortunately  the  Concordat  of  Francis  I  tended  rather  to 
stimulate  the  worldly  ambitions  and  interests  of  the  higher  clergy, 
than  to  aid  or  encourage  any  royal  attempts  in  the  direction  of 
reform. 

Passing  to  those  secular  authorities  that  were  in  a  position  to  refuse 
obedience  to  the  King,  we  have  first  to  notice  the  appanaged  and  other 
nobility  of  princely  rank.  The  successful  Wars  of  1449-53  drove  the 
English  from  the  limits  of  France,  extinguished  the  duchy  of  Aquitaine, 
and  left  only  Calais  and  Guines  to  the  foreigner.  The  English  claims 
were  still  kept  alive,  but  the  only  serious  invasion,  that  of  1475,  broke 
down  owing  to  the  failure  of  cooperation  on  the  part  of  Burgundy.  The 
duchy  of  Aquitaine  was  revived  by  Louis  XI  as  a  temporary  expedient 
(1469-72)  to  satisfy  the  petulant  ambition  of  his  brother,  while 
separating  him  by  the  widest  possible  interval  from  his  ally  of  Burgundy. 
On  the  death  of  Charles  of  Aquitaine  the  duchy  was  reoccupied.  But 
during  the  English  Wars  a  Power  had  arisen  in  the  East  which  menaced 
the  very  existence  of  the  monarchy.  In  pursuance  of  that  policy  of 
granting  escheated  or  conquered  provinces  as  appanages  to  the  younger 
members  of  the  royal  house,  which  facilitated  the  transition  from  earlier 
feudal  independence  to  direct  royal  government,  John  had  in  1363 
granted  the  duchy  of  Burgundy  to  his  son,  Philip,  and  the  gift  had  been 
confirmed  by  Charles  V.  By  marriage  this  enterprising  family  added  to 
their  dominions  Flanders,  Artois,  the  county  of  Burgundy,  Nevers  and 
Rethel,  Brabant  and  Limburg ;  by  purchase  Namur  and  Luxemburg, 
and,  mainly  by  conquest,  Hainault,  Holland,  and  Zeeland.  Enriched  by 
the  wealth  of  the  Low  Countries,  fortified  by  the  military  resources  of  so 
many  provinces,  animated  against  the  house  of  France  by  the  murder 
of  his  father  (1419),  released  from  his  oath  of  allegiance,  and  further 
fortified  by  the  cession  of  the  frontier  fortresses  along  the  Somme  by 
the  Treaty  of  Arras  in  1435,  during  thirty  years  after  the  conclusion  of 
that  treaty  Philip  the  Good  (1419-67)  had  been  content  to  maintain 
a  perfect  independence,  and  to  gather  his  strength  in  peace.  Then,  as 
the  old  man's  strength  failed,  his  son's  opportunity  came.  Enraged  that 
Louis  had  been  allowed  in  1463  to  repurchase  the  towns  on  the  Somme 
under  the  terms  of  their  original  cession,  Charles  the  Bold  contracted  a 
League  with  the  discontented  princes  and  nobles  of  France,  and  in  1465 
invaded  the  kingdom,  and  with  his  allies  invested  Paris. 

The  Treaties  of  St  Maur  des  Fosses  and  of  Conflans  dissolved  the 
League  of  the  Public  Weal,  but  restored  to  Burgundy  the  Somme  towns, 
and  established  Charles  of  France  in  the  rich  appanage  of  Normandy. 
Then  in  four  campaigns  Li^ge  and  the  other  cities  of  her  principality, 
which  in  reliance  on  French  support  had  braved  the  power  of  Burgundy, 
were  brought  low,  and  in  1468  the  episcopal  city  was  destroyed  in  the 
forced  presence  of  the  King  of  France.  Meanwhile,  in  1467  Charles 
the  Bold  succeeded  to  the  duchy  whose  policy  he  had  controlled  for  two 


390 


Charles  the  Bold 


[1468-75 


years,  and  in  1468  he  married  the  sister  of  Edward  IV,  the  hereditary 
enemy  of  France. 

The  fortunes  of  Charles  of  Burgundy  perhaps  never  stood  higher 
than  at  the  fall  of  Li%e.  Louis  XI,  his  prisoner  at  Peronne,  had  been 
forced  to  promise  Champagne  to  Charles  of  France,  the  ally  of  Burgundy, 
which  would  have  made  a  convenient  link  between  the  northern  and  the 
southern  dominions  of  Charles  the  Bold.  But  in  the  war  of  intrigue 
and  arms  that  filled  the  next  four  years  Louis  on  the  whole  gained  the 
advantage.  Charles  of  France  was  persuaded  to  give  up  Champagne. 
The  old  League  was  almost,  but  never  quite,  revived.  The  death  of  Charles 
of  France  in  1472  came  opportunely,  some  said  too  opportunely,  for 
his  brother  the  King.  Charles  the  Bold,  who  had  recently  established 
a  standing  army  of  horse  and  foot,  determined  to  force  the  game  and 
invaded  France.  But  Louis  avoided  any  engagement,  and  Charles  con- 
sumed his  forces  in  a  vain  attack  on  B  eauvais.  He  retreated  without  any 
advantage  gained.    Meanwhile  Britanny  had  been  reduced  to  submission. 

From  that  time  Charles'  ambition  seems  to  look  rather  eastwards. 
In  1469  he  had  received  from  Sigismund  of  Austria,  as  security  for  a 
loan,  the  southern  part  of  Elsass  with  the  Breisgau.  In  1473,  after 
the  conquest  of  Gelders  and  Zutphen,  he  entered  on  fruitless  negotia- 
tions with  the  Emperor  Frederick  III  with  a  view  to  being  crowned  as 
King,  and  recognized  as  imperial  Vicar  in  the  West.  He  even  hoped 
to  be  accepted  as  King  of  the  Romans.  In  1474  he  interfered  in  a 
quarrel  between  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  and  his  Chapter,  and  laid 
siege  to  the  little  town  of  Neuss.  Eleven  months  his  army  lay  before 
this  poor  place.  Imperial  hosts  gathered  to  its  relief,  and  Charles  was 
baffled.  Meanwhile  his  chance  of  chances  went  by.  When,  as  the 
result  of  long-continued  pressure,  Edward  IV  at  length  invaded  France, 
Charles,  who  had  just  raised  the  siege  of  JSFeuss,  was  exhausted  and 
unable  to  take  his  part  in  the  proposed  operations.  Edward  made 
terms  with  Louis  and  retired.  In  the  autumn  (1475)  Charles  scored 
his  last  success  by  overrunning  Lorraine.  At  length  his  northern  and 
his  southern  dominions  were  united. 

But  meanwhile  his  acquisitions  in  Elsass  and  the  Breisgau  had 
involved  him  in  quarrels  with  the  Swiss.  Swiss  merchants  had  been 
ill-treated.  The  mortgaged  provinces  were  outraged  by  the  harsh  rule 
of  Peter  von  Hagenbach,  the  Duke's  governor.  The  Swiss  took  up 
their  quarrel,  instigated  by  French  gold.  A  revolt  ensued,  and  the 
Swiss  assisted  the  inhabitants  to  seize,  try,  and  execute  Hagenbach 
(May,  1474).  In  his  camp  before  Neuss  Charles  received  the  Swiss 
defiance.  Soon  afterwards,  the  Swiss  invaded  Franche  Comte  and 
defeated  the  Duke's  forces  near  H^ricourt.  In  March,  1475,  Pontarlier 
was  sacked,  and  later  in  the  same  year  the  Swiss  attacked  the  Duchess 
of  Savoy  and  the  Count  de  Romont,  the  Duke's  allies,  and  were  every- 
v/here  victorious. 


1476-82]        Charles  and  the  Swiss.  —  His  end  391 


These  were  insults  not  to  be  borne.  Charles  marshalled  all  his 
strength,  crossed  the  Jura  in  February,  1476,  and  advancing  to  the 
shore  of  Neuchatel,  assaulted  and  captured  the  Castle  of  Granson. 
Moving  along  the  north-western  verge  of  the  lake  a  few  miles  further 
he  was  attacked  by  the  Swiss.  An  unaccountable  panic  seized  his 
army ;  it  broke  and  fled.  All  the  rich  equipment  of  Charles,  even  his 
seal  and  his  jewels,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Swiss  ;  and  the  Duke  himself 
fled.  At  Lausanne,  under  the  protection  of  the  Duchess  of  Savoy,  he 
reorganised  his  army.  In  May  he  was  ready  to  set  forth  once  more 
against  the  Swiss  and  especially  against  Bern.  His  route  this  time  led 
him  to  the  little  town  of  Morat,  south-east  of  the  lake  of  Neuchatel. 
Here  he  lingered  for  ten  days  in  hopes  to  overpower  the  garrison 
and  secure  his  communications  for  a  further  advance.  But  the  little 
place,  whose  walls  still  stand,  held  out.  Time  was  thus  given  for 
the  enemy  to  collect.  On  June  21  their  last  contingent  arrived. 
The  next  day  they  moved  forward  in  pouring  rain  to  attack.  The 
Burgundians  awaited  their  arrival  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  camp 
to  the  south  of  Morat.  The  battle  was  fierce,  but  the  shock  of  the 
Swiss  phalanx  proved  irresistible.  This  time  the  Duke's  army  was  not 
only  scattered,  but  destroyed,  after  being  driven  back  upon  the  lake. 
But  few  escaped,  and  no  prisoners  were  made. 

Once  more  the  Duke  threw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  Duchess  of 
Savoy,  whose  kindness  he  soon  afterwards  ill  repaid  by  making  her 
his  prisoner.  After  a  period  of  deep  depression,  bordering  on  insanity, 
Charles  was  roused  once  more  to  action  by  the  news  that  Rene  of 
Lorraine  was  reconquering  his  duchy.  Nancy  and  other  places  had 
already  fallen,  when  Charles  appeared  at  the  head  of  an  army.  Ren^, 
leaving  orders  to  hold  Nancy,  retired  from  the  province  to  seek  aid 
abroad.  The  Swiss  gave  leave  to  raise  volunteers ;  the  King  of  France 
supplied  him  with  money;  and,  while  Nancy  still  held  out.  Rend  at 
length,  in  bitter  weather,  set  out  from  Basel.  As  he  approached  Nancy, 
Charles  met  him  with  his  beleaguering  army  to  the  south  of  the  town 
(January  5,  1477)  ;  but  the  Swiss  were  not  to  be  denied.  Once  more 
Charles  was  defeated ;  this  time  he  met  with  his  death.  His  vast 
plans,  which  had  even  included  the  acquisition  of  Provence  by  bequest 
from  the  Duke  of  Anjou,  so  as,  with  the  control  or  possession  of  Savoy, 
to  complete  the  establishment  of  his  rule  from  the  Mediterranean  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Rhine,  were  extinguished  with  him. 

The  King  of  France,  who  hitherto  had  left  his  allies  to  fight  alone, 
now  took  up  arms,  and  occupied  both  the  duchy  and  the  county  of 
Burgundy,  the  remaining  Somme  towns,  and  Artois  with  Arras.  But 
Mary,  Charles'  heiress,  gave  her  hand  to  Maximilian  of  Austria,  who 
succeeded  in  stemming  the  tide  of  Louis'  conquests,  and  even  inflicted 
a  defeat  on  him  at  Guinegaste  (1479).  Louis  lost  and  recovered  the 
county  of  Burgundy.    At  length  a  treaty  was  concluded  at  Arras 


392 


Britanny 


(1482).  Early  in  the  same  year  Mary  had  died,  leaving  two  children. 
The  duchy  of  Burgundy  was  lost  for  ever  to  her  heirs  and  incorporated 
with  the  royal  domain.  Artois,  the  county  of  Burgundy,  and  some  minor 
lands  were  retained  by  Louis  as  the  dowry  of  Margaret  of  Burgundy, 
who  was  betrothed  to  the  infant  Dauphin.  After  this  marriage  had 
been  finally  broken  off  in  1491,  Charles  VIII  restored  Artois  and  Franche 
Comt^  to  the  House  of  Burgundy  by  the  Treaty  of  Senlis  (1493). 

Thus  ended  the  great  duel  of  war  and  intrigue  between  Louis  XI 
and  Charles  the  Bold.  The  struggle  had  taxed  the  strength  of  France, 
which  had  hardly  yet  recovered  from  the  Hundred  Years'  War.  But 
the  result  was  all  or  nearly  all  that  could  be  wished.  The  old  feud 
reappears  in  a  new  form  in  the  rivalry  of  Charles  V  and  Francis  I. 
The  danger  was  however  then  distinctly  foreign ;  Charles  the  Bold,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  still  a  French  prince  and  relied  on  French  territory 
and  French  support. 

Second,  but  far  inferior  in  power,  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  came 
the  Duke  of  Britanny,  —  Duke  by  the  grace  of  God.  His  duchy  was 
indeed  more  sharply  severed  from  the  rest  of  France  by  conscious 
difference  of  blood;  his  subjects  were  not  less  warlike  and  of  equal 
loyalty.  But  his  province  stood  alone,  and  was  not,  like  that  of 
Charles  the  Bold,  supported  by  other  even  more  rich  and  populous 
territories  forming  part  of  France  or  of  the  Empire.  The  undesirable 
aid  of  England  could  be  had  for  a  price,  and  was  occasionally  invoked, 
but  could  never  be  a  real  source  of  strength.  On  the  other  hand,  like 
Burgundy,  Britanny  was  exempt  from  royal  taille  and  aides,  and  was 
not  even  bound  to  support  the  King  in  his  wars.  The  Duke  of  Britanny 
did  only  simple  homage  to  the  King  for  his  duchy.  The  homage  of 
his  subjects  to  their  Duke  was  without  reserve.  He  had  his  own  Court 
of  appeal,  his  "great  days,"  for  his  subjects.  Only  after  this  Court 
had  pronounced,  was  resort  allowed  to  the  Parlement,  on  ground  of 
deni  de  justice,     faux  jugemeiit. 

Britanny  sent  no  representatives  to  the  French  States-General.  She 
had  her  own  law,  her  own  coinage,  of  both  gold  and  silver.  In  1438 
she  refused  to  recognise  the  Pragmatic.  Yet  French  had  here  since 
the  eleventh  century  been  the  language  of  administration.  The  Breton 
youth  were  educated  at  Paris  or  Angers.  Breton  nobles  rose  to  fame 
and  fortune  in  the  King's  service.  In  1378  Jean  IV  was  driven  out  for 
supporting  too  warmly  the  English  cause.  French  tastes  and  sympathies 
were  thus  consistent  with  obstinate  attachment  to  Breton  independence. 

To  preserve  this  cherished  independence,  the  Dukes  maintained  a 
long  and  unequal  struggle.  Charles  V  had  attempted  to  annex  the 
duchy  by  way  of  forfeiture,  but  soon  found  the  task  beyond  his 
powers.  In  all  the  intrigues  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XI,  the  Duke  of 
Britanny  was  either  an  open  or  a  covert  foe.  His  isolated  position 
exposed  him  to  the  King's  attacks,  and  although  at  one  time,  when. 


1485-7]  League  of  the  French  princes  393 


allied  with  Charles,  then  Duke  of  Normandy,  his  armies  occupied  the 
western  half  of  that  province,  the  close  of  Louis'  reign  showed  him 
distinctly  weaker.  The  character  of  the  last  Duke,  Francis  II,  was  not 
such  as  to  qualify  him  for  making  the  best  of  a  bad  position.  Weak, 
unwarlike,  and  easily  influenced,  he  provoked  a  hostility  which  he  was 
not  man  enough  to  meet. 

In  the  intrigues  against  the  government  of  Anne  of  Beaujeu  during 
the  minority  of  Charles  VIII,  Francis  of  Britanny  was  leagued  with  the 
Duke  of  Orleans,  the  Count  of  Angouleme,  Rene  of  Lorraine  and  other 
discontented  princes.  Unfortunately  the  Duke's  confidential  minister, 
Landois,  by  his  corrupt  and  oppressive  rule,  alienated  a  large  part  of 
his  subjects,  and  provoked  a  revolt,  which  was  supported  by  the  Court 
of  France.  The  Duke  of  Britanny  was  helpless.  Louis  of  Orleans, 
who  was  already  scheming  for  a  divorce  and  an  aspirant  for  the  hand  of 
Anne  of  Britanny,  could  render  little  assistance,  and  his  undeveloped 
character  was  unequally  matched  with  the  political  wisdom  of  Madame 
de  Beaujeu.  English  aid  was  hoped  for  ;  but  Richard  III  was  fully 
occupied  at  home.  Bourbon  and  d'Albret,  who  supported  the  coalition, 
were  too  distant  to  render  effective  aid.  Thus  the  only  result  of  the 
"  Guerre  Folle  "  was  that  Landois  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and 
was  hanged.  The  hollow  Peace  of  Beaugency  andBourges  (1485)  decided 
nothing,  but  gave  the  government  time  to  strengthen  its  position. 
Henry  Tudor,  who  had  in  the  interval  established  himself  in  England, 
was  indebted  to  France  for  opportune  support  and  protection,  and 
remembered  his  obligation  for  a  time. 

Landois  removed,  the  Bretons  remained  disunited.  French  influence 
was  disliked  by  all,  and  annexation  to  France  abhorred.  The  Estates 
of  Britanny  (February,  1486)  declared  that  the  succession  to  the  duchy 
belonged  to  the  Duke's  two  daughters  in  order  of  birth,  thus  barring 
the  rights  of  the  House  of  Penthievre,*  which  Louis  XI  had  purchased 
in  1480.  But  the  Duke's  attachment  to  his  French  advisers  kept  in 
vigour  the  Breton  opposition,  which  was  forced  to  lean  upon  the  Court 
of  France,  and  hoped  nevertheless  (by  the  Treaty  of  Chateaubriant,  1487) 
to  secure  the  liberties  of  Britanny.  For  his  part  the  Duke  allied  himself 
with  Maximilian,  recently  elected  King  of  the  Romans,  who  began 
hostilities  on  the  northern  frontier  of  France  in  the  summer  of  1486, 
and,  later  in  the  same  year,  with  Orleans,  Lorraine,  Angouleme,  Orange, 
and  Albret.  Dunois,  Lescun  (now  Comte  de  Comminges  and  Governor 
of  Guyenne),  Commines,  and  others,  lent  the  weight  of  their  experience 
and  personal  qualities.  Bourbon  this  time  stood  aloof,  and  the  French 
government  promptly  threw  its  whole  force  on  the  south-western  Powers, 
who  were  forced  to  submit.    Lescun  was  replaced  in  the  government  of 

*  Under  the  Treaty  of  Gu^rande  (1365)  the  House  of  Blois,  now  represented  by 
Penthievre,  was  to  succeed,  in  default  of  male  heirs  of  the  House  of  Montfort,  of 
whom  Duke  Francis  II  was  the  last. 


394 


Wm^  in  Britanny 


[1487-9 


Guyenne  by  the  Sire  de  Beaujeu  (March,  1487).  The  French  army  was 
then  directed  against  Britanny,  remaining  in  concert  with  the  opposition 
within  the  duchy.  A  desultory  campaign  ensued,  while  des  Querdes 
acted  boldly  and  brilliantly  against  Maximilian  in  the  north  of  France. 
The  Sire  de  Candale,  Beaujeu's  lieutenant  in  Guyenne,  prevented  Albret 
from  bringing  aid  to  Francis,  and  forced  him  to  give  hostages  for  good 
behaviour.  The  Breton  opposition  under  the  Sire  de  Rohan  held  the 
north-west  of  the  country  and  captured  Ploermel.  The  French  army 
met  with  little  serious  resistance  except  at  Nantes,  where  they  were 
forced  to  raise  their  siege ;  Norman  corsairs  blocked  the  coast,  and  the 
land  was  ravaged  by  friend  and  foe. 

Early  in  1488  the  Duke  of  Orleans  recovered  for  Francis,  Vannes, 
Auray,  and  Ploermel.  Rohan  was  forced  to  capitulate.  D'Albret 
obtained  assistance  from  the  Court  of  Spain,  and  joined  the  Duke's 
army  with  5000  men ;  Maximilian  had  previously  sent  1500  men.  The 
young  French  general.  La  Trdmouille,  delayed  on  the  borders  of 
the  duchy  until  his  forces  were  complete.  An  English  force  landed 
under  Lord  Scales.  On  the  other  hand  the  Roman  King  was  busy 
with  rebellious  Flanders,  supported  by  des  Querdes,  and  d' Albret  was 
pushing  his  claims  to  the  hand  of  the  heiress  of  Britanny,  which  con- 
flicted with  the  hopes  of  Maximilian,  and  of  Louis  of  Orleans.  At 
length  La  Trdmouille  was  satisfied  w^ith  his  army  of  15,000  men, 
including  7000  Swiss,  and  equipped  with  an  admirable  artillery.  He 
gave  battle  (July,  1488)  at  St  Aubin  du  Cormier,  defeated  the  Breton 
host,  and  captured  the  Duke  of  Orleans.  By  the  Peace  of  Le  Verger 
(August)  the  Breton  government  pledged  itself  to  dismiss  its  foreign 
allies,  and  to  marry  the  Duke's  daughters  only  with  the  King's  consent. 
Four  strong  places  and  a  substantial  sum  were  to  be  given  as  guarantee. 
A  few  days  after  Francis  II  died.  An  amnesty  was  granted  to  d' Albret, 
Dunois,  Lescun,  and  others  ;  but  the  Duke  of  Orleans  was  kept  a 
prisoner  till  1491,  as  a  penalty  for  his  share  in  the  rebellion. 

Francis  had  left  the  guardianship  of  his  daughters  to  the  Marshal 
de  Rieux,  but  this  was  promptly  claimed  by  the  royal  Council.  The 
French  armies  advanced  to  take  possession  of  the  duchy.  Foreign 
powers  intervened.  Alliances  were  concluded  in  February,  1489,  between 
Henry  VII,  Maximilian,  and  the  Duchess  Anne.  Ferdinand  and  Isabel 
demanded  the  restitution  of  Roussillon,  and  on  its  refusal  joined  the 
league.  Hereupon  2000  Spaniards  and  6000  English  landed  in 
Britanny.  But  the  Breton  leaders  were  themselves  divided.  Rieux 
favoured  the  marriage  proposals  of  d' Albret,  who  was  with  him  at 
Nantes.  The  English,  after  first  upholding  d' Albret,  advanced  a  candi- 
date of  their  own.  Dunois  and  others,  with  whom  were  the  young 
princesses,  opposed  d'Albret,  to  whose  unattractive  person  Anne  took  a 
strong  dislike.    Rohan  had  hopes  for  one  of  his  sons. 

The  Peace  of  Frankfort  (July,  1489)  proved  abortive  so  far  as 


1490-1532]  Britanny  united  to  France 


395 


regards  the  affairs  of  Britanny,  though  it  gave  Maximilian  a  breathing 
space  for  making  favourable  terms  with  the  cities  of  the  Netherlands. 
Meanwhile  the  state  of  war  in  Britanny  continued.  Like  Mary  of 
Burgundy  before  her,  Anne  sought  a  deliverer  from  unwelcome  suitors 
and  the  stress  of  war  in  the  Austrian  Archduke.  Covetous  as  usual  of 
a  profitable  marriage,  Maximilian  snatched  a  moment  from  the  claims 
of  other  business,  and  caused  full  powers  to  be  made  out  for  the  con- 
clusion by  proxy  of  a  marriage-contract  on  his  behalf.  Ten  days 
afterwards  the  King  of  Hungary  and  conqueror  of  Austria,  Matthias 
Corvinus,  died  (April  6,  1490).  The  prospect  of  recovering  Vienna  and 
acquiring  Hungary  opened  before  the  eyes  of  Maximilian.  He  was  at 
once  immersed  in  correspondence  and  preparations,  then  in  war.  Suc- 
cesses were  followed  by  difficulties,  difficulties  by  reverses.  The  War  in 
Hungary  was  closed  in  November,  1491,  by  the  Peace  of  Pressburg. 
Meanwhile  his  emissaries  had  not  found  their  course  quite  clear  in 
Britanny.  A  Spanish  suitor  was  in  the  field,  and  a  series  of  delays 
followed.  At  length  (December,  1490)  the  wedding  of  Maximilian  to 
the  Breton  heiress  was  solemnly  concluded  by  his  proxy.  But  while  to 
protect  his  bride,  even  to  make  the  bond  secure,  his  personal  presence 
was  needed,  the  bridegroom  lingered  in  Eastern  lands,  and  the  French 
pressed  on.  Albret,  disgusted  at  his  own  rebuff,  surrendered  the 
castle  of  Nantes  to  the  suzerain,  and  the  town  was  shortly  occupied. 
Henry  VII  and  Ferdinand  sent  no  aid.  The  Duke  of  Orleans  was 
liberated  and  reconciled  to  the  King,  who  was  beginning  to  act  on  his 
own  behalf.  The  Duchess  was  besieged  at  Rennes  and  was  forced  to 
accept  the  French  terms,  consisting  of  the  rupture  of  her  marriage  with 
the  Roman  King,  and  her  union  with  the  King  of  France.  Without 
waiting  for  the  needful  dispensations  the  contract  was  concluded,  and 
the  marriage  followed  (December,  1491). 

The  marriage  with  Anne  involved  a  breach  of  the  Treaty  of  Arras 
(1482),  which  stipulated  that  Charles  should  marry  Margaret  of  Austria 
(indeed,  the  marriage  had  been  solemnised,  though  not  consummated), 
and  led  to  the  retrocession  in  1493  to  Maximilian  of  Franche  Comt^, 
Artois,  and  minor  places.  Yet  the  gain  was  adequate.  Britann}^  was 
not  as  yet  united  to  the  French  Crown,  but  preserved  its  liberties 
and  separate  government.  It  was,  however,  agreed  that  Anne,  if  she 
survived  her  husband,  should  be  bound  to  marry  the  successor,  or 
presumptive  successor,  to  the  Crown.  Louis  XII,  on  his  accession, 
realised  his  early  wish,  obtained  a  divorce  from  his  saintly,  unhappy 
wife,  and  became  Anne's  third  royal  consort.  Dangerous  plans  were 
at  one  time  pushed  by  Anne  for  the  marriage  of  her  daughter  to  the 
heir  of  Burgundy,  Spain,  and  Austria,  but  these  plans  fortunately 
broke  down,  and  the  marriage  of  her  elder  daughter  and  heiress  Claude 
to  Francis  of  Angouleme  prevented  the  separation  of  Britanny  from 
France.    In  1532  the  Estates  of  Britanny  under  pressure  agreed  to 


396 


Anjou,  —  The  Armagnacs  [1431-8I 


the  union  of  the  province  to  the  Crown ;  and  its  formal  independence 
actually  came  to  an  end  on  the  accession  of  King  Henry  II  in  1547. 

The  Duke  of  Anjou,  as  holding  in  addition  Lorraine,  Provence,  the 
titular  crown  of  Naples,  and  the  family  appanage  of  Maine,  was  another 
powerful  rival  to  the  King.  But  Charles  VII  had  married  an  Angevin 
wife,  and  was  in  ultimate  alliance  with  the  House  of  Anjou.  Through- 
out his  long  reign  the  Duke  Rene  (1431-81),  more  interested  in 
literature  and  art  and  other  peaceful  pastimes  than  in  political  intrigue, 
gave  little  trouble  to  France.  His  son,  John  of  Calabria,  joined  in  the 
League  of  the  Public  Weal,  but  was  afterwards  reconciled  to  Louis  XI. 
He  lost  his  life  in  an  adventurous  attempt  to  win  a  crown  in  Catalonia 
(1470).  The  grandson,  Nicolas  of  Calabria,  was  one  of  the  aspirants 
to  the  hand  of  Mary  of  Burgundy,  but  died  in  1472.  The  independ- 
ence of  Anjou,  like  that  of  most  of  the  later  appanages,  was  strictly 
limited.  The  Duke  received  neither  taille  nor  aides,  but  generally  drew 
a  fixed  pension.  Strictly  he  had  not  the  right  to  maintain  or  levy 
troops,  though  this  rule  inevitably  failed  to  act  in  time  of  revolution. 
But  the  domain  profits  were  considerable,  and  the  lack  of  direct  royal 
government  was  a  considerable  diminution  of  the  King's  authority,  and 
might  at  any  time  become  a  serious  danger.  In  1474  Louis  XI  took 
over  the  administration  of  Anjou,  and  in  1476,  as  it  was  reported 
that  Ren^  had  been  meditating  the  bequest  of  Provence  to  Charles 
of  Burgundy,  the  King  forced  on  the  old  Duke  a  treaty  whereby  he 
engaged  never  to  cede  any  part  of  that  province  to  the  enemies  of 
France.  On  the  Duke's  death  in  1480,  his  nephew  Charles  succeeded, 
but  only  survived  him  for  a  year,  when  by  his  will  all  the  possessions 
of  Anjou  except  Lorraine  reverted  to  the  Crown.  The  process  of  con- 
solidation was  proceeding  apace.  Provence  had  never  hitherto  been 
reckoned  as  part  of  France. 

The  tradition  of  feudal  independence  was  nowhere  stronger  than  in 
Guyenne.  The  revolt  of  the  South  against  the  Black  Prince  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  levy  of  a  fouage  at  a  time  when  France  was  accepting 
a  far  more  burdensome  system  of  arbitrary  taxation  almost  without  a 
murmur.  The  great  principalities  of  the  South  were  Armagnac,  Albret, 
and  Foix.  The  Counts  of  Armagnac  had  been  associated  with  the  worst 
traditions  of  the  anarchical  period.  Jean  V  carried  into  private  life 
the  lawless  instincts  of  the  family.  Imprisoned  by  Charles  VII  for 
correspondence  with  the  English  government,  he  was  liberated  and 
treated  with  favour  by  Louis  XI.  He  requited  his  benefactor  by 
revolt  and  treachery  in  the  War  of  the  Public  Weal.  Pardoned,  he 
continued  his  game  of  disobedience  and  intrigue.  The  King's  writ 
could  hardly  be  said  to  run  in  Armagnac  and  its  appendant  provinces ; 
the  King's  taxes  were  collected  with  difficulty,  if  at  all;  the  Count's 
men-at-arms  owned  no  restraint.  Driven  out  in  1470,  Jean  returned 
under  the  protection  of  the  King's  brother,  the  Duke  of  Guyenne. 


Subjection  of  the  nobility 


397 


In  1473  a  fresh  expedition  was  sent  against  him ;  Lectoure  was  sur- 
rendered; and  the  Count  killed,  perhaps  murdered.  His  fate  deserves 
less  sympathy  than  it  has  found.  The  independence  of  Armagnac, 
Rouergue,  and  La  Marche  was  at  an  end. 

His  brother,  Jacques,  had  a  similar  history.  Raised  to  the  duchy 
of  Nemours  and  the  pairie  by  Louis  XI,  he  became  a  traitor  in  1465, 
and  was  implicated  in  all  the  treacherous  machinations  of  his  brother. 
His  fate  was  delayed  till  1476,  when  he  was  arrested.  His  trial  left 
something  to  be  desired  in  point  of  fairness,  but  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  substantial  justice  was  done  when  he  was  executed  in  1477. 
Charles  VIH  restored  the  duchy  to  his  sons,  one  of  whom  died  in  the 
King's  service  at  the  battle  of  Cerignola.  With  him  the  male  line  of 
Armagnac  became  extinct. 

The  House  of  Albret  was  more  fortunate.  Though  implicated  in  the 
League  of  the  Public  Weal,  and  in  the  Breton  rebellion,  this  House  in- 
curred no  forfeiture.  But  the  long  rule  of  Alain  le  Grand  (1471-1522) 
illustrates  pathetically  the  humiliations,  vexations,  and  losses  that  so 
great  a  prince  had  constantly  to  endure  through  the  steady  pressure 
of  the  King's  agents,  lawyers,  and  financiers,  and,  in  some  cases,  through 
the  ill-will  of  his  own  subjects.  In  spite  of  his  vast  domains,  his  appeal 
Courts,  his  more  than  princely  revenue,  he  was  unable  to  meet  his  still 
greater  expenses,  swelled  by  the  new  luxury  and  by  legal  costs,  without 
a  heavy  pension  from  the  King.  A  man,  reckoned  to  have  received 
from  the  Crown  in  his  fifty  years  no  less  than  six  millions  l.i.^  cannot, 
however  powerful  he  was,  be  regarded  as  independent.  By  marriage 
his  House  in  -the  next  generation  acquired  Navarre  with  Foix,  and  was 
ultimately  merged  in  Bourbon  and  in  the  Crown. 

Other  appanages  call  for  little  remark.  Bourbon,  with  its  ap- 
pendants, Auvergne,  Beaujolais,  Forez,  and  (1477)  La  Marche,  was  the 
most  important.  It  was  preserved  from  reunion  to  the  Crown  by  the 
influence  of  Anne  of  Beaujeu,  who  secured  it  for  her  daughter  and 
her  husband,  the  Count  of  Montpensier.  The  duchy  of  Orleans  with 
the  county  of  Blois  was  united  to  the  Crown  at  the  accession  of 
Louis  XII.  None  of  these  important  fiefs  were  free  from  the  royal 
taxes  or  authority,  though  they  enjoyed  some  administrative  inde- 
pendence. 

Princes  and  minor  nobles  alike  were  gradually  brought  into  the 
King's  obedience  by  the  King's  pay.  While  the  poor  gentlemen  en- 
tered the  King's  service  as  guards,  as  men-at-arms,  or  even  as  archers, 
the  great  princes  drew  the  King's  pensions,  or  aspired  to  the  lucrative 
captainship  of  a  body  of  ordonnances.  If  of  sufficient  dignity  and 
influence  they  might  hope  for  the  still  more  valuable  post  of  governor 
in  some  province.  When  they  had  once  learnt  to  rely  on  the  mer- 
cenary's stipend,  they  could  not  easily  bring  themselves  to  exchange 
it  for  the  old  honourable,  though  lawless,  independence.  Gradually 


398 


Bourgeois  and  peasants 


the  provincial  nobility  became  dependent  on  the  Court,  and  in  large 
measure  resident  there.  This  process  begins  in  early  times,  but  advances 
more  rapidly  under  Charles  VII  and  his  successors,  and  is  nearly  com- 
pleted under  Francis  I. 

The  third  Order,  that  of  the  bourgeois  of  the  bonnes  villes^  has  lost 
all  the  political  independence  that  it  had  ever  possessed.  The  free 
communes  of  the  North  and  North-east  had  succumbed  as  much  by 
their  own  financial  mismanagement  as  from  any  other  cause.  Through- 
out the  fourteenth  century  the  intervention  of  the  King  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  towns  became  a  normal  experience,  and  Charles  V  actually 
suppressed  a  number  of  communes.  A  considerable  degree  of  municipal 
liberty  is  left,  but  the  power  of  political  action  is  gone.  The  govern- 
ment is  as  a  rule  in  the  hands  of  a  comparatively  small  number  of 
well-to-do  bourgeois^  who  support  the  King's  authority,  and  from  whom 
is  drawn  the  most  efficient  class  of  financiers  and  administrators.  In 
time  of  need  they  help  the  King  with  loans  and  exceptional  gifts. 
Many  of  the  towns  are  exempt  from  taille^  but  the  aides  fall  heavily 
upon  them.  Louis  XI  continued  on  the  same  lines.  He  granted 
abundant  privileges  to  towns  —  fairs,  markets,  nobility  to  their  officers, 
and  the  right  of  purchasing  noble  fiefs.  But  their  intervention  in 
politics  was  not  encouraged.  On  a  slight  provocation  the  King  took 
the  town  government  into  his  hands,  and  heavy  was  the  punishment 
of  a  town  like  Reims  or  Bourges,  that  ventured  to  rebel. 

The  position  of  the  peasants  can  only  be  faintly  indicated  here. 
Personal  servitude  still  exists,  though  probably  a  majority  of  the  serfs 
have  been  enfranchised.  In  either  case  the  rights  of  the  lord  have  as  a 
rule  become  fixed.  The  peasants  are  for  the  most  part  holders  at  a  quit 
rent  or  in  metayage^  though  bound  to  the  corvee^  and  to  the  use  of  the 
lord's  mill  and  of  his  bakehouse.  If  serfs,  they  are  mainmortahles,  that 
is,  their  personal  property  belongs  to  their  lords  on  their  decease.  Such 
a  right  obviously  cannot  be  strictly  exercised.  Necessary  agricultural 
stock  must  at  least  be  spared.  The  lord  can  no  longer  tallage  his 
peasants  at  will.  His  Courts  are  rather  a  symbol  of  his  dignity  and 
a  source  of  petty  profit,  than  a  real  instrument  of  arbitrary  authority. 
Everywhere  the  King's  power  makes  itself  felt. 

Thus  the  peasant  was  beginning  to  be  more  concerned  in  the 
character  and  policy  of  the  King  than  in  those  of  his  lord,  though,  if 
the  latter  was  imprudent,  his  peasants'  crops  might  be  ravaged.  The 
rate  of  the  King's  taille  made  the  difference  between  plenty  and  want. 
The  taille  cut  the  sources  of  wealth  at  their  fountain-head,  while  the 
seigneur  only  diverted  a  portion  of  their  flow.  The  taille  was  liable 
to  more  momentous  variation  than  seigniorial  dues;  as  imposed  by 
Louis  XI,  it  was  almost,  though  not  quite,  as  ruinous  as  the  English 
War.  Under  Charles  VIII,  and  still  more  under  Louis  XII,  the  cessation 
of  internal  war,  and  the  remission  of  taille,  made  these  reigns  a  golden 


1439-84]    ,  The  Estates  General 


399 


memory  to  the  French  peasant.  Seyssel  says  that  one-third  of  the 
land  of  France  was  restored  to  cultivation  within  these  thirty  years. 
Moreover,  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Louis  XII  that  the  peasant  felt 
the  full  benefit  that  he  should  have  received  from  the  establishment  of 
a  paid  army.  Under  Louis  XI  the  discipline  of  the  regulars  was  still 
imperfect ;  and  the  arriere-ban  was  even  worse.  For  good  government 
and  for  bad  government  alike  the  peasant  had  to  pay ;  to  pay  less  for 
better  government  was  a  double  boon. 

But  what  of  that  institution,  the  Estates  General,  that  attempted  to 
bring  the  three  Orders  (in  which  the  peasants  were  not  included)  into 
touch  with  the  central  government?  The  representative  institutions  of 
France  had  always  been  the  humble  servants  of  the  monarchy.  At  the 
utmost  for  a  moment  in  the  time  of  Etienne  Marcel  they  had  ventured  to 
take  advantage  of  the  King's  weakness,  and  to  interfere  in  the  work  of 
government.  The  interesting  ordinance  of  1413,  known  as  the  Cabo- 
chienne^  is  not  the  work  of  the  Estates,  but  of  an  alliance  between  the 
University,  the  people  of  Paris,  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  As  a  rule, 
the  Estates  approach  the  King  upon  their  knees.  They  supplicate,  they 
cannot  command.  Legislation  is  not  their  concern;  even  if  a  great 
ordinance,  as  that  of  1439,  is  associated  with  a  meeting  of  Estates,  it 
cannot  be  regarded  as  their  work.  Their  single  important  function, 
that  of  assenting  to  the  taille^  is  taken  from  them  almost  unobserved  in 
1439.  The  provincial  Estates  of  central  France  continue  to  grant  the 
taille  till  1451,  when  their  cooperation  also  ceases.  Normandy,  and 
more  definitely  Languedoc  and  the  latter  acquisitions,  retain  a  shadow  of 
this  liberty.  But  with  the  power  of  the  purse  the  power  of  the  people 
passes  slowly  and  surely  to  the  King. 

Parliamentarism  was  doomed.  Louis  XI  only  summoned  the  Estates 
once,  in  1468,  to  confirm  the  revocation  of  the  grant  of  Normandy  which 
he  had  made  to  Charles.  The  Treaty  of  1482,  which  required  the  con- 
sent of  the  Estates,  was  sanctioned  l3y  not  less  than  47  separate  local 
assemblies  of  Estates.  On  his  death  an  assembly  was  summoned  to 
Tours  (1484),  which  was  perhaps  the  most  important  meeting  of  Estates 
General  previous  to  1789.  Each  Estate  was  here  represented  by  elected 
members.  Thus  the  freedom  of  the  assembly  was  not  swamped  by  the 
preponderance  of  princes  and  prelates.  The  persons  who  took  the  lead 
were  distinctly  of  the  middle  class,  gentlemen,  bourgeois^  clerks.  Three 
deputies  were  as  a  rule  sent  from  each  bailliage  or  senechaussee  ;  but  to 
this  there  were  many  exceptions.  The  assembly  was  divided  into  six 
sections,  more  or  less  corresponding  to  the  generalites^  —  Paris  with  the 
North-east,  Burgundy,  Normandy,  Guyenne,  Languedoc  with  Provence 
and  Dauphin^,  and  Languedoil,  which  comprised  the  whole  of  the  centre 
of  France  together  with  Poitou  and  Saintonge.  Each  section  deliberated 
separately.  Then  the  whole  met  to  prepare  their  bills  of  recommenda- 
tions (cahiers)^  which  were  presented  separately  by  the  three  Estates. 


400 


Increase  in  the  King^s  power 


The  recommendations  are  business-like  and  strike  at  the  root  of 
many  abuses.  They  suggested  or  foreshadowed  many  reforms  actually 
carried  out  in  the  next  thirty  years.  But  they  had  no  binding  force. 
Their  execution  depended  on  the  good-will  of  the  King's  government. 
With  such  high  matters  as  the  constitution  of  the  Council  of  Regency 
and  the  settlement  of  the  rivalry  between  Beaujeu  and  Orleans  the 
Estates  ventured  at  most  timidly  to  coquette.  Finally  they  decided  to 
take  no  part  in  the  controversy  and  to  leave  all  questions  of  government 
to  be  determined  by  the  princes  of  the  blood,  who  alone  were  competent 
to  deal  with  them.  They  ventured  however  humbly  to  recommend  that 
some  of  the  wisest  of  the  delegates  should  be  called  in  to  share  the 
counsels  of  the  government.  In  the  matter  of  the  taille  they  showed 
more  earnestness,  begging,  indeed  almost  insisting,  that  a  return  should 
be  made  to  the  lower  scale  of  Charles  VII.  Large  concession  was  made 
to  them  in  this  respect ;  but  the  government  neither  resigned,  nor  had 
ever  intended  to  resign,  the  absolute  control  over  finance  which  it 
had  acquired.  Parliamentarism  had  perhaps  a  chance  in  1484 ;  but  the 
tradition  of  humility  and  obedience,  the  sense  of  ignorance  and  diffidence 
in  things  political,  were  too  strong,  and  the  opportunity  slipped  away. 

The  assembly  of  Estates  in  1506  was  summoned  to  confirm  the 
government  in  abandoning  the  marriage  agreement  already  concluded 
between  the  eldest  daughter  of  Louis  XII  and  the  infant  Duke  of 
Luxemburg.  Louis  knew  that  his  change  of  policy  was  popular,  and 
was  glad  to  strengthen  his  feeble  knees  with  popularity  against  opposi- 
tion in  exalted  quarters.  But  the  royal  will  was  decisive  with  or  with- 
out the  sanction  of  popular  support. 

After  the  battle  of  Nancy  the  King  had  no  longer  any  single  formi- 
dable rival  within  the  limits  of  France.  After  the  Wars  of  Britanny  he 
needed  no  longer  fear  any  coalition.  His  direct  authority  was  enor- 
mously extended.  Burgundy,  Provence,  Anjou,  Maine,  Guyenne  with 
the  dominions  of  Armagnac,  had  been  annexed  by  the  Crown,  and 
Britanny  was  in  process  of  absorption.  Orleans  and  Blois  were  soon 
added.  His  power  was  at  the  same  time  gaining,  and  not  only  in 
extension,  as  the  organs  of  his  will  became  more  fitted  for  its  execution. 
Legislation  was  in  his  hands ;  the  ordonnances  were  his  permanent 
commands.  In  the  business  of  making  laws  he  was  assisted  by  his 
Council,  a  body  of  sworn  advisers,  to  which  it  was  usual  to  admit  the 
Princes  of  the  Blood,  though  the  King  could  summon  or  exclude  whom 
he  pleased  at  his  discretion. 

The  amount  of  authority  entrusted  to  the  Council  varied.  It  was 
said  of  Louis  XI  that  the  King's  mule  carried  not  only  the  King  but  his 
Council.  It  is  certain  that  the  Council  never  dominated  him,  and  that 
he  kept  all  high  matters  of  State  to  himself  and  a  few  confidential  advisers, 
though  he  made  extensive  use  of  the  Council's  assistance  for  less  important 
things.   Under  a  powerful  minister  like  Georges  d'Amboise  the  Council's 


The  Council.  —  The  Parlement 


401 


advice  might  be  useful,  even  necessary,  but  its  wishes  might  be  neglected. 
On  the  other  hand,  during  the  youth  of  Charles  VIII  the  support  of  the 
Council  was  a  valuable  prop  to  Anne,  who  skilfully  introduced  into  it 
men  of  her  own  confidence.  The  Princes  of  the  Blood,  with  few  excep- 
tions, were  irregular  and  fitful  in  their  attendance.  The  professional 
men  of  affairs,  legists  and  financiers,  by  their  knowledge,  industry, 
and  regular  presence,  must  have  effectively  controlled  the  business. 
And  this  was  of  the  most  varied  and  important  character.  Not  only 
legislation,  but  all  manner  of  executive  matters  came  under  its  notice; 
police,  foreign  policy,  ecclesiastical  matters,  finance,  justice,  —  nothing 
was  excluded  from  its  purview.  The  members  of  the  Council  were 
numerous,  their  total  amounting  to  fifty,  sixty,  or  more.  After  the 
death  of  Louis  XI  some  attempt  was  made  to  limit  the  numbers  to 
twelve  or  fifteen,  and  the  name  Conseil  etroit  was  applied  to  this  smaller 
body;  but  the  endeavour,  if  serious,  was  unsuccessful;  the  numbers 
soon  rose  again,  and  were  further  swelled  by  the  great  men's  habit  of 
bringing  with  them  their  own  private  advisers. 

The  exercise  of  jurisdiction  by  this  body  often  brought  it  into 
collision  with  the  Parlement  of  Paris,  whose  decisions  it  sometimes 
quashed,  and  whose  cases  it  evoked  while  still  suh  judice.  Apparently 
under  Louis  XI  first,  and  afterwards  under  his  successors,  a  judicial 
committee  of  the  King's  Council  was  created  to  deal  with  contentious 
litigation.  The  specific  name  of  Grand  Conseil  seems  to  attach  to  this 
tribunal,  which  was  especially  occupied  with  questions  relating  to  the 
possession  of  benefices,  and  to  the  right  of  holding  offices  under 
the  Crown.  It  is  probable  that  the  Parlement^  always  favourable  to  the 
Pragmatic,  could  not  after  its  revocation  be  trusted  in  beneficiary 
actions  to  give  judgments  satisfactory  to  the  Crown.  Hence  this  exten- 
sion and  regularisation  of  the  exceptional  jurisdiction  of  the  Council. 
The  Estates  of  1484  complained  of  the  frequency  of  evocations,  and 
interference  with  the  ordinary  course  of  justice,  but  in  1497  the  Grand 
Conseil  was  consecrated  by  a  new  ordinance,  making  it  in  the  main  a 
Court  of  administrative  justice.  It  then  had  in  its  turn  to  suffer  the 
encroachments  of  the  King's  ordinary  Council. 

The  Parlement  of  Paris  was  the  supreme  constitutional  tribunal  of 
law  for  the  chief  part  of  the  kingdom.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  King's 
Council  sprang  out  of  the  plenitude  of  the  royal  power,  and  was  hardly, 
except  so  far  as  the  ordinance  of  1497  extended,  constitutional.  For  Lan- 
guedoc  the  Parlement  of  Toulouse  was  created  in  1443,  for  Dauphin^ 
that  of  Grenoble  in  1453,  that  of  Bordeaux  for  Guyenne  in  1462,  and 
that  of  Dijon  for  conquered  Burgundy  in  1477.  Aix  was  the  seat  of  a 
similar  tribunal  for  Provence  after  1501,  and  in  1515  the  Exchequer  of 
Normandy  took  the  style  of  Parlement.  Outside  the  limits  of  these 
jurisdictions  the  Parlement  of  Paris  was  the  sovereign  Court  of  appeal, 
and  a  Court  of  first  instance  for  those  persons  and  corporations  which 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


26 


402 


The  Parlement  and  its  jurisdiction 


enjoyed  the  privilege  (^committimus)  of  resorting  to  it  direct.  Ordon- 
nances  required  to  be  registered  and  promulgated  by  the  Court  of  the 
Parlement  before  they  received  the  force  of  law.  The  Court  assumed 
the  right  to  delay  the  registration  of  objectionable  laws ;  and  its  protest 
was  in  some  cases  effectual  even  under  Louis  XI ;  but  as  a  rule,  in 
response  to  its  protests,  peremptory  lettres  de  jussion  proceeded  from 
the  King,  to  which  they  yielded.  The  Court  had  succeeded  to  the 
rights  of  the  Cour  des  pairs^  to  whom  belonged  the  exclusive  power  of 
judging  those  few  members  of  the  highest  nobility  who  were  recognised 
as  pairs  de  France.  When  such  a  peer  came  before  the  Court,  a  few 
peers  took  their  seat  with  the  other  Counsellors,  and  the  Court  was  said 
to  be  garnie  de  pairs. 

Besides  the  peers,  there  were  in  the  Parlement  eight  maitres  des 
requetes^  and  80  counsellors,  equally  divided  since  the  time  of  Louis  XI 
between  clerical  and  lay.  The  counsellors  were  appointed  by  the  King 
on  the  nomination  of  the  members  of  the  Court.  It  was  usual  at  this 
time  for  the  Parlement  to  present  three  selected  candidates,  the  King  to 
name  one.  But  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  far  this  really  held  good  under 
Louis  XI.  Authors  of  the  time  speak  as  if  the  King  had  it  in  his  hands 
to  nominate  counsellors  at  his  will.  But  a  counsellor  would  not  infre- 
quently resign  in  favour  of  some  relative,  who  was  allowed  to  continue 
his  tenure  as  if  no  vacancy  had  taken  place.  The  magistracy  was  thus 
in  some  measure  heritable.  Louis  XI  promised  (in  1467)  not  to  remove 
any  counsellor  except  for  misconduct,  and  instructed  his  son  to  respect 
this  decision.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  venality  of  offices  in  Parlement^ 
whether  by  counsellors  selling  their  seats  to  successors,  or  by  the  King, 
had  begun  to  establish  itself  before  the  reign  of  Francis  I. 

The  Parlement  was  an  august  and  powerful  body.  It  could  on 
occasion  show  a  high  degree  of  independence  and  even  of  obstinacy. 
But  it  was  accessible  to  influence.  To  push  a  case,  to  avoid  delay,  to 
secure  delay,  even  to  obtain  a  favourable  decision,  the  letter  or  the 
personal  intervention  of  a  great  man  was  powerful,  the  half-expressed 
desire  of  the  King  almost  irresistible.  In  the  highest  criminal  cases  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Parlement  was  often,  especially  under  Louis  XI, 
superseded  by  the  establishment  of  a  special  commission  appointed 
for  the  case.  Such  commissions  could  hardly  deliver  an  independent 
judgment,  especially  when,  as  sometimes  happened,  the  prospective 
confiscation  of  the  prisoner's  property  had  been  distributed  beforehand 
among  the  members  of  the  Court. 

Subordinate  jurisdiction  was  exercised  in  the  first  instance  on  the 
royal  domain  by  prevSts^  vicomtes^  or  viguiers.  Above  them  stood  the 
baillis  or  sSnSchaux^*  who  acted  as  judges  of  appeal  for  their  districts, 

*  The  whole  of  France  was  divided  into  some  twenty-four  hailliages  and  sene- 
chaussees^  varying  greatly  in  size.  Koughly  speaking,  the  former  term  is  used  in  the 
North,  the  latter  in  the  South. 


Royal  officers 


403 


which  were  considerable  in  size,  not  only  from  the  royal  judges,  but 
also  from  the  seigniorial  courts  within  the  limits  of  their  authority. 
They  held  periodical  assizes,  and  were  bound  to  appoint  lieutenants 
under  them.  The  haillis  and  senechaux  had  by  this  time  lost  their  finan- 
cial attributes,  but  they  still  duplicated  military  and  judicial  functions. 
When  the  ban  et  arriere-ban  was  called  out,  these  officers  assumed  the 
command,  and  it  was  not  till  a  later  time  that  the  office  was  divided  so 
as  to  suit  the  two  somewhat  incompatible  duties.  Frequent  edicts  were 
passed  to  secure  the  residence  of  these  important  functionaries,  but  we 
not  infrequently  find  the  office  held  by  a  courtier,  or  by  a  soldier  on 
campaign. 

Among  the  great  legislative  acts  of  Charles  VII  the  ordinance  of 
Montils-lez-Tours  ranks  high,  and  settles  the  general  rules  of  judicial 
procedure  for  the  kingdom.  The  reign  of  Louis  XII  saw  considerable 
reforms  in  the  detail  of  judicial  machinery  (1499  and  1510),  but  the 
outline  of  the  judicial  constitution  was  not  seriously  changed.  The 
codification  of  local  customs  projected  by  Louis  XI  was  begun  under 
Charles  VIII,  and  carried  on  vigorously  under  Louis  XII,  but  not 
completed  at  his  death.  More  than  a  century  elapsed  before  this  great 
task  was  finally  achieved.  This  reform  affected  the  northern  part  of 
France  which  was  governed  by  droit  coutumier^  as  opposed  to  those 
provinces  (Dauphine,  Provence,  Languedoc,  Guyenne,  and  Lyonnais) 
which  were  dominated  by  droit  ecrit^  a  modified  form  of  Roman  law. 

There  were  many  officers  of  more  dignity  than  real  authority,  whose 
posts  were  a  heritage  from  the  more  primitive  organisation  of  feudal 
times.  The  foremost  of  these  was  the  Constable  of  France,  whose  sword 
of  office  was  coveted  by  the  greatest  nobles  of  the  realm.  Great  nobles 
were  also  given  the  rank  and  style  of  governors  of  provinces  with  vice- 
regal powers ;  but  the  functions  of  such  governors  were  not  an  essential 
part  of  the  scheme  of  rule.  More  humble,  but  perhaps  not  less  impor- 
tant, were  the  secretaries  and  notaries  of  bourgeois  rank  attached  to  the 
King's  chancellery.  Many  of  these,  Bourr^,  for  instance,  and  Balue, 
rose  to  great  authority,  wealth,  and  influence.  The  tendency  to  give 
real  power  and  confidence  rather  to  bourgeois^  clerks,  and  poor  gentlemen 
than  to  the  highest  nobility  is  marked  both  in  Charles  VII  and  Louis  XL 
Of  poor  gentlemen  so  elevated  Commines  and  Ymbert  de  Batarnay  are 
conspicuous  examples. 

The  multiplication  of  offices,  especially  of  financial  offices,  is  a  cause 
of  complaint  at  least  from  the  time  of  Louis  XI  onwards.  That  King, 
regarding  himself,  in  virtue  of  his  consciousness  of  supreme  political 
wisdom,  as  emancipated  from  all  rules  that  experience  teaches  to  small 
men,  would,  when  anxious  to  reward  a  useful  servant,  create  without 
scruple  an  office  for  his  sake,  as  readily  as  he  would  alienate  for  him  a 
portion  of  domain,  or  fix  a  charge  upon  a  grenier  of  salt.  The  com- 
plaints of  the  Estates  of  1484  suggest  that  the  venality  of  offices,  even 


404 


Finance 


judicial,  had  already  begun.  Certainly  it  was  an  evil  day  for  France, 
when  the  sale  of  offices  was  first  adopted  ^as  a  financial  expedient, 
whether  by  Louis  XII  in  1512,  or  by  another  sovereign. 

The  efficiency  of  the  King's  officers  throughout  the  land  is  chiefly 
shown  by  their  zeal  for  his  interests  and  their  own.  Under  Louis  XII 
a  considerable  improvement  is  evident  in  the  matters  of  public  order 
and  police,  but  on  this  side  very  much  still  remains  to  be  desired. 
The  police  is  in  the  hands  of  the  prevdts  and  haillis  assisted  by  their 
serpens.  The  prevot  of  Paris  also  exercised  a  singular  police  jurisdiction 
throughout  the  land ;  and  Louis  XI  made  extensive  use  of  the  summary 
jurisdiction  of  the  prevot  des  marechaux,  whose  powers  properly  extended 
only  over  the  military. 

Complicated  as  is  the  financial  system  of  France  at  the  end  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  an  effort  to  understand  it  is  not  wasted.  The  life  of  the 
Middle  Ages  for  the  most  part  escapes  all  quantitative  analysis ;  and 
even  the  detail  of  anatomy  and  function  must  in  great  measure  remain 
unknown.  It  is  much  then  that  we  are  permitted  to  know  the  main 
outlines  of  the  scheme  which  supplied  the  means  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
English,  for  the  long  struggle  with  Charles  the  Bold  and  Maximilian, 
and  for  the  Italian  campaigns,  as  well  as  for  the  not  inconsiderable 
luxury  and  display  of  the  French  Court  in  this  period.  It  is  much 
that  we  are  able  to  give  approximate  figures  for  the  revenue,  and  to 
guess  what  was  the  weight  of  the  public  burdens,  and  how  and  on 
whom  they  pressed.  Moreover,  the  financial  institutions  are  themselves 
of  rare  historical  interest ;  for  each  anomaly  of  the  system  is  a  mark  left 
on  the  structure  of  the  government  by  the  history  of  the  nation. 

The  history  of  French  finance  in  the  fc^urteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 
can  be  summed  up  with  relative  accuracy  in  a  few  words.  When  Philip 
the  Fair  first  felt  the  need  of  extraordinary  revenue,  he  endeavoured  to 
secure  the  consent  of  the  seigneurs  individually  for  the  taxation  of 
their  subjects.  Afterwards  the  Estates  made  grants  of  imposts,  direct 
and  indirect,  to  meet  exceptional  emergencies.  As  the  result  of  masked 
or  open  usurpation,  the  Kings  succeeded  in  making  good  their  claim  to 
levy  those  taxes  by  royal  fiat  over  the  greater  part  of  the  kingdom. 

In  the  earlier  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  still  usual  to  secure 
the  consent  of  the  provincial  Estates  of  at  least  the  centre  of  France  for 
the  taille.  Under  Charles  VII  this  impost,  the  last  and  the  most  impor- 
tant, became,  definitely  and  finally,  an  annual  tax,  and  the  fiction  of  a 
vote  by  the  Estates,  whether  general  or  provincial,  was  almost  entirely 
given  up  in  Languedoil.  From  that  time  till  the  reforms  of  Francis  I  no 
important  change  in  method  was  introduced.  The  screw  was  frequently 
tightened,  and  occasionally  relaxed.  New  provinces  were  added  to  the 
kingdom,  and  received  exceptional  and  indulgent  treatment.  But  the 
main  scheme  of  finance  was  fixed.  Many  of  its  features,  indeed,  were 
to  remain  unaltered  till  the  Revolution.- 


Domaine.  —  Gabelle 


405 


The  revenue,  as  collected  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is  classed  as  ordinary  and  extraor- 
dinary. The  ordinary  revenue  is  the  ancient  heritage  of  the  Kings  of 
France,  and  comes  from  the  domain  lands  and  rights,  being  increased  on 
the  one  hand  by  the  acquisitions  of  the  sovereigns,  and  diminished  on  the 
other  by  war  and  waste,  extravagant  donations,  and  from  time  to  time  by 
grants  of  appanages  to  the  members  of  the  royal  house.  A  variety  of 
profits  accrue  to  the  King  from  his  position  as  direct  proprietor  of  land,  or 
as  suzerain.  Rents  and  fines,  reliefs  and  escheats,  sale  of  wood,  and  pay- 
ments made  in  kind  form  one  class  of  domain  receipts  ;  while  the  official 
seal  required  to  authenticate  so  many  transactions  brings  a  substantial 
income,  and  the  King  still  makes  a  profit  by  the  fines  and  forfeitures 
decreed  by  his  prevots  and  haillis  in  his  local  courts.  The  inheritance 
of  foreigners  (auhaine)^  and  of  bastards,  is  yet  another  valuable  right. 
Regales^  francs-fiefs,  droits  cf  amortissements,  are  further  items  in  a  long 
list  bristling  with  the  technicalities  of  feudal  law,  as  developed  by  the 
Kings  with  a  single-minded  attention  to  their  own  interest.  Language, 
if  not  public  feeling,  still  insists  that  this  revenue  is  to  be  regarded  as 
ordinary,  while  other  revenue  is  in  some  sort  extraordinary,  if  not  ille- 
gitimate; but  a  King  who  should  attempt  to  live  upon  his  ordinary 
receipts  would  be  poor  indeed.  The  expenses  of  collecting  the  domaine 
are  heavy,  the  waste  and  destruction  of  the  Hundred  Years'  War  and  the 
extravagant  administration  of  successive  Kings  have  reduced  the  gross 
returns,  until  under  Charles  VII  the  domaine  is  estimated  at  no  more  than 
50,000  clear  annual  livres  tournois* ;  and  although  under  Louis  XI  it 
may  have  risen  to  100,000,  under  Louis  XII  to  200,000  or  more,  the 
total  is  insignificant  compared  with  the  needs  even  of  a  pacific  and 
economical  King. 

To  his  assistance  come  the  aides,  gahelle,  and  taille.  The  aides  are 
indirect  taxes,  formerly  imposed  by  the  Estates  General,  but  levied  since 
Charles  V  by  royal  authority.  There  is  a  twentieth  levied  on  the  sale 
of  goods,  and  an  eighth,  sometimes  a  fourth,  on  liquors  sold  retail. 
There  are  many  kinds  of  duties  and  tolls  levied  on  goods  in  transit,  not 
only  on  the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom,  but  at  the  limits  of  the  several 
provinces  and  elsewhere.  These  imports,  multiplex  as  they  are,  and 
oppressive  as  they  seem,  bring  in,  from  the  farmers  who  compound  for 
them,  no  more  than  535,000  livres  tournois  in  1461 ;  and  in  1514  their 
return  has  not  risen  above  654,000  l.t.  Languedoc  has  its  separate  excise 
duty  on  meat  and  fish,  known  as  the  Equivalent,  and  collected  by  the 
authority  of  the  Estates. 

The  gabelle  du  sel,  once  a  local  and  seigniorial  tax,  has,  since  the 
time  of  Philippe  de  Valois,  become  a  perpetual  and  almost  universal 

*  An  exact  equation  is  impossible ;  but  the  purchasing  power  of  the  Uvre  tournois 
in  the  later  fifteenth  century  was  probably  not  much  greater  or  less  than,  that  of 
the  pound  sterling  to-day. 


406 


Taille 


royal  impost.  As  a  rule  the  salt  of  the  kingdom  is  brought  into  the 
royal  warehouses,  greniers^  and  left  there  by  the  merchants  for  sale, 
this  taking  place  in  regular  turn.  A  fixed  addition  for  the  royal 
profit  is  made  to  the  price  of  the  salt  as  it  is  sold;  and  heads  of 
houses  are  required  to  purchase  a  fixed  annual  minimum  of  salt.  In 
Languedoc  the  tax  is  levied  on  its  passage  from  the  salt  works  on  the 
sea  coast,  and  the  black  salt  of  Poitou  and  Saintonge  gets  off  with  a 
tax  of  25  per  cent. ;  but  the  general  principle  is  the  same.  From  a 
quarter  upwards  is  added  to  the  price  of  a  necessary  of  life,  and  the 
product  is  in  1461  about  160,000  l.t.^  rising  in  the  more  prosperous 
times  and  with  the  more  accurate  finance  of  Louis  XII  to  some 
280,000  It, 

Finally  there  is  the  taille^  fouage^  hearth  or  land-tax.  The  gradual 
process  by  which  the  right  of  the  seigneurs  to  levy  taille  on  their  subjects 
had  passed  into  the  exclusive  possession  of  the  King  is  too  long  to  admit 
of  being  followed  here.  Here  as  in  other  cases  the  Estates  at  first 
permitted  what  the  King  afterwards  carried  on  without  their  leave. 
Under  the  agonising  pressure  of  foreign  and  civil  war  Charles  VII  was 
allowed,  —  we  can  hardly  say  that  he  was  authorised,  —  to  transform  the 
taille  into  an  annual  tax  levied  at  the  King's  discretion.  The  normal 
total  was  fixed  at  1,200,000  Lt. ;  but  Charles  VII  established  a  pre- 
cedent by  imposing  crues^  or  arbitrary  additions  to  the  tax,  levied  for 
some  special  emergency.  The  intervention  of  the  Estates  in  Langue- 
doil  and  Outreseine  ceased  ;  in  Normandy  it  became  a  mere  form ; 
in  Languedoc  it  was  reduced  to  a  one-sided  negotiation  between  the 
province  and  the  King,  in  which  he  might  show  indulgence,  but  the 
deputies  could  hardly  show  fight.  Yet  resistance  was  not  infrequently 
tried,  and  was  sometimes  successful  even  with  the  inexorable  Louis  XL 
On  the  other  hand  even  in  Languedoc  a  erue  is  sometimes  ordered 
and  paid  without  a  vote,  though  never  without  protest.  The  taille 
fell  only  on  the  roturiers,  and  spared  the  privileged  orders  of  clergy 
and  noblesse.  In  Languedoc  the  exemption  followed  the  traditional 
distinction  of  tenements  into  noble  and  non-noble;  in  Languedoil  the 
peasant  paid  if  occupying  a  noble  fief,  the  noble  was  exempt  although 
in  actual  possession  of  a  villain  holding. 

Thus  the  clergy  and  the  nobility  escaped,  except  in  a  few  cases,  the 
direct  burden  of  the  principal  tax.  Speaking  generally,  they  did  not 
escape  the  burden  of  the  aides  and  gahelle^  though  they  had  certain 
privileges.  Royal  officers  for  the  most  part  escaped  not  only  taille  but 
gahelle.  Many  of  the  principal  towns  also  escaped  the  former.  Such 
were  Paris,  Rouen,  Laon,  Reims,  Tours,  and  many  others.  There  were 
other  inequalities  and  injustices.  Normandy  paid  one-fourth  of  the  whole 
taille,,  —  a  monstrous  burden  upon  a  province  which  had  suffered  not  less 
than  any  other  from  the  War.  The  proportion  of  one-tenth  fixed  on 
Languedoc  was  probably  also  excessive.    In  the  recherche  of  1491  it  was 


Revenue 


407 


calculated  that  Languedoil  paid  19  l,t,  per  head,  Outreseine  27,  Nor- 
mandy 60,  and  Languedoc  67,  —  an  estimate  which  may  be  very  far  from 
the  facts,  but  gives  the  result  of  contemporary  impression.  Guyenne, 
when  added  to  the  direct  dominion  of  the  Crown,  escaped  in  large 
measure  the  aides.,  and  was  allowed  to  vote  a  small  contribution  by  way 
of  taille.  Burgundy  compounded  for  her  share  of  taille  by  an  annual 
vote  of  about  50,000  Z.^.,  contributing  also  to  aides  and  gahelle.  Provence 
was  allowed  to  keep  her  own  Estates  and  to  vote  a  moderate  subsidy. 
The  independent  and  privileged  position  of  Britanny  was  not  altered 
until  after  the  death  of  Louis  XII.  Dauphine  was  treated  with  a  con- 
sideration even  greater  than  was  warranted  by  its  poverty.  Thus  the 
main  tax,  unevenly  distributed  as  it  was,  pressed  the  more  heavily  on 
the  cultivators  of  the  less  fortunate  regions.  It  is  not  uncommon  to 
hear  of  the  inhabitants  of  some  district  under  Charles  VII  or  Louis  XI 
preferring  to  leave  home  and  property  rather  than  bear  the  enormous 
weight  of  the  public  burdens.  The  taxable  capacity  of  the  people 
was  constantly  increasing  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century ; 
but  under  Louis  XI  the  burdens  increased  with  more  than  equal 
rapidity.  The  taille  increased  from  1,035,000  l.t,  in  1461  to  some 
3,900,000  in  1483.  From  the  pressing  remonstrances  of  the  Estates 
in  1484  a  great  alleviation  resulted.  The  taille  was  reduced  to 
1,500,000  l.t.^  and  although  the  expedition  of  Naples,  the  War  of 
Britanny,  and  other  causes,  necessitated  a  subsequent  rise,  the  figures 
remained  far  below  the  level  of  Louis  XI^s  reign.  Louis  XII  was 
enabled,  in  spite  of  his  ambitious  schemes,  to  effect  further  reductions  ; 
but  the  War  of  Cambray  and  its  sequel  swept  away  nearly  all  the  ad- 
vantage that  had  been  gained.  The  revenue  raised  in  1514  was  as 
high  as  the  highest  raised  under  Louis  XL  But  the  aides  and  domaine 
were  more  productive  ;  the  taille  was  less,  and  weighed  less  heavily  on 
a  more  prosperous  nation. 

Under  Philip  the  Fair  and  his  successors  down  to  Charles  VII  a 
considerable  though  precarious  revenue  had  often  been  realised  by  the 
disastrous  method  of  tampering  with  the  standard  of  value.  In  the  latter 
years  of  Charles  VII  and  under  his  three  successors  this  device  was 
rarely  employed.  A  considerable  depreciation  may  be  indeed  observed 
between  the  standard  of  Louis  XII  and  that  of  Charles  VII  ;  but  the 
changes  were  far  less  important  and  frequent  than  those  of  the  earlier 
period.  A  certain  revenue  was  obtained  by  legitimate  seigniorage,  and 
the  illegitimate  profits  of  debasement  and  the  like  maybe  almost  neglected. 

The  system  of  collection  was  still  only  partially  centralised,  and 
marked  the  imperfect  union  of  the  successive  acquisitions  of  the  mon- 
archy. For  the  collection  and  administration  both  of  domaine  and 
extraordinary  revenue  the  older  provinces  were  distributed  into  four 
divisions.  Western  Languedoil  was  administered  with  Guyenne ;  but 
the  parts  of  Languedoil  beyond  Seine  and  Yonne,  when  reunited  to  the 


408 


Financial  administration 


Crown,  about  1436,  were  organised  as  a  separate  financial  group  (Outre- 
seine).  Normandy  formed  a  third  and  separate  administrative  area. 
Administrative  Languedoc,  that  is  to  say  the  three  senechaussees  of 
Carcassonne,  Beaucaire,  and  Toulouse,  forms  the  fourth.  Picardy, 
Burgundy,  Dauphin^,  Provence,  Roussillon,  and  of  course  Britanny, 
were  not  included  in  the  general  scheme.  Milan  had  its  separate 
financial  establishment,  and  maintained  600  lances. 

In  these  last-mentioned  provinces  the  ordinary  and  extraordinary 
revenue  were  administered  together ;  elsewhere  domaine  and  extraor- 
dinary revenue  were  separated.  For  the  administration  of  the  domaine 
each  of  the  four  main  divisions  had  a  separate  treasurer,  who  was 
practically  supreme  in  his  own  district.  Under  them  were  as  adminis- 
trators on  the  first  line  the  haillis  or  seneehaux^  on  the  second,  the 
prevdts^  vicomtes^  or  viguiers.  The  separation  of  the  receipt  from  the 
administration  of  funds  is  a  principle  that  runs  through  the  whole 
system  of  finance  both  ordinary  and  extraordinary.  Accordingly,  there 
is  a  receveur  for  each  prevote  or  other  subdivision,  and  a  general  receiver 
for  the  whole  domain,  known  as  the  changeur  du  Tresor,  But  the  actual 
collection  of  cash  at  the  central  office  was  in  large  measure  avoided, 
partly  by  charging  the  local  officer  of  receipt  with  all  local  expenses, 
and  partly  by  a  system  of  drafts  on  local  offices  adopted  for  the  payment 
of  obligations  incurred  by  the  central  government.  The  beneficiary 
presented  his  draft  to  the  local  receveur  or  grenetler,  or  discounted  it 
with  a  broker,  who  forwarded  it  to  his  agent  for  collection.  The  same 
plan  was  adopted  in  the  extraordinary  finance,  and  made  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  financial  position,  and  correct  supervision  of  the 
accounts,  a  matter  of  extreme  difficulty.  Contentious  business  was 
either  settled  by  the  haillis  or  prevots,  or  by  a  central  tribunal  of 
domaine  finance,  the  Chambre  du  Tresor^  or  in  some  cases  by  the 
Chamhre  des  Oomptes  or  the  Parlement, 

The  same  regions  of  France  were  similarly  divided  for  extraordinary 
finance  into  four  generalites.  At  the  head  of  each  were  two  generaux^ 
one  pour  le  fait  des  finances^  the  other  pour  le  fait  de  la  justice.  The 
four  generaux  de  la  justice  met  together  to  form  the  Cour  des  Aides.,  an 
appeal  Court  for  contentious  questions  arising  out  of  the  collection  of  the 
extraordinary  revenue.  There  are  other  Oours  des  Aides,  at  Montpellier 
for  Languedoc,  and  at  Rouen  for  Normandy.  Each  general  des  finances 
was  supreme  in  the  administration  of  his  own  generalite.  Associated 
with  each  general  there  was  a  receveur  general.^  who  guarded  the  cash 
and  was  accountable  for  it.  In  Languedoc  the  partition  and  collection 
of  taille  and  the  collection  of  aides  was  managed  by  the  Estates  of  the 
province.  The  other  three  generalites  (except  Guyenne,  which  was 
administered  by  commissioners)  were  divided  into  elections^  a  term 
reminiscent  of  the  earlier  system  when  the  Estates  collected  the  sums 
they  had  voted  and  elected  the  supervising  officers.    The  elus.^  who  stood 


Imperfect  control 


409 


at  the  head  of  each  Slection^  and  whose  duty  it  was  to  apportion  the 
taille  over  the  several  parishes,  to  let  out  the  aides^  and  to  act  as  judges 
of  first  instance  in  any  litigation  that  might  arise,  were  now,  as  they  had 
long  since  been,  the  nominees  of  the  King.  Beside  them  stood  the 
receveurs^  who  as  a  rule  handled  the  product  both  of  taille  and  aides. 
As  a  general  rule  each  receveur,  whether  of  ordinary  or  extraordinary 
finance,  was  doubled  with  a  comptroller,  whose  business  it  was  to  check 
his  accounts,  and  fortify  his  honesty.  The  aides  were  let  out  at  farm. 
The  actual  collection  of  the  taille  was  carried  out  by  locally  appointed 
collectors,  who  received  five  per  cent,  for  their  trouble.  The  assessment 
on  individuals  was  the  work  of  locally  elected  asseeurs.  The  collection 
of  the  gabelle  was  in  the  hands  of  special  officers.  Each  grenier  had  a 
receiver  called  grenetier  and  the  inevitable  contrerdleur. 

All  accounts  of  the  area  so  circumscribed  were  inspected  and  passed 
by  a  superior  body,  the  Chambre  des  Comptes.  Separate  Courts  were 
also  set  up  at  Nantes,  Dijon,  Aix,  and  Grenoble  for  their  respective 
provinces.  The  Chambre  des  Comptes  of  Paris  was  differently  composed 
at  different  times  but  consisted  in  1511  of  two  presidents  and  ten  maitres 
des  Comptes.  It  had  power  to  impose  disciplinary  penalties  on  financial 
officers,  and  claimed  to  be  a  sovereign  Court,  exempt  from  the  controlling 
jurisdiction  of  the  Parlement^  but  this  claim  was  not  always  successfully 
maintained.  All  alienations  of  domain,  and  pensions  for  more  than  a 
brief  period  of  years,  had  to  be  registered  in  the  Chambre  des  Comptes^  — 
a  form  which  gave  this  Court  the  opportunity  to  protest  against,  and 
at  any  rate  to  delay,  injudicious  grants. 

As  will  be  seen,  this  financial  system  by  no  means  lacked  checks 
and  safeguards;  rather  perhaps  it  erred  on  the  side  of  over-elaboration. 
Although  an  immense  improvement  is  perceptible  since  the  time  of 
Charles  VI,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  system  suffered  from 
considerable  leakage.  The  men  employed  in  the  King's  finance  were 
mostly  of  bourgeois  rank ;  ^Jacques  Coeur,  Guillaume  and  Pierre  Bri9on- 
net,  Jacques  de  Beaune,  Etienne  Chevalier,  Jean  Bourre,  are  among  the 
most  famous  names ;  in  many  cases  they  were  related  to  each  other  by 
blood  or  marriage,  and  they  all,  almost  without  exception,  became  very 
rich.  In  some  cases  this  need  be  thought  no  shame  ;  thus  Jacques  Coeur 
no  doubt  owed  his  wealth  to  the  inexhaustible  riches  of  oriental  trade. 
But  as  a  rule  servants  only  grow  rich  at  the  expense  of  their  master ;  and 
it  is  a  sign  of  evil  augury  when  the  servant  lends  his  master  money,  as 
for  instance  Jacques  de  Beaune  did  on  a  large  scale.  This  great  financier 
was  in  the  ambiguous  position  of  a  banker  who  himself  discounted  the 
bills  just  signed  by  him  for  his  King.  The  business  was  legitimate,  and 
lucrative  because  of  its  very  hazardousness ;  but  it  comported  ill  with  a 
position  of  supreme  financial  trust  and  responsibility. 

Not  only  was  the  system  of  control  imperfect,  and  the  tradition  of 
honesty  unsatisfactory,  but  the  scheme  lacked  unity  of  direction.  There 


410 


Expenditure 


was  no  single  responsible  financial  officer.  Jacques  de  Beaune  (sieur 
de  Semblengay,  1510-23)  enjoyed  a  certain  priority  of  dignity,  but 
exercised  no  unifying  authority.  Once  a  year  the  treasurers  and  gene- 
raux^  "  Messieurs  des  finances,^^  met  in  committee  and  drew  up  in 
concert  the  budget  for  the  year.  So  much  being  expected  as  receipt 
from  domaine^  aides^  and  gahelle^  and  so  much  anticipated  as  expendi- 
ture,—  then  the  taille  must  be  so  much  to  meet  the  balance.  And  to  a 
certain  extent  the  Council  of  State  kept  its  hand  on  finance,  assisted  at 
need  by  the  financial  officers  specially  convened.  But  unity  of  manage- 
ment and  administration  was  conspicuously  wanting. 

The  expenditure  of  the  four  Kings  cannot,  on  the  whole,  if  tried  by  a 
royal  standard,  be  called  extravagant.  The  most  questionable  item  is 
that  of  pensions.  Pensions  were  not  only  used  to  reward  services,  and 
gratify  courtiers,  but  were  also  given  on  a  large  scale  to  Princes  of  the 
Blood  and  considerable  nobles.  Historically  such  pensions  may  be 
regarded  as  some  compensation  for  the  loss  of  the  right  of  raising  aides 
and  taille  in  their  own  domain,  which  had  once  belonged  to  jDcrsonages 
holding  such  positions,  but  which  since  1439  had  remained  categorically 
abolished.  With  the  fall  of  Charles  the  Bold  and  the  absorption  of 
Britann}^  the  last  examples  of  princes  enjoying  such  rights  unquestioned 
disappeared.  Politically  such  pensions  were  intended  to  conciliate  possi- 
ble opponents  and  enemies,  for  the  great  princes,  though  stripped  by  law 
of  their  chief  powers,  still  possessed  in  spite  of  the  law  sufficient  influence 
and  authority  to  raise  a  war.  How  strong  such  influence  might  be 
we  see  in  1465,  when  not  only  Britanny  and  Burgundy,  but  Bourbon, 
Armagnac,  and  d'Albret,  found  their  subjects  ready  to  follow  them 
against  the  King. 

Such  pensions  were  an  old  abuse.  Louis  XI  found  in  them  one  of 
his  most  powerful  political  engines  and  distributed  them  with  a  lavish 
hand.  The  pensions  bill  rose  under  him  from  about  300,000  l.t,  to 
500,000.  In  addition  there  were  the  great  English  pensions,  and  the 
pensions  to  the  Swiss.  The  totals  were  probably  not  much  less  under 
Charles  VIII ;  but  Louis  XII  reduced  them  at  one  time  so  low  as  105,000 
and  seems  to  have  effected  a  substantial  average  diminution.  However, 
the  practice  of  charging  pensions  on  local  sources  of  revenue,  especially 
the  gre^iiers  of  salt,  prevents  the  whole  magnitude  of  this  waste  from 
coming  into  view. 

The  expenses  of  the  Court,  largely  military,  rose  under  Louis  XI 
from  about  300,000  to  400,000  l.t. ;  and  seem  to  have  been  reduced  by 
half  or  more  by  Louis  XII.  Military  expenses  are  of  course  the  chief  item 
of  the  budget.  The  constantly  increasing  expenditure  of  Louis  XI  is 
chiefly  due  to  the  cost  of  the  army.  The  establishment  rose  from  2000 
lances  to  3884  in  1483,  when  there  was  also  a  standing  army  of  16,000 
foot  at  Pont  de  I'Arche  in  Normandy,  including  6000  Swiss.  The  cost 
of  the  army  on  a  peace  footing  is  not  less  in  this  year  than  2,700,000  l.t. 


Army  reform  411 

The  difficulties  of  Louis  XI  were  very  great,  and  the  results  of  his 
military  expenditure  on  the  whole  commensurate  with  the  sacrifices, 
but  he  seems  in  his  later  years  to  have  been  driven  by  nervous  fear 
to  excessive  precaution. 

The  military  budget  of  the  succeeding  Kings  was  conspicuously  less. 
The  War  of  Naples  was  chiefly  waged  on  credit,  and  at  the  death  of 
Charles  VIII  a  deficit  of  1,400,000  remained  unliquidated,  but  in  no 
year  can  the  totals  of  Louis  XI  have  been  passed ;  perhaps  in  1496  they 
may  have  been  reached.  Louis  XII  carried  on  his  wars  very  economi- 
cally until  the  deserved  disasters  of  the  War  of  Cambray.  The  tailU 
of  these  years  speaks  for  itself.  It  rises  steadily  from  2,000,000  l,t. 
in  1510  to  3,700,000  in  1514,  and  the  father  of  his  people  left  an 
additional  deficit  of  a  million  and  a  half. 

The  new  conditions,  political  and  social,  of  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries  in  France  had  long  demanded  a  reorganisation  of  the 
army.  Service  by  tenure  had  lost  its  meaning  since,  in  the  time  of 
Philip  the  Fair,  the  practice  of  paying  the  contingents  had  been  adopted. 
There  is  little  that  is  feudal  in  the  organisation  of  the  French  army 
during  the  Hundred  Years*  War,  much  more  that  is  anarchical,  and  a 
little  that  is  royal.  At  most  the  feudal  aristocracy  supplies  some  of  the 
cadres  in  which  the  troops  are  embodied.  But  the  aristocracy  is  not  a 
necessary  but  an  accidental  feature  of  the  scheme.  The  organisation 
of  the  host  and  of  its  units  does  not  follow  the  lines  of  the  feudal 
hierarchy.  The  King  is  a  rallying-point,  giving  rise  to  a  delusive  sense 
of  unity  of  direction ;  chance  and  the  love  of  fighting  accomplish  the 
rest.  For  a  few  years  the  centralising  purpose  of  Charles  V  warranted 
better  hopes,  which  perished  with  his  death. 

As  the  War  continues,  the  professional  soldier,  the  professional  cap- 
tain, becomes  all  in  all.  This  soldier  or  captain  may  be  a  noble,  born 
to  the  art  of  arms,  but  side  by  side  with  him  are  many  adventurers 
sprung  from  the  lower  orders.  They  are  glad  to  receive  pay  if  pay  is 
forthcoming  ;  if  not,  they  will  be  content  with  loot ;  in  any  case  they  are 
lawless,  landless,  homeless  mercenaries,  who  live  upon  the  people,  and  are 
the  terror  rather  of  friend  than  of  foe.  This  lack  of  even  feudal  discipline 
in  France  is  the  cause  of  the  success  of  the  better-organised  armies  of 
England.  It  is  also  the  principal  cause  of  the  horrors  of  the  endless 
War.  When  a  respite  intervenes,  the  country  knows  no  peace  till  the 
mercenaries  are  sent  to  die  abroad,  —  in  Castile,  in  Lorraine,  or  against 
the  Swiss. 

To  have  put  an  end  to  this  misrule  is  the  conspicuous  service  of 
Charles  VII  and  his  successors.  In  1439,  on  the  occasion  of  a  great 
meeting  of  the  Estates  at  Orleans,  the  King  and  his  Council  promulgated 
a  notable  edict.  The  number  of  captains  was  henceforth  to  be  fixed,  and 
no  person  was  under  the  gravest  penalties  to  entertain  soldiers  without 
the  King's  permission.    A  pathetic  list  follows  of  customary  outrages. 


412 


Cavalry,  —  Infantry 


which  are  now  forbidden ;  and  the  captains  are  made  responsible  for 
the  good  conduct  of  their  men.  The  seneschals  and  bailiffs  are  given 
authority,  if  authority  suffices,  to  punish  any  military  crimes  whatso- 
ever, and  wheresoever  committed.  The  financial  side  of  the  measure  is- 
indicated  by  a  clause  prohibiting  all  lords  from  levying  tallies  in  their 
lands  without  the  King's  leave,  impeding  the  collectors  of  the  King's 
taille^  or  collecting  any  increment  on  their  own  account.  The  King 
intends  to  have  an  army,  to  have  the  only  army,  to  have  it  disciplined 
and  obedient,  and  to  have  the  money  for  its  pay. 

Unfortunately  the  revolt  known  as  the  Praguerie,  which  broke  out 
soon  after,  impeded  the  development  of  this  plan.  The  Armagnacs 
were  then  sent  to  be  let  blood  in  Lorraine  and  Switzerland.  The  warlike 
operations  of  1444  having  been  carried  out,  the  scheme  took  effect  in  the 
following  year.  Fifteen  companies  of  one  hundred  "  lances  "  were  insti- 
tuted, each  under  a  captain  appointed  by  the  King.  It  would  seem  that 
five  more  were  to  be  supported  by  Languedoc.  Each  "lance"  was  to 
consist  of  one  man-at-arms,  two  archers,  a  swordsman,  a  valet,  and  a 
page,  all  mounted  and  armed  according  to  their  quality.  The  page  and 
the  valet  were  the  servants  of  the  man-at-arms,  but  the  valet  at  least 
was  a  fighting  man.  The  method  of  organisation  is  strange,  but  has  an 
historical  explanation.  It  had  long  been  customary  for  the  man-at-arms 
to  take  the  field  accompanied  by  several  armed  followers ;  the  ordinance 
adopted  the  existing  practice.  Its  effect  was  to  establish  several  different 
sorts  of  cavalry,  light  and  heavy,  capable  of  manoeuvring  separately, 
and  useful  for  different  purposes ;  but  tradition  required  that  they 
should  be  grouped  in  "  lances,"  and  it  was  long  before  the  advantage 
of  separating  them  was  understood.  For  a  time  the  superstitious 
imitation  of  English  tactics  made  the  men-at-arms  dismount  for  the 
shock  of  battle  ;  but  they  learned  their  own  lesson  from  experience,  and 
found  that  few  could  resist  the  weight  of  armoured  men  and  heavy 
horses  charging  in  line. 

At  first  the  new  companies  were  quartered  on  the  several  provinces, 
and  the  task  of  providing  for  them  was  left  to  the  local  Estates.  But 
before  long  the  advantage  of  regular  money  payment  was  perceived,  and 
a  taille  was  levied  to  provide  monthly  pay,  at  the  rate  of  thirty-one 
livres  per  lance. 

The  force  of  standing  cavalry  so  formed  became  the  admiration  of 
Europe.  Their  ranks  were  mainly  filled  with  noblemen,  whose  magnifi- 
cent tradition  of  personal  courage  and  devotion  to  the  practice  of  arms 
made  them  the  best  possible  material.  In  four  campaigns  they  mastered 
and  expelled  the  English.  In  Britanny,  in  Italy,  on  a  score  of  fields 
they  proved  their  bravery,  their  discipline,  their  skill.  They  had 
undoubtedly  the  faults  of  professional  soldiers,  but  their  virtues  no 
body  of  men  ever  had  in  a  higher  degree.  Even  the  moral  tone  of  an 
army  that  trained  and  honoured  Bayard  could  not  be  altogether  bad. 


Artillery.  —  Navy.  —  Commerce 


413 


!  Fortunately  perhaps  for  Europe,  the  King's  efforts  to  form  an 
adequate  force  of  infantry  were  not  equally  successful.  In  1448  each 
parish  was  ordered  to  supply  an  archer  fully  armed  for  fighting  on  foot. 
The  individual  chosen  was  to  practise  the  bow  on  feast-days  and 
holidays,  and  to  serve  the  King  for  pay  when  called  upon.  In  return  he 
was  freed  from  the  payment  of  taille^  whence  the  name  francs  archers. 
Later  the  contingent  was  one  archer  to  every  fifty  feux^  and  under 
Louis  XI  it  was  reckoned  that  there  were  some  16,000  men  in  this 
militia.  Four  classes  were  then  differentiated;  pikemen,  halberdiers, 
archers,  cross-bowmen.  They  were  organised  in  brigades  of  4,000  under 
a  captain-general,  and  bands  of  500  under  a  captain.  They  did  not 
however  prove  efficient,  and  in  1479  disgraced  themselves  at  Guinegaste. 
Louis  XI  then  dismissed  them  and  established  a  standing  army  of 
16,000  foot  at  Pont  de  FArche  in  Normandy,  of  whom  6,000  were 
Swiss.  To  meet  the  expense  and  provide  regular  pay,  an  extra  taille 
was  imposed. 

The  cost  of  this  army  led  to  its  disbandment  in  the  next  reign,  and 
Charles  VIII  tried  to  revive  the  institution  of  free  archers.  Free  archers 
fought  on  both  sides  in  the  Wars  of  Britanny.  But  they  were  not  taken 
to  Naples,  and  although  they  are  still  mentioned  occasionally,  they  saw 
no  further  service  in  the  period  now  under  review. 

Louis  XII  relied  largely  on  Swiss,  and  afterwards  on  Germans.  But 
he  also  organised  bands  of  French  aventuriers  under  the  command  of 
gentlemen.  Those  who  guarded  the  frontier  of  Picardy  were  known  as 
the  bandes  de  Picardie.  Levies  were  also  made  in  Gascony,  Britanny, 
Dauphin^,  and  Piedmont.  But  they  were  usually  disbanded  on  the 
conclusion  of  a  war.  For  garrison  duty  a  force  of  veterans  was  kept  on 
foot  known  as  morte-paies.  But  the  infantry  arm  of  the  service  con- 
tinued to  be  unsatisfactory.  The  general  levy  of  all  those  bound  to 
bear  arms,  known  as  ban  et  arriere-ban^  was  not  infrequently  called  out 
by  Louis  XI,  but  proved  disorderly  and  unserviceable. 

The  artillery  was  first  organised  under  Charles  VII  by  the  brothers 
Bureau.  The  French  artillery  was  distinguished  by  its  comparative 
mobility,  and  discharged  iron  shot.  It  was  under  the  command  of 
the  grand  maitre  de  Vartillerie^  and  served  as  a  model  to  the  rest  of 
Europe.  We  find  under  Louis  XI,  and  afterwards,  an  organised  force 
of  sappers. 

The  navy  depended  still  in  large  measure  on  the  impressment  of 
merchant  vessels  and  seamen.  Normandy,  Provence,  and  afterwards 
Britanny,  were  the  chief  recruiting  grounds.  In  the  Italian  Wars  we 
find  the  French  Kings  chiefly  dependent  on  Genoa  for  galleys.  But 
under  Louis  XII  a  few  war  vessels  were  built  and  owned  by  the  King. 
The  French  mounted  heavy  guns  on  large  ships  with  excellent  results. 

Everywhere  we  find  invention  at  work,  directed  for  the  most  part  to 
practical  construction  and  consolidation.    Commerce  was  stirring.  The 


414 


Art  and  literature 


French  were  directing  their  attention  to  the  oriental  trade,  in  which 
Jacques  Coeur  and  the  Beaune  family  founded  their  fortunes.  Breton 
sailors  went  far  afield,  traded  with  the  Canaries  and  Madeira,  and 
were  fishing  cod  off  Iceland,  perhaps  on  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland, 
long  before  the  recognised  discovery  of  the  New  World.  But  internal 
trade  was  more  prosperous  than  foreign.  In  spite  of  paralysing  tariffs 
on  the  frontiers  of  provinces  and  the  myriad  peages  which  the  Kings  in 
vain  attempted  to  keep  down,  steady  progress  was  made.  The  misfor- 
tunes of  Bruges  and  Ghent,  Li^ge  and  Dinant,  left  a  gap  in  home 
markets  which  French  traders  partly  succeeded  in  filling.  The  silk 
trade  took  root  at  Tours  and  Lyons,  and  was  encouraged  by  Louis  XI. 
Reviving  agriculture  stimulated  commercial  and  industrial  life  in  many 
a  country  town,  and  small  fortunes  were  frequently  made.  The  mar- 
vellous recuperative  power  of  France  was  never  more  clearly  seen  than 
in  the  half  century  after  the  English  wars. 

The  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  saw  a  national  revival  of  art 
in  France.  French  miniaturists  had  long  explored  the  resources  and 
perhaps  reached  the  limits  of  their  charming  art.  The  Hours  of  the 
Duke  of  Berry,  dating  from  the  early  fifteenth  century,  are  hardly  to 
be  surpassed.  But  Jean  Foucquet  (1415-80)  was  not  only  a  master 
among  masters  of  miniature,  but  a  painter  prized  even  in  Italy.  His 
work  is  interesting  as  showing  the  taste  for  classical  architecture  in 
works  of  fancy  long  before  it  had  begun  to  influence  the  constructions 
of  French  builders.  It  is  probable  that  the  competition  of  Italian 
painters  for  the  patronage  of  the  great,  which  begins  immediately 
after  the  Italian  wars,  checked  the  growth  of  an  indigenous  French 
school  of  painting,  which  might  have  fulfilled  the  promise  of  French 
miniaturists.  In  sculpture  a  school  arose  at  Dijon  under  Charles  VI, 
which  is  original  and  fruitful.  In  this  school  was  trained  Michel 
Colombe  (who  died  in  1512) ;  his  masterpiece  is  perhaps  the  tomb  of 
Frances  II  at  Nantes. 

Gothic  ecclesiastical  architecture  had  lost  itself  in  the  meaningless 
elaborations  of  the  decadent  Flamboyant ^  But  in  domestic  architec- 
ture the  corps  de  metier  were  still  capable  of  producing  such  masterly 
work  as  the  house  of  Jacques  Coeur  at  Bourges,  and,  in  the  reign  of 
Louis  XI,  the  castles  of  Langeais  and  Le  Plessis  Bourr^,  still  standing 
solid  and  reminiscent  of  the  necessities  of  defence.  Amboise,  of  a  still 
later  date,  shows  the  same  characteristics.  Gradually  classical  influence 
begins  to  modify,  first  detail,  then  construction.  The  results  may  be 
seen  in  Louis  XI Fs  part  of  the  Castle  of  Blois.  But  the  golden  age  of 
French  Renaissance  architecture  is  the  reign  of  Francis  I,  when  first 
the  castle  put  off  its  heavy  armour,  and  assumed  the  lightness,  grace, 
and  gaiety,  so  well  known  to  travellers  on  the  Loire. 

In  literature,  the  excellence  of  the  best  is  so  great  that  it  makes  us 
the  less  willing  to  remain  content  with  the  dull  mediocrity  of  tlie  mass. 


Results  of  the  work  of  Louis  XI  415 


Charles  of  Orleans'  melancholy,  musical  verse  fixes  in  perpetuity  the 
fragrance  of  the  passing  ideals  of  chivalry.  Villon,  closely  conversant  with 
the  pathos  and  humours  of  the  real,  veils  it  gracefully  and  slightly  in 
transparent  artificialities.  Commines,  naif,  for  all  his  dignified  reserve, 
cold  wisdom,  and  experienced  cynicism,  ranks  alike  with  those  who  have 
rediscovered  the  art  of  history,  and  with  those  who  have  assisted  to 
perfect  French  prose.  Chastelain,  burdened  with  cumbrous  rhetoric 
and  prone  to  useless  sermonising,  can  on  occasion  tell  a  stirring  tale, 
and  proves  his  faults  to  be  not  of  himself,  but  of  his  school.  For  the 
rest,  in  poetry  and  prose,  whether  the  tedious  allegories  learnt  from 
the  Roman  de  la  Rose  prevail,  or  the  not  less  tedious  affectations  of 
classical  imitation,  or  the  laboured  tricks  of  a  most  unhappy  school 
of  verse,  there  are  few  names  that  deserve  to  be  remembered. 

In  the  world  of  thought  the  French  clung  longer  than  other  nations 
to  the  traditions  of  Scholasticism.  But  the  school  of  Nicolas  of  Cusa, 
which  represents  a  transitional  movement  from  medieval  to  Renaissance 
philosophy,  had  its  followers  in  France,  of  whom  the  first  was  Jacques 
le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  and  the  most  distinguished  Carolus  Bovillus. 

To  deal  adequately  with  the  men  whose  accumulated  endeavours 
restored  order,  unity,  and  prosperity  to  France  after  the  English  wars 
would  need  a  volume,  not  a  chapter.  Many  of  them,  humble,  obscure, 
energetic,  faithful,  escape  the  notice  of  the  historian.  Valuable  mono- 
graphs have  been  written  upon  some,  but  no  adequate  memorial  exists 
of  the  most  powerful  French  minister  of  the  time,  Georges  d'Amboise, 
without  whom  nothing  of  moment  whether  good  or  bad  was  done  during 
the  best  years  of  Louis  XII.  One  figure  stands  out  above  all  others,  — 
Louis  XI,  of  the  four  Kings  the  only  one  who  both  leigned  and 
governed.  Whether  we  condemn  or  whether  we  condone  the  remorse- 
less rigour  with  which  that  King  pursued  his  public  ends,  whether  we 
regret  the  absolute  monarchy  which  he  established,  or  accept  it  as  having 
been  the  only  possible  salvation  of  France,  we  cannot  deny  to  him  the 
name  of  great.  Great  he  was  in  intellect  and  in  tenacity  of  purpose, 
great  in  prosperity  and  even  greater  in  misfortune.  Whatsoever  he  did 
had  its  determined  end,  and  that  end  was  the  greatness  of  France,  —  or, 
if  the  expression  be  preferred,  of  the  French  monarchy.  The  universal 
condemnation  which  he  has  incurred  may  be  ascribed  chiefly  to  two 
causes :  the  unrelenting  sternness  with  which  he  visited  treachery  in  the 
great,  and  the  severity  of  the  taxation  which  he  found  it  necessary  to 
impose.  The  world  was  shocked  by  the  fate  of  Jean  d' Armagnac,  Jacques 
de  Nemours,  Louis  de  St  Pol,  Cardinal  Balue,  and  by  the  cynical 
methods  which  achieved  their  ruin.  Looking  back  without  passion,  we 
pronounce  their  sentence  just.  The  burden  of  taxes  was  cruel,  and  the 
stories  we  read  in  Brant6me  and  elsewhere  of  lawless  and  inhuman  exe- 
cutions are  probably  not  without  foundation.  These  methods  may  be 
supposed  to  have  been  required  to  bring  the  enormous  taxes  in.  The 


416 


The  work  of  Louis  XI 


Estates  of  1484  speak  of  five  hundred  executions  for  offences  against  the 
gahelle.  We  need  not  accept  the  number ;  the  Estates  believed  many- 
strange  tales;  but  the  suggestion  is  instructive,  and  helps  to  explain 
the  legends  of  apparently  meaningless  slaughter  wrought  upon  the 
humble.  In  the  struggle  for  life  and  death  in  which  France  was  engaged 
those  taxes  and  perhaps  those  executions  saved  her ;  the  King's  crimes 
were  national  crimes,  and  national  crimes  are  not  to  be  judged  by 
the  standards  of  domestic  morality.  The  France  of  Louis  XII  is  the 
justification  of  Louis  XL 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  NETHERLANDS 

When  after  the  catastrophe  of  Nancy  the  cautious  doubts  of  Louis 
XI  as  to  the  personal  fate  of  his  adversary  had  at  last  been  set  at  rest, 
many  of  Charles  the  Bold's  former  subjects  refused  to  believe  him  dead; 
and  from  Burgundy  to  the  Flemish  communes  the  rumour  ran  that 
he  but  lay  concealed  in  some  sure  retreat  whence  sooner  or  later  he 
would  issue  forth  in  the  full  blaze  of  his  accustomed  grandeur.  Some  had 
seen  him  in  Lorraine,  others  in  Germany ;  others  in  Portugal,  to  whose 
nationality  he  had  laid  claim  as  descending  to  him  from  his  mother,  and 
in  England,  of  whose  throne  he  had  loved  to  describe  himself  as  the  next 
heir ;  yet  others  in  Jerusalem,  which  he  and  his  father  had  vainly  hoped 
to  reach  as  crusaders,  and  in  Rome.  Men  of  business  lent  out  large  sums 
of  money  to  one  another  to  be  repaid  on  the  day  of  his  return,  on  which 
strange  to  say  even  those  fixed  their  hopes  who  had  previously  testified 
to  having  seen  him  dead  in  the  snow  and  ice  of  his  last  battlefield.  A 
delusion  was  upon  them  all,  says  the  chronicler  Molinet  in  his  bombastic 
way,  like  that  possessing  the  Jews  who  await  the  coming  of  the  Messiah 
in  Judsea,  or  the  English  who  expect  King  Arthur  back  in  their  island ; 
but  what  wonder,  he  asks,  since  there  never  was  in  the  Burgundian 
dominions  a  duke  more  magnificent,  more  warlike,  more  terrible  than  he, 
the  scourge  of  the  rebels,  the  alarum  of  Germany,  the  exterminator  of 
the  folk  of  Liege,  and  the  terror  of  France  ?  Of  so  strong  and  splendid 
a  prince  it  might  indeed  seem  hard  to  understand  so  great  a  fall.  Yet 
even  more  difficult  to  grasp  than  the  fact  of  his  personal  overthrow  was 
this  other  fact,  that  with  him  had  been  pulled  down  suddenly,  and  to  all 
seeming  irrecoverably,  the  mightiest  and  wealthiest  monarchy  known  to 
the  West  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This  vast  inheritance,  welded  together 
by  the  policy  of  his  ancestors  and  above  all  of  his  father,  and  augmented 
by  his  own  ambition,  to  which  Charles  had  allowed  so  many  princes  to 
aspire  as  suitors  for  his  daughter's  hand,  he  had  left  to  her  precarious 
tenure  as  a  mutilated,  dislocated,  and  disorganised  heap  of  territories. 
Furthermore,  in  those  centres  of  civic  life,  whose  mercantile  and 
industrial  prosperity  had  in  the  Europe  of  the  later  Middle  Ages  been 

c.  M.  H.  I.  417  27 


418        The  Burgundian  dominions.  —  Flanders 


the  real  source  of  the  importance  of  the  Netherlands  and  of  the 
Burgundian  monarchy,  that  prosperity  was  except  in  certain  specially 
favoured  seaports  helplessly  and  hopelessly  on  the  wane  ;  and  the  great 
communes  which  had  of  old  been  its  most  favoured  seats,  were,  in  the 
truthful  words  of  a  modern  historian,  smitten  to  the  heart. 

I 

The  territories  under  the  dominion  of  the  House  of  Burgundy,  which 
had  formed  part  of  the  northern  division  of  ancient  Lotharingia,  and 
were  known  to  later  political  geography  as  the  provinces  of  the 
Netherlands,  were  for  the  most  part  acquired  by  the  fortune  of  marriage 
and  inheritance  ;  but  a  settled  plan  of  policy  had  from  an  early  date 
continuously  directed  and  developed  the  process  of  annexation.  The 
inheritance  brought  by  Margaret  of  Maele  to  the  French  prince,  who 
was  the  founder  of  the  ducal  dynasty,  included  the  county  of  Artois, 
with  its  capital  of  Arras,  a  city  of  great  mercantile  prosperity  as  early 
as  the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  whole  of  Flanders.  To  the  latter  on 
the  eastern  side  Malines  (Mechlin)  and  Antwerp  had  been  yielded  by 
Brabant,  and  on  the  south  certain  Walloon  districts,  long  united  with 
France  and  including  Lille  and  Douay,  had  been  restored  so  as  likewise 
to  be  left  to  his  daughter  by  the  last  Count  of  Flanders  of  the  native 
line.  Without  the  support  of  the  good  towns  of  Flanders  —  Bruges, 
Ghent,  and  Ypres  —  Philip  the  Bold  could  not  have  secured  the  hand  of 
the  richest  heiress  in  Europe ;  and  of  the  political  greatness  achieved 
by  his  dynasty  the  true  foundations  are  to  be  sought  in  the  resources  of 
the  great  communes  themselves,  with  whom  it  was  engaged  in  perennial 
conflict,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  of  the  other  towns  around  them.  There 
is  no  indication,  on  the  other  hand,  that  even  during  the  Burgundian 
period  agriculture,  except  perhaps  pasture,  reached  a  high  level  in 
Flanders;  in  a  considerable  proportion  of  its  villages,  the  inhabitants 
gained  their  livelihood  by  manufacturing  industry,  the  villages  aiming 
at  becoming  small  towns,  and  the  small  towns  at  becoming  large  in  their 
turn. 

Artois  and  Flanders  remained  fiefs  of  the  French  Crown,  although  by 
the  Peace  of  Arras  (1435)  Philip  the  Good  was  relieved  for  his  own 
person  of  all  obligations  of  homage  to  his  French  overlord.  The  great 
acquisitions,  which  ensued  in  the  course  of  his  long  reign,  were  not 
altogether  due  to  his  own  resolution  and  statecraft.  He  shared  the 
credit  of  them  with  his  grandfather  and  namesake  who  had  induced 
Joan,  heiress  of  Brabant  and  aunt  to  his  wife  Margaret  of  Flanders,  to 
designate  his  second  son  Anthony  as  her  heir;  and  who  married  his 
daughter,  another  Margaret,  to  the  future  Count  William  VI  of 
Hainault,  Holland,  Zeeland,  and  Friesland.  But  they  could  not  have 
been  actually  accomplished  except  by  the  extraordinary  strength  of  will 


Nmiur,  Brabant,  and  Limburg 


419 


and  perseverance  displayed  by  Philip  the  Good  in  the  course  of  the  long 
and  momentous  struggle  carried  on  by  Jacqueline  of  Bavaria  for  the 
maintenance  of  her  rights  as  William  VI's  heiress. 

Philip  began  the  systematic  extension  of  his  dominions  by  the 
business-like  purchase  of  the  county  of  Namur  (Namen)  (1422),  of  which 
he  came  into  actual  possession  eight  years  later  by  the  death  of  the 
last  female  representative  of  the  House  of  Dampierre.  This  district  was 
of  some  consequence  by  reason  of  its  mining  industry,  whose  products 
the  Meuse  carried  north,  after  uniting  the  waters  of  the  Sambre  to  its 
own  at  the  capital.  Brabant  fell  into  his  hands  in  1430  on  the  death  of 
the  young  Duke  Philip,  the  brother  of  Jacqueline's  unhappy  husband. 
To  the  duchy  of  Brabant  that  of  Limburg  had  been  annexed  (1288), 
with  its  chief  town  of  Maestricht,  the  "higher  ford"  of  the  Romans 
and  the  residence  of  many  Caroling  Kings,  over  which  the  Bishop  of 
Li^ge  claimed  joint  rights  of  sovereignty  with  the  Dukes  of  Brabant. 
Unlike  the  Flemish  Counts  these  Dukes  had  consistently  remained 
on  friendly  terms  with  their  towns,  where  the  patriciate  {geslachteti) 
vigorously  maintained  itself  throughout  the  fourteenth  century.  Ample 
and  solid  liberties  were  conceded  to  his  towns  and  nobility  by  Duke 
John  II  in  the  compact  known  as  the  Letter  of  Cortenberg  (1312), 
enlarged  by  later  charters,  and  above  all,  when  the  accession  of  Wen- 
ceslas  of  Luxemburg  offered  an  irresistible  opportunity  by  the  famous 
Joyeuse  Entree  (hlyde  inkomste)  (1356),  which  remained  the  chief  pillar 
of  the  liberties  of  the  two  united  duchies  down  to  the  tempestuous  times 
of  Philip  II  of  Spain.  At  the  beginning  of  this  century  Louvain 
(Leuven)  had  still  regarded  herself  as  the  foremost  city  of  Brabant, 
mindful  of  the  day  when  she  had  numbered  a  hundred  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  the  cloth-industry  and  the  linen-trade  had  alike  flourished 
within  her  walls.  Soon,  however,  though  she  became  the  seat  of  the 
first  Netherlands  University  (1426),  a  large  emigration  set  in  to  Brussels, 
whither  the  Court  likewise  transferred  its  seat.  Here  the  active  lower 
town,  and  the  residences  of  the  nobility  lining  the  descent  from  the 
Castle  to  St  Gudule,  together  contained  all  the  chief  elements  in  the 
BrabauQon  population,  while  the  French  tastes  and  manners  introduced 
together  with  the  use  of  the  French  tongue  by  the  new  dynasty 
familiarised  its  favourite  residence  with  an  exotic  license  of  life.  But, 
owing  to  the  decay  .of  the  cloth  industry  early  in  the  century,  the 
democratic  ascendancy  of  the  trades  was  short-lived  in  the  capital  of 
Brabant ;  and,  like  the  great  Flemish  cities  themselves,  Brussels,  though 
other  industries  flourished  here,  was  commercially  distanced  by  Ant- 
werp. 

Over  Hainault,  Holland,  Zeeland,  and  (more  or  less  nominally) 
Friesland,  Philip's  sovereignty  was  definitively  established  in  1433,  five 
years  after  the  resistance  of  Jacqueline  had  finally  collapsed,  at  the 
very  time  when  the  fury  of  the  Kaheljaauws  had  risen  to  fever-pitch 


420 


Hainault,  Holland^  and  Zeeland 


against  her  supporters,  the  Hoeks ;  their  last  fleet  had  been  annihi- 
lated, and  he  was  preparing  for  a  decisive  campaign  against  his 
seemingly  indomitable  adversary.  At  that  time  the  recognition  of 
Philip  as  next  heir  had  been  voted  even  in  chivalrous  Hainault,  where 
Jacqueline  had  always  been  able  to  count  on  ardent  loyalty,  and  where, 
amidst  feudal  conditions  of  life,  only  one  or  two  towns  —  Valenciennes, 
and  more  recently  Mons — had  developed  their  communal  institutions. 
In  Holland  and  Zeeland  the  towns  attained  to  an  advanced  condition 
of  prosperity  and  importance  later  than  in  Brabant,  just  as  the  latter 
had  lagged  behind  Flanders.  Yet,  though  the  growth  of  the  towns  in 
the  Northern  Netherlands  was  relatively  slow,  neither  was  their  com- 
mercial and  industrial  progress  hampered,  as  was  the  case  in  Germany, 
by  too  close  a  control  on  the  part  of  transmitted  interests,  nor  was  their 
political  life,  like  that  of  the  Flemish  communes,  handed  over  to  the 
gusts  of  the  market-place.  As  a  rule,  practical  considerations  led  them 
from  more  to  less  broadly  popular  methods  of  government. 

In  matters  of  trade,  on  the  other  hand,  the  towns  of  Holland  gene- 
rally favoured  freedom  as  against  privilege  and  protection,  and  towards 
the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  single  port  in  the  Northern  Nether- 
lands which  retained  any  staple-rights  of  consequence  was  Dort,  whose 
ancient  monopoly  of  all  goods  carried  on  the  main  rivers  of  Holland 
nominally  outlasted  the  Burgundian  period.  But  long  before  this 
Amsterdam,  converted  into  a  seaport  by  the  formation  of  the  Zuiderzee 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  had  risen  into  prominence,  and  by  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  she  had  left  behind  all  the  older  towns  of 
importance  —  Dort,  Delft,  Haarlem,  Alkmaar,  Middelburg,  and  Zierikzee 
—  while  among  the  younger  Gouda,  Leiden,  Schiedam,  and  Rotterdam 
were  likewise  active  centres  of  industrial  and  mercantile  life.  Few 
great  noble  families  remained  either  in  Holland  or  in  Zeeland ;  but 
in  the  latter  the  small  nobility  was  still  numerous  in  the  days  of 
Jacqueline,  and  it  was  from  them  that  the  main  strength  of  the  Hoeks 
had  been  recruited  in  her  wars,  while  that  of  the  Kabeljaauws  lay  with 
the  ruling  classes  in  the  towns.  The  vanquished  cause,  however,  was 
consecrated  in  the  memory  of  the  people  as  having  been  that  of  re- 
sistance against  the  dominion  of  the  stranger. 

In  no  instance  had  his  hand  been  heavier  than  in  his  treatment  of 
the  peninsula  now  known  as  North  Holland,  stretching  out  between  the 
North  Sea  and  the  Zuiderzee,  where  dwelt  the  Kennemer,  a  primitive 
race  of  great  and  tried  vigour,  who  clung  to  their  liberties  as  they  held 
fast  to  the  fragments  of  land  left  to  them  by  the  waters.  In  Kenne- 
merland  proper  Alkmaar  was  the  only  town  ;  with  thriving  Haarlem  on 
their  borders  these  peasants  were  constantly  engaged  in  petty  war- 
fare, and  it  was  from  here  that  Philip  proceeded  on  his  expedition  of 
vengeance  which  reduced  them  to  the  condition  of  overtaxed  dependents. 
A  few  of  the  mercantile  settlements  along  the  western  coast  of  the 


Friesland ;  Luxemburg 


421 


Zuiderzee  came  in  the  Burgundian  period  to  rank  among  the  busiest 
towns  of  Holland  —  Hoorn  as  the  chief  market  in  the  Netherlands 
for  dairy  produce  and  cattle,  Enkhuizen  as  a  centre  of  the  herring- 
fishery.  Friesland  proper,  on  the  north-eastern  shore,  over  which 
Philip  asserted  his  claims  as  Count  of  Holland  and  Zeeland,  was  not 
actually  absorbed  by  him.  Here  the  party -name  of  the  ScMeringers 
mainly  applied  to  the  lower  population  settled  round  the  waters  of  the 
ancient  Westergao,  and  that  of  the  Vetkoopers  to  the  men  of  substance 
in  and  around  Groningen,  which  town  held  a  position  so  distinctive  that 
it  afterwards  became  eponymous  of  a  whole  province  (officially  called 
stadt  en  landen),  Philip  the  Good  might  possibly  have  been  acknow- 
ledged as  Lord  of  Friesland,  like  John  of  Bavaria  before  him,  had  he 
been  prepared  to  bind  himself  to  respect  the  liberties  of  the  population. 
But  this  he  consistently  refused,  and  the  remote  region  was  once  more 
left  to  itself.  Even  the  subsequent  recognition  by  Groningen  of  the 
overlordship  of  the  Bishop  of  Utrecht  was  purely  nominal ;  as  was  the 
episcopal  protection  claimed  by  her  against  the  attempt  of  Charles 
the  Bold  to  assert  the  ducal  authority  over  all  West-Friesland  (1469). 
From  the  renewed  internal  party-conflicts  in  Friesland  Groningen  dis- 
creetly held  aloof,  intent  upon  the  advancement  of  her  commercial 
prosperity,  by  whose  side  that  of  ancient  "golden"  Stavoren  was 
passing  away,  while  that  of  Leeuwarden  had  hardly  yet  begun. 

Philip's  last  important  territorial  acquisition  was  that  of  the  duchy 
of  Luxemburg,  a  sparsely  peopled  land  of  mountains  and  forests 
whose  capital  derived  importance  from  the  incomparable  natural 
strength  of  its  position.  It  had  been  twice  temporarily  united  with 
Brabant  —  first  under  Wenceslas,  upon  whom  it  had  been  bestowed  by 
his  brother,  the  great  Emperor  Charles  IV,  and  who  was  married  to 
the  heiress  Joan ;  and  then  under  Elizabeth,  niece  of  the  second 
Wenceslas,  King  of  the  Romans,  who  had  left  it  very  much  to  itself 
and  the  protection  of  its  natural  outworks,  the  wild  Ardennes.  To 
her  (commonly  called  Elizabeth  of  Gorlitz)  he  had,  after  her  marriage 
to  Duke  Anthony  of  Brabant,  Philip's  younger  brother,  made  over  his 
rights  in  Luxemburg  ;  and  since  both  Anthony  and  her  second  husband, 
John  of  Bavaria,  formerly  Bishop-elect  of  Li^ge,  left  her  a  childless 
widow,  her  duchy  was  plainly  marked  out  for  incorporation  in  the 
Burgundian  dominions.  In  1445  Philip  purchased  it  from  Elizabeth, 
who,  after  he  had  averted  an  extraneous  attack  and  established  his 
authority  in  every  part  of  the  duchy,  made  a  formal  donation  to  him 
of  the  whole. 

Of  the  four  great  dioceses  into  which  the  Netherlands  were  up 
to  the  time  of  Charles  V  divided,  Li^ge  and  Utrecht  retained  the 
character  of  self -governed  ecclesiastical  principalities  beyond  the  dura- 
tion of  Philip's  reign.  Li^ge  (Luik)  was  one  of  the  most  important 
sees  in  the  Empire,  and  the  spiritual  authority  of  its  Bishop  extended 


422 


Liege 


over  parts  of  Brabant  and  Hainault,  as  well  as  over  Namur,  Limburg, 
and  Upper  Gelderland.  In  the  principality  the  Diets  were  composed  of 
representatives  of  clergy,  nobility,  and  towns,  but  these  last  were  in 
enjoyment  of  liberties  resembling  those  possessed  by  the  Flemish  com- 
munes. In  the  city  of  Liege  itself  the  struggle  which  had  long  been 
carried  on  between  the  old  patrician  families,  relatively  few  in  number 
but  favoured  by  the  Bishops,  and  the  mass  of  the  Walloon  population, 
had  been  decided  in  favour  of  the  latter,  even  before  "  a  city  of  priests 
had  been  changed  into  one  of  colliers  and  armourers."  The  faction  feuds 
between  the  Awam  and  the  Waroux  had  ended  with  the  utter  extrusion 
of  the  patrician  element  from  the  city ;  and  Li^ge  became  a  democracy 
of  the  most  advanced  type,  with  a  governing  body  based  directly  upon 
the  suffrage  of  all  the  thirty-two  trades.  It  was  as  a  community  swayed 
by  leaders  who  gloried  in  their  rupture  with  the  past  (hay droits)^  that 
Li^ge,  with  the  support  of  the  other  "good  towns"  of  the  principality, 
revolted  against  the  Bishop-elect,  John  of  Bavaria.  The  terrible  chas- 
tisement inflicted  by  this  "pitiless"  prince,  in  which  his  kinsman  the 
"  fearless  "  John  of  Burgundy  had  hastened  to  have  his  share  (1408), 
was  followed  by  a  reconstitution  of  the  government,  from  which  the 
trades  were  absolutely  excluded  (1414)  ;  but  some  concessions  were  made 
to  them  a  few  years  later. 

Half  a  century  later  the  Liegeois,  instigated  by  Louis  XI  of 
France,  waged  another  struggle  against  another  Bishop,  Louis  of 
Bourbon,  a  nephew  of  Duke  Philip  of  Burgundy.  His  son,  the  future 
Duke  Charles,  forced  the  principality  to  acknowledge  the  Burgundian 
Dukes  as  its  hereditary  protectors  (mamhourgs)  (1465)  ;  but  another 
insurrection  speedily  broke  out,  nor  was  the  defiant  spirit  of  the  artisans 
who  were  masters  of  the  city  broken  even  by  the  bloody  sack  of  Dinant, 
hitherto  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  industry  in  the  working  of  copper 
and  brass.  In  1467,  after  defeating  the  Liegeois  in  the  field,  Charles, 
now  Duke  in  his  father's  place,  annihilated  their  privileges  and  re- 
established the  Bishop,  but  at  the  same  time  reduced  the  principality 
to  the  condition  of  a  Burgundian  fief.  In  the  following  year,  when 
Louis  XI  had  placed  himself  in  the  power  of  Charles  at  P^ronne, 
and  a  fresh  rising  had  taken  place  at  Li^ge,  the  recalcitrant  city  was 
overtaken  by  a  fearful  doom,  at  the  wreaking  of  which  the  French 
King  assisted  perforce.  Leodensium  clades  et  excidium  became  the  most 
flagrant  of  Charles  the  Bold's  titles  to  fame ;  and  the  pillaged  churches, 
in  which,  formerly,  according  to  Commines,  as  many  masses  had  been 
daily  said  as  at  Rome,  were  virtually  all  that,  after  a  seven  weeks' 
sack,  was  left  standing  of  Li^ge.  But  the  principality,  which  had 
never  been  formally  annexed  by  Charles,  after  his  death  recovered  its 
political  independence ;  and,  with  characteristic  vitality,  the  great 
Walloon  city  rose  rapidly  from  its  ruins. 

At  Pdronne  Charles  also  made  use  of  his  strange  opportunity  to 


Utrecht 


423 


strengthen  his  hold  over  the  series  of  towns  along  the  line  of  the  Somme, 
extending  from  St  Quentin  to  St  Valery  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
These  Picard  towns,  "the  key  of  France,"  had  been  left  in  pledge 
bj  France  to  Burgundy  already  in  the  Treaty  of  Arras  (1435),  which 
first  impressed  upon  western  Europe  a  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
Burgundian  power  ;  redeemed  by  Louis,  in  1463,  at  a  time  when  Philip 
and  his  heir  were  on  ill  terms  with  one  another,  they  had  been  recovered 
in  1465  for  the  Netherlands  and  the  protection  of  their  southern 
frontier. 

The  temporal  power  of  the  Bishops  of  Utrecht  covered,  at  least 
in  name,  the  later  provinces  of  Overyssel  and  Drenthe  (called  the  Upper 
See),  Groningen,  and  Utrecht  (called  the  Lower).  Although  much  re- 
stricted by  the  "  five  Chapters,"  whose  deputies  took  the  first  place  in 
the  Diets,  the  episcopal  system  of  government,  as  well  as  the  institutions 
of  the  city  of  Utrecht,  showed  considerable  lasting  power ;  largely  be- 
cause, while  the  representatives  of  the  trades  controlled  the  civic  Council, 
members  of  the  noble  families  residing  at  Utrecht  had  been  frequently 
placed  on  the  roll  of  the  trades  themselves.  Conflicts,  however,  repeatedly 
broke  out  on  the  occasion  of  the  filling  up  of  the  sea,  and  in  Jacqueline's 
times  the  factions  of  the  Lichtenhergers  and  the  Lockhorsts  respectively 
supported  the  Hoeks  and  the  Kaheljaauws.  In  1425  the  question  of 
the  episcopal  succession  gave  rise  to  a  protracted  contest,  in  which 
Philip  took  part;  and  when,  after  this  had  come  to  an  end  on  the 
expulsion  of  one  of  the  claimants  and  the  death  of  the  other,  the 
succession  was  again  disputed,  he  menaced  Utrecht  with  a  large  armada, 
and  thus  managed  to  secure  the  see  for  his  illegitimate  son  David, 
who  kept  possession  of  it  till  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bold.  From 
1456  onwards  to  that  date  Utrecht  was  entirely  under  Burgundian 
influence ;  but  though,  as  will  be  seen,  Maximilian  in  1483  assumed  the 
administration  of  the  principality,  and  though  from  1517-24  another 
of  Philip  the  Good's  bastards  was  put  in  possession  of  the  bishopric, 
it  was  not  till  1529  that  the  temporal  government  of  the  Upper  and 
Lower  See  was  definitively  assumed  by  Charles  V  as  the  sovereign  of 
Brabant  and  Holland. 

It  was  still  later  that  Gelderland  in  its  turn  acknowledged  the 
authority  now  established  over  all  the  rest  of  the  Netherlands.  The 
dynastic  broils  of  the  House  of  Gelders  had  been  tragic  enough  while 
they  merely  affected  its  own  dominions  and  the  neighbouring  duchy  of 
Juliers  —  brother  supplanting  brother,  and  sister  striving  against  sister. 
The  contending  factions  in  the  duchy  of  Gelders,  whose  fury  survived 
the  occasion  of  their  origin,  went  by  the  names  of  the  Heckerens  and 
the  JBronkhorsts.  The  spheres  of  English  and  Burgundian  influence 
in  the  Netherlands  were  respectively  enlarged,  when  Duke  William  IX 
of  Juliers  and  Gelders,  himself  the  grandson  of  an  English  princess, 
opposed  the  efforts  of  Joan  of  Brabant,  the  friend  of  Burgundy,  and 


424 


Gelderland 


defied  the  power  of  France.  His  reign,  which  lasted  till  1402,  marked 
an  important  advance  in  the  prosperity  of  the  chief  Geldrian  towns, 
Nymwegen,  Roermonde,  Zutphen,  and  Arnhem,  where  the  rise  of  a  con- 
siderable cloth  industry  connects  itself  with  his  firm  attachment  to  the 
English  alliance.  Under  his  brother  and  successor,  who  remained  child- 
less like  himself,  the  diet  of  the  duchy  resolved  that  no  Duke  should 
henceforth  be  acknowledged  in  Gelderland  unless  approved  by  the 
majority  of  the  knightly  Order  (many  of  whose  members  down  to  the 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century  were  virtually  independent),  and  by  the 
smaller  towns,  with  the  unanimous  assent  of  the  above-mentioned  chief 
towns  of  the  "  four  quarters "  ;  while  any  partition  of  the  duchy,  or 
alienation  of  any  section  of  it,  was  made  conditional  on  the  sanction  of 
the  diet.  Thus  in  1423,  on  the  death  of  Duke  Rainald  IV,  the  towns 
raised  to  the  ducal  dignity  his  sister's  grandson  Arnold  of  Egmond,  who 
was  still  a  boy  in  years.  Although  the  Emperor  Sigismund  had  invested 
the  Duke  of  Berg  with  the  duchy  of  Gelders,  Arnold  retained  the 
confidence  of  the  Estates  by  enlarging  their  privileges,  and  enjoyed  the 
support  of  Duke  Philip  of  Burgundy,  to  whose  niece,  the  daughter  of 
Duke  Adolf  of  Cleves,  he  was  betrothed,  and  afterwards  united  in 
marriage.  Subsequently,  however,  Duke  Arnold  fell  out  with  his  ally 
as  to  the  succession  to  the  see  of  Utrecht  ;  whereupon  Philip  joined 
with  the  four  chief  towns  of  Gelderland  in  the  successful  attempt  of 
Arnold's  son  Adolf  to  substitute  his  own  for  his  father's  authority. 
But  when  in  1467  Charles  the  Bold  became  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who 
could  not  bring  himself  to  befriend  a  friend  of  the  towns,  Adolf  after 
rejecting  a  compromise  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  his  incapable  father, 
against  the  will  of  the  towns  and  the  law  of  the  land,  pledged  his  duchy 
to  Charles  for  300,000  Rhenish  florins  (1471).  On  Arnold's  death  two 
years  later,  Charles  took  possession  of  the  duchy.  Nymwegen,  whose 
stout  resistance  he  had  overcome  by  force,  was  subjected  to  a  heavy 
fine ;  and  only  such  of  the  towns  as  had  voluntarily  submitted  to  the 
Burgundian  regime  were  confirmed  in  certain  of  their  privileges.  During^ 
the  rest  of  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Bold  Arnold's  son  Charles  and  his 
sister  were  kept  at  the  Burgundian  Court,  and  Gelderland  was  ruled 
with  an  iron  hand;  but  the  Burgundian  system  of  administration  was 
probably  to  the  advantage  of  the  Geldrian  population  at  large,  though 
it  had  to  furnish  troops  for  his  wars.  As  will  be  seen,  a  long  and 
troublous  interval  of  rebellion  and  war  was  to  ensue,  before,  in  1543, 
William  of  Juliers,  whom  Charles  of  Egmond  had  named  his  successor,, 
resigned  his  claims  to  Gelders  and  Zutphen,  and  the  entire  Netherlands 
were  united  in  the  hands  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 

The  extension  by  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  of  their  territorial  dominion 
over  the  Netherlands  necessitated  the  establishment  by  them  of  a  strong 
monarchical  authority.  A  number  of  States,  of  which  each  had  a  history 
and  institutions  of  ite  own,  while  the  most  important  of  them  abounded 


Monarchical  power  of  the  Burgundian  Dukes  425 


in  large  and  populous  towns,  were  brought  under  the  control  of  one  and 
the  same  dynasty.  The  physical  and  economic  conditions  of  these  several 
provinces  varied  greatly ;  while  in  the  country  at  large  two  very  dis- 
similar races  continued  to  dwell  side  by  side,  and  to  employ  two  forms  of 
speech  differing  from  one  another  as  well  as  from  the  language  spoken 
at  the  ducal  Court.  But  the  Dukes  of  Burgundy  from  the  first  were 
intent  upon  something  more  than  securing  to  themselves  a  strong 
control  over  all  their  Netherlands  dominions.  They  had  come  into  the 
Low  Countries  as  strangers ;  they  had  no  traditional  sympathy  with  the 
memories,  no  inborn  respect  for  the  rights  and  liberties,  of  any  section 
or  class  of  their  subjects ;  and  the  last  two  of  these  Dukes  in  particular 
were  deliberately  resolved  on  setting  up  a  centralised  system  of  rule  in 
the  face  of  all  claims,  legal,  historical,  or  other.  Herein  they  followed 
both  the  traditions  of  the  royal  line  from  which  they  sprang,  and  the 
political  instinct  which  apprised  them,  that,  unless  their  strength  was  at 
least  equal  to  that  of  their  overlords,  the  struggle  against  these  could 
only  end  in  the  absorption  of  their  own  dominions  in  a  united  France. 

While,  for  reasons  to  be  given  below,  the  endeavour  of  the  Dukes 
of  Burgundy  to  advance  and  consolidate  their  princely  power  in  the 
Netherlands  met  wdth  good-will  and  cooperation  on  the  part  of  the 
nobility  and  clergy,  its  chief  adversaries  were  the  great  communes  of 
Flanders,  and  in  a  less  degree  those  of  Brabant.  This  conflict  was  in 
itself  inevitable ;  for  the  political  and  social  development  of  the  chief 
Flemish  towns  only  typified  on  a  large  scale  what  had  taken  or  was 
taking  place  in  other  Provinces.  The  terrible  blow  inflicted  at  Roosebeke 
with  the  aid  of  France  upon  the  communes,  and  upon  Ghent  in  particular, 
was  not  absolutely  mortal ;  and  although  their  prosperity  in  the  fifteenth 
century  never  again  reached  the  height  to  which  it  had  previously 
attained,  yet  their  importance  in  the  whole  body  politic  was  still  para- 
mount. As  early  as  the  thirteenth  century  Bruges,  practically  a  port 
by  means  of  its  control  of  Sluys,  had  become  a  world's  fair,  and  Ghent 
in  Eastern  and  Ypres  in  Western  Flanders  had  grown  with  amazing 
rapidity  into  great  industrial  centres  of  population  surrounded  by  many 
other  flourishing  towns  of  which  the  names  are  now  in  part  forgotten. 
With  their  activity  and  wealth  had  grown  a  sense  of  power  and  an 
impatience  of  external  control  for  which  in  the  Middle  Ages  no  complete 
parallel  could  have  been  found  on  the  hither  side  of  the  Alps.  The 
civic  governments  which  in  this  earlier  period  asserted  their  authority 
against  that  of  the  Counts  were  purely  oligarchic ;  and  it  was  only 
gradually  that  the  artisans,  since  the  organisation  of  the  trades  as  guilds 
had  been  elaborated  and  was  for  a  long  time  controlled  by  the  patriciates, 
came  to  essay  a  trial  of  strength  with  them.  The  determining  factor  is 
to  be  sought  in  the  irresistible  ascendency  of  the  trade  of  the  weavers 
and  of  the  minor  trades  connected  with  it,  when  the  cloth  industry 
of  Flanders  was  at  its  height.    When  the  patricians  in  their  turn  had 


426 


Tlte  Dukes  and  the  Communes 


thrown  themselves  upon  the  support  of  the  French  Crown  (leliaerts)^ 
the  massacres  known  as  the  mette  (matines)  of  Bruges  began  the  great 
democratic  revolution  which  triumphed  in  the  utter  overthrow  of  the 
chivalry  of  France  on  the  field  of  Courtray  (1302).  The  honours  of 
that  day  belonged  to  the  trades  of  Bruges,  assisted  by  those  of  Ypres 
and  Ghent  in  defiance  of  the  prohibitions  issued  by  their  patrician 
authorities.  And  during  the  entire  epoch  of  the  political  ascendency 
of  the  communes,  their  self-government  was  striving  to  establish  itself 
on  broad  popular  foundations.  The  elder  Artevelde  was  the  Pericles 
of  Ghent,  whose  extraordinary  self-confidence  was  mainly  due  to  the 
hope  of  an  effective  political  alliance  with  England,  based  on  free 
commercial  intercourse  with  her,  as  the  chief  provider  of  the  raw 
material  of  Flemish  industry.  After  his  death  evil  times  began  for 
Ghent,  which  had  become  the  chief  of  "  the  three  members  of  Flanders 
(^de  dry  leden)^  and  had  charged  itself  with  the  executive  on  behalf  of 
the  towns  and  other  districts  of  the  country  at  large.  The  visitations 
of  Heaven  seemed  to  descend  upon  the  land  in  the  form  of  tempests 
and  inundations  and  the  Black  Death.  The  Anglo-Flemish  alliance  was 
a  thing  of  the  past.  Bruges,  whose  jealousy  of  Ghent  was  ineradicable, 
was  inclined  to  support  the  manoeuvres  of  the  territorial  prince ;  and 
in  many  of  the  communes  a  reaction  set  in  towards  oligarchical  govern- 
ment. But  Ghent  stood  firm,  and  when  the  banners  of  her  crafts  had 
been  unfurled  for  the  critical  struggle,  and  the  Whitehoods  once  more 
streamed  forth  from  her  gates,  Bruges,  Ypres,  Courtray,  and  all  the 
other  Flemish  towns  once  more  fell  into  line  for  the  final  struggle. 
With  their  overthrow  at  Roosebeke  (1382)  the  political  greatness  of 
the  communes  came  to  an  end ;  but  the  resistance  of  Ghent  was  only 
slowly  extinguished. 

Yet  to  Philip  the  Good,  as  to  his  father  (notwithstanding  the  part 
which  he  played  at  Paris)  and  to  his  grandfather  before  him,  and  his  son 
after  him,  the  Flemish  communes  were,  as  Commines  says  of  Ghent  in 
especial,  a  thorn  in  the  flesh.  Not  that  he  was  unaware  of  the  fact  that 
his  European  position  depended  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  Flemish 
towns  even  more  than  upon  that  of  the  Dutch,  who  always  regarded  the 
ally  of  the  Kaheljaauws  as  their  friend,  or  upon  that  of  Brussels,  his 
favourite  place  of  residence.  He  sought  to  arrest  the  decay  of  Ypres, 
and  his  commercial  policy  towards  England  was  dictated  by  the  interests 
of  Flanders.  But  he  was  resolute  in  asserting  his  political  supremacy  at 
any  cost ;  and  the  first  occasion,  on  which  he  showed  himself  conscious 
of  the  fact  that  the  destruction  of  his  subjects  was  his  own  loss,  was 
when  he  had  crushed  the  last  resistance  of  the  Ghenters  at  Gavre 
(1453).  Until  the  Peace  of  Arras  he  mainly  (though  not  entirely,  as 
Ypres  learnt  to  its  cost)  confined  himself  to  sowing  discord  between  the 
towns  ;  but  afterwards,  when  the  communal  militia  had  deserted  him 
at  the  siege  of  Calais,  the  conflict  first  broke  out  between  him  and 


Overthrow  of  the  ascendency  of  the  Communes  427 


Bruges  (1436).  Patched  up  by  the  grant  of  two  new  charters,  it  burst 
forth  again  in  the  insurrection  known  as  the  Terrible  Whit- Wednesday 
(1438) ;  and  after  meeting  the  Duke's  forces  in  the  open  field,  the  city, 
which  was  suffering  from  the  devastations  of  a  pestilence,  was  in  the  end 
forced  to  give  way.  Bruges  was  only  saved  from  destruction  by  the 
intervention  of  the  foreign  merchants;  but,  while  the  new  charters  were 
revoked  or  modified,  the  trades  were  deprived  of  their  cherished  right 
of  unfurling  their  banners  without  waiting  for  the  display  of  the  Duke's 
—  in  other  words  of  the  right  of  taking  up  arms  without  his  summons  — 
and  the  sinews  of  future  resistance  were  cut  by  the  abolition  of  the 
communal  contribution  to  the  trades  (mcendtgelt). 

The  turn  of  Ghent  came  a  little  later.  On  her  refusal  to  pay  a 
salt-tax  to  which  Bruges  and  Ypres  had  submitted,  a  conflict  began 
which  lasted  for  four  years  (1449).  After  the  Duke  had  twice  stopped 
the  ordinary  administration  of  justice,  the  whole  body  of  the  people 
took  the  power  into  its  hands,  appointed  three  captains  (Jiooftmannen)^ 
and  at  the  sound  of  the  bell  assembled  under  arms  on  the  Vrydags- 
markt.  The  Duke  retorted  by  a  decree  of  blockade  and  outlawry 
against  Ghent.  Bruges  and  the  other  towns  jealously  held  aloof ;  and, 
though  the  Ghenters  appealed  both  to  the  French  suzerain  and  to 
the  government  of  Henry  VI  of  England,  they  had  to  fight  out  the 
contest  virtually  alone.  In  the  city  a  ruthless  terrorism  maintained 
an  unreasoning  enthusiasm,  till  a  long  and  sanguinary  campaign  ended, 
within  sight  of  her  towers,  by  the  carnage  of  Gavre  (1453).  The 
settlement  which  ensued  established  the  ducal  authority  as  paramount 
in  every  important  function  of  the  administration  of  the  city,  abolished 
the  most  cherished  guarantees  of  its  previous  independence,  and  among 
other  humiliations  inflicted  on  its  representatives  that  of  confessing  the 
guilt  of  the  suppressed  rebellion  in  the  French  tongue.  Some  of  the 
privileges  of  the  prostrate  city  were  indeed  renewed  in  a  new  charter, 
the  powers  of  the  royal  bailiff  were  restricted,  and  no  mention  was  made 
of  the  obnoxious  salt-tax.  But  the  victory  was  not  the  less  complete, 
and  was  followed  by  the  revocation  of  the  charters  of  other  towns, 
although  they  had  abstained  from  supporting  Ghent. 

The  overthrow  of  the  greatness  of  the  Flemish  communes  was  due 
in  part  to  the  anarchical  spirit  which  more  and  more  took  possession  of 
them  as  their  public  life  passed  into  the  ochlocratic  stage,  and  which 
could  not  but  impair  their  military  discipline  and  defensive  strength. 
What  had  here  —  and  the  state  of  things  was  not  very  different  in 
Brabant  —  remained  of  the  authority  of  the  territorial  prince  was  con- 
fined to  the  influence  exercised  by  his  hailli  upon  the  administration 
of  justice,  and  when  possible  upon  the  choice  of  magistrates  and 
upon  legislation.  The  patriciate  —  the  poorters  at  Bruges  and  Ghent, 
to  which  the  lignages  corresponded  in  Brabant  —  still  ordinarily  deter- 
mined the  choice  of  the  magistrates  or  aldermen  ;  but  in  any  season 


428 


Communal  institutions 


of  agitation  this  power  was  sure  to  be  swept  out  of  their  hands  with 
all  the  judicial,  financial,  and  other  functions  of  government.  Not  un- 
frequently  such  outbursts  of  popular  fury  were  provoked  by  the  venality 
of  the  ruling  classes,  and  the  fear  of  their  recurrence  naturally  inclined 
the  patricians  towards  the  ducal  authority,  unless  when  their  advances 
were  blindly  repelled  by  the  harshness  of  the  sovereign,  as  in  the  later 
days  of  Charles  the  Bold.  The  real  holders  of  power  in  the  Flemish 
communes  were  now  the  working  population  at  large,  divided  on  a 
system  varying  in  the  several  towns  into  trades  or  handicrafts  (am- 
hachten)  ;  in  Brabant  these  trades  had  before  the  accession  of  Philip 
effected  a  compromise  with  the  lignages  ;  in  Holland  and  Utrecht  their 
authority  was  great  but  not  overwhelming ;  in  Liege,  as  has  been  seen, 
it  was  paramount.  In  the  three  great  Flemish  towns,  the  great  mass  of 
the  trades  ordinarily  asserted  their  power  by  the  votes  of  their  represen- 
tatives, and  on  critical  occasions  by  the  organised  resort  to  arms  under 
their  banners  in  the  market-place  (wapeninghe) .  By  itself  each  trade 
formed  not  only  a  military,  but  also  a  social  and  religious  unit,  with  its 
common  purse  for  purposes  of  business,  pleasure,  and  charity,  and  often 
with  a  chapel  and  a  hospital  of  its  own.  In  the  course  of  the  fourteenth 
century  the  great  craft  of  the  Weavers  had  effected  its  predominance  in 
each  of  the  three  cities,  and  became  omnipotent  at  Ghent.  Next  to 
them  came  the  Fullers,  with  whom  they  had  many  a  sanguinary  con- 
flict. At  Ghent  there  were  besides  these  two  great  crafts  52  smaller 
crafts ;  and  in  one  of  them  even  the  poorters,  who  constituted  a  guild 
without  political  power,  had  to  inscribe  themselves  if  desirous  of  becom- 
ing eligible  for  a  magisterial  office.  At  Bruges  there  were  four  great 
crafts  — Weavers,  Fullers,  Shearers,  and  Dyers  —  and  the  famous  mus- 
ter of  October  10,  1436,  included  48  smaller,  from  the  butchers  and 
bakers  to  the  paternoster-makers  ;  all  these  were  combined  into  eight 
"  members,"  with  a  ninth  consisting  of  the  four  "  free  trades  "  of  mer- 
chants, while  the  Ghent  trades  made  up  three  members"  only.  Each 
"  member  "  (elsewhere  called  nation  ")  was  presided  over  by  a  Grand 
Dean ;  and  these  officers  were  always,  however  its  composition  might 
from  time  to  time  vary,  included  in  the  representative  committee  (called 
collatie  at  Ghent)  of  the  entire  commune.  The  approval  of  this  com- 
mittee was  doubtless  asked  by  the  commune,  when  in  moments  of  supreme 
excitement  hooftmannen  or  captains  were  chosen  by  or  for  it  —  a  term 
which  seems  in  the  first  instance  to  have  meant  merely  the  heads  of  a 
poorters^  guild. 

The  absence  of  any  durable  league  or  alliance  between  the  several 
communes  was  due  to  the  narrow  jealousy  which  they  cherished  towards 
one  another  and  which  has  already  been  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
the  relations  between  Bruges  and  Ghent.  In  1423  Ghent  successfully 
thwarted  the  attempt  of  Ypres  to  divert  to  herself  the  water-transport  of 
wine  and  cereals ;  half  a  century  later  the  Yprois  joined  the  Ghenters  in 


Industrial  and  commercial  decline  of  Flanders  429 


ignoring  the  apprehensions  of  Bruges  as  to  the  standing-up  of  the  Zwyn. 
To  this  pernicious  jealousy  was  added  the  ill-will  of  the  large  against 
the  smalle  steden^  and  the  tyrannous  arrogance  of  the  towns  towards 
the  rural  districts ;  nor  was  it  till  1438  that  Duke  Philip  restored  the 
rights  of  the  Vrije  (le  Franc)  of  Bruges  as  a  "  fourth  member "  of 
Flanders. 

The  economic  decline  of  Flanders  in  the  fifteenth  century  has  been 
obscured  by  the  glowing  descriptions  of  luxurious  life  in  which  the 
Court  chronicles  of  Philip  and  Charles  abound.  The  great  industry 
which  had  filled  the  famous  Cloth-hall  of  Ypres  steadily  declined; 
till  about  the  time  of  the  death  of  Mary  a  city  population  which  had 
formerly  amounted  to  something  like  100,000  had  fallen  to  about  one- 
twentieth  of  that  total.  Ypres,  like  some  other  of  the  Flemish  towns, 
had  suffered  from  special  causes,  but  there  was  one  which  fundamentally 
affected  them  all.  The  fabrication  of  cloth  in  England  had  endangered 
the  chief  industry  of  Flanders  already  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century ;  and,  profiting  alike  by  the  instruction  derived  from  the  Flemish 
immigration  which  the  troubles  of  the  fifteenth  century  had  superadded 
to  earlier  immigrations  in  the  twelfth  and  fourteenth,  and  by  the 
facilities  of  export  offered  by  the  Hanseatic  merchants,  she  gradually 
drove  Flemish  cloth  from  the  staple  at  Calais.  The  crucial  question 
whether  it  were  better  to  attract  to  the  Flemish  market  the  sale  of  this 
exported  English  cloth,  or  to  exclude  it  altogether  from  competition 
with  the  native  industry,  was  settled  by  a  sort  of  compromise  in  favour 
of  protection.  But  the  repeated  prohibitions  of  the  importation  of 
English  cloth  (1436-64)  remained  ineffectual,  and  the  cloth  industry 
was  paralysed  in  the  Flemish  cities  ;  though  it  maintained  itself  for  a 
considerable  time  in  the  open  country.  Ghent  was  able  to  some  extent 
to  fall  back  upon  its  resources  as  a  staple  of  corn ;  and  at  Bruges,  where 
the  banking  business  of  Europe  was  in  the  hands  of  foreign  merchants, 
a  busy  traffic  continued  to  be  carried  on.  In  the  struggle  pertinaciously 
maintained  by  the  latter  city,  from  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century 
onwards,  against  the  transference  of  her  foreign  trade  to  Antwerp, 
interest  in  the  end  prevailed  over  habit.  The  English  Merchant 
Adventurers,  who  had  set  up  a  house  at  Antwerp  early  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  by  the  middle  of  it  had  transferred  themselves  thither  in  a 
body.  While  the  great  transmarine  trade  was  thus  drawn  away  from 
Flanders  proper  to  Brabant,  and  the  depopulation  of  the  former,  which 
assumed  alarming  proportions  under  Charles  the  Bold,  had  begun  already 
in  the  last  years  of  his  predecessor,  the  prosperity  of  the  Northern 
Netherlands  continued  to  increase.  Navigation,  with  the  great  fishing 
and  other  industries,  flourished ;  and  little  troubled  by  the  remote 
wars  of  Charles  the  Bold,  the  Hollanders  and  their  neighbours  took 
consolation  for  his  exactions  in  the  cheapness  of  comforts  which  they 
came  to  reckon  among  the  necessaries  of  life. 


430 


Nobility  and  clergy 


In  the  struggles  of  the  Dukes  with  the  communes  the  nobles  ranged 
themselves  readily  on  the  side  of  the  former  down  to  the  close  of 
Philip's  reign  —  notably  in  Flanders,  where  Courtray  had  never  been 
forgotten.  Only  very  gradually  under  him,  though  more  abruptly  under 
his  successor,  the  modern  notion  of  the  sovereign  throned  in  majestic 
isolation  superseded  the  feudal  conception  of  the  prince  among  his 
peers.  To  a  large  extent  the  change  was  doubtless  due  to  the  influence 
of  the  most  splendid  of  contemporary  Western  courts.  The  pictures 
of  its  magnificence  and  luxury  drawn  by  Jacques  du  Clercq  and  the 
elaborate  episodes  of  feast  and  tournament,  with  which  Olivier  de  la 
Marche  loves  to  intersperse  his  narrative,  bear  out  the  assertion  of 
Commines,  that  in  the  prodigality  of  enticements  it  surpassed  any  other 
Court  known  to  his  experience.  In  the  Court  guide  composed  by 
Olivier  during  the  siege  of  Neuss,  where  Charles  displayed  in  the  midst 
of  war  the  stately  ceremonial  in  which  his  pride  delighted,  he  details 
the  official  system,  and  the  elaborate  etiquette  which  became  the  model 
of  many  generations.  But  the  completeness  of  the  external  machinery 
furnished  no  safeguard  against  the  venality  and  corruption  inseparable 
from  despotic  rule,  or  against  a  dissoluteness  of  manners  usually  fostered 
by  formal  restraint.  The  lasciviousness,  that  pervaded  the  Court  of 
Charles  VII  of  France  and  made  that  of  Edward  IV  a  seminary  of 
pleasant  vice,  readily  found  its  way  into  the  surroundings  of  Philip  the 
Good,  who  had  a  large  family  of  bastards,  and  mistresses  by  the  score. 
The  extravagant  delights  in  which  the  nobles  might  share  when  not 
engaged  in  warlike  service  impoverished  many  and  ruined  some ;  and 
Charles  the  Bold's  relations  with  his  nobility  were  strained  to  the  utmost 
by  the  military  burdens  which  he  imposed  on  them.  Numerous  de- 
fections followed,  and  suspicions  of  treason  on  the  unfortunate  field  of 
Morat ;  only  a  handful  of  his  nobles  fought  by  his  side  at  Nancy,  and 
hardly  any  held  out  by  his  daughter  in  her  hour  of  distress. 

Of  the  relations  between  the  Dukes  and  the  clergy  it  must  suffice 
to  say  that  they  were  largely  determined  b}^  considerations  of  interest, 
and  drawn  closer  by  the  unpopularity  of  both  prince  and  priesthood 
in  the  towns.  Duke  Philip  contrived  to  place  his  illegitimate  brother 
John  in  the  see  of  Cambray,  while  two  of  his  own  bastards  held  the 
great  ecclesiastical  principality  of  Lidge.  Notwithstanding  the  Church's 
acquisitions  of  landed  property,  which  here  as  elsewhere  legislation 
sought  to  stay,  the  secular  arm  occasionally  appealed  to  the  spiritual 
for  its  aid  against  civic  recalcitrance,  and  now  and  then  supported  the 
clergy  when  at  issue  with  the  towns.  Yet  such  was  the  perversity  of 
Charles  the  Bold,  which  left  no  section  of  his  subjects  to  lament  his 
downfall,  that  he,  who  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign  had  protected  the 
churches  of  Li^ge  from  sharing  in  the  general  doom  of  the  city,  was  at 
its  close  generally  hated  by  the  Netherlands  clergy,  for  having  over- 
taxed them  as  he  had  their  flocks. 


Centralisation  of  government  431 

The  principles  and  policy  of  the  Burgundian  dynasty  found  their 
most  skilful  agents  in  the  highly-trained  lawyers  who,  after  study- 
ing in  France,  at  Louvain,  or  in  the  University  founded  by  Philip 
in  Franche  Comtd,  held  high  judicial  office  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
ground  had  been  in  some  measure  prepared  for  them,  at  all  events  in 
Flanders,  though  it  was  precisely  here  that  the  judicial  innovations  of 
this  period  met  with  the  most  stubborn  resistance.  The  so-called 
Audiences  of  the  County  based  to  some  extent  on  the  ancient  usage  of 
conveying  "  quiet  truths  "  to  him,  led  the  way  to  the  establishment  of 
the  Count's  Council,  which  in  1385  Philip  the  Bold  transformed  into 
the  Chamber  of  the  Duke's  Council  in  Flanders,  subdividing  it  into  a 
judicial  and  a  financial  Chamber.  The  latter  remained  at  Lille,  whence 
Philip  the  Good  extended  its  operations  to  Namur,  Hainault,  and  the 
towns  on  the  Somme,  while  the  two  financial  chambers  of  Holland  and 
Zeeland,  and  of  Brabant,  were  united  by  him  at  Brussels  in  1463.  The 
judicial  Chamber  on  the  other  hand,  which  came  to  be  generally  known 
as  the  Council  of  Flanders,  was,  after  many  shiftings  of  place,  finally 
brought  back  to  Ghent  in  1452 ;  the  Council  of  the  Counts  of  Holland, 
and  that  of  the  Dukes  of  Brabant,  having  been  alike  reformed  on  the 
acknowledgment  of  Philip's  sovereignty.  In  each  case  the  substance  of 
the  reform  lay  in  the  introduction,  by  the  side  of  the  great  lords  and 
officials  previously  composing  the  Council,  of  trained  lawyers,  devoted 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  ducal  authority,  and  inclined  to  stimulate  its 
self-consciousness.  In  order,  however,  to  make  this  authority  really 
supreme,  and  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  any  appeal  to  the  Parliament  of 
Paris,  Philip  in  1446,  without  putting  an  end  to  the  Privy  Council 
which  ordinarily  attended  him,  established  a  Grand  Council,  attached 
to  his  own  person  and  entrusted  with  supreme  judicial  as  well  as 
political  and  financial  functions.  The  centralising  process  was  carried 
to  its  final  stage  by  Charles  the  Bold's  settlement  of  1473,  which 
maintained  the  Grand  Council  as  a  Council  of  State  for  the  whole 
of  his  dominions,  but  transferred  its  financial  functions  to  a  Chamber 
finally  fixed  at  Malines,  absorbing  into  this  the  Brussels  Chamber  of 
Accounts.  Charles  also  established  a  central  judicial  Court  at  Malines, 
which  he  sought  to  surround  with  all  possible  external  dignity,  frequently 
presiding  in  person  at  its  sittings.  But  it  remained  unpopular,  by 
reason  of  its  slow  Roman  procedure,  and  the  use  of  the  French  language 
to  which  it  adhered;  nor  did  it  survive  his  fall. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  both  Philip  and  Charles  had  from  time  to 
time  to  summon  the  "  States "  of  the  several  lands ;  for  there  was  no 
other  way  of  obtaining  the  extraordinary  aids  (heden)  required  more 
especially  for  their  wars.  In  the  meetings  of  these  "  States  "  the  at- 
tendance of  the  nobles  gradually  slackened,  and  (notably  in  Holland) 
only  the  larger  towns  were  regularly  represented.  For  the  rest,  no 
town  or  "  State  "  was  bound  except  by  its  own  vote.    It  was  again  no 


432  States- General.  —  Military  system 


innovation  when,  in  1428,  Philip  caused  his  settlement  with  Jacqueline 
to  be  confirmed  by  a  meeting  of  representatives  of  all  the  lands  whose 
allegiance  she  had  formerly  claimed.  And  it  was  only  a  step  further 
when,  after  two  previous  meetings  in  1463-4  he  in  1465  formally 
called  upon  all  the  States  of  the  Low  Countries  assembled  at  Brussels 
to  recognise  his  son  as  his  successor  and  Lieutenant  general^  and  at 
the  same  time  obtained  from  them  a  supply  enabling  him  to  carry  on 
effective  war  against  Louis  XL  Charles  the  Bold  thrice  assembled  these 
States-General;  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  regularly  comprised 
representatives  of  the  whole  of  his  Netherlands  dominions.  Thus  this 
all-important  institution  never  passed  beyond  an  initial  stage  under 
either  of  the  last  two  Burgundian  Dukes  ;  though  Philip  had  faithful 
servants  who  advised  him  to  trust  those  trusted  by  his  subjects.  Indeed, 
an  outline  of  the  constitutional  system  to  which  the  occasional  con- 
vocation of  the  States-General  pointed  has  actually  been  preserved, 
dating  from  an  early  period  of  his  reign. 

After  Philip  had,  like  his  father  before  him,  found  the  communal 
militia  of  the  Flemish  towns  untrustworthy  in  foreign  war,  he  had  for 
his  military  needs  fallen  back  on  the  feudal  services  upon  which  the  first 
two  Burgundian  Dukes  had  placed  a  precarious  dependence ;  but  the 
forces  which  he  employed  for  the  overthrow  of  the  liberties  of  Ghent, 
and  which  his  heir  led  forth  against  Louis  XI  on  behalf  of  the  League 
of  the  Common  Good,  already  comprised  a  considerable  element  of 
mercenary  soldiers  —  Picards  and  English  in  particular.  The  bandes 
d'ordonnance  of  Charles  the  Bold,  a  modified  imitation  of  the  new 
French  model,  were  partly  recruited  among  the  nobility,  partly  made 
up  of  Italian  heavy  infantry  and  the  indispensable  English  archers; 
and  a  select  body-guard  was  formed  on  a  similar  basis.  In  1471  he 
raised  a  permanent  force  of  10,000  men.  The  towns  had  to  equip 
contingents  at  their  own  expense,  but  under  officers  named  by  the  Duke. 
He  improved  his  artillery,  and  paid  attention  to  the  fighting  qualities 
of  his  navy.  Though  Charles  was  both  an  unskilful  and  an  unfortunate 
commander,  he  was  the  creator  of  the  standing  army  which  proved  so 
formidable  under  the  rule  of  his  descendants ;  much  of  his  military 
expenditure  was  unavoidable,  since  the  superiority  of  regular  troops 
over  feudal  levies  was  already  proved  ;  and  he  deserves  credit  for  his 
consistent  maintenance  of  discipline,  more  especially  as  it  only  increased 
his  unpopularity. 

It  has  frequently  been  assumed  that  the  progress  of  art  and  literature 
in  the  Netherlands  must  have  benefited  by  the  patronage  of  an  open- 
handed  dynasty  and  a  sumptuous  Court.  But,  although  the  Renaissance 
owed  not  a  little  to  the  good-will  of  Philip  the  Good  and  his  family,  they 
either  used  its  culture  as  a  political  expedient  or  (in  Voltaire's  phrase) 
treated  it  as  a  passe  temps.  The  triumphs  of  a  late  and  rich  variety 
of  the  Gothic  style  attested  by  so  many  municipal  and  ecclesiastical 


Art  and  literature  under  the  Burgundian  Dukes  433 


edifices  of  the  fifteenth  century  are  due  to  the  towns,  although  in  so 
many  instances  their  decadence  had  already  set  in.  The  case  was  dif- 
ferent with  the  sister-art,  which  in  Flanders  was  emancipated  from 
Byzantine  models  (introduced  by  the  Crusades)  by  the  great  painters  to 
whom  the  miniaturists  had  formed  a  characteristic  transition.  When 
Hubert  van  Eyck  died  in  1420,  he  bequeathed  the  completion  of  the 
masterpiece  of  the  school  of  Bruges  to  his  younger  brother  John. 
Within  fourteen  further  years  the  latter,  who  was  soon  made  a  member 
of  Duke  Philip's  household,  perfected  a  form  of  art  that  clothed  its 
simple  ideals  of  faith  and  devotion  in  the  golden  splendour  of  the  age 
of  its  origin.  Its  latest  great  master,  Memling,  carried  far  beyond 
the  borders  of  his  native  land  the  purest  and  profoundest  pictorial 
expression  of  the  mystic  depth  of  religious  sentiment. 

Leaving  aside  other  forms  of  art  —  among  which  something  might  be 
said  of  the  attention  paid  by  both  Flemings  and  Walloons  to  that  of 
music  —  we  find  that  already  under  the  House  of  Dampierre,  the  French 
literature  patronised  by  the  Counts,  and  the  Flemish  that  was  dear  to 
the  people,  had  gone  far  asunder.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  French  historic  prose  as  it  were  annexed  the  Netherlands  as  part 
of  its  proper  domain.  Froissart,  the  chief  prophet  of  the  last  phase  of 
chivalry  radiating  from  the  Court  of  the  Burgundian  Dukes  and  the 
exemplar  of  a  whole  line  of  chroniclers  devoted  to  their  dynasty,  was 
himself  a  native  of  Hainault  and  spent  the  last  quarter  of  a  century 
of  his  life  in  retirement  in  Flanders.  After  him  it  became  indispensable 
that  every  important  Court  or  great  noble  household  should  possess  its 
indiciaire  or  historiographer,  and  the  House  of  Burgundy  fostered  a 
series  of  such  literary  officials,  who  placed  on  record  every  step  in  its 
advance,  inflated  its  pride,  and  enhanced  its  fame.  The  list  includes, 
besides  Enguerrand  de  Monstrelet,  on  the  whole  a  fairly  candid  writer, 
Jacques  Lefevre  de  Saint-Remy,  who  in  the  main  borrowed  or  abridged 
from  him,  the  graphic  Jacques  du  Clercq,  Georges  Chastellain,  by  his 
literary  gifts  as  well  as  by  his  masculine  outspokenness  the  most  notable 
of  Froissart's  successors,  and  Jean  Molinet,  whose  turgid  artificiality 
and  Euphuistic  affectations  render  him  a  fit  narrator  of  the  decay 
and  downfall  of  Burgundian  greatness.  All  these  (except  Monstrelet) 
were  officials  of  the  ducal  House,  which  was  abandoned  by  Commines, 
the  one  narrator  of  the  great  struggle  who  writes  in  the  spirit  of 
practical  statesmanship.  Edmond  of  Dynter,  who  came  into  the  service 
of  Philip  the  Good  from  that  of  the  Dukes  of  Brabant,  furnished 
a  long  pragmatic  history  of  the  Jacqueline  troubles  and  the  complicated 
course  of  events  in  Gelderland. 

Against  the  influences  of  a  French-speaking  Court  and  its  literary 
mouthpieces,  the  native  language  and  literature  had  to  rely  upon  a 
power  of  resistance  strengthened  by  movements  springing  from  the 
heart  of  the  people.    Thus,  though  the  so-called  Chambers  of  Rhetoric, 

C.  M.  H.  I.  28 


9 


434 


The  Rederijkers 


whose  members  went  by  the  name  of  Rederijkers^  derived  their  title  from 
France,  the  institution  itself  was  clearly  a  continuation  or  renewal 
of  the  old  confraternities  or  guilds  devoted  to  the  performance  of 
religious  plays  which  flourished  in  various  parts  of  the  Netherlands  in 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  Rederijkers^  whose  activity 
cannot  safely  be  asserted  to  have  begun  much  before  the  fifteenth 
century,  abandoned  the  domain  of  ecclesiastical  tradition,  thereby  ren- 
dering collision  with  the  Church  inevitable  sooner  or  later,  and,  as  at 
the  same  time  the  critical  spirit  asserted  itself  and  the  influence  of  the 
Renaissance  enlarged  the  choice  of  materials,  in  their  dramatic  allegories 
or  moralities  (spelen  van  zinne)  paid  increasing  attention  to  the  treat- 
ment of  their  subjects  and  the  form  of  their  plays.  Connecting  their 
performances  with  the  festivals  that  formed  so  material  a  part  of  the 
popular  life  of  the  Netherlands,  they  at  the  same  time  more  and  more 
acquired  the  character  of  literary  associations  whose  activity  extended  to 
a  wide  variety  of  forms  of  composition.  The  most  ancient  of  the  Belgian 
Chambers,  the  Alpha  et  Omega  of  Ypres,  seems  to  date  from  a  time 
rather  before  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  the  famous  In 
liefde  hloeyende  of  Amsterdam  was  not  instituted  till  1517.  Their 
number  ultimately  grew  to  an  extraordinary  extent,  more  especially  in 
the  Southern  Netherlands  ;  and  the  elaborate  arrangements  for  establish- 
ing an  organic  union  among  them  culminated  in  the  meeting  of  deputies 
of  all  the  Chambers  at  Malines  in  1493  on  the  summons  of  Philip  the 
Fair,  and  the  setting-up  in  1503  of  a  supreme  Chamber  at  Ghent.  But 
this  late  effort  of  a  centralising  policy  was  vehemently  opposed,  and  its 
practical  result  was  small.  The  Reformation  found  the  Chambers  in- 
stinctively sensitive  to  impulses  moving  the  heart  of  the  people — with 
what  consequences  is  well  known. 

The  popular  religious  movements  noticeable  in  the  Netherlands  up 
to  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  had  on  the  whole  remained 
ominously  out  of  touch  with  the  organisation  of  the  Church.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  B^guines  and  Beghards  and  Lollards  had  little 
or  nothing  to  say  against  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome ;  and 
neither  the  Wicliffites  nor  afterwards  the  followers  of  Hus  seem  to  have 
attempted  any  propaganda  in  the  Low  Countries.  The  beginnings 
there  of  mystical  speculation,  of  which  the  revered  Johannes  Rusbroek, 
born  near  Brussels  in  1283,  can  in  his  age  hardly  have  been  a  solitary  re- 
presentative, may  possibly  be  traceable  to  the  teachings  of  the  "Master" 
Eckhart  at  Cologne.  To  Rusbroek's  teachings  both  Tauler  and  Gerard 
Groote  were  listeners ;  they  became  a  profound  source  of  personal  in- 
spiration to  many  generations ;  nor  has  their  echo  died  out  to  this  day. 
To  Geert  (Gerard)  Groote  and  his  friend  Florentius  Radevynszoon,  unlike 
himan  ecclesiastic  by  profession,  was  due  the  establishment  of  the  f rater- 
huis  at  his  native  town  of  Deventer,  which  became  the  model  of  a  series 
of  similar  foundations,  intended  as  the  homes  of  pious  followers  of  God 


The  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  435 


resolved  to  lead  a  common  life  of  prayer  and  labour,  unencumbered  by 
any  hierarchical  organisation  and  free  from  any  system  of  irrevocable 
vows.  A  happy  accident  suggested  that  some  of  the  young  mem- 
bers of  the  Deventer  settlement  should  contribute  towards  its  support 
by  clubbing  together  their  earnings  as  copyists  of  manuscripts  of  the 
Scriptures  and  the  Church  Fathers,  to  which  work  they  had  as  pupils 
of  the  Latin  school  in  the  town  been  encouraged  by  Groote.  Hereby 
he  had  from  the  very  outset  of  his  endeavours  blended  the  pursuit  of 
learning  and  the  furtherance  of  education  with  a  life  of  piety  and 
devotion.  While  extending  and  consolidating  the  system  of  ihefrater- 
huizen^  Florentius  also  carried  out  a  cherished  earlier  design  of  his  friend 
by  the  foundation,  at  Windesem  near  Zwolle,  of  a  convent  of  canons 
regular.  The  half-century  of  the  reigns  of  Philip  and  Charles  witnessed 
a  continuous  extension  in  almost  every  part  of  the  Netherlands,  as 
well  as  in  many  districts  of  Northern  Germany,  both  of  the  Houses 
of  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  and  of  the  convents  called  the 
Windesem  Congregations.  The  Church  had  come  to  recognise  the 
agency  of  the  Brethren  as  useful  and  praiseworthy ;  among  those  who 
extolled  their  labours  was  the  Minorite  Johannes  Brugmann,  the  greatest 
popular  preacher  of  his  age  in  the  Netherlands,  and  they  were  favoured 
by  Duke  Philip's  brother,  Bishop  David  of  Utrecht. 

The  value  of  the  Brethren's  labours  in  the  transcription  of  manuscripts 
has  not  been  overestimated;  but  these  labours  belonged  to  a  period 
that  was  passing  away,  and  were  only  slightly  supplemented  by  use  of 
the  new  invention  of  the  printing-press.  On  the  other  hand  the  work 
of  education  had  always  formed  a  chief  purpose  and  essential  part  of 
the  existence  of  the  fraternity.  The  very  large  numbers  of  scholars 
attending  its  schools  signally  contributed  throughout  the  Netherlands  to 
lay  the  foundations  of  an  enduring  literary  culture,  and  the  fact  that 
the  teaching  and  training  of  these  scholars  was  everywhere  impregnated 
with  the  spirit  of  religious  devotion  determined  the  significance,  to  the 
most  illustrious  as  well  as  to  the  humblest  of  them,  of  the  advance  of 
the  New  Learning.  They  met  it  less  in  the  spirit  of  an  enthusiastic 
humanism  than  in  that  of  a  steady  demand  for  serviceable  lore,  such 
as  already  gives  so  much  substance  to  the  writings  of  Cardinal  Cusanus, 
a  pupil  of  Deventer  in  its  earlier  days. 

But  a  new  educational  epoch  began  with  Alexander  Hegius,  who  in 
1474  was  appointed  head  of  the  school  at  Deventer,  and  died  near  the 
close  of  the  century,  leaving  behind  him  nothing  but  his  clothes  and  his 
books,  and  a  name  which  may  fairly  be  called  that  of  one  of  the  great 
schoolmasters  of  the  world.  The  list  of  the  scholars  trained  at  Deventer 
by  him,  or  in  his  time,  and  that  of  his  Paris  fellow-student  Badius 
Ascensius  (Bade  of  Asche),  includes,  besides  its  chief  and  incomparable 
glory,  the  name  of  Erasmus,  those  of  Conrad  Mutianus,  the  pride  of 
Erfurt  in  her  brightest  days,  and  Hermann  von  dem  Busche,  whom 


436 


The  University  of  Louvain 


Strauss  calls  "the  missionary  of  humanism."  Johannes  Sintius  (Sin- 
theim),  who  taught  with  Hegius  at  Deventer  and  was  himself  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Brotherhood,  rendered  a  signal  service  to  education  in  the 
Netherlands  and  in  Germany  by  the  successful  revision  of  the  Latin 
grammar  which  had  held  its  own  for  centuries.  But  the  schools  of  the 
Brethren  were  not  seminaries  of  that  narrower  humanism  which  made 
the  study  of  the  classical  tongues  the  sole  method  and  all  but  the 
supreme  object  of  education.  They  encouraged  the  reading  of  the  Bible 
and  the  use  of  the  service-books  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  cherished  the 
careful  use  and  even  the  study  of  the  vernacular,  and  thus  brought 
about  the  beginning  of  a  new  educational  movement  which  on  the 
Upper  Rhine  was  to  lead  to  results  such  as  it  could  hardly  expect  to 
command  on  the  Lower.  Many  links  connect  the  labours  of  the 
Brethren  and  the  great  movement  which  in  the  fifteenth  century  strove 
to  quicken  the  religious  life  of  the  German  people  by  bringing  learning 
and  education,  and  literature  and  art,  into  living  harmony  with  it.  Such 
a  link  may  be  found  in  the  life  of  Rudolf  Agricola,  who  died  in  1485, 
and,  although  apparently  not  a  pupil  of  the  Brethren,  was  a  native  of 
the  neighbourhood  of  Groningen,  where  one  of  their  seminaries  was 
placed.  The  last  years  of  his  life  were  spent  at  Heidelberg  and  Worms. 
He  was  a  man  of  three  tongues ;  but  it  was  in  theological  rather  than  in 
philological  study  that  he  found  the  crown  of  his  labours. 

Of  a  very  different  character  were  the  relations,  in  the  Nether- 
lands, between  the  Renaissance  and  University  studies.  The  complete 
separation  of  academical  from  municipal  government  at  Louvain,  and 
the  special  attention  devoted  there  to  legal  studies  intended  to  prepare 
for  the  service  of  the  central  government,  went  some  way  towards 
estranging  that  University  from  popular  and  provincial  interests  ;  but 
the  part  which  she  was  long  to  play  in  the  history  of  the  intellectual 
culture  of  the  country  was  determined  by  the  identification  of  her 
interests  with  those  of  Church  and  Clergy.  The  most  illustrious  of  the 
earlier  students  and  teachers  of  Louvain,  Pope  Adrian  VI,  in  a  sense 
typifies  both  her  influence  and  that  of  the  Brethren's  school  in  which 
he  had  been  previously  trained.  In  matters  concerning  the  Church  he 
thought  with  vigour  and  honesty;  but  for  "poetry"  he  had  scant 
sympathy  to  spare.  Especially  in  consequence  of  the  influence  exercised 
by  the  monastic  orders,  Louvain's  academical  character  was  even  more 
conservative  than  that  of  Cologne.  For  the  rest,  the  relations  between 
Church  and  people  in  the  fifteenth  century  were  in  the  Netherlands 
afEected  by  the  general  causes  in  operation  throughout  Western  Europe. 
The  deep  religious  feeling  of  the  people  remained  proof  against  the 
excesses  alike  and  the  shortcomings  of  the  clergy;  against  a  corruption 
which  led  even  Philip  the  Good  to  approve  of  the  attempt  to  divert  the 
administration  of  charity  into  lay  hands,  and  a  license  of  life  on  the 
part  of  both  seculars  and  regulars  which  defied  repeated  attempts  at 


Symptoms  of  religious  change 


437 


reform.  Few  protests  against  the  doctrines  and  usages  of  the  Church 
are  noticeable  in  the  course  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

A  more  lasting  influence  was  however  being  quietly  exercised  by  a 
school  of  religious  thinkers,  to  which  in  the  latter  half  of  the  century 
two  notable  Netherlanders  belonged.  The  theology  of  John  (Pupper)  of 
Goch  in  the  duchy  of  Cleves,  who  is  believed  to  have  been  educated 
in  one  of  the  Brethren's  schools,  and  who  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  presided  over  a  priory  of  Austin  canonesses  founded  by  him  at 
Malines  in  1451,  rejected  the  pretensions  of  mere  outward  piety  and 
dead  formalism.  There  is  no  proof  that  his  writings  which  were  read 
by  few  were  known  to  Luther;  but  they  must  have  come  under  the 
notice  of  Erasmus.  The  step  to  the  assertion  of  the  universal  priest- 
hood of  Christian  believers  was  taken  by  a  bolder  thinker,  John  Wessel 
(Goesevort),  who,  born  at  Groningen  about  the  year  1420,  was  educated 
in  the  school  of  the  Brotherhood  at  Zwolle,  but  afterwards  studied  in 
most  of  the  chief  universities  of  Europe.  He  was  honoured  by  both 
Luther  and  Melanchthon,  but  he  never  took  Orders,  and  his  academic 
distinction  is  his  chief  title  to  fame  (magister  contradictionuni).  He 
enjoyed  the  patronage  of  Bishop  David  of  Utrecht ;  but  his  favourite 
residence  seems  to  have  been  the  Frisian  convent  of  Adwert,  to  which 
a  species  of  high  school  was  attached.  Lover  of  truth  as  he  was,  and 
in  one  respect  at  least  (viz.  as  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Eucharist)  even 
further  advanced  than  Luther,  he  disliked  any  appeal  to  the  passions  of 
the  people,  and  had  as  little  thought  as  Bishop  David  himself  of  an 
open  rupture  with  the  Church. 

II 

When  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bold  at  Nancy  was  ascertained, 
Louis  prepared  to  seize  those  parts  of  the  ducal  dominions  which  were 
nearest  to  his  hand  and  indispensable  for  the  future  of  the  French 
monarchy,  while  keeping  in  view  the  ultimate  acquisition  of  them  all. 
He  proclaimed  his  anxiety  for  the  interest  of  Charles'  daughter  and 
heiress  whom  he  had  held  at  the  font ;  but  the  project  of  a  marriage 
between  Mary,  now  close  upon  her  twenty-first  year,  and  the  Dauphin, 
a  boy  of  eight,  was  full  of  difficulty,  more  especially  as  the  suit  of 
Maximilian  had  already  reached  an  advanced  point.  This  prince's 
father  was  naturally  not  less  anxious  to  preserve  the  cohesion  of  the 
Burgundian  inheritance  than  Louis  XI  had  been  prompt  to  impair 
it ;  and  from  him  no  revival  was  to  be  apprehended  of  those  questions 
as  to  male  or  female  fiefs  which  had  of  old  divided  the  Netherlands. 
All  the  more  important  was  the  attitude  of  the  country  itself  towards 
the  French  intervention. 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  prompt  mission  of  the  Count  of 
Craon  into  Burgundy,  Louis  had  despatched  to  Picardy  and  Artois  the 


438 


The  Great  Privilege 


[1477 


High  Admiral  of  France  (the  Bastard  of  Bourbon),  accompanied  by 
Com  mines,  to  demand  the  surrender  of  all  fiefs  of  the  French  Crown,  and 
in  the  first  instance  of  the  towns  on  the  Somme.  His  plans  were  vast, 
but  according  to  Commines  the  reverse  of  vague.  Namur,  Hainault, 
and  other  parts  near  his  borders  were  to  be  made  over  to  some  of  his 
French  vassals,  and  Brabant  and  Holland  to  German  princes  whom  he 
would  thus  bind  to  his  alliance.  The  French  fief  of  Flanders  he  must 
have  intended  to  secure  for  his  Crown,  of  which  it  would  still  have  been 
one  of  the  brightest  jewels.  The  towns  on  the  Somme  were  one  after 
the  other  —  some  by  golden  keys  — opened  to  him ;  and  the  defection  of 
Philip  de  Crevecoeur  placed  him  in  possession  of  the  Boulonnais.  Mary's 
letter  of  January  23  to  the  ducal  council  at  Dijon,  protesting  against 
French  encroachments  in  the  duchy  of  Burgundy  and  the  Franche 
Comtd,  held  out  no  prospect  of  armed  resistance  on  her  own  part ;  and 
indeed  any  attempt  of  the  kind  was  out  of  the  question.  At  Ghent, 
where  she  was  detained  whether  she  would  or  not,  and  in  the  other 
towns  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  the  confirmation  of  the  tidings  of  her 
father's  death  had  been  received  with  general  feelings  of  relief  and  joy, 
and  throughout  the  Netherlands  it  was  resolved  to  make  the  most  of 
the  opportunity. 

By  the  beginning  of  February,  the  Four  Members  of  Flanders,  the 
three  Estates  of  Brabant  and  Hainault,  and  the  deputies  of  the  States 
of  Holland  were  assembled  at  Ghent.  In  the  hands  of  these  repre- 
sentatives of  the  vier  landen^  who  explicitly  took  it  upon  themselves 
to  act  on  behalf  of  the  country  at  large,  the  executive  remained  till 
the  Austrian  marriage,  and  their  united  action  imposed  upon  the  lady 
of  Burgundy  the  grant  of  the  great  charter  of  Netherlands  liberties, 
and  of  the  special  charters  which  supplemented  it.  The  importance  of 
the  promises  comprised  in  the  Groote  Privilegie  of  February  10,  1477, 
lies  not  so  much  in  its  sweeping  invalidation  of  all  previous  ducal 
ordinances  antagonistic  to  communal  privileges,  or  even  in  the  assertion 
of  principles  more  or  less  indigenous  to  all  the  Low  Countries  under 
Burgundian  rule,  as  in  the  announcement  of  a  definite  machinery  for 
their  future  government.  It  was,  no  doubt,  of  moment  to  provide 
that  no  war  could  be  declared  and  no  marriage  concluded  by  the 
ducal  sovereign  without  the  consent  of  the  States ;  to  establish  the 
necessity  of  their  approval  for  fresh  taxes,  to  confine  the  tenure  of 
office  to  natives,  to  insist  on  the  use  of  the  national  tongue  in  all 
public  documents,  to  secure  to  the  several  provinces  the  control  of 
the  government's  commercial  policy  and  a  check  upon  the  use  of  its 
military  force.  But  the  chief  political  significance  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion was  directly  constructive.  While  abolishing  the  central  judicial 
Court  or  Parliament  of  Malines,  it  reorganised  the  Grand  Council, 
attached  to  the  person  of  the  sovereign,  on  a  broad  representative 
basis.    It  was  to  consist,  in  addition  to  the  princes  of  the  dynasty, 


1477]       Mary  of  Burgundy  and  her  counsellors  439 


of  the  Chancellor  and  twenty-three  other  members  named  for  life 
by  the  sovereign,  nobles  and  trained  lawyers  in  equal  proportions, 
and  assigned  on  a  fixed  scale  to  each  of  the  provinces  of  the  land. 
Every  precaution  was  used  for  ensuring  a  paramount  regard  on  the 
part  of  the  Council  for  the  privileges  and  usages  of  provinces  and 
towns,  and  every  facility  provided  for  the  assembling  on  their  own 
motion  of  the  States  of  the  whole  of  the  ducal  dominions  —  the  States- 
General. 

The  Great  Privilege  was  supplemented  by  several  special  appli- 
cations of  its  principles  to  the  needs  of  particular  provinces.  These 
were  the  Flemish  Privilege,  obtained  on  the  same  day  by  the  Four 
Members  of  Flanders,  upon  whose  unanimous  consent  it  made  any  future 
constitutional  change  depend,  while  no  Flemish  business  was  to  be 
transacted  except  on  Flemish  soil  and  in  the  Flemish  tongue  ;  the  Great 
Privilege  of  Holland  and  Zeeland  (February  17),  which  contained 
similar  provisions  and  granted  full  liberty  to  the  towns  to  hold  "  Par- 
liaments "  of  their  own,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  States  of  the 
Netherlands  or  not;  the  Great  Privilege  of  Namur  (May),  and  the 
Joyeuse  Entree  granted  to  Mary  on  the  occasion  of  her  being  acknow- 
ledged at  Leuven  as  Duchess  of  Brabant  (May  29),  which,  while 
returning  to  the  usages  confirmed  at  the  accession  of  Philip  the  Good, 
added  new  liberties  and  doubled  the  measure  of  restrictions  upon  the 
ducal  power. 

That  fear  of  France  rather  than  any  affection  for  the  Burgundian 
dynasty,  or  even  any  warmth  of  feeling  towards  Mary  herself,  had 
induced  the  representatives  of  the  vier  landen  to  come  to  terms  with 
her,  was  shown  by  the  military  preparations  upon  which  they  simul- 
taneously agreed.  In  place  of  the  ducal  army  which  had  ceased  to 
exist,  100,000  men  were  to  be  levied,  of  whom  Flanders  contributed 
more  than  one-third,  and  the  rest  in  proportion.  Raised  by  means  of 
half-obsolete  feudal  obligations,  or  as  communal  or  rural  militia,  this 
army,  though  its  numbers  were  helped  out  by  a  system  of  substitutes, 
proved  inadequate  to  its  purpose  ;  but  the  fact  of  its  levy  not  the  less 
shows  that  the  mind  of  the  Netherlands  had  been  made  up  to  resist  the 
French  advance. 

Meanwhile  Mary,  still  uncertain  in  which  direction  to  turn  for 
preservation,  had  sent  an  embassy  to  Louis  XI,  apparently  just  before 
her  relations  with  the  Flemish  towns  had  been  settled.  She  had 
little  personal  advice  to  depend  upon.  Her  step-mother,  the  high- 
spirited  Duchess  Dowager  Margaret,  still  relied  on  delusive  hopes  of 
English  support.  Mary's  kinsman,  Adolf,  Lord  zum  Ravenstein  and 
brother  of  the  Duke  of  Cleves,  was  both  loyal  to  her  and  popular 
with  her  subjects,  but  as  yet  chiefly  intent  upon  securing  her  hand 
for  his  own  son.  The  time  for  taking  the  matronly  advice  of  her 
former  governess,  Jeanne  de  Commines,  Dame  de  Halle  win,  had  not  yet 


440 


French  intrigues  in  Flanders 


[1477 


come.  Very  naturally,  therefore,  she  fell  back  upon  the  counsel  of  the 
men  who  had  been  faithful  to  his  father's  interests  in  his  last  and 
worst  days,  and  who  still  sat  in  her  Privy  Council,  though  differing 
in  their  policy  from  the  majority  of  its  members.  The  Chancellor 
Hugonet  (to  leave  out  his  other  titles)  and  the  Sire  d'Himbercourt, 
Count  of  Meghem  —  the  former  a  Burgundian,  the  latter  a  Picard  by 
birth  —  persuaded  the  youthful  Duchess  to  allow  them  to  negotiate  with 
France.  They  were  animated  by  the  spirit  common  to  lawyers  and 
nobles  in  the  heyday  of  the  Burgundian  rule,  and  shared  by  the  Church 
(William  de  Clugny,  protonotary  of  the  Holy  See,  was  afterwards 
arraigned  for  complicity  with  them).  Towards  France  they  were 
attracted  by  a  sympathy  which  needed  no  stimulus  of  sordid  interests, 
whether  or  not  they  had  from  the  first  resolved  that  the  end  must  be 
the  acceptance  of  Louis  XI's  marriage-scheme  and  the  reabsorption  of 
the  Burgundian  in  the  French  dynasty;  while  they  detested  a  policy 
of  concessions  to  the  several  portions  of  the  crumbling  monarchy  of 
Charles  the  Bold. 

Louis,  on  his  side,  was  resolved  to  secure  a  party  in  Flanders.  The 
agent  whom  he  had  first,  in  spite  of  Commines'  warning,  sent  to  Ghent 
for  the  purpose  —  no  other  than  the  notorious  Olivier  le  Dain — had 
indeed  been  obliged  to  depart  discomfited,  and  had  only  partially 
redeemed  his  credit  by  cleverly  bringing  into  his  master's  power  the 
city  of  Tournay,  always  well  disposed  towards  France.  Louis,  however, 
when  Mary's  embassy  reached  him  at  Peronrfe,  was  at  particular  pains 
to  show  courtesy  towards  the  Flemish  towns  in  the  person  of  the  dis- 
tinguished hooftman  of  Bruges,  a  member  of  the  great  patrician  family 
of  Gruuthuse.  Little  importance  attached  to  the  ambassadors'  offers 
of  the  cession  of  all  the  possessions  given  up  by  Louis  in  the  Treaty  of 
Peronne,  and  the  recognition  of  his  suzerainty  in  Artois  and  Flan- 
ders ;  and  as  to  the  real  nodus  of  the  transaction,  the  question  of  a 
marriage  engagement  between  Mary  and  the  Dauphin,  they  declared 
themselves  to  be  without  instructions.  While,  therefore,  the  embassy 
returned  to  Flanders  to  report,  Louis  seems  to  have,  by  private  com- 
munications with  Hugonet  and  d'Himbercourt,  secured  their  adherence 
to  the  marriage-scheme.  At  Arras,  of  which  he  took  possession  in 
March,  1477,  he  received  a  deputation  from  Ghent,  and  —  playing  the 
kind  of  double  game  which  his  soul  loved  —  revealed  to  them  the  con- 
fidence reposed  by  Mary  in  the  privy  councillors  detested  by  the  city. 

Thus,  on  the  return  of  the  civic  deputies  to  Ghent,  the  storm 
broke  out.  The  city  was  already  in  a  condition  of  ferment ;  some  of 
the  partisans  of  the  old  rSgime  had  been  put  to  death ;  and  the  agita- 
tion, which  had  spread  to  Ypres  and  as  far  as  Mons,  was  increased  by 
the  claims  put  forward  at  Ghent  on  behalf  of  the  restoration  of  Li^geois 
independence  by  the  Bishop  of  Li^ge,  urged  on  by  William  of  Aremberg, 
Sire  de  la  Marck,  the  "  Boar  of  the  Ardennes,"  and  the  terror  of 


1477]      Execution  of  Hugonet  and     Himbercourt  441 


all  who  respected  the  ordinances  of  either  God  or  man.  Distracted  by 
her  fears,  Mary  seems  actually  to  have  countenanced  Hugonet's  final 
proposal  that  she  should  quit  Flanders  and  place  herself  under  the 
protection  of  the  French  King,  when  at  the  last  moment  Ravenstein 
induced  her  to  reveal  the  design.  He  immediately  informed  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  vier  landen,  and  the  deans  of  the  trades  of  Ghent, 
and  on  the  same  night  (March  4)  Hugonet,  d'Himbercourt  and  de 
Clugny  were  placed  under  arrest.  A  rumour  having  been  spread  that 
their  liberation  was  to  be  attempted,  and  news  having  arrived  of  the 
resolute  advance  of  the  French  forces,  new  disturbances  followed ;  and 
Mary  issued  an  ordinance  naming  a  mixed  commission  of  nobles  and 
civic  officials  to  try  the  accused  with  all  due  expedition  (March  28). 
She  afterwards  interceded  in  favour  of  one  or  both  of  the  lay  prisoners 
(for  de  Clugny  was  saved  by  his  benefit  of  clergy),  and  at  a  later  date 
expressed  her  sympathy  with  the  widow  and  orphans  of  d'Himbercourt, 
the  extent  of  whose  share  in  the  Chancellor's  schemes  remains  unknown. 
After  being  subjected  to  torture,  both  were  executed  on  April  3. 
They  met  with  short  shrift  at  the  hands  of  their  judges;  but  they 
cannot  be  said  to  have  been  sacrificed  to  a  mere  gust  of  democratic 
passion ;  and  Mary  and  her  Council,  and  the  other  Estates  of  the 
Netherlands  assembled  at  Ghent,  were  with  the  city  itself  and  the 
sister  Flemish  towns  one  and  all  involved  in  the  responsibility  of 
the  deed. 

There  was  now  no  solution  left  but  war,  and  at  Eastertide  Louis  XI 
advanced  from  Artois  into  Hainault.  At  the  same  time  no  doubt  could 
remain  as  to  the  way  in  which  the  question  of  Mary's  marriage  must 
be  settled.  An  English  engagement  such  as  the  Duchess  Dowager 
desired  was  hopelessly  impeded  by  the  disagreement  between  the  factions 
at  Edward's  Court,  one  of  which  favoured  the  claims  of  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  while  the  other  supported  Earl  Rivers,  the  brother  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  At  Ghent  there  was  for  a  time  a  strong  wish  that  Mary 
would  bestow  her  hand  upon  Adolf  of  Gelders,  the  friend  of  the 
towns,  who  had  been  liberated  from  prison  on  Charles'  death,  and 
proclaimed  Duke  notwithstanding  Mary's  protest.  He  had  entered 
himself  as  a  member  of  one  of  the  trades  of  Ghent,  and  had  been  named 
commander  of  the  Flemish  levies  against  France.  But,  instead  of 
gaining  Mary's  hand,  he  was  destined  to  fall  fighting  in  her  service 
before  Tournay  (June),  leaving  his  children,  Charles  and  Philippa,  as 
hostages  in  her  hands,  though  the  former  had  been  proclaimed  Duke  in 
Gelderland.  Of  Mary's  kinsmen  of  the  Cleves  family  two  were  still 
talked  of  for  her  hand  —  the  Duke's  son  and  subsequent  successor,  John, 
and  Philip,  the  son  of  his  brother  Adolf  zum  Ravenstein.  Philip  had 
been  brought  up  with  Mary,  whose  father  was  said  to  have  at  one  time 
favoured  the  idea  of  their  future  union,  agreeably  it  was  rumoured  to 
Mary's  own  wishes.    But  after  the  English  project  had  come  to  naught 


442 


Marriage  of  Mary  and  Maximilian 


[1477 


the  Duchess  Dowager  transferred  all  her  influence  to  the  only  remaining 
suitor,  the  selection  of  whom  promised  high  political  advantage  ;  and 
the  choice  actually  fell  upon  Archduke  Maximilian  of  Austria. 

The  vigilance  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  III  had  long  prepared  this 
match,  and  even  the  catastrophe  of  Nancy  had  been  unable  to  baulk  his 
purpose.  Now,  while  at  Bruges  Mary  was  seeking  to  satisfy  a  clamorous 
demand  for  a  suppression  of  the  pretensions  of  le  Franc^  the  imperial 
envoys  arrived  to  urge  upon  her  the  acceptance  of  the  Austrian  suit 
(April  18) ;  and  Mary  formally  accorded  it.  On  May  21  Maximilian, 
who  had  been  delayed  by  the  slackness  of  the  response  made  by  the  Estates 
to  the  imperial  appeal  for  support  of  his  enterprise  (the  Wittelsbachs 
were  jealous  about  Hainault  and  Holland,  while  the  King  of  Bohemia 
remembered  the  Luxemburg  connexion),  at  last  started  on  his  expedition ; 
and  after  passing  through  Louvain  and  Brussels,  where  he  was  well 
received,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  near  8000  horsemen,  arrived  at  Ghent. 
At  six  o'clock  on  the  following  morning  his  marriage  wdth  Mary  was 
solemnised  by  the  Bishop  of  Tournay,  in  the  presence  of  the  Count  of 
Chimay  and  the  hooftman  of  Bruges,  "  min  jonker  "  of  Gelders  and  his 
sister  bearing  the  tapers  before  the  bride.  He  had  not  come  a  day  too 
soon.  Part  of  Hainault  was  already  in  Louis'  hands,  and  Brabant  and 
Flanders  were  alike  threatened ;  but,  now  that  the  political  situation  had 
so  decisively  altered  to  his  disadvantage,  he  paused.  Mary,  in  securing 
the  protection  of  which  she  stood  in  need  against  the  contending  in- 
fluences around,  and  the  popular  bodies  confronting  her,  had  at  the 
same  time  gained  for  the  Netherlands  the  alliance  of  a  House  not  less 
resolved  upon  withstanding  the  encroachments  of  France  in  the  West 
of  the  Empire,  than  it  was  upon  resisting  Hungarian  ambition  and  the 
Turkish  danger  in  the  East.  On  no  other  conditions  could  the  House  of 
Austria  command  support  from  the  princes  of  the  Empire,  or  continue 
to  hold  authority  there.  With  England  also  the  Austrian  marriage  at 
once  placed  the  Netherlands  government  on  close  terms  of  friendship. 

At  first  things  went  smoothly  with  Archduke  Maximilian  in  the 
Netherlands.  Born  in  1459,  he  was  but  a  boy  in  years  and  little  else 
than  a  boy  in  mind,  notwithstanding  the  completeness  of  the  education 
which  he  afterwards  professed  to  have  received  through  the  care  of 
the  old  Weisskunig,  and  the  solemn  purposes  which  he  ascribed  to 
himself  as  the  "  dear  hero "  Teivrdanck,  But  at  no  time  of  his  life 
was  he  wanting  either  in  courage  or  in  elasticity  of  disposition.  On 
September  18  Louis  was  found  ready  to  conclude  a  favourable  truce 
at  Lens,  having  enough  on  his  hands  in  consequence  of  the  reconciliation 
of  the  Swiss  to  the  House  of  Austria,  and  the  menace  of  an  English  as 
well  as  an  Aragonese  invasion.  And  though  in  1478  the  campaign 
recommenced  with  much  show  of  ardour,  it  only  ended  in  another  truce 
(July).  The  Flemish  army  under  Maximilian's  command,  reinforced  by 
Swiss  mercenaries  and  English  archers,  had  driven  the  French  back 


1478-81] 


Maximilian  in  the  Netherlands 


443 


upon  Arras ;  Tournay  had  been  retaken  ;  and  Louis  promised  to  restore 
all  towns  taken  by  him  in  Hainault. 

But  already  there  were  signs  of  impatience  in  Flanders.  Maximilian 
had  immediately  on  his  marriage  sworn  to  respect  the  privileges  of 
Ghent  and  Bruges ;  and  loud  complaints  were  now  heard  of  the  miscon- 
duct of  the  German  and  other  foreign  soldiery,  while  Ghent  was  wroth 
at  the  imposition  of  a  war-duty  on  small-beer.  This  led  to  an  out- 
break, in  which  three  of  the  trades  were  involved  and  which,  if  Molinet 
is  to  be  believed,  had  some  curiously  Catilinarian  characteristics.  It 
was  quenched,  chiefly  through  the  exertions  of  Jan  van  Dadizeele, 
a  loyal  Flemish  noble  who  now  or  afterwards  was  named  Bailli  of 
Ghent,  and  who  in  the  following  year  (1479)  so  effectively  reorganised 
the  Flemish  forces,  of  which  he  was  named  captain-general,  that 
Olivier  de  la  Marche  describes  these  well-disciplined  levies  as  the 
largest  army  he  ever  saw  put  into  the  field  by  Flanders.  Town  and 
country  had  combined  to  furnish  it  forth ;  and  not  less  than  five  hun- 
dred nobles  served  with  it  on  foot.  With  this  truly  national  force  the 
young  Archduke  gained  his  first  victory  at  Guinegaste  near  T^rouanne 
(August,  1479) ;  but  it  could  not  be  followed  up,  and  the  capture  of 
the  Holland  herring-fleet  caused  renewed  discouragement.  Though  in 
1480  Maximilian  gained  possession  of  Luxemburg  and  in  1481,  mainly 
through  his  general  Count  Adolf  of  Nassau,  reduced  Gelderland,  where 
the  insurgents  had  actually  entered  into  alliance  with  France,  the  prin- 
cipal struggle  made  no  progress,  and  the  Archduke  refused  to  be  led 
away  by  the  daring  schemes  of  the  Duchess  Dowager  for  an  Anglo- 
Burgundian  invasion  and  partition  of  France. 

His  position  was  already  growing  difficult,  and  though  the  popularity 
of  Mary,  who  in  June,  1478,  after  the  death  of  their  first  infant,  had 
borne  him  a  son,  seems  to  have  been  on  the  increase,  ill-will  accumulated 
against  her  German  consort.  Maximilian's,  doubtless  reluctant,  consent 
to  place  himself  up  to  a  certain  point  under  the  guidance  of  the 
Members  of  Flanders,  and  to  allow  the  communal  authorities  of  Ghent 
to  interfere  as  to  appointments  in  his  household,  had  no  conciliatory 
effect.  In  October,  1481,  a  grievous  catastrophe  occurred  in  the  murder 
of  Jan  van  Dadizeele,  whose  services  to  the  House  of  Burgundy  had 
not  ended  at  Guinegaste.  The  arrest  by  Maximilian's  orders  of  persons 
unsuspected  of  complicity  with  this  dark  crime,  while  others  actually 
suspected  of  it  were  left  untouched,  led  to  an  open  quarrel  between  the 
ducal  government  and  the  Ghent  magistrature.  Such  had  been  the 
jealousy  of  the  Archduke  excited  in  the  Ghenters  that  after  the  birth  of 
his  third  child  Margaret  (February,  1480)  they  had  attempted  to  secure 
the  control  of  both  her  and  her  brother  Philip;  and  though  it  had 
finally  been  arranged  that  the  children  were  to  reside  in  the  several 
chief  provinces  in  succession,  the  Ghenters  refused  to  give  them  up  to 
Brabant  when  the  first  term  of  four  months  was  at  an  end,.    In  Septem- 


444 


Maximilian^s  first  regency 


[1481-2 


ber,  1481,  a  third  son  was  born ;  but  he  survived  for  a  few  months 
only.  His  mother's  death  soon  followed.  On  March  27,  1482,  the 
results  of  a  neglected  fall  from  her  horse  proved  fatal  to  the  Duchess 
Mary.  Pitiable  as  was  the  decease  of  one  so  young,  and  so  full  of  life 
and  happiness,  from  a  political  point  of  view  it  threatened  to  prove 
disastrous  to  those  whom  she  left  behind  her. 

In  accordance  with  the  declaration  put  forth  immediately  before 
their  marriage,  Maximilian's  authority  in  the  Netherlands  had  come  to 
an  end  with  the  life  of  his  consort ;  and  his  claims  to  its  continuance 
must  be  based  on  his  parentage  of  their  two  surviving  children,  and 
Philip  the  young  heir  in  particular.  But  these  children  were  in  the  power 
of  Ghent,  where,  as  throughout  Flanders,  Maximilian  was  profoundly 
unpopular.  Moreover,  the  feeling  was  widespread  that  apart  from  his 
personal  prowess  the  advantages  looked  for  from  his  union  with  the 
Duchess  Mary  had  proved  illusory.  Neither  the  Emperor  nor  England 
had  come  forward  as  allies  against  the  French  invasion ;  and  at  home 
all  was  disturbance  and  disorder.  Holland  and  Zeeland  were  once  more 
torn  by  the  old  faction-feuds  ;  in  Gelderland  Arnhem  was  ready  to  give 
the  signal  for  renewed  revolt ;  Utrecht  had  driven  out  its  Burgundian 
Bishop.  Meanwhile  Flanders  was  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the 
French  advance ;  her  trade  and  industry  were  at  a  standstill.  Ghent  and 
her  sister-towns  had  no  desire  for  annexation  to  France ;  but  neither  did 
they  wish  to  bear  the  burden  of  a  war  which  must  end  either  thus  or  by 
covering  the  hated  German  prince  with  glory.  They  therefore  resolved 
to  force  him  into  a  peace  with  France  which  would  leave  them  free, 
under  the  nominal  rule  of  his  youthful  son.  In  the  three  years'  struggle 
which  ensued  before  Ghent  lay  at  Maximilian's  mercy,  he  was  obliged  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  to  rely  upon  himself.  Lower  Austria,  with  parts 
of  Styria  and  the  adjoining  duchies,  were  in  the  grasp  of  King  Matthias 
Corvinus,  and  the  Emperor  had  to  depend  upon  the  scant  sympathy  and 
good-will  which  he  could  find  among  the  electors  at  Frankfort.  A  loud 
cry  arose  in  the  Austrian  dominions  for  the  presence  of  the  valiant  and 
vigorous  Archduke ;  but  instead  of  giving  way,  as  so  often  afterwards, 
to  his  natural  impetuosity,  he  resolved  so  far  as  his  hereditary  interests 
were  concerned  to  bide  his  time. 

While  in  Holland  and  Zeeland  as  well  as  in  Hainault  Maximilian 
was  at  once  acknowledged  as  guardian  of  his  son  and  regent  on  his  behalf 
{mambourg)^  Flanders  and  Brabant  refused  to  concede  this  position  to 
him,  except  under  the  control  in  each  case  of  a  Council  named  by  the 
province.  Yet  on  every  side  faction  was  raging.  At  Li^ge  William 
de  la  Marck  savagely  murdered  the  Bishop  and  thrust  his  own  son  into 
his  place,  defying  Maximilian  and  the  nobles  of  Brabant  and  Namur 
so  long  as  he  knew  himself  supported  by  France ;  nor  was  it  till  1485 
that  after  new  outrages  he  fell  into  the  Archduke's  hands  and  was 
righteously  put  to  death  at  Maestricht.    New  troubles  had  begun  at 


1482-4]    Conflicts  before  and  after  the  Peace  of  Arras  445 


Utrecht ;  in  Holland  the  leaders  of  the  government  set  up  at  Hoorn  by 
the  Hoeks  were  put  to  death  by  the  Kaheljaauws  and  the  town  pillaged ; 
and  Haarlem  only  escaped  similar  treatment  by  payment  of  an  onerous 
fine.  In  the  midst  of  this  confusion,  Maximilian  had  to  allow  the  States 
of  the  Netherlands,  assembled  at  Alost  with  the  exception  of  Luxemburg 
and  Gelders,  to  open  a  formal  negotiation  with  Louis  XI  (November), 
with  whom  they  had  been  for  some  time  in  secret  communication.  Nor 
was  he  able  to  refuse  his  assent  to  the  basis  on  which,  in  December,  1482, 
the  Peace  of  Arras  was  actually  concluded,  viz.  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  Margaret  to  the  Dauphin,  with  Artois  and  Burgundy  for  her 
dowry.  It  was  further  settled  by  this  peace  that  Philip  should  do 
homage  to  Louis  for  Flanders,  so  that  the  old  relation  of  vassalage 
against  which  Charles  the  Bold  and  his  father  had  so  long  struggled 
was  restored,  and  a  pretext  for  fresh  intervention  established.  But  the 
Flemish  communes,  satisfied  with  the  restoration  of  free  commercial 
intercourse  with  France,  would  probably  have  been  prepared  to  sacrifice 
Namur  and  Hainault  into  the  bargain,  and  Louis,  now  near  his  end, 
seemed  to  have  lived  long  enough  to  master  the  House  of  Burgundy. 
Maximilian,  who  had  been  left  out  of  the  Council  of  four,  appointed, 
with  Ravenstein  at  its  head,  to  carry  on  the  government  of  Flanders 
with  the  Estates  on  behalf  of  Philip,  was  powerless,  and  unable  to  obtain 
the  annual  pension  granted  to  him  about  this  time  except  by  com- 
pliance. In  March,  1483,  he  finally  accepted  the  Peace  of  Arras,  and 
without  any  interposition  on  his  part,  his  daughter  was  transferred  into 
the  guardianship  of  the  French  King,  and  on  June  23  solemnly  betrothed 
to  the  Dauphin. 

Soon  after  this  Maximilian  was  able  to  strengthen  his  personal 
position  by  a  successful  intervention  against  the  Hoek  revolt  at  Utrecht. 
On  returning  to  his  capital  Bishop  David  had  been  brutally  insulted 
and  imprisoned  at  Amersfoort,  and  Engelbert  of  Cleves  had  been  set 
up  in  his  place.  At  the  head  of  a  force  of  12,000  men,  commanded 
by  a  staff  of  celebrated  captains,  the  Archduke  laid  siege  to  Utrecht, 
which  capitulated  in  September  and  was  condemned  to  pay  a  heavy 
fine.  Bishop  David  once  more  held  his  entry  into  the  prostrate  city 
as  the  spiritual  ruler  of  his  see  (he  died  peacefully  as  such  at  Wyk 
in  1496)  ;  but  Maximilian  was  acknowledged  as  the  administrator  of 
its  temporalities.  It  was  in  the  course  of  this  successful  campaign  that 
he  received  the  news  of  the  death  of  Louis  XI.  Though  this  event 
could  hardly  lead  to  the  undoing  of  the  Peace  of  Arras,  it  could  not  but 
reassure  him  as  to  the  future  relations  between  France  and  the  Flemings, 
for  he  was  not  aware  how  much  of  her  father's  spirit  survived  in  Anne 
de  Beaujeu,  under  whose  control  the  government  of  Charles  VIII  was 
carried  on  during  the  first  eight  years  of  his  reign.  He  now  declared 
the  powers  of  the  Council  of  Flanders  to  have  determined,  and  a  storm 
of  protests  and  charges  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  the  Flemings 


446 


Maximilian  and  the  Flemish  towns 


[1483-^ 


invoked  the  authority  of  Charles  VIII,  which  Maximilian  refused  to 
acknowledge.  Towards  the  end  of  1483,  after  the  French  government 
had  ingratiated  itself  with  the  great  Flemish  towns  by  renouncing  for 
ten  years  the  appellate  jurisdiction  claimed  by  the  Parliament  of  Paris, 
negotiations  for  an  alliance  ensued  between  the  States  of  Flanders 
and  Brabant  and  the  assembly  which,  under  the  name  of  States-General, 
met  at  Tours  in  1484.  But  the  popular  entente  of  earlier  days  was  not 
to  be  renewed  between  the  decaying  communes  and  a  people  over  which 
the  power  of  the  monarchy  was  already  paramount. 

Meanwhile  the  quarrel  between  Maximilian  and  the  Flemings  be- 
came more  acute.  The  Knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece  at  Termonde 
declared  his  headship  of  their  Order  at  an  end,  though  he  might  still 
preside  over  its  meetings  during  his  son's  minority.  Bruges  refused 
him  admission  if  attended  by  more  than  a  dozen  companions,  and 
sent  to  the  block  several  persons  who  had  laid  a  plot  on  his  behalf. 
Rumours  of  a  similar  plot  were  rife  at  Ghent;  and  Maximilian  had 
clearly  accepted  the  challenge  of  a  people  resolved  upon  completely 
throwing  off  his  authority.  He  began  by  sending  the  faithful  Olivier 
de  la  Marche  to  lodge  complaints  with  the  French  government  against 
the  communes,  and  succeeded  in  provoking  so  much  distrust  in  Flanders 
that,  though  a  French  as  well  as  a  Flemish  army  took  the  field  in  1484, 
no  decisive  blow  was  struck.  The  Flemings  however  flooded  Brabant, 
where  the  Archduke's  appeal  for  support  of  the  dynasty  was  very 
coolly  received,  and  Count  de  Romont,  the  commander  of  the  Flemish 
levies,  proclaimed  himself  lieutenant-general  of  Duke  Philip  against  his 
father.  In  January,  1485,  Maximilian  by  taking  Oudenarde  showed  his 
determination  to  make  himself  master  of  Ghent.  But  after  defeating 
the  Ghenters  under  their  own  walls,  and  capturing  their  great  banner, 
he  was  obliged  by  a  mutiny  for  pay  among  his  troops  to  retreat,  while 
the  French  under  Cr^vecoeur  (des  Querdes)  entered  the  city.  Soon 
nothing  remained  to  the  Archduke  but  Brabant  and  Hainault.  Fortu- 
nately, however,  for  him,  with  the  Ghenters  the  powers  that  were  could 
never  be  in  the  right;  and  such  a  storm  of  popular  indignation  was 
raised  by  the  misconduct  of  the  French  soldiery,  that  Crevecceur  in  his 
turn  retired  upon  Tournay. 

The  French  faction  were  now  at  the  mercy  of  their  adversaries. 
On  June  21  Maximilian  held  his  entry  into  Bruges,  which  had  set 
the  example  of  recognising  him  as  mambourg.  At  Ghent,  William 
Rin  and  another  leader  of  the  French  faction  were  decapitated,  while 
Coppenole  (said  to  be  in  actual  enjoyment  of  a  pension  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  royal  household)  and  the  rest  only  saved  themselves  by 
flight.  On  June  28  Maximilian,  while  confirming  the  privileges  of 
Ghent  and  Bruges,  was  by  the  former  also  recognised  as  mambourg^  and 
declared  a  general  amnesty,  with  however  some  important  exceptions. 
On  July  6  Duke  Philip  was  delivered  into  his  father's  hands  at  a. 


1485-6] 


The  resistance  of  Ghent 


447 


village  near  Ghent,  which  they  hereupon  entered  at  the  head  of  5000 
men,  instead  of  the  stipulated  500.  Before  night  the  trades  were  under 
arms  on  the  Vrydagsmarkt^  and  in  the  morning  a  terrible  conflict  must 
have  ensued,  had  not  Maximilian  listened  to  counsels  of  moderation  and 
delay.  Sending  his  son  out  of  Ghent,  he  returned  for  a  final  settle- 
ment; and  the  end  was  the  complete  submission  of  the  city,  which 
was  carried  out  on  July  22.  Thirty-three  ringleaders  were  executed, 
many  more  sent  into  banishment,  and  a  heavy  fine  was  inflicted.  Many 
of  the  old  charters  were  destroyed,  and  the  entire  constitution  of  the 
city  was  subjected  to  revision  by  a  commission.  After  taking  Philip  to 
Malines,  there  to  be  educated  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Duchess 
Dowager,  and  judiciously  declining  an  offer  of  the  Li^geois  to  put  him  in 
possession  of  their  city,  Maximilian  at  last  departed  to  Germany.  He 
left  the  Netherlands  under  the  military  guardianship  of  Philip  of  Cleves 
and  his  other  captains. 

When,  in  the  summer  of  1486,  Maximilian  returned  to  the  Nether- 
lands as  Roman  King,  the  glamour  of  this  new  dignity  ensured  him  a 
good  reception  in  Brabant  and  the  other  provinces  through  which,  as 
mamhourg^  he  accompanied  Duke  Philip  on  a  sort  of  progress ;  and  he 
was  more  than  ever  intent  upon  taking  vengeance  on  France.  But, 
though  he  openly  broke  the  Peace  of  Arras  by  occupying  Omer,  which 
was  again  taken  by  Cr^vecoeur  with  Terouanne  in  the  following  year, 
these  campaigns  were  of  no  real  importance ;  his  chief  designs  were 
concerned  with  the  future  of  Britanny  —  a  vital  question  for  France.  It 
was  the  fear  of  a  war  no  longer  defensive  and  of  measurable  pro- 
portions which,  together  with  the  slow  rate  of  his  military  progress 
in  the  Low  Countries,  notwithstanding  the  oppressive  presence  of  his 
large  bodies  of  alien  troops  —  German  and  Swiss  mercenaries  in  particular 
—  led  to  the  renewal  of  agitation  in  Flanders  against  the  Austrian 
regime.  Of  what  advantage  had  it  proved  to  the  economic  interests 
of  the  good  towns?  In  1478  the  intercursus  had  indeed  been  concluded 
which  placed  commerce  and  navigation  between  England  and  the  Nether- 
lands on  a  new  footing  of  security,  and  King  Richard  III  had  granted 
to  the  Netherlands  merchants  in  England  the  lower  tariff  of  duties 
enjoyed  by  their  German  competitors  (a  privilege  taken  away  again 
by  his  successor).  But,  for  reasons  already  stated,  the  English  trade 
had  more  and  more  passed  to  Brabant  and  Holland,  and  Flanders  found 
her  industry  and  commerce  increasingly  dependent  upon  her  relations 
with  France. 

Stirred  up  by  the  return  of  Adrian  Vilain,  Lord  of  Rasenghien,  who 
had  fled  from  the  city  at  the  time  of  the  execution  of  William 
Rin,  the  mordans  laingages  at  Ghent,  as  Molinet  calls  them,  com- 
plained more  loudly  than  ever  of  imposts  and  military  oppression,  and 
Maximilian  was  fain  to  summon  the  States  of  the  chief  provinces  to 
Ypres,  while  at  the  same  time  he  met  the  deans  of  the  trades  in 


448  Maximiliaii's  captivity  at  Bruges  [i488 


person  at  Bruges  and  promised  —  sincerely  or  not  —  to  enter  into  peace 
negotiations  with  France.  But  the  Ghent  democracy,  brooking  no 
delay,  sent  forth  a  force  which  seized  Courtray,  obliging  it  to  take  the 
oath  to  Duke  Philip  and  Ghent,  and  holding  it  against  Philip  of 
Cleves.  On  February  1, 1488,  the  trades  of  Bruges  in  their  turn  took 
up  arms,  and  the  Carpenters  occupied  the  gate  towards  Ghent.  Then 
ensued  the  strangest  and  most  humiliating  episode  in  the  whole  history 
of  Maximilian's  experiences  in  the  Netherlands.  The  market-place  was 
turned  into  a  fortified  camp,  and  for  the  better  part  of  four  months  the 
Roman  King  was  detained,  first  in  his  own  lodging ;  then,  as  an  actual 
prisoner  in  the  Cranenburg,  a  house  by  the  market;  afterwards,  when 
his  soldiery  had  been  driven  out  of  the  city,  in  the  fortified  mansion  of 
Eavenstein.  Bruges  itself,  afraid  of  Antwerp  and  plied  with  advice  by 
Ghent  (whence  at  one  time  several  thousands  arrived  before  the  gates, 
and  later  Coppenole  appeared  to  proclaim  the  Peace  of  Arras),  passed 
gradually  into  a  state  of  terrorism,  during  which  a  series  of  executions 
of  the  King's  followers  took  place  under  his  very  eyes.  In  the  midst 
of  these  proceedings  the  Brughelins  sent  forth  their  levies  against 
Maximilian's  garrisons  in  other  towns,  seizing  Middelburg  and  putting 
several  nobles  of  his  party  to  death ;  while  the  Ghenters  on  their  own 
account  committed  similar  excesses.  Maximilian,  although  he  at  first 
gave  fair  words  to  the  trades  and  afterwards  made  a  pathetic  appeal  for 
consideration,  bore  himself  throughout  with  courage  and  dignity. 

At  last,  after  Pope  Innocent  VIII  had  issued  his  censures  at  Bruges, 
it  became  known  there  that  the  Emperor  in  person  was  marching  upon 
Flanders  for  the  delivery  of  his  son.  Hitherto  the  States  assembled 
round  Duke  Philip  at  Malines  had  transacted  in  a  very  business-like 
way  with  the  other  States  at  Ghent ;  but  by  the  middle  of  May  it 
was  understood  that  now  or  never  an  arrangement  must  be  made  with 
the  captive  King.  He  was  liberated  on  condition  that  he  would  with- 
draw from  Flanders  within  four  days  of  his  deliverance,  and  that  he 
approved,  as  did  his  son-in-law  the  King  of  France,  the  solemn  League 
and  Union  entered  into  on  May  1  by  the  States  of  several  of  the 
provinces  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  good  government,  and  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Treaty  of  Arras. 

He  had  thus  yielded  everything.  But,  though  he  had  sworn  a 
solemn  oath  and  accepted  a  heavy  pecuniary  payment,  it  was  felt 
that  the  nodus  materiae  lay  in  the  question  of  hostages;  nor  was  it 
till  Philip  of  Cleves  had  arrived  at  Bruges  in  this  capacity  that  the 
King  was  at  last  allowed  to  depart.  On  May  24  the  Emperor  arrived 
at  Louvain  at  the  head  of  a  well-appointed  army,  and  Maximilian,  as  a 
prince  of  the  Empire  (not  "for  his  own  quarrel"),  felt  himself  com- 
pelled to  take  part  in  the  punitive  campaign  against  Flanders.  On 
both  sides  the  necessity  was  put  forward  of  protecting  the  rights  of 
Duke  Philip ;  and,  after  the  Germans  and  Walloons  had  seized  Deinze, 


1488-91]  The  Jonker-Franzen  War  449 


Ravenstein  protested  that  he  must  take  up  arms  in  defence  of  his  liege 
lord  even  against  the  Emperor.  Henceforth  the  hostage  became  the 
guiding  spirit  of  Flemish  resistance  to  Maximilian.  In  September,  1488, 
he  was  received  with  acclamation  at  Brussels ;  soon  Louvain  and  the 
smaller  towns  of  Brabant  fell  into  his  hands.  Flanders  had  likewise 
remained  unreduced,  while  Maximilian  was  operating  on  the  Lys  and  in 
Zeeland ;  Ypres  was  occupied  by  French  troops,  and  the  siege  of  Ghent, 
begun  by  the  Emperor  in  person,  had  been  abandoned.  By  October 
Frederick  III  had  returned  to  Germany,  and  in  the  last  days  of  the  year 
Maximilian  followed.  In  vain  he  had  assembled  the  loyal  States  at 
Malines ;  for  the  time  his  field  of  action  lay  elsewhere.  The  Duke  of 
Britanny  had  died  in  September,  and  the  struggle  with  France  would 
have  to  be  resumed  on  a  perhaps  more  favourable  field.  But  his  present 
task  was  to  reconquer  Austria. 

Maximilian  left  behind  him  as  governor-general,  with  full  powers, 
Duke  Albert  of  Saxony  QAlhertus  Animosus,  founder  of  the  Albertine 
line),  who  in  the  organisation  and  conduct  of  armies  was  unsurpassed 
by  any  German  commander  of  his  age.  With  resources  inferior  to 
those  which  had  been  at  Maximilian's  disposal,  Albert  had  in  the  first 
instance  to  suppress  a  fresh  outbreak  of  the  Hoeks  in  Holland,  who, 
under  the  leadership  of  young  Francis  van  Brederode,  after  surprising 
Rotterdam,  organised  a  petty  warfare  in  the  style  of  the  gueux  of 
later  days.  But  the  States  of  Holland  resolved  on  putting  an  end 
to  this  Jonker-Franzen  war,  and  the  rebel  fleet  was  finally  all  but 
annihilated  at  Brouwershaven  (July,  1490),  Brederode  himself  dying 
soon  afterwards  of  his  wounds.  Several  of  the  other  Hoek  leaders 
died  a  violent  death  at  Delft;  but  one  of  them  threw  himself  into 
Sluys,  which  was  in  the  hands  of  Philip  of  Cleves.  In  1489  Albert 
restored  the  authority  of  Maximilian  in  Brabant,  where  the  Peace  of 
Frankfort,  concluded  for  temporary  purposes  with  France  by  the  Roman 
King,  was  eagerly  welcomed,  for  Bruges  and  Louvain  had  suffered  un- 
speakably from  war  and  pestilence.  But  it  was  some  time  before,  at 
Montils-les-Tours,  Maximilian's  mamhournie  over  Flanders  was  likewise 
acknowledged,  and  Ghent,  Bruges,  and  Ypres  undertook  to  sue  to  him 
for  pardon,  a  commission  being  appointed  to  ascertain  and  restore  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  them  under  Philip  the  Good  and  his  successor. 

The  ink,  however,  was  hardly  dry  upon  the  so-called  Treaty  of 
Flanders  when,  during  Albert's  temporary  absence  in  Germany,  the 
communal  insurrection  broke  out  afresh.  At  Bruges  George  Picquanet, 
elected  hooftman^  held  out  for  a  time  against  famine  and  Engelbert 
of  Nassau,  by  whose  soldiery  he  was  ultimately  killed.  At  Ghent, 
in  May,  1491,  a  cordwainer  named  Remieulx,  after  admitting  some  of 
Philip  of  Cleves'  adherents,  slew  the  Grand  Dean,  and  Coppenole  was 
put  in  his  place.  A  strange  conflict  ensued  between  this  demagogue 
and  one  Arnoul  Leclercq,  a  labourer  who  had  been  named  hooftman  by 

C.  M.  H.  I.  29 


450 


The  Peasants^  War  m  the  North 


[1490-2 


a  body  of  5000  peasants  previously  organised  under  arms  by  Coppenole 
and  his  brother,  both  of  whom  were  in  the  end  put  to  death.  Then 
a  deputation  of  notables  waited  upon  Duke  Philip  at  Malines;  the 
usual  penalties  were  once  more  inflicted,  the  wearing  of  white  hoods 
was  prohibited  for  ever,  and  a  Peace  of  Ghent  was  once  more  pro- 
claimed (June,  1492).  Meanwhile,  Albert  had  on  his  return  been  occu- 
pied with  a  rising  in  Kennemerland,  Friesland,  and  the  Texel,  stirred  up 
by  emissaries  from  Alkmaar,  where  followers  of  Brederode  had  seized 
the  power.  The  insurgent  peasants  bore  bannei*s  of  our  Lady  and 
certain  saints  of  local  repute,  together  with  a  strange  ensign  consisting 
of  a  loaf  of  rye-bread  and  a  large  lump  of  green  cheese.  (Arnoul 
Leclercq  at  Ghent  had  borne  a  plough  in  his  banner,  and  we  remem- 
ber the  Bundschuh.^  After  much  debate  they  were  admitted  into 
Haarlem,  which  had  itself  been  disaffected ;  but  on  the  approach  of 
Albert  the  peasant  host,  left  to  itself,  was  massacred  at  Hemskerke. 
Haarlem,  Alkmaar,  and  the  smaller  towns  all  humbled  themselves  before 
him ;  and  the  LandsJcnechte,  with  the  art-treasures  of  Haarlem  stuck  in 
their  hats,  prefigured  their  comrades  of  the  sacco  di  Roma  (May).  It 
remained  for  Albert  to  finish  his  task  by  the  reduction  of  Sluys,  where 
Philip  of  Cleves,  whom  the  death  of  his  father  during  the  siege  made 
Lord  zum  Ravenstein,  still  held  out.  The  slow  progress  of  the  siege, 
even  after  in  July  English  vessels,  sent  by  Henry  VH,  had  arrived  to 
take  part  in  it,  finds  its  explanation  in  the  tenderness  invariably  shown 
by  the  House  of  Burgundy,  and  by  Maximilian,  to  his  wife's  kinsman. 
In  October  Ravenstein  very  leisurely  surrendered  Sluys,  and  three  years 
later  he  was  formally  acquitted  of  any  imputation  against  his  honour. 

Meanwhile,  Maximilian  had  (towards  the  end  of  1490)  made  the 
great  cast,  and  married  by  proxy  Anne,  the  heiress  of  Britanny.  Shortly 
before  this  he  had  concluded  a  close  alliance  with  Henry  VII,  mediated 
by  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  (For  Flanders  this  was  all  the  more  important, 
since  in  1486  Bruges  had  sought  to  gain  English  support  by  granting 
free  importation  of  English  cloths  and  in  1488  had  entreated  the  new 
King  to  aid  her  against  the  Emperor  and  concluded  a  new  commercial 
treaty  with  this  object.)  Although  this  had  been  a  fortunate  year  for 
Maximilian,  he  could  not  expect  that  his  successes  would  be  crowned  by 
the  tame  submission  of  France  to  such  a  provocation.  In  November, 
1491,  Anne  of  Britanny  surrendered  Rennes,  and  in  the  following  month 
she  gave  her  hand  to  Charles  VIII.  But  Margaret  of  Burgundy  was  still 
detained  in  France,  and  nothing  had  been  said  as  to  the  restitution  of  her 
dowry.  Yet  in  the  Netherlands  there  was  little  sympathy  with  the  in- 
sulted Regent ;  and  early  in  1492  the  French  Court  provided  him  with 
a  new  difficulty  in  the  shape  of  a  pretender  in  Gelderland.  Charles  of 
Egmond  had  in  1487  been  taken  prisoner  at  Bethune  and  carried  off  to 
France.  The  Geldrian  towns  eagerly  came  forward  to  pay  the  ransom 
demanded  by  the  French  government;   but  without  its  support  they 


1493-4] 


The  Peace  of  Senlis  with  France 


451 


had  not  sufficient  resources  to  place  Charles  in  the  seat  of  his  ances- 
tors. His  struggle  against  the  Burgundian  authority  accordingly  proved 
long  and  arduous.  At  first  Maximilian  showed  himself  willing  to 
take  the  unusual  course  of  referring  the  question  of  the  government  of 
Gelderland  to  the  arbitration  of  the  Empire;  then  a  truce  was  con- 
cluded in  1497,  with  a  view  to  a  partition  of  the  duchy ;  but  soon 
afterwards  war  broke  out  again,  Maximilian  taking  the  field  in  person. 
In  1503  Philip,  now  King  of  Castile,  consented  to  a  compromise  at 
Rosendal,  which  left  Charles  in  possession  of  the  Nymwegen  and  Roer- 
monde  districts.  But  he  played  fast  and  loose  with  the  treaty,  and 
as  the  ally  of  France  by  1514  at  last  succeeded  in  possessing  himself 
of  the  entire  duchy.  His  later  struggles  which  only  terminated  with 
his  death  in  1538,  and  in  the  course  of  which  he  actually  sought  to 
make  over  his  duchy  to  France,  must  be  left  unnoticed  here. 

The  recovery  of  Artois,  whose  capital  Arras  was  surprised  by  the 
LandsJcnechte  after  the  fall  of  Sluys,  would,  together  with  his  reconquest 
of  Franche  Comt^,  have  encouraged  Maximilian  to  attempt  to  secure 
the  whole  of  his  daughter's  dowry,  notwithstanding  the  pacifications 
concluded  by  Charles  VUFs  government  with  the  Kings  of  England 
and  Aragon  (November,  1492- January,  1493).  But  the  unwillingness 
of  the  Netherlands  to  continue  the  War,  added  to  his  other  cares,  induced 
him  to  accept  Swiss  mediation  for  the  conclusion  of  a  truce  with  France, 
followed  in  May,  1493,  by  the  Peace  of  Senlis.  The  territorial  question 
was  settled  as  nearly  as  possible  on  the  uti  possidetis  basis  ;  so  that  Artois 
(and  the  Franche  Comt^)  remained  with  the  House  of  Burgundy,  though 
Arras  was  ultimately  to  revert  to  France  in  exchange  for  certain  towns 
now  occupied  by  her.  Margaret,  all  obligations  between  her  and  King 
Charles  having  been  cancelled  by  the  treaty,  returned  home  joyously, 
calling  out  Vive  Bourgogne  to  the  people  who  flocked  round  her  at 
St  Quentin,  and  receiving  at  Valenciennes  a  popular  welcome.  After 
narrowly  escaping  a  design  of  the  Landsknechte  to  seize  her  in  pledge 
for  outstanding  pay,  she  took  up  her  residence  at  Namur. 

In  1494,  the  year  after  that  of  his  father's  death,  Maximilian  returned 
to  the  Netherlands.  His  immediate  purpose  was  to  superintend  the 
transfer  of  their  government  to  Philip,  now  fifteen  years  of  age,  and 
also  to  settle  affairs  in  Gelderland ;  but  the  Eastern  Question  was  now 
uppermost  in  his  mind,  as  was  shown  by  his  solemn  assumption  at 
Antwerp  of  the  insignia  of  the  crusading  Order  of  St  George,  and  by  his 
appeal  to  all  Christian  potentates  to  follow  his  example  (October-No- 
vember). Flanders  was  tranquil ;  Cr^vecoeur  lay  dead ;  Ravenstein  was 
among  those  who  paid  their  respects  to  the  young  Dukeon  his  solemn  entry 
into  the  great  mercantile  city.  The  presence  there  of  another  visitor  — 
the  pretended  Richard  Duke  of  York  —  which  gave  rise  to  an  unseemly 
fracas^  reflected  little  credit  on  the  discretion  of  the  House  of  Burgundy. 
He  was  the  protege  of  the  Duchess  Dowager,  and  Maximilian  was 


452 


Commerce  under  Philip  with  England  [1494-1506 


quite  ready  to  risk  a  quarrel  with  England  on  the  chance  of  the  de- 
thronement of  the  faithless  Tudor.  Henry  VII  replied  by  removing 
the  staple  for  English  wool,  tin,  and  other  products  to  Calais,  stopping 
all  intercourse  between  his  subjects  and  the  Netherlands,  and  expelling  all 
Flemings  from  England.  The  Burgundian  government  retorted  (April, 
1494,  and  January,  1495)  by  prohibiting  the  importation  of  English 
cloth ;  and  for  two  years  there  was  a  complete  cessation  of  commercial 
dealings  between  the  two  countries.  Finally,  Duke  Philip  was  prevailed 
upon  to  promise  not  to  admit  any  enemy  of  England  into  his  dominions ; 
and  in  February,  1496,  the  Magnus  Intereursus  proclaimed  on  both 
sides  freedom  of  trade,  i.e.  the  right  of  trading  without  special  license  or 
pass,  and  that  of  fishery.  Though  there  was  nothing  novel  in  this  famous 
treaty,  it  offered  a  solid  foundation  for  the  establishment  of  satisfactory 
mercantile  relations ;  but  time  could  hardly  fail  to  be  on  the  side  of  the 
English,  to  the  sale  of  whose  cloth  the  Netherlands  were  now  open  —  with 
the  important  exception  however  of  Flanders,  where  restrictions  were 
still  maintained.  Even  here  it  soon  became  difficult  to  confine  this  sale 
to  the  staples  of  Antwerp  and  Bruges  —  or  from  1501  to  Bruges  alone  — 
to  limit  it  to  large  pieces,  and  to  prevent  the  wearing  of  it  by  natives. 
And  Philip's  well-meant  endeavours  to  revive  the  sunken  prosperity  of 
Bruges  were  seen  to  be  hopelessly  out  of  date.  After  in  1502  the 
Magnus  Intereursus  had  been  solemnly  renewed,  Henry  VII,  angered  by 
the  refusal  of  the  Netherlands  government  to  assist  him  in  laying  hands 
on  the  fugitive  Earl  of  Suffolk  (Edmund  de  la  Pole),  brought  about  a 
fresh  stoppage  of  trade  between  the  two  countries,  which  lasted  till  1506. 

It  was  not  only  in  commercial  matters  that  Duke  Philip  and  his  advisers 
showed  a  disposition  to  emancipate  themselves  from  his  father's  control. 
Maximilian  had  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Privy  Council,  composed  of 
fourteen  members.  Count  Engelbert  of  Nassau,  the  faithful  servant  of 
three  generations  of  the  House  of  Burgundy,  but  the  leading  voice  in  it 
was  that  of  William  de  Croy,  Seigneur  de  Chidvres.  He  and  those  who 
thought  with  him  resented  as  strongly  as  the  Flemish  and  Brabangon 
towns  the  continuance  in  the  land  of  the  German  soldiery,  to  whose 
chief  commander  Albert  of  Saxony  the  ducal  treasury  had  pledged 
Haarlem  and  several  other  important  places  pending  the  payment  of 
a  heavy  debt.  The  influence  of  de  Chi^vres  and  the  great  nobles  in 
general  was  accordingly  in  favour  of  maintaining  peace  with  France, 
although  in  the  Gelders  difficulty  above  all  she  showed  so  little  regard 
for  Netherlands  interests ;  and  Philip  on  the  whole  inclined  to  follow 
these  pacific  counsels. 

In  May,  1494,  Maximilian  had  at  Kempten  intervened  in  a  dispute 
between  Groningen  and  the  rural  districts  of  West-Friesland  encroached 
upon  by  the  city.  His  decision  had  been  in  favour  of  Groningen ;  and 
though  he  was  anxious  to  keep  the  peace,  further  encroachments  on  her 
part  induced  the  Schieringers  of  the  Westergao  in  their  straits  to  invite 


1496-1515] 


Subjection  of  Friesland 


453 


the  redoubtable  Albert  of  Saxony  to  assume  authority  as  governor. 
The  end  came  three  years  later  when  Albert  was  once  more  offered 
the  governorship  by  the  terrified  towns  of  Sneek  and  Franeker,  and 
his  lieutenants  subjugated  the  land  by  a  series  of  manoeuvres,  crafty 
and  cruel  like  those  of  a  campaign  against  savages,  and  ending  with 
a  battle  of  artillery  against  pikes,  and  the  capture  of  Leeuwarden 
(June — July,  1498).  Maximilian  now  bestowed  the  whole  of  Friesland, 
including  Groningen,  upon  Albert  with  the  title  of  hereditary  governor 
(potestat),  reserving  to  himself  the  right  of  redeeming  West-Friesland  on 
the  payment  of  100,000  florins.  The  greater  part  of  his  own  debt  to 
Albert,  which  amounted  to  more  than  treble  this  sum,  had  been  taken 
over  by  Philip  ;  but  an  ugly  suspicion  remains  as  to  Maximilian's  motives 
in  the  transaction.  After  Albert,  who  had  been  detained  by  the  Gelders 
War,  had  himself  arrived  in  Friesland,  the  rough  insolence  of  one  of 
his  sons  drove  the  country  into  rising  once  more  against  his  yoke ;  and 
he  was  laying  siege  to  Groningen,  which  this  time  had  joined  hands  with 
its  former  adversaries,  when  death  overtook  him  at  Emden  (September, 
1500).  Edzard  of  East-Friesland,  to  whom  Groningen  and  the  Omme- 
lande  now  did  homage,  summoned  Charles  of  Egmond  to  his  aid  and 
was  supported  by  a  native  rising  under  a  peasant  known  as  the  Great 
Pier,  who  afterwards  rejoiced  in  the  title  of  "  Admiral  of  the  Zuiderzee." 
At  last,  in  1515,  Duke  George  of  Saxony  agreed  to  dismiss  the  "  Black 
Band  "  of  soldiery,  formerly  in  Egmond's  service,  which  had  carried  fire 
and  sword  through  the  land,  and  to  accept  the  redemption  of  the  country 
on  payment  of  the  sum  agreed  upon  between  his  father  and  the  Roman 
King.  Charles,  who  in  this  very  year  assumed  the  government  of  the 
Netherlands,  at  last  solved  the  Frisian  problem  by  the  reduction  of 
the  country,  followed  by  the  submission  of  Groningen  to  the  imperial 
authority. 

Slight  indeed  had  been  the  importance  of  that  problem  on  the 
horizon  of  Maximilian's  speculations.  The  great  matrimonial  plan,  which 
he  seems  to  have  devised  in  part  as  early  as  1491,  was  fully  carried  out 
within  six  years.  In  August,  1496,  the  infanta  Juana  was  wedded  at 
Antwerp  to  Duke  Philip,  and  on  Palm  Sunday  of  the  following  year 
his  sister  Margaret,  after  intrepidly  encountering  many  dangers  on  the 
way,  gave  her  hand  at  Burgos  to  the  infante  Don  John.  Soon  however 
a  tragic  succession  of  deaths  —  those  of  Don  J ohn,  his  posthumous  child, 
Juana's  elder  sister  Queen  Isabel  of  Portugal,  and  her  son  Don  Miguel, 
left  Juana  heiress-apparent  of  the  united  kingdoms  of  Castile  and  Aragon 
(1500).  In  the  same  year  her  eldest  son  Charles  was  born  at  Ghent; 
and  the  city,  with  no  foreknowledge  of  what  she  was  afterwards  to 
suffer  at  his  hands,  was  loud  in  her  rejoicings.  But  vast  as  was  the 
prospect  now  opened  before  Philip,  he  was,  so  far  as  the  conduct  of 
Netherlands  affairs  was  concerned,  brought  little  nearer  to  the  schemes 
of  Maximilian's  foreign  policy.    An  interview  between  father  and  son 


454  Foreign  policy  of  Duke  Philip  [1500-6 


arranged  by  Ravenstein  and  others  in  May,  1496,  seems  indeed  for  a 
time  to  have  made  Philip  swerve  from  his  policy  of  friendliness  towards 
France,  and  soon  afterwards  he  dismissed  from  his  council  Francis  van 
Busleyden,  Provost  of  Li^ge,  supposed  to  be  an  active  adversary  of  the 
Austrian  influence.  But  already  in  1497  he  helped  to  thwart  the  exer- 
tions of  Maximilian  in  Gelderland,  and,  on  the  accession  of  Louis  XII 
in  1498,  crossed  the  endeavours  of  his  father,  who  had  actually  invaded 
Burgundy,  by  opening  negotiations  with  the  new  French  King.  In  the 
Treaty  of  Brussels  Philip  promised  homage  for  Artois  and  Flanders 
(performed  in  1499),  and  personally  renounced  all  claims  on  the  duchy 
of  Burgundy,  in  return  for  the  restoration  of  the  Picard  towns  reserved 
at  Senlis  ;  while  Maximilian,  after  taking  Franche  Comt^,  gradually 
became  inclined  to  treat  in  his  tarn  for  peace  with  France. 

Thus  it  was  that  during  the  first  years  of  the  new  century  father  and 
son  came  to  cooperate  in  the  scheme  for  a  marriage  between  Philip's 
son  Charles  (Duke  of  Luxemburg)  and  Claude,  the  elder  daughter  of 
Louis  XII,  which  was  to  transfer  both  Britanny  and  Burgundy  to  Philip 
as  the  dowry  of  his  future  daughter-in-law.  The  purposes  of  this 
extraordinary  design  being  purely  dynastic,  except  that  Maximilian 
seems  honestly  to  have  counted  on  its  success  for  French  aid  against 
the  Turks,  it  could  not  find  much  favour  in  the  Netherlands,  where  in 
February,  1505,  the  States-General  at  Malines  showed  little  willingness 
to  grant  a  large  hede  demanded  for  the  Turkish  War  by  the  Roman  King 
in  the  absence  of  his  son.  Involved  in  a  network  of  manoeuvres,  besides 
being  obliged  to  nurse  his  Spanish  expectations,  Philip  was  in  these 
years  constantly  away  from  the  Low  Countries  —  in  1501  with  his  consort 
in  Spain,  where  their  succession  was  assured  in  Castile  and,  should  King 
Ferdinand  die  without  a  male  heir,  in  Aragon,  and  negotiating  on  his 
way  out  and  home  with  King  Louis  in  France ;  in  1503  in  the  Empire. 
It  was  on  their  second  voyage  to  Spain  that  King  Philip  and  his  Queen 
—  once  more  on  kindly  terms  with  one  another  —  were  obliged  by  a 
fearful  storm  (January,  1506)  to  land  at  Southampton,  and  were  for  a 
time  in  the  power  of  Henry  VII.  The  good- will  of  that  prince  —  highly 
important  to  Philip  by  reason  of  his  desire  to  arrive  at  a  permanent 
understanding  with  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  —  had,  together  with  his 
personal  liberty,  to  be  purchased  by  a  commercial  treaty.  Philip  had 
a  heart  for  the  Flemings,  and  for  Bruges  in  particular;  and  in  the 
negotiations  which  followed  her  interests  were  eagerly  pressed ;  but  so 
also  were  the  divergent  interests  of  Antwerp.  The  so-called  Malus 
Intercursus  was  inevitably  to  the  advantage  of  English  trade,  which  it 
freed  from  oppressive  tolls  on  the  way  to  Antwerp  or  Bruges,  Middelburg 
or  Mons,  while  it  left  the  sale  and  use  of  English  cloth  absolutely  free 
except  to  a  certain  extent  in  Flanders.  The  unpopularity  of  the  compact 
there  was  no  secret  to  Philip,  and  notwithstanding  the  representations 
of  de  Chi^vres  he  had  not  yet  ratified  it,  when  the  news  arrived  of  his 


1506-15] 


Regency  of  Margaret 


455 


death  at  Burgos  (September  25,  1506).  Evil  rumours  accompanied  the 
tidings ;  for  the  young  King's  light  and  profuse  ways  were  odious  to  the 
Castilians,  agreeing  better  with  the  preferences  of  the  Low  Countries, 
and  the  traditional  habits  of  the  Burgundian  House.  Philip  the  Fair 
had  something  of  his  mother's  docility  in  council  and  of  his  father's 
high  spirit  in  the  field,  and  was  not  wholly  without  the  popular  fibre 
which  commended  each  of  them  to  the  respective  lands  of  their  birth ; 
but,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  from  his  short  career,  he  gave  no  proof 
of  the  profound  conscientiousness  and  high  aspirings  that  make  it 
difficult  to  deny  the  epithet  of  great  to  his  eldest  son,  notwithstanding 
all  his  failures. 

Five  months  after  Philip's  death  the  unhappy  Juana  gave  birth  to  a 
third  daughter,  and  then  sank  into  hopeless  insanity.  Maximilian 
showed  himself  from  the  first  perfectly  prepared  to  enter  on  a  second 
course  of  regency,  this  time  on  behalf  of  his  elder  grandson,  now  a  boy  of 
six  years  of  age.  Personally  he  was  as  unpopular  as  ever  in  the  Nether- 
lands, where  it  was  perceived  that  neither  his  authority  in  the  Empire 
nor  his  influence  in  European  affairs  corresponded  to  his  still  expanding 
ambition ;  and  where  a  strong  feeling  survived  in  favour  of  maintaining 
friendly  relations  with  France.  It  was  therefore  a  judicious  as  well  as 
a  necessary  step  on  his  part,  when,  after  accepting  the  offer  made  to  him 
by  the  States-General  on  the  motion  of  the  States  of  Holland  and  Bra- 
bant (October,  1506),  he  empowered  his  daughter  Margaret  to  receive 
in  his  stead  the  oaths  due  to  him  as  Guardian  of  his  grandchildren  and 
Regent ;  and  on  her  being  proclaimed  as  such  by  the  States-General  at 
Leuven  (April,  1507),  he  appointed  her  his  sole  governor-general  in  the 
Netherlands. 

The  office  which  Margaret  had  originally  been  intended  by  her 
father  to  hold  only  temporarily  she  filled  with  honour  and  credit  during 
eight  eventful  years  (1507-15).  After  her  troubled  experiences  in 
France  she  had  in  1501  bravely  gone  forth  to  serve  the  imperial  interest 
by  becoming  the  bride  of  Duke  Philibert  (called  the  Fair)  of  Savoy,  and, 
once  more  a  widow,  had  escaped  the  doom  of  being  united  to  Henry  VII 
of  England.  She  was  now,  though  saddened  by  her  sufferings,  prepared 
to  devote  her  remarkable  talents  and  even  higher  gifts  of  character 
to  the  service  of  her  House.  Her  correspondence  with  her  father, 
occasionally  grotesque  in  form,  since  neither  had  really  mastered  the 
language  of  the  other,  proves  her  candour  and  courage,  her  moderation 
more  especially  in  the  earlier  years  of  her  government,  and  her  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  throughout  its  course.  She  began  by  promptly  declaring 
the  so-called  Malus  Intercursus  invalid,  thus  putting  pressure  on  Henry 
VII,  who  had  no  mind  for  the  stoppage  of  commercial  relations,  besides 
being  desirous  of  influencing  the  political  action  of  Margaret's  govern- 
ment and  at  this  moment  himself  posing  as  a  candidate  for  her  hand.  A 
commercial  treaty,  drafted  on  the  lines  of  the  Intercursus  of  1496,  but 


456 


Margaret  and  Maximilian 


[1507-15 


with  the  English  cloth-trade  clauses  left  out,  was  at  once  returned 
with  her  signature  ;  and  on  these  terms  trade  was  carried  on  between 
the  two  countries  during  the  remainder  of  Henry  VII's  reign. 

Maximilian  might  therefore  look  forward  hopefully  to  the  explana- 
tion of  his  relations  with  England  which  he  invited  Margaret  to  lay 
before  the  States-General  early  in  1508,  when  notifying  to  them  the 
proposed  marriage  between  Charles  and  Mary  Tudor.  Not  long  before 
this  he  had  enquired  of  her  whether  the  Netherlands  were  to  be  regarded 
as  included  in  his  present  war  with  France.  Margaret  knew  how  even 
the  Gelderland  trouble  was  insufficient  to  counteract  the  desire  of  the 
States  for  peace  with  France,  and  therefore  persuaded  her  father  by 
concluding  a  truce  with  Charles  of  Egmond,  which  left  Gelderland  pro- 
visionally in  his  hands,  to  conciliate  his  French  ally,  whose  cooperation 
he  needed  for  his  project  of  vengeance  upon  Venice.  The  ill-omened 
League  of  Cambray,  concluded  in  December,  1508,  was  as  a  matter 
of  fact  in  a  large  measure  Margaret's  work.  Soon  Maximilian  was 
wrapped  up  in  its  progress  ;  but  in  the  ensuing  four  years  he  by  no  means 
left  his  daughter  to  carry  on  her  government  without  his  supervision. 
Not  only  was  he  extremely  sensitive  of  any  supposed  want  of  deference 
by  her  to  his  supreme  authority,  but  he  was  constantly  intervening  in 
the  matter  of  appointments  in  Church  and  State  —  from  the  bishopric  of 
Cambray  to  the  aldermanship  of  le  Franc.  And  through  all  goes  the 
call  for  money,  culminating,  in  July,  1510,  with  a  demand  for  an  annual 
pension  of  50,000  crowns  for  which  Margaret  was  obliged  to  tell  him 
the  time  had  not  yet  come.  Her  task  of  mediating  between  the  States 
and  the  requirements  of  Maximilian's  complicated  Italian  policy  was 
a  very  arduous  one. 

With  the  advent  on  the  scene  of  Henry  YIII  a  new  chapter  may 
be  said  to  begin  in  the  political  activity  of  Margaret,  to  whom  the 
alliance  between  him  and  her  father  was  mainly  due.  The  variations 
of  Maximilian's  European  policy  in  these  years  of  surprises  were  little 
to  the  taste  of  the  Netherlanders,  and  occasionally  ran  a  risk  of  con- 
flicting with  their  interests.  Thus  when  he  had  been  tardily  induced 
to  take  the  side  of  the  Head  of  the  Hansa  in  her  quarrel  with  John, 
King  of  Denmark,  the  latter  (in  1507  or  rather  later)  sought  to  strike 
a  blow  at  Liibeck's  commercial  supremacy  in  the  Baltic  by  inviting 
the  Holland  merchants  to  make  the  Sound  one  of  their  trade-routes. 
The  Liibeckers  insisted  on  the  Holland  and  Friesland  vessels  confining 
themselves  to  the  passage  of  the  Great  Belt,  as  leading  more  directly  to 
their  own  city.  Hence  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the  Hansa 
and  the  Netherlands,  many  of  whose  ships  were  taken  up  the  Trave  as 
prizes,  and  in  1511  the  capture  of  the  entire  Dutch  Baltic  fleet  by  the 
Liibeckers  and  Wismarers.  Strong  pressure  was  put  by  the  States  upon 
Margaret  to  induce  the  Emperor  to  equip  a  fleet  for  the  protection 
of  the  interests  of  Holland  in  the  Baltic  ;  in  the  end,  though  the  Peace  of 


1507-15]      Foreign  policy  of  the  second  regency  457 


Malmoe  (1512)  maintained  Liibeck's  ascendancy  there,  it  secured  free 
navigation  for  Netherlands  vessels,  except  when  carrying  contraband  of 
war.  But  to  the  schemes  of  the  Emperor-elect  (as  he  now  called 
himself)  against  France,  with  which  was  curiously  mixed  up  a  project  for 
a  marriage  between  Charles  and  Louis  XII's  second  daughter  Ren^e, 
the  provinces  turned  a  deaf  ear.  Not  even  against  Charles  of  Egmond, 
though  Holland  and  Brabant  were  dreading  his  approach,  would  they 
grant  aids,  unless  assured  of  a  general  peace.  With  the  exception  of 
Antwerp,  Malines,  and  Hertogenbosch,  Margaret  wrote,  the  States  were 
oCune  si  maulvaise  nature  that  nothing  short  of  the  Emperor's  own 
presence  could  manage  the  business.  But  even  this  expedient  seems  to 
have  failed;  and  when  in  April,  1513,  he  concluded  an  offensive  alliance 
with  Henry  VIII  against  France,  the  Netherlands  were  declared  neutral. 
They  took  advantage  of  their  neutrality  to  supply  the  French  with 
arms  and  ammunition,  but  at  the  same  time  allowed  Henry  after  he 
had  commenced  the  siege  of  Terouanne  (June,  1513)  to  levy  both  foot 
and  horse  in  the  country.  Maximilian  approved,  but  he  held  no  inde- 
pendent command,  and  the  capture  of  Tournay  following  on  the  brilliant 
victory  of  Guinegaste  was  treated  by  Henry  as  an  English  acquisition. 
But  though  for  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  Margaret's  programme  of  a  close 
alliance  against  France  of  England,  Spain,  and  the  Austro-Burgundian 
interest  would  carry  everything  before  it,  Henry  was  at  last  estranged 
by  the  delay  of  the  marriage  between  his  sister  and  Prince  Charles,  due 
in  part  at  least  to  the  de  Chievres  influence,  and  finally  entered  into  an 
alliance  with  Louis  XII,  to  whom  the  English  Princess  was  now  wedded. 
As  the  project  of  marriage  between  the  French  King  and  Charles'  sister 
Eleanor  was  now  likewise  abandoned,  Charles  was  in  his  turn  left  in  a 
humiliating  position,  and,  though  the  Netherlands  were  ex  post  facto 
admitted  to  the  new  French  alliance,  all  cordiality  between  the  English 
and  Burgundian  Courts  was  at  an  end.  The  commercial  relations  between 
the  two  countries  had  meanwhile  made  but  little  advance ;  the  duties 
levied  upon  English  trade,  especially  in  Zeeland,  had  again  been 
raised;  and  a  commission  summoned  to  Bruges  in  1512  had  effected 
nothing. 

Thus  Margaret's  foreign  policy  had  proved  unsuccessful  before 
(January,  1515)  Charles  assumed  the  government  of  the  Netherlands ; 
and  in  the  course  of  the  year  she  found  herself  virtually  excluded 
from  the  more  intimate  counsels  of  the  nephew  over  whose  interests 
she  had  so  tenderly  watched  in  his  younger  days,  and  for  whom  to  the 
last  she  was  ready  to  make  any  personal  sacrifice.  Charles,  who  in  1520 
fitly  recognised  her  services  by  assigning  to  her  as  her  own  domain  the 
loyal  city  of  Malines  and  the  adjoining  territory,  was  during  the  first 
years  of  his  government  still  entirely  under  the  influence  of  de  Chievres, 
who,  in  the  course  of  this  very  year,  contrived  to  send  away  Adrian  of 
Utrecht  to  Spain  in  the  interests  of  the  Prince's  succession.    The  death 


458 


Cost  of  the  Austrian  rule 


of  Louis  XII  on  January  1,  1515,  and  the  accession  of  Francis  I  had 
offered  an  opening  for  the  advancement  of  those  friendly  relations 
with  France  which  de  Chi^vres  and  the  Netherlands  statesmen  were 
so  anxious  to  cultivate ;  and  even  after  the  death  of  Ferdinand  of 
Aragon  a  year  later  had  left  to  Charles  the  inheritance  of  the  Spanish 
monarchy  and  its  Italian  dependencies,  he  continued  in  spite  of  Margaret's 
action  to  follow  the  same  policy.  Nor  was  it  till  the  imperial  succession 
loomed  largely  on  the  horizon  that  the  three  generations,  Maximilian, 
Margaret,  and  Charles,  were  reunited  in  their  efforts  for  a  common  end. 

A  heavy  price  was  paid  by  the  Netherlands  for  the  preservation 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  monarchy  of  Charles  the  Bold.  Like  the 
House  of  Burgundy  into  which  he  had  married,  Maximilian  (so  popular 
at  Niirnberg  and  Augsburg)  showed  scant  regard  for  the  rights  and 
usages  of  provinces  or  towns  in  its  dominions,  though  it  was  only 
exceptionally  that  he  ventured  on  such  an  act  as  the  decapitation  of  the 
burgomaster  of  Dort,  who  had  upheld  a  meeting  of  the  States  on  their 
own  motion,  as  allowed  by  the  G-roote  Privilegie.  Philip  the  Fair  went 
the  logical  length  of  limiting  his  renewal  of  this  famous  Charter  by  a 
reservation  which  rendered  his  acceptance  nugatory.  That  these  senti- 
ments had  descended  to  Charles  V  was  shown  by  the  chastisement 
inflicted  by  him  in  1540  upon  his  native  city  of  Ghent  —  the  most  far- 
reaching,  though  not  the  most  sanguinary  of  any  to  which  in  the  course 
of  her  history  she  was  subjected.  In  the  face  of  these  experiences  the 
gradual  growth  of  the  practice  of  summoning  the  States-General,  long 
resisted  by  Charles,  but  resumed  during  the  governor-generalship  (from 
1531)  of  his  sister  Maria,  Queen  Dowager  of  Hungary,  seemed  of  little 
account.  The  sufferings  of  the  country  —  of  Holland  in  particular — 
in  the  period  preceding  that  of  the  rule  of  Philip  the  Fair  were  un- 
forgotten  by  the  next  generation.  In  1494  a  new  valuation  of  income 
(verponding)  was  made  throughout  the  Netherlands,  in  order  to  rectify 
the  modus  under  which  the  contributions  to  the  hedes  had  hitherto  been 
assessed  on  the  several  towns  and  villages ;  and  this  had  to  be  again 
revised  in  1514.  A  most  distressful  state  of  things  was  hereby  revealed 
in  many  parts  of  the  country  —  more  especially  south  of  Utrecht  and 
Gelderland,  where  there  had  hardly  been  a  break  in  the  presence  of  the 
German  soldiery.  The  number  of  the  homesteads  here  had  dwindled, 
the  cattle  had  on  many  pastures  diminished  by  half ;  along  the  coasts 
navigation  and  fisheries  had  declined.  In  some  of  the  Zuiderzee  ports 
the  stillness  was  beginning  to  set  in  from  which,  owing  to  natural  causes, 
there  was  to  be  no  later  awakening.  What  wonder  that  under  Philip 
and  afterwards  during  Margaret's  governorship  all  classes  in  the  Nether- 
lands should  have  been  practically  unanimous  in  their  desire  for  peace, 
and  that  even  the  Gelders  War,  upon  a  successful  termination  of  which 
the  achievement  of  political  unity  depended,  was  held  a  burden  ?  And 
what  favours  could  the  endeavours  expect  to  find  which,  set  on  foot  by 


Economical  condition  of  the  Netherlands  459 


Maximilian,  were  carried  out  by  Charles  V  for  establishing  in  a  new 
form  an  organic  connexion  between  the  whole  of  the  provinces  and 
the  Empire  at  large?  The  States  took  very  coolly  the  inclusion  in 
1512  of  the  so-called  Burgundian  Circle  (Gelderland  and  Utrecht  were 
afterwards  added  to  the  Westphalian)  in  the  system  of  Circles  established 
as  it  were  incidentally  twelve  years  earlier,  and  persistently  declined  to 
acknowledge  the  right  claimed  by  the  Emperor  of  taxing  the  provinces 
for  imperial  purposes.  On  the  other  hand  the  imperial  Diet  held  fast  to 
the  pretension,  as  was  shown  at  Niirnberg  in  1543  ;  and  in  1548  —  just 
a  century  before  the  political  bond  between  the  United  Provinces  and 
the  Empire  was  finally  severed  —  the  entire  group  of  the  "Burgundian 
hereditary  lands  "  was  included  as  the  Burgundian  Circle  in  the  nexus 
of  the  Empire.  It  was  in  this  shape  that,  with  the  proper  safeguard 
of  a  reservation  of  the  privileges  and  liberties  of  the  several  provinces, 
the  undivided  Netherlands  were  by  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  1549 
settled  upon  Philip,  then  intended  by  Charles  to  succeed  him  on  the 
Imperial  as  well  as  on  the  Spanish  throne. 

Although,  notwithstanding  the  Gelders  War,  the  Netherlands  re- 
covered something  of  their  prosperity  during  the  governorship  of 
Margaret,  the  downfall  of  the  trade  and  industry  of  Flanders  was 
irremediable.  Public  feeling  in  England  continued  to  favour  the  Nether- 
lands, just  as  of  old  the  Flemish  towns  had  upheld  the  English  alliance  ; 
but  no  substantial  change  took  place  for  many  a  long  year  in  the 
mercantile  relations  between  the  two  peoples.  In  consequence  of 
the  decline  of  the  Venetian  and  Genoese  trade  after  the  discovery  of  the 
Cape  route  to  India,  Antwerp,  where  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards 
found  the  facilities  and  the  security  they  required,  and  whither  they 
were  followed  by  the  other  foreign  "  nations  "  from  Bruges,  gradually 
became  the  chief  commercial  port  of  Europe ;  while  not  a  rivulet  from 
the  current  of  trade  could  be  turned  back  into  the  sands  of  the  Zwyn. 
Before  the  middle  of  the  century  the  proportion  of  the  total  exports 
of  the  Netherlands,  estimated  at  between  six  and  six  and  a  half  million 
of  pounds  Flemish,  assignable  to  Antwerp  was  reckoned  at  eighty 
per  cent.  —  that  to  Bruges  at  one-half  per  cent.  While  Antwerp  had 
supplanted  Bruges,  the  advance  of  Amsterdam  was  beginning  to  emulate 
that  of  the  great  Belgian  city,  and  the  mariners  of  Holland  and  Zeeland 
were  in  the  North  Sea  and  the  Baltic  learning  to  play  their  destined 
part  of  carriers  on  the  ocean. 

The  great  religious  movement  the  eve  of  which  this  summary  has 
reached,  found  the  intellectual  life  of  the  Netherlands  in  a  condition 
of  stillness  sufficiently  accounted  for  by  its  political  experiences.  But 
the  stillness  was  not  stagnation.  University  studies  were  in  fetters ;  but 
in  the  schools  education  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  men  anxious  to 
prevent  any  divorce  between  theological  and  grammatical  teaching. 
Among  the  people  at  large  publications  against  the  sale  of  indulgences 


460 


The  Renaissance  and  Erasmus 


—  an  abuse  with  which  the  Netherlands  had  been  familiarised  during 
the  previous  half  century  —  circulated  before  the  date  of  Luther's 
theses  ;  and  the  book  of  appeal,  the  Bible,  had  spread  very  notably  in  its 
Latin  form,  even  before  (some  time  after  a  version  of  the  body  of  the 
Old  Testament)  the  first  Dutch  New  Testament  appeared  in  1523.  The 
activity  of  the  Windeshem  convents  continued  till  the  advent  of  the 
Reformation,  when  the  Fraterhuizen  themselves,  many  of  whose  members 
adopted  the  doctrines  of  the  reformers,  fell  into  disuse.  For  the  rest, 
although  Erasmus  had  reason  enough  for  remembering  the  monks  of 
his  native  land,  the  monasticism  denounced  by  him  is  not  so  much  of  a 
local  as  of  a  general  type ;  so  too  was  the  disregard  by  the  secular  priest- 
hood of  one  at  least  of  the  laws  most  conspicuously  imposed  upon  their 
lives  by  the  Church.  Yet  in  the  Netherlands,  formerly  a  seedplot  of 
attempts  to  purify  life  and  morals  which  too  often  took  a  fanatical 
form  and  thus  came  to  be  branded  as  heresies,  the  Reformation  had  few 
immediate  precursors.  John  Wessel,  as  has  been  seen,  died  in  a  convent. 
The  Austin  friars  at  Dort  had  been  influenced  by  Hendrik  of  Zutphen, 
appointed  their  prior  in  1515  after  being  a  pupil  of  Staupitz  and  a 
fellow-student  of  Luther.  Nor  do  we  meet  with  many  enquirers  upon 
whom  the  Free  Spirit,  which  had  formerly  likewise  had  its  Brotherhood 
and  Sisterhood,  might  be  thought  to  have  descended.  The  only  heretic 
of  this  sort  whom  Jacob  van  Hoogstraten,  himself  of  Braban9on  origin, 
tracked  to  his  death  in  the  Netherlands  before  the  Reformation  was 
Hermann  of  Ryswyk,  burnt  in  1512. 

The  share  of  the  Netherlands  in  the  history  of  the  Renaissance,  on 
the  other  hand,  is,  in  so  far  as  it  has  not  already  come  under  notice 
here,  comprehended  in  a  single  name  —  Erasmus.  The  ducal  Court,  as 
has  been  seen,  was  not  indifferent  to  intellectual  abilities  of  many  sorts 
and  kinds ;  the  examples  of  his  father  and  half-brother  were  in  a  sense 
bettered  by  Bishop  David  of  Utrecht,  and  a  fresh  impulse  was  given 
to  the  patronage  of  learning  and  its  appliances  by  the  English  consort 
of  Charles  the  Bold.  The  relations  between  Maximilian  and  the  Re- 
naissance were  neither  perfunctory  nor  casual,  and  justify  the  warmth 
of  feeling  towards  him  on  the  part  of  scholars,  poets,  and  artists  which 
was  one  of  the  truest  foundations  of  his  popularity;  but  no  traces 
remain  of  his  having  found  leisure  to  encourage  a  similar  devotion 
in  the  Burgundian  lands,  except  that  among  the  statues  for  his  own 
mausoleum  (originally  meant  to  be  erected  at  Vienna)  he  gave  orders 
for  two  —  one  of  them  very  likely  his  own  —  to  be  cast  in  the  Nether- 
lands. What  he  left  undone  was  not  supplied  either  by  his  son 
Philip,  careless  of  most  of  the  graver  interests  of  life,  or  by  his 
daughter  Margaret,  who,  poetess  as  she  was,  needed  all  her  strength 
for  the  business  of  her  life.  Thus  amidst  depressing  influences  the 
care  of  learning  and  letters,  arts  and  science,  was  in  the  main  left 
to  the  population  itself,  and  chiefly  of  course  to  the  towns ;  and  from 


Erasmus  and  the  Reformation 


461 


the  midst  of  one  of  these,  trained  under  influences  which  more  than 
any  other  strengthened  popular  and  civic  life,  came  forth  Erasmus,  a 
born  citizen  of  the  world  of  letters  of  which  he  became  the  glory. 

His  early  education,  as  has  been  seen,  he  received  at  Deventer  under 
Alexander  Hegius ;  but  after  this  he  had  to  learn  by  bitter  experience 
how  evil  is  the  corruption  of  that  which  is  good.  For  it  may  be  taken  as 
proved  that  the  Collationary  Brethren,  in  whose  House  he  and  his  brother 
were  placed  to  be  prepared  for  the  assumption  of  monastic  vows,  and 
whom  in  his  celebrated  letter  he  describes  as  so  many  decoys  for  the 
monastic  orders  proper,  were  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  under  another 
name.  A  few  years  after  he  had  been  liberated  from  the  cloister,  he  began 
his  cosmopolitan  career,  and  the  Netherlands  could  no  longer  more 
than  transitorily  claim  him  as  their  own ;  and  when  at  the  height  of  his 
fame,  he  had  by  the  Emperor's  desire  fixed  his  residence  at  Louvain, 
there  was  probably  no  place  in  the  world  which  swarmed  so  thickly 
with  his  enemies,  who  hated  him  at  least  as  bitterly  for  his  actual 
learning  as  for  his  supposed  heresy.  But  cosmopolite  as  he  was,  more 
especially  in  the  years  preceding  this  date,  he  was  such  rather  in  the 
sense  that  all  countries  were  after  a  fashion  alike  to  him,  than  that, 
notwithstanding  occasional  rhetorical  flights,  he  identified  himself  with 
any.  His  position  towards  peoples  as  well  as  princes  was  a  European 
one,  and  has  not  inaptly  been  compared  to  that  of  Voltaire  in  the 
eighteenth  century ;  and  though  the  Renaissance  was  not  his  movement, 
nor  that  of  any  one  other  man,  yet  his  influence  over  its  course  was 
incomparable  —  even  in  Germany  by  the  side  of  Reuchlin,  and  in  Eng- 
land as  developing  the  work  of  Colet.  His  earlier  publications  were 
mainly  linguistic  and  literary;  but  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  show 
that  in  all,  or  nearly  all  of  them,  the  educational  purpose  proper  to 
the  Renaissance  movement  in  his  native  land  maintained  itself.  In  his 
Education  of  a  Christian  Prince^  designed  primarily  for  the  use  of  the 
future  Emperor  Charles  V,  he  advances  political  doctrines  in  harmony 
with  the  progress  of  the  constitutional  life  of  his  own  native  land,  and 
effaces  the  futile  distinction  between  political  and  Christian  morality. 
Thus,  too,  there  is  a  real  continuity  between  the  whole  of  these  writings 
and  his  great  biblical  and  patristic  labours  —  from  which  of  course  his 
one  late  excursion  into  the  field  of  dogmatic  controversy  stands  apart. 
It  was  not  by  chance  that  he  was  led  to  theological  enquiry,  as  he  had 
of  his  own  choice  addressed  himself  to  ethical  problems.  He  believed 
that  a  new  era  was  dawning  for  the  Church  and  the  Christian  religion, 
and  that  to  hasten  its  advent  was  eminently  a  concern  of  his.  But 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  that  a  calm  and  reasonable  progress,  in  which 
scholar  and  statesman  should  go  hand  in  hand,  was  the  only  way  by 
which  victory  could  be  secured  and  a  real  and  enduring  reformation 
accomplished.  Had  he  thought  differently  of  his  task,  he  would  prob- 
ably in  many  ways  have  proved  ill-suited  for  the  leadership  of  a  great 


462 


Erasmus  and  the  Reformation 


popular  movement.  But  in  truth,  he  had  no  desire  in  his  heart  to  be 
reckoned  on  either  side.  He  was  content  to  stand  by  himself  —  herein 
a  true  i-epresentative  of  the  Renaissance,  whose  supreme  purpose  it  was 
after  all  to  vindicate  to  every  man  the  right  of  remaining  true  to  his 
individuality  by  means  of  self-education  and  self-development.  Whether 
or  not,  from  this  point  of  view  also,  he  was  in  some  respects  a  typical 
product  of  his  native  land,  the  Reformation  as  it  presented  itself  to  the 
Netherlands,  and  as  they  gave  admittance  to  it  with  consequences  so 
vital  for  their  future  history,  was  not  the  Reformation  of  Erasmus. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  EARLY  TUDORS 

That  which  gave  the  death-blow  to  feudalism  in  England  was 
undoubtedly  the  Battle  of  Bos  worth.  The  Normans,  after  their  in- 
vasion and  conquest,  had  drilled  and  disciplined  the  English  people 
with  so  thorough  a  comprehension  of  the  capabilities  of  the  Saxon 
population,  and  so  full  an  appreciation  of  their  solid  merits,  that  the 
sense  of  subjugation  was  soon  effaced  and  a  harmonious  system  esta- 
blished which  time  could  not  entirely  destroy.  The  courtesy  of  the 
upper  classes  and  the  respectful  subordination  of  the  lower  alike  con- 
tributed to  the  strength  of  an  English  nationality,  which,  as  it  be- 
came more  and  more  entirely  insular,  became  more  and  more  unique  ; 
so  that  even  the  decay  and  demoralisation  which  followed  the  loss  of 
continental  possessions  in  the  fifteenth  century,  were  accompanied  by  a 
compensation  which  was  very  real  though  but  little  appreciated  at  the 
time.  With  the  loss  of  France,  England  was  released  from  a  burden 
which  she  was  quite  unable  to  bear;  and  when,  a  century  later,  she 
lost  Calais  also,  she  was  all  the  more  able  to  negotiate  effectually  with 
Scotland,  and  lay  firm  the  foundations  of  a  United  Kingdom  which  a 
future  age  was  to  build  up. 

The  expulsion  of  the  English  from  both  Normandy  and  Gascony 
in  the  days  of  Henry  VI  had  led  naturally  to  mutual  recriminations 
among  the  nobility  and  gentry,  who  looked  upon  France  as  a  play- 
ground to  which  they  had  an  obvious  right.  These  feelings  mixed 
themselves  with  the  great  dynastic  struggle  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses ; 
and  the  House  of  York  owed  not  a  little  of  its  popularity  to  the  fact 
that  their  party  was  not  responsible  for  disaster  abroad.  But  when 
Edward  IV  taxed  his  subjects  severely  for  a  new  invasion  of  France, 
which  was  to  revive  the  glories  of  the  Black  Prince  and  of  Henry  V, 
and  when,  instead  of  prosecuting  his  claims  in  the  field,  he  listened  to 
a  seductive  offer  of  an  annual  tribute  from  Louis  XI  and  returned 
home  from  a  bloodless  campaign,  it  was  already  clear  to  discerning 
minds  than  the  reconquest  of  France  was  a  dream  and  an  impossibility. 
Edward,  indeed,  though  an  excellent  soldier  when  events  compelled 

468 


464 


Accession  of  Henry  VII 


[1485 


him  to  act,  was  constitutionally  indolent ;  nor  did  he  win  the  hearts 
of  his  people  by  pocketing  what  seemed  very  like  a  bribe  from  an 
enemy,  after  impoverishing  his  own  subjects  for  the  purpose  of  making 
war.  But  he  was  anxious  to  bequeath  to  his  children  a  quiet  succession, 
untroubled  by  serious  difficulties  either  abroad  or  at  home.  Unhappily, 
he  was  no  politician,  and  failed  to  foresee  the  clouds  which  darkened  the 
horizon  in  both  quarters  just  before  his  death. 

England  might  have  done  very  well  without  France,  and  even  the 
quarrels  of  the  nobility  might  have  been  left  to  settle  themselves,  had 
they  not  shaken  the  throne  itself.  But  the  security  of  the  throne  de- 
pended on  the  support  of  great  families  with  large  landed  possessions, 
who  could  put  large  forces  of  their  retainers  into  the  field  at  need. 
Warwick  the  King-maker  had  been  the  great  ally  of  Edward  IV  and 
of  his  father,  and  it  was  to  him  more  than  any  other  man  in  England 
that  Edward  owed  his  kingdom.  It  was  by  Warwick  also  that  he  was 
afterwards  driven  out  of  it,  and  that  Henry  VI  was  reinstated  there  for  a 
time.  Edward's  own  brother  Clarence  was  won  over  by  Warwick  to  assist 
in  driving  him  out ;  and,  though  afterwards  he  changed  sides  again  and 
helped  in  his  brother's  restoration,  mutual  distrust  still  remained,  and 
Clarence  was  ultimately  put  to  death  as  a  traitor.  Strange  to  say, 
Edward  seems  to  have  retained  his  confidence  in  his  younger  brother 
Richard,  who  after  his  death  proved  a  worse  traitor  still;  for  he 
supplanted  Edward's  two  sons,  and  then  murdered  them  after  getting 
himself  proclaimed  King  as  Richard  III.  But  a  conspiracy  was  formed 
between  confederates  both  in  England  and  in  Britanny,  where  Henry, 
Earl  of  Richmond,  lived  in  exile,  by  which  it  was  arranged  that  he 
should  invade  the  kingdom,  and  after  winning  the  Crown  by  the  de- 
feat of  Richard  in  battle,  should  marry  Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of 
Edward  IV,  thereby  uniting  the  claims  of  the  House  of  York  to  those 
of  the  House  of  Lancaster. 

I 

Henry  VII 
(1485-1509) 

It  was  thus  that  the  Earl  of  Richmond  after  the  victory  of  Bos- 
worth  became  King  Henry  the  Seventh.  He  indeed  claimed  the  throne 
in  his  own  right  by  a  Lancastrian  title ;  but,  as  that  title  seemed  open 
to  some  objections,  he  could  not  have  hoped  to  win  it  apart  from  the 
pledge  he  had  given  to  marry  the  heiress  of  York ;  still  less  could  he 
have  retained  it  without  actually  marrying  her.  During  nearly  the 
whole  of  his  reign  he  was  troubled  with  Yorkist  conspiracies ;  and  it 
was  with  great  wisdom  that,  in  his  second  Parliament,  he  procured  the  i| 


1487] 


Imposture  of  Lambert  Simnel 


465 


institution  of  the  Court  of  the  Star  Chamber  —  a  Court  of  evil  repute  in 
later  times,  but  of  great  value  in  that  day  for  the  correction  of  irregu- 
larities in  the  administration  of  justice,  caused  by  the  excessive  power  of 
local  magnates,  partial  sheriffs,  and  corrupt  juries.  The  name  of  this 
Court  was  derived  from  the  chamber  in  which  the  Privy  Council  had 
been  accustomed  to  sit  at  Westminster,  and  the  Act  only  delegated  to 
a  Committee  of  that  Council  powers  which  had  been  always  exercised, 
when  thought  fit,  by  the  Council  as  a  whole.  An  Act  was  also  passed 
to  make  murderers  always  amenable  to  prosecution  by  the  Crown, 
without  waiting,  as  had  been  usual,  a  year  and  a  day  during  which  the 
next  of  kin  might  prosecute.  The  responsibility  of  coroners  and  town- 
ships was  also  increased  in  all  cases  of  slaughter.  The  King,  moreover, 
with  the  Pope's  assent,  imposed  some  restrictions  on  the  privileges  of 
sanctuaries,  especially  in  cases  of  treason,  and  on  those  of  the  clergy 
when  convicted  of  crime. 

But  faction  at  home  was  unhappily  reinforced  by  movements  outside 
the  country ;  for  foreign  princes  joined  continually  in  the  game,  and 
Ireland  afforded,  especially  at  the  commencement  of  Henry's  reign,  a 
basis  of  operations  against  England  of  which  these  princes  were  not  slow 
to  take  advantage.  For  Ireland  had  been  a  stronghold  of  the  Yorkist 
party,  where  in  past  days  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  proscribed  in 
England,  had  ruled  as  the  King's  lieutenant  in  defiance  of  the  very 
authority  he  professed  to  represent.  It  was  not  a  country  which  a 
Lancastrian  King  could  hope  to  reduce  very  speedily  to  obedience; 
and  yet  we  shall  see  that,  notwithstanding  the  most  unpromising  com- 
mencement, Henry's  success  in  this  matter  was  far  beyond  expectation. 

The  first  rumour  of  disturbances  after  his  accession  arose  out  of  the 
escape  of  Viscount  Lovel  and  the  two  brothers  Stafford  from  sanctuary 
at  Colchester  in  the  spring  of  1486.  The  leaders,  however,  still  lay 
hid,  and  it  was  not  till  the  beginning  of  1487  that  some  far-reaching 
plots  developed  themselves.  Lovel  fled  to  Flanders  —  a  hotbed  of  con- 
spiracy against  Henry  —  and  a  boy  named  Lambert  Simnel  was  set  up 
in  Ireland,  first  as  a  son  of  Edward  lY  (the  murder  of  the  two  young 
princes  in  the  Tower  being  held  doubtful  by  some),  afterwards  as  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  son  of  the  ill-fated  Duke  of  Clarence,  whom  Henry, 
just  after  his  accession,  had  lodged  in  the  Tower  to  prevent  any  rising 
in  his  favour.  Then  John  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  had 
attended  a  meeting  of  the  Privy  Council  at  Sheen  on  February  2, 
escaped  to  Flanders  also.  He  was  probably  the  originator  of  the 
whole  conspiracy ;  for  he  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk 
by  Elizabeth,  sister  of  Edward  IV,  and  had  been  nominated  by 
Richard  III  as  his  successor  on  the  throne.  His  hopes  had  thus 
been  blighted  by  Henry's  accession ;  and,  having  prepared  a  fleet, 
he  now  took  counsel  in  Flanders  with  his  aunt,  Margaret,  Duchess 
Dowager  of  Burgundy  (another  sister  of  Edward  IV),  how  to  dis- 

C.  M.  H.  I.  30 


466        Alliance  with  Britanny  against  France  [i487-9 


possess  Henry  of  the  kingdom.  He  then  went  to  Simnel  in  Ireland, 
whose  pretensions  he  recognised,  though  he  had  the  best  reason  to 
know  their  falsehood,  as  a  means  of  clearing  the  ground  for  himself. 
Simnel  was  crowned  in  Christchurch  Cathedral,  Dublin,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  then  Deputy  of  Ireland,  and  of  his  brother 
the  Lord  Chancellor,  and  of  nearly  all  the  judges,  nobility,  and  bishops 
of  the  land.  Supported  by  Lincoln,  Kildare,  and  a  body  of  German 
mercenaries  under  one  Martin  Swart,  the  pretender  invaded  England. 
But  he  was  defeated  at  Stoke-upon-Trent  (June  16,  1487)  ;  his  leaders, 
including  Lincoln  and  Lord  Thomas  Fitzgerald,  were  slain,  and  he  was 
himself  taken  prisoner. 

So  ended  the  first  great  crisis  in  Henry's  reign.  And  he  was 
stronger  now  than  he  had  been,  not  only  by  the  death  of  Lincoln 
and  the  overthrow  of  the  conspiracy,  but  because  his  Queen  Elizabeth 
in  the  year  preceding  had  borne  him  a  son,  to  whom,  in  respect  of  his 
old  British  descent,  he  gave  the  name  of  the  fabled  King  Arthur.  As  a 
further  counterpoise  to  faction  he  now  caused  the  Queen  to  be  crowned 
(November  25).  But  at  this  very  time  he  had  also  to  appeal  urgently 
to  Parliament  (it  was  his  second  Parliament)  for  aid  in  the  shape 
of  taxation  for  the  defence  of  the  realm.  The  continual  danger  of 
invasion  made  it  an  object  of  supreme  importance  to  him  to  study 
carefully,  the  aims  and  policy  of  foreign  princes ;  for  his  own  security 
upon  the  throne  depended  quite  as  much  on  what  was  done  abroad 
as  on  anything  that  he  could  do  at  home.  The  Spanish  sovereigns, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabel,  were  anxious  to  draw  him  into  a  war  with 
France;  and  the  marriage  of  Prince  Arthur  to  their  daughter, 
Katharine  of  Aragon,  was  already  arranged  in  1488.  Henry  was 
unwilling  to  make  war  upon  a  country  whose  government  had  really 
assisted  him  to  obtain  the  Crown;  but  he  had  been  scarcely  less 
indebted,  as  an  exile,  to  the  Duke  of  Britanny,  and  France  was 
menacing  the  independence  of  that  duchy.  Henry  endeavoured  to 
mediate,  while  a  band  of  volunteers  under  Lord  Woodville  crossed 
the  Channel  unauthorised,  and  shared  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the 
Bretons  in  the  battle  of  St  Aubin  (July  28,  1488).  Henry  strongly 
disowned  responsibility  for  this  expedition  ;  but  ill-feeling  had  been 
already  aroused  both  in  France  and  England,  and  on  April  1, 
1489,  he  fully  committed  himself  to  the  defence  of  the  duchy  by 
a  treaty  with  the  Duchess  Anne.  Moreover,  a  state  of  war  between 
England  and  France  had  existed  when  he  came  to  the  throne,  and 
he  had  only  suspended  it  by  a  truce,  which  he  from  time  to  time 
renewed,  till  circumstances  were  at  last  too  strong  for  him.  The 
treaty  for  the  marriage  between  Arthur  and  Katharine  was  fettered 
with  conditions  which  really  obliged  England  to  make  actual  war 
upon  France  for  the  benefit  of  Spain.  This  was  the  understanding 
from  the  first,  and  it  was  distinctly  expressed  in  the  treaty  which 


1489-92] 


Treaty  of  Staples 


467 


Henry's  ambassadors  negotiated  at  Medina  del  Campo  in  March,  1489. 
Henry  was  making  preparations,  though  he  was  anxious  to  put  off  the 
event  to  the  last.  In  February  Parliament  granted  him  a  very  special 
subsidy  of  one-tenth  of  the  annual  value  of  lands  and  one-eightieth  part 
of  the  whole  value  of  men's  goods.  The  levying  of  this  impost  created 
disturbances  in  Yorkshire,  in  attempting  to  suppress  which  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  was  slain;  but  resistance  was  at  length  put  down. 
Henry  did  his  best  for  some  time  to  assist  Britanny  without  engaging 
otherwise  in  hostility  with  France ;  but  his  efforts  were  all  thrown  away. 
In  December,  1491,  the  Duchess  Anne  married  Charles  VIII  and  the 
first  step  was  taken  towards  a  union  of  Britanny  with  France.  Next 
year,  in  fulfilment  of  obligations,  alike  to  Spain  and  to  Maximilian, 
King  of  the  Romans,  Henry  crossed  the  Channel  and  besieged  Bou- 
logne (October).  The  season  was  late,  and  he  was  quite  unsupported 
by  his  allies ;  but  he  fulfilled  his  treaty  obligations  to  them ;  and,  more- 
over, finding  Charles  VIII  quite  willing  to  pay  him  an  annual  tribute 
of  50,000  francs,  he  followed  the  example  of  Edward  IV  and  made  a 
peace  very  profitable  to  himself  (the  Treaty  of  Etaples,  November  3, 
1492),  after  having  taxed  his  subjects  highly  and  drawn  "  benevolences  " 
from  them  for  an  energetic  war. 

However  unpopular  this  result  might  be  in  England,  it  certainly 
strengthened  Henry's  hands  in  dealing  with  foreign  Powers.  He  was 
no  longer  under  special  obligations  to  Spain,  and  France  had  consented 
to  buy  his  friendship.  The  prince  who  was  most  dissatisfied  with  the 
result  was  Maximilian,  King  of  the  Romans,  to  whom  Henry  had  already 
rendered  very  important  aid,  and  who  seemed  to  consider  him  bound  to 
fight  his  battles  in  France,  though  he  had  himself  been  by  no  means  a 
steady  and  faithful  ally.  Maximilian's  animosity  from  this  time  was 
persistent ;  yet  it  was  perhaps  not  more  injurious  to  Henry  in  particular 
than  it  was  inconvenient  to  other  Powers,  when,  in  1495,  Spain,  Venice, 
and  the  Pope  would  have  been  glad  to  draw  England  into  a  league  with 
Maximilian  against  France. 

Maximilian's  infant  son  Philip,  called  Archduke  of  Austria,  was  to 
govern  the  Netherlands  when  he  came  of  age.  But  the  Council  which 
meanwhile  governed  in  his  name  had  very  little  respect  for  his  father, 
who  in  fact  was  at  one  time  not  allowed  the  guardianship  of  his  own 
son.  Much  more  influential  was  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  widow 
of  the  young  Prince's  grandfather,  Charles  the  Bold ;  who,  being  a  sister 
of  Edward  IV,  and  having  sustained  considerable  loss  of  revenue  by  the 
accession  of  Henry  VII,  laboured  assiduously  for  his  overthrow.  She 
harboured  at  her  Court  disaffected  Yorkists  who  fled  from  England,  and 
assisted  their  conspiracies  against  the  new  King.  Her  nephew,  John  de 
la  Pole,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  supported  Simnel  and  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Stoke  (1487),  had  first  escaped  over  sea  and  held  conference 
with  her.    And,  notwithstanding  the  disastrous  failure  of  that  rebellion. 


468 


of  Perkin  Warbeck  [i49i-5 


the  refugees  at  her  Court  had  ample  facilities  for  the  formation  of  fresh 
conspiracies. 

It  is  questionable,  however,  whether  the  new  impostor  who  now 
appeared  on  the  scene  received  his  original  stimulus  from  her.  Perkin 
Warbeck,  a  native  of  Tournay,  was  a  young  man  who  had  been  much 
in  the  Low  Countries  and  in  Portugal,  and  having  finally  taken  service 
with  a  Breton  named  Prdgent  Meno,  landed  in  Cork  in  1491,  arrayed  in 
fine  clothing  belonging  to  his  master.  The  Irish  took  him  for  a  prince 
of  royal  birth ;  if  not  Warwick,  the  son  of  Clarence,  he  must  be  a 
bastard  son  of  Richard  III.  But  after  he  had  denied  both  characters, 
they  persuaded  him  to  personate  Richard  Duke  of  York,  the  younger  of 
the  two  princes  murdered  in  the  Tower,  telling  him  he  would  be  sup- 
ported by  the  Earls  of  Kildare  and  Desmond,  who  were  both,  in  spite  of 
recent  professions  of  loyalty,  wholly  bent  on  the  King's  destruction.  He 
remained  some  little  time  in  Ireland,  learning  to  speak  English  fluently 
and  to  play  the  part  assigned  to  him,  when  Charles  VIII,  knowing  that 
Henry  was  preparing  to  make  war  on  France,  invited  him  to  his  Court. 
There  for  a  brief  time  he  was  honoured  as  a  prince ;  but  on  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Peace  of  Etaples  (1492)  he  was  dismissed  and  went  to 
Flanders,  where  Margaret  received  him  with  open  arms,  acknowledging 
him  as  her  nephew.  Next  year,  when  Maximilian  visited  the  Low 
Countries,  Henry  sent  an  embassy  to  him  and  to  the  Archduke  Philip 
to  remonstrate  against  the  countenance  given  to  the  pretender;  but  it 
produced  no  result,  the  Council  of  the  young  Archduke  replying  that 
Margaret  was  free  to  do  as  she  pleased  within  the  lands  of  her  jointure. 

Thus  it  was  clear  that  the  government  of  the  Low  Countries  intended 
to  allow  conspiracies  to  be  matured  in  those  parts  against  Henry  VII. 
He  met  this  by  forbidding  commerce  with  Flanders  and  removing  the 
mart  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers  from  Antwerp  to  Calais  (September 
18, 1493).  This  was  a  step  quite  against  his  ordinary  policy,  for  no  King 
was  ever  more  studious  of  the  interests  of  commerce,  and  though  aimed 
at  the  Flemings  it  produced  inconvenience  on  both  sides,  thus  leading 
to  a  riot  in  London,  as  the  German  merchants  of  the  Hansa  had  certain 
privileges  by  charter,  which  enabled  them  to  carry  on  the  traffic  for- 
bidden to  Englishmen.  Perkin,  however,  soon  afterwards  repaired  to 
Maximilian  at  Vienna,  where  at  the  funeral  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  III 
a  place  was  assigned  to  him  corresponding  to  his  pretensions.  Next  year 
he  returned  with  Maximilian  to  Flanders,  where  he  was  recognised  as 
King  of  England.  But  Henry  had  intelligence  of  those  implicated  in 
the  conspiracy  at  home,  and  a  number  of  arrests  were  made,  the  most 
startling  of  which  was  that  of  Sir  William  Stanley.  To  him  King 
Henry  had  owed  not  only  his  crown  but  his  life,  when  it  was  in  serious 
danger  at  Bosworth ;  in  reward  for  which,  among  other  things,  Stanley 
had  been  appointed  the  King's  Chamberlain.  Yet  he  had  sent  over  to 
Flanders  to  encourage  Perkin  one  Sir  Robert  Clifford,  who,  turning 


1495-7] 


Battle  of  Blackheath 


469 


informer,  revealed  his  intrigues  to  the  King.  Stanley  was  beheaded  on 
Tower  Hill  (February  16,  1495).  This  disconcerted  for  a  time  a  plan 
for  the  invasion  of  England  which  had  been  formed  in  the  Low 
Countries  and  was  nearly  ripe  for  execution.  On  July  3,  however, 
Warbeck  appeared  with  a  little  fleet  off  Deal,  and  some  of  his  followers 
landed,  but  were  presently  taken,  sent  up  to  London,  and  hanged. 
Perkin  himself  had  wisely  refrained  from  landing,  and  sailed  to  Ireland, 
where  he  attacked  by  sea  the  loyal  town  of  Waterford,  which  Desmond's 
followers  at  the  same  time  besieged  by  land.  After  eleven  days,  how- 
ever, he  was  compelled  to  withdraw  with  loss,  and  later  in  the  year  he 
found  a  better  asylum  in  Scotland,  which  had  long  been  prepared  to 
receive  him. 

Influenced,  no  doubt,  by  Maximilian  and  by  Margaret  of  Burgundy, 
James  IV  of  Scotland  had  committed  himself  to  Perkin's  cause  before  he 
came,  and  now  not  only  acknowledged  him  as  Duke  of  York,  but  gave 
him  in  marriage  his  cousin,  Katharine  Gordon,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Huntly.  In  September,  1496,  when  the  young  man  had  been  nearly  a 
year  his  guest  in  Scotland,  James  invaded  England  with  Perkin  in  his 
company.  But  it  was  a  mere  brief  border  raid,  from  which  the  Scots 
returned  in  three  days  on  hearing  of  a  force  sent  from  Newcastle  to 
oppose  them ;  and  all  that  came  of  it  was  that  a  truce  was  broken,  and 
that  Henry  now  made  preparations  to  punish  a  neighbour  whom  he  had 
been  anxious  to  conciliate.  He  assembled  a  great  council  which,  antici- 
pating the  action  of  Parliament,  promised  him  £120,000  for  the  War,  and 
authorised  the  raising  of  <£ 40,000  in  loans.  Parliament  met  in  January, 
1497.  Two  fifteenths  and  tenths  were  imposed,  to  be  levied  in  May 
and  November  following.  But  the  first  attempt  to  collect  the  money 
in  Cornwall  met  with  serious  opposition.  A  lawyer  named  Thomas 
Flammock  told  the  people  that  they  were  not  bound  to  pay,  as  the 
King  had  a  right  to  the  services  of  his  feudal  tenants  for  military 
purposes,  without  burdening  his  subjects  generally.  Flammock  and  a 
blacksmith  named  Michael  Joseph  became  the  leaders  of  an  army  of 
malcontents,  which  marched  on  towards  London.  They  were  joined  at 
Wells  by  Lord  Audeley,  but  were  refused  admittance  into  Bristol.  At 
last  they  encamped  upon  Blackheath,  and  actually  overlooked  London. 
But  here  at  length  they  were  defeated  with  great  slaughter  (June  17), 
and  the  survivors  delivered  themselves  up  as  prisoners. 

This  result  was  not  obtained  without  the  aid  of  a  force  under  Lord 
Daubeney,  which  had  been  raised  to  proceed  against  Scotland,  but 
was  hastily  recalled  to  meet  the  Cornishmen.  Henry's  troubles  made 
him  the  more  anxious  to  come  to  terms  with  James,  if  he  could  only  be 
got  to  deliver  up  Perkin,  or  even  to  cease  to  countenance  him.  But  just 
at  the  time  when  he  despatched  Bishop  Fox  to  Scotland  to  make  these 
demands  (July,  1497),  James  was  sending  off  Warbeck  by  sea  from  Ayr 
with  a  view  to  his  landing  among  the  disaffected  population  in  Cornwall 


470 


Perkin  Warbeck^s  capture 


[1497 


and  getting  them  to  aid  his  pretensions.  Before  sailing,  however, 
Warbeck  had  received  a  message  from  a  turbulent  Irish  chieftain  named 
Sir  James  Ormond,  which  induced  him  to  take  Ireland  on  his  way. 
This  was  a  mistake  ;  for  both  Kildare  and  Desmond  were  now  reconciled 
to  the  King.  But  he  landed  at  Cork  and  was  received  warmly  by  an 
old  friend,  John  Walter,  or  John  a  Water  as  he  is  called  by  the 
chroniclers,  who  had  lately  been  mayor.  Sir  James  Ormond  had  by  this 
time  been  killed  in  a  private  encounter ;  and  Perkin  w^asted  precious 
time  while  the  loyal  citizens  of  Waterford  not  only  despatched  across 
the  Channel  news  of  his  arrival  and  design  of  invading  Cornwall,  but 
did  their  best,  first  to  seize  him,  and,  afterwards,  when  he  sailed  in 
September,  to  intercept  him  on  his  passage. 

He  not  only  escaped  capture,  however,  but  landed  at  Whitesand 
Bay  near  the  Land's  End  on  September  7,  and  speedily  drew  after 
him  a  very  considerable  following.  On  September  17  he  appeared 
before  Exeter  and  for  two  days  attempted  to  storm  the  town.  Failing 
here,  he  went  on  towards  Taunton,  where,  hearing  that  an  army  under 
Daubeney  was  advancing  to  meet  him,  he  stole  away  in  the  night  and, 
riding  hard  across  country  with  one  or  two  companions,  took  refuge  at 
Beaulieu  Sanctuary  in  Hampshire.  The  Sanctuary  being  soon  after- 
wards surrounded,  he  surrendered  on  promise  of  the  King's  pardon  and 
was  brought  back  to  Taunton  where  the  King  had  now  arrived.  He 
was  compelled  to  confess  his  imposture  before  his  wife,  who  had  accom- 
panied him  to  Cornwall,  and  who  was  sent  for  from  St.  Michael's  Mount, 
where  he  had  left  her.  The  King,  pitying  her  misfortunes,  sent  her 
with  an  escort  to  the  Queen ;  while  he  himself  followed  slowly  to 
Westminster,  where  he  arrived  in  the  latter  part  of  November. 

With  him  came  Perkin,  whose  career  was  now  virtually  finished,  and 
the  King  seems  at  this  time  to  have  had  no  other  thought  than  to 
expose  him  to  public  derision  as  a  rebuke  to  factiousness.  Misled  by 
the  Duchess  Margaret,  it  is  quite  possible  that  Maximilian  and  some 
other  foreign  princes  had  believed  in  Perkin ;  but  it  is  clear  that  most 
of  them  valued  him  merely  as  a  pawn  by  which  to  gain  their  own  ends 
with  Henry  VII.  And  this  was  really  his  whole  significance.  In 
England  he  had  never  the  courage  to  play  his  part  effectively.  At  Deal 
he  refused  to  land;  in  Northumberland  he  only  pitied  the  ravages 
committed  by  his  Scotch  allies ;  in  Devonshire  he  stole  away  from  his 
own  followers  in  search  of  an  asylum.  And  now  the  Londoners  flocked 
to  see  him  "as  he  were  a  monster,"  while  he  was  made  to  repeat  his 
confession  in  public  and  conveyed  on  horseback  through  the  streets,  one 
day  to  the  Tower  and  another  day  to  Westminster.  His  life  was  spared 
for  two  years  longer. 

His  dismissal  from  Scotland,  though  certainly  not  a  concession  to 
English  demands,  is  commonly  considered  to  have  cleared  the  way  for  a 
peace  between  the  kingdoms.    And  no  doubt  it  did  so,  but  not  at  once. 


1488-97] 


Scotland  and  Ireland 


471 


Owing  to  the  Cornish  rebellion  James  had  for  a  time  escaped  retribution 
for  his  infraction  of  the  truce  in  the  preceding  year ;  and,  just  after 
sending  Warbeck  away,  he  proceeded  to  besiege  Norham  Castle  on  the 
Tweed.  The  Earl  of  Surrey,  however,  whom  Henry  had  some  years 
before  appointed  lieutenant  of  the  North,  hastened  to  its  relief,  and 
James  was  obliged  to  retire.  Surrey  then  advanced  into  the  Borders, 
destroyed  some  fortresses  and  took  the  castle  of  Ay  ton,  where  (September 
30, 1497)  by  the  mediation  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador,  Pedro  de  Ayala, 
another  seven  years'  truce  was  arranged  between  the  two  countries,  with 
a  stipulation,  to  which  both  kings  afterwards  agreed,  that  matters  in 
dispute  between  them  should  be  referred  to  Spanish  arbitration.  Spain 
had  a  very  deep  interest  in  promoting  friendly  relations  between 
England  and  Scotland,  in  order  that  the  former  country  might  still 
be  a  check  upon  France ;  and  Ayala  was  a  most  efficient  instrument  in 
the  reconciliation.  Next  year,  an  unfortunate  incident  on  the  Borders 
threatened  for  a  moment  to  disturb  the  new  settlement.  Some  Scotch- 
men visiting  Norham  Castle  in  armour  created  suspicion.  Haughty 
words  led  to  blows,  and  the  Scots  fled.  The  English,  too,  killed  a 
number  of  Scots,  apparently  in  some  raid  which  followed.  But  both 
sovereigns  were  so  anxious  to  preserve  the  peace  that  the  matter  was 
satisfactorily  arranged  by  Bishop  Fox,  who  was  sent  to  James  at 
Melrose,  and  who  there  apparently  concluded  with  him  a  long-talked-of 
project  for  his  marriage  with  Henry's  daughter  Margaret. 

Henry  had  now  seemingly  surmounted  his  most  serious  difficulties ; 
but  there  were  still  troubles  in  store  for  him.  Before  relating  these, 
however,  something  must  be  said  of  his  remarkable  success  in  the 
pacification  of  Ireland.  How,  it  will  be  asked,  had  that  country, 
after  supporting  Lambert  Simnel  with  such  strange  enthusiasm  and 
unanimity  in  1487,  become  so  loyal  ten  years  later  that  hardly  the 
slightest  Irish  encouragement  was  then  afforded  to  Perkin  Warbeck  ? 
This  result  was  certainly  due  to  a  patience  and  sagacity  on  the  King's 
part,  characteristic  of  that  "  politic  governance  "  for  which  he  bore  so 
high  a  name  among  princes.  Even  after  the  victory  of  Stoke  he  could 
not  afford  to  punish  Simnel's  adherents  in  Ireland,  who  were  virtually 
the  whole  Irish  people.  In  1488,  the  year  after  Simnel's  coronation,  he 
sent  Sir  Richard  Edgecombe  to  Ireland,  to  receive  the  submissions  of 
Kildare  and  the  other  Irish  lords,  and  administer  oaths  of  allegiance ; 
and  it  required  great  adroitness  in  the  envoy  to  succeed  in  such  a 
mission.  They  took  the  oath,  however,  and  Kildare  was  continued  as 
Lord  Deputy.  But  new  Yorkist  plots  were  brewing  in  England,  and, 
in  order  to  be  safe  as  regards  Ireland,  Henry  desired  to  win  Kildare 
over  to  a  personal  interview  with  him.  He  sent  him  a  private  message 
promising  great  favours  if  he  would  come,  with  a  renewal  of  the  dignity 
of  Lord  Deputy  for  ten  years;  and  he  also  wrote  to  him  on  July 
28,  1490,  expressly  desiring  his  presence  within  ten  months.    But  all 


472 


The  Poynings  Acts 


[1492-9 


this  was  nothing  to  Kildare.  He  allowed  the  time  granted  him  to  expire, 
and  then  not  only  wrote  himself,  but  induced  a  number  of  the  Irish 
lords  to  write  in  his  excuse  to  the  King,  that  his  continued  presence  in 
Ireland  at  that  time  was  absolutely  indispensable.  The  King,  however^ 
they  declared,  might  rest  assured  of  the  Earl's  complete  loyalty. 

Henry  could  not  well  have  remained  satisfied  with  this  assurance. 
Next  year  Kildare  and  his  cousin  Desmond  encouraged  Perkin  Warbeck ; 
and  in  1492  the  King  made  a  complete  change  in  the  government  of 
Ireland,  appointing  Walter  Fitzsimmons,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  as  Lord 
Deputy  in  Kildare's  place.  Some  Irish  feuds  broke  out,  and  there  was 
fighting  in  the  streets  of  Dublin ;  but  at  last  in  1493  Kildare  was  in- 
duced by  a  promise  of  pardon  to  go  over  and  seek  the  King's  presence. 
He  and  some  Irish  lords  who  went  with  him  were  invited  by  the  King  to 
a  feast,  at  which  Simnel  served  them  with  wine ;  and  witnessing  the 
shame  on  each  of  their  faces  when  they  saw  their  cupbearer,  Henry 
remarked  sarcastically,  "  My  masters,  you  will  crown  apes  some  day ! " 
Kildare  received  his  pardon  on  June  22,  but  was  not  restored  to  his 
old  office.  After  some  other  changes  the  King  (September  11,  1494) 
appointed  his  second  son  Henry  as  Lord  Lieutenant  (a  mere  honorary 
title),  with  Sir  Edward  Poynings  as  his  Deputy.  Poynings  was  a  good 
soldier  but  found  desultory  warfare  with  Irish  chieftains  unsatisfactory, 
and  tried  to  secure  their  loyalty  by  money  payments.  He  then  opened 
at  Drogheda,  on  December  1,  1494,  the  Parliament  which  passed  the 
celebrated  Acts  called  by  his  name,  whereby  for  the  next  three  centuries 
all  legislation  submitted  to  the  Irish  Parliament  required  first  to  be 
approved  by  the  English  Council.  Other  enactments  in  this  Parliament 
were  conceived  in  the  same  spirit  as  laws  passed  in  England,  to  put 
down  armed  retinues  and  the  war-cries  of  hostile  factions.  But  having 
established  a  new  system  of  government,  Poynings  was  recalled  in 
January,  1496 ;  and  on  August  6  following  Kildare,  who  had  curiously 
regained  the  King's  confidence  by  his  frankness,  was  reinstated  as 
Deputy.  From  that  day  he  held  the  office  till  his  death  and  was 
faithful  both  to  Henry  and  to  his  son.  The  King  seems  to  have  believed 
from  the  first  that  nothing  but  a  little  personal  intercourse  with  him 
was  required  to  make  him  a  loyal  subject;  and  he  was  right  in  the 
belief. 

Warbeck's  imposture  being  now  at  an  end,  the  King  did  not  at  first 
care  to  keep  him  in  very  close  confinement.  But  on  June  9,  1498  (the 
year  after  his  capture),  he  created  some  alarm  by  escaping  at  night  from 
the  King's  Court,  where  he  had  been  only  watched  by  keepers.  He  got 
no  further,  however,  than  Sheen,  where  he  again  took  sanctuary  and  pre- 
vailed upon  the  prior  to  intercede  for  him.  He  was  placed  in  the  stocks 
for  several  hours,  one  day  at  Westminster  and  another  day  in  Cheapside ; 
after  which  he  was  shut  up  in  the  Tower,  where  he  remained  the  greater 
part  of  next  year.    But  meanwhile  the  King  had  been  disquieted  by  a 


1496-1501] 


Peace  and  marriages 


473 


new  impostor,  a  young  man  named  Ralph  Wilf ord,  who  suddenly  appeared 
in  Kent,  first  telling  people  privately  that  he  was  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
just  escaped  from  the  Tower ;  while  one  Friar  Patrick,  by  whom  he  was 
accompanied,  confirmed  the  story  and  at  last  declared  it  from  the  pulpits 
Both  the  young  man  and  the  friar  were  soon  apprehended,  and  the 
former  was  hanged  on  Shrove  Tuesday  (February  12,  1499).  A  few 
weeks  later  it  was  observed,  that  Henry  seemed  to  have  grown  twenty 
years  older,  and  was  spending  much  time  in  religious  observances,  while 
also  accumulating  money,  of  which  he  had  an  unequalled  store.  That 
he  was  brooding  over  danger  to  himself  is  hardly  doubtful. 

Later  in  the  year  Warbeck  managed  to  corrupt  some  of  his  keepers, 
with  whom  he  formed  a  conspiracy  to  kill  Sir  John  Digby,  the  Lieutenant 
of  the  Tower,  and  liberate  himself  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who, 
having  been  a  prisoner  from  boyhood  and  knowing  nothing  of  the 
world,  gave  too  easy  an  assent  to  the  project.  Warbeck  was  tried  and 
hanged  at  Tyburn  in  November  with  his  old  associate,  John  a  Water, 
Mayor  of  Cork.  The  Earl  of  Warwick  was  arraigned  at  Westminster 
before  the  Earl  of  Oxford  as  Constable  of  England,  confessed  the 
indictment  in  his  simplicity,  and  was  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill. 

Warwick's  confinement  had  been  all  along  justified  only  by  the 
danger  of  leaving  him  at  liberty ;  but  his  execution  was  felt  to  be 
nothing  less  than  a  judicial  murder.  One  thing,  however,  was  made 
clear  to  Yorkist  intriguers ;  neither  counterfeit  Warwicks  nor  any  other 
counterfeits  would  avail  them  now.  If  they  took  further  action,  it  must 
be  in  their  own  names. 

The  year  1500  was  a  year  of  Jubilee  at  Rome,  and  in  England  a 
period  of  domestic  peace  seemed  to  have  begun.  Henry  was  much 
stronger  now  in  his  relations  with  foreign  princes.  The  stoppage  of 
trade  with  the  Netherlands,  owing  to  the  support  given  to  Warbeck 
there  in  1493,  had  been  long  since  ended.  From  the  first  it  had  been 
found  intolerable,  especially  on  the  other  side  of  the  Channel,  and 
on  February  24,  1496,  a  commercial  treaty  was  concluded  in  London 
between  the  two  countries.  This  did  not,  indeed,  prove  a  complete 
settlement,  and  was  followed  by  further  treaties  in  July  1497  and  May 
1499 ;  but  a  better  understanding  was  growing  up,  and  in  1498  the 
English  merchants  returned  to  Antwerp,  where  they  were  received  with 
a  general  procession.  On  May  8,  1500,  Henry  YII  with  his  Queen 
crossed  to  Calais,  where  they  remained  till  June  16.  On  June  9 
they  had  a  meeting  with  Archduke  Philip,  in  which  most  cordial 
relations  were  established  and  marriages  proposed  between  the  two 
families,  which,  however,  did  not  take  effect. 

This  meeting  seems  to  have  quickened  the  anxiety  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabel  of  Spain  at  length  to  give  effect  to  the  long-talked-of  match  of 
their  daughter  Katharine,  which  they  had  repeatedly  delayed  till  they 
should  be  convinced  of  the  stability  of  Henry's  throne.   She  was  sent  to 


474 


The  Earl  of  Suffolk's  flight 


[1499-1503 


England  in  1501,  landed  at  Plymouth  on  October  2,  and  after  travel- 
ling slowly  up  to  London  entered  the  city  on  November  12.  She  was 
received  with  a  vast  amount  of  pageantry  and  scenic  displays,  and  the 
marriage  took  place  at  St  Paul's  on  Sunday  the  fourteenth.  Amid  the 
rejoicings  which  followed,  came  ambassadors  from  Scotland  to  negotiate 
another  marriage,  that,  namely,  of  James  IV  with  Margaret,  the  treaty 
for  which  was  concluded  on  January  24,  1502.  Next  day  the  marriage 
was  celebrated  by  proxy  at  Richmond.  But  on  April  2  following,  to 
the  inexpressible  grief  of  Henry  and  his  Queen,  Prince  Arthur  died  at 
Ludlow ;  and  next  year  (1503)  on  February  11,  died  his  mother  the 
Queen,  leaving  Henry  a  widower.  In  the  following  summer  he  con- 
ducted his  daughter  as  far  as  Northamptonshire  on  her  way  to  Scotland, 
and  she  was  married  to  James  at  Edinburgh  on  August  8. 

Meanwhile  a  new  danger  for  Henry  had  sprung  up.  Edmund  de  la 
Pole,  the  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  who  had  supported  Simnel,  had 
succeeded  on  his  father's  death  to  the  dukedom  of  Suffolk ;  but,  as  the 
family  estate  had  suffered  seriously  from  his  brother's  attainder,  he 
arranged  with  the  King,  on  the  restoration  of  a  part  of  the  property,  to 
bear  the  title  of  "  Earl  of  Suffolk "  only.  In  1498  he  killed  a  man 
in  a  passion,  but  after  being  indicted  received  the  King's  pardon.  In 
the  summer  of  1499  he  escaped  over  sea  to  Calais,  and  was  going  on 
to  the  Court  of  Margaret  of  Burgundy  in  Flanders,  when  ambassadors 
on  their  way  from  Henry  VII  to  the  Archduke  Philip  persuaded 
him  to  return.  He  was  with  the  King  at  his  meeting  with  Philip  in 
1500.  But  in  August,  1501,  he  escaped  abroad  again,  together  with 
his  younger  brother  Richard,  relying  on  a  promise  which  Maximilian, 
King  of  the  Romans,  had  made  to  Sir  Robert  Curzon,  that  he  would  help 
him  to  obtain  the  Crown  of  England.  Sir  Robert  had  been  captain  of 
Hammes  Castle,  but  had  a  desire  to  go  and  fight  for  Maximilian  against 
the  Turks ;  and  he  obtained  leave  of  the  King  to  give  up  his  post  for 
that  purpose  on  August  29,  1499.  This  date  must  have  been  just 
after  Suffolk's  first  flight,  and  there  is  reason  to  suspect  that  leave  to 
give  up  his  post  was  granted  to  him  on  an  understanding  that  he  would 
act  as  a  spy  on  Suffolk  for  the  King,  and  ascertain  whether  the  factious 
Duchess  Margaret  was  disposed  to  encourage  him  as  she  had  encouraged 
Simnel  and  Warbeck  in  Flanders.  In  fact,  he  simulated  flight  like  one 
out  of  favour  with  his  King.  But  the  Duchess  Margaret  had  already  been 
obliged  to  apologise  for  the  countenance  she  had  given  to  Warbeck,  and 
it  does  not  appear  that  she  was  prepared  to  encourage  Suffolk.  At  all 
events,  it  was  by  convincing  the  Earl  that  he  would  receive  no  support 
from  foreign  princes,  either  from  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Scotland,  or 
even  from  Philip  (who  was  no  less  an  ally  of  Henry  than  were  the 
others),  that  the  King's  ambassadors  persuaded  him  to  return.  This, 
however,  was  just  before  the  judicial  murder  of  Warwick,  —  an  act 
which  aroused  a  good  deal  of  resentment  in  England;  and  Curzon, 


1499-1505]        The  Earl  of  Suff'olk's  troubles 


475 


when  he  reached  the  Court  of  Maximilian,  gave  expression  to  the 
general  feeling  about  the  "  murders  and  tyrannies "  of  the  King  of 
England.  And  it  was  then  that  Maximilian  declared  himself  willing 
to  help  Suffolk  to  obtain  the  Crown. 

The  Earl  reached  Maximilian  in  the  Tyrol,  and  was  most  kindly 
received ;  but  he  was  put  off  with  repeated  excuses  on  account  of  the 
amity  between  England  and  Maximilian's  son,  Philip.  He  was  sent 
to  Aachen  for  aid,  and  various  schemes  fell  through.  Maximilian,  in 
truth,  since  the  day  he  promised  to  help  him,  had  been  drawn  by  over- 
tures from  Henry,  and,  though  he  still  had  the  will  to  some  extent,  his 
means  were  not  equal  to  his  will.  Meanwhile  several  friends  of  Suf- 
folk in  England  were  imprisoned,  and  the  Earl  himself  along  with  Cur- 
zon  and  other  fugitives  abroad  were  denounced  as  traitors  at  Paul's 
Cross  (November  7,  1501)  and  excommunicated  on  the  strength  of  a 
papal  bull.  Suffolk  ran  into  debt  at  Aachen  even  for  the  necessaries  of 
life,  while  of  course  all  his  property  in  England  was  confiscated.  But 
on  June  20,  1502,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Antwerp  between  Henry  and 
Maximilian,  in  which  the  latter  was  promised  X  10,000  for  his  war  against 
the  Turks,  on  condition  that  he  would  not  harbour  any  English  rebels, 
even  of  ducal  dignity  (to  which  Suffolk  still  laid  claim)  ;  and  the  money 
was  paid  to  him  at  Augsburg  on  July  28,  the  day  on  which  he  confirmed 
the  treaty.  Aachen,  however,  was  a  free  city  of  the  Empire  and  Maxi- 
milian was  slow  to  fulfil  his  pledges  and  procure  Suffolk's  banishment. 

And  now,  notwithstanding  Henry's  treaties  with  foreign  princes,  some 
would  have  been  glad  to  get  Suffolk  into  their  hands,  in  order  to  use  him 
like  Warbeck  as  a  check  upon  England.  Spain  demanded  his  surrender 
from  the  city  of  Aachen  under  the  specious  guise  of  friendship  to  Henry, 
but  was  refused.  In  the  spring  of  1504,  however,  the  Earl  had  hopes 
of  assistance  from  Duke  George  of  Saxony,  hereditary  governor  of  Fries- 
land,  who  apparently  desired  to  get  him  into  his  hands  only  as  a  means 
of  bargaining  for  Henry's  assistance  against  the  town  of  Groningen, 
which  still  withstood  his  authority.  The  Earl  obtained  a  passport  from 
the  Duke  of  Gelders  to  enable  him  to  pass  through  his  country  to 
Friesland,  and  was  permitted  to  depart  from  Aachen  ^saving  his 
brother  Richard  as  a  hostage  to  his  creditors  for  payment  of  his  debts. 
But  notwithstanding  his  safe-conduct  the  Duke  of  Gelders  caused  him 
to  be  taken  and  confined  at  Hattem.  So  the  Duke  of  Saxony  was  foiled 
of  his  prize,  and  it  was  feared  that  the  Duke  of  Gelders  would  make 
use  of  him  in  the  same  way,  to  bid  for  Henry's  assistance  in  his  quar- 
rels with  his  neighbour  the  Archduke  Philip,  who  since  the  death  of 
Queen  Isabel  in  November,  1504,  was  called  King  of  Castile  in  right  of 
his  wife  Juana.  Gelders,  however,  appears  to  have  got  nothing  out 
of  Henry,  when  in  July,  1505,  King  Philip's  forces  captured  Zutphen 
and  Hattem.  Suffolk  thus  had  a  new  custodian ;  but,  peace  being 
immediately  made  between  Philip  and  Gelders,  the  former  did  not  like 


476 


New  marriage  'projects 


[1502-6 


to  retain  the  fugitive  in  the  teeth  of  his  treaties  with  Henry,  who  was  at 
that  very  time  advancing  money  to  him  for  his  prospective  voyage  to 
Spain.  He  accordingly  sent  Suffolk  back  to  Wageningen,  where  he  was 
again  in  the  Duke  of  Gelders'  hands.  Suffolk  tried  to  escape,  and 
then  implored  Philip  to  reclaim  him;  which  apparently  Philip  did 
indirectly  after  receiving  the  last  instalment  of  Henry's  loan ;  where- 
upon Suffolk,  coming  into  his  hands  again,  was  shut  up  in  the  castle  of 
Namur. 

But  early  in  1506,  Philip  and  his  Queen  Juana,  having  set  sail  for 
Spain,  were  driven  by  tempest  on  the  coast  of  England.  Henry  at  once 
saw  his  advantage,  hospitably  received  them  at  his  Court,  and  wrung 
from  Philip  not  only  the  surrender  of  the  unhappy  Suffolk  (whose  life 
he  promised  to  spare)  but  a  very  important  commercial  treaty  with 
Flanders,  which  settled  some  long-standing  tariff  disputes  in  a  way  that 
the  Flemings  continually  resented  afterwards  as  unjust  and  onesided. 

Meanwhile  the  deaths  of  Prince  Arthur  and  the  Queen  had  given 
rise  to  new  marriage  projects.  As  soon  as  the  former  event  was  known 
to  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  they  sent  a  special  ambassador  to  England 
empowered  to  demand  repayment  of  the  first  instalment  (all  that  was 
yet  paid)  of  Katharine's  dower,  and  that  Katharine  herself  should  be 
sent  back  to  Spain,  or,  if  Henry  preferred  it,  to  conclude  a  new  marriage 
for  her  with  his  second  son  Henry,  soon  afterwards  created  Prince  of 
Wales.  This  last  was  clearly  their  aim,  and  as  early  as  September  24, 
1502,  a  draft  treaty  for  the  new  marriage  was  drawn  up  in  England ; 
but  it  was  not  concluded  till  June  23,  1503.  Application  was  made 
to  Rome  for  a  dispensation,  both  by  Spain  and  by  England;  but  its 
issue  was  delayed  first  by  the  deaths  of  two  Popes  within  one  year, 
and  then  by  the  necessity  of  special  enquiry  into  the  case.  A  brief, 
ante-dated  December  26,  1503,  was  at  length  sent  to  Spain  for  the  satis- 
faction of  Queen  Isabel  on  her  death-bed ;  and  a  bull,  almost  verbally 
the  same,  was  afterwards  issued  with  the  same  date.  But,  owing  to 
continual  disputes  between  Henry  VII  and  Ferdinand,  the  marriage 
did  not  take  place  during  the  life  of  the  former  King. 

The  fact  that  Katharine  remained  in  England  gave  Henry  a  great 
advantage  over  Ferdinand  in  these  diplomatic  squabbles.  When  Henry 
found  himself  a  widower  in  1503,  a  shameful  suggestion  was  brought 
forward  that  he  might  himself  marry  her  instead  of  his  son.  It  was 
probably  meant  only  to  alarm  the  Spanish  Court,  and  Isabel  tried  to 
meet  it  by  offering  him  as  a  bride  her  niece,  Juana  Queen  of  Naples, 
the  younger  of  two  dowager  princesses  who  bore  the  same  title  and 
lived  together  at  Valencia.  After  some  time  Henry  asked  for  this 
lady's  portrait,  and  when,  on  Isabel's  death,  he  sent  three  gentlemen  to 
Spain  to  ascertain  what  hold  Ferdinand  still  had  upon  Castile,  he 
commissioned  them  also  to  visit  the  princess  and  to  report,  rather  too 
minutely,  on  her  personal  qualities.    Offers  were  further  held  out  to 


1506-9] 


Death  of  Henry  VII 


477 


him  of  a  French  match,  either  for  his  son  or  for  himself ;  and  Maxi- 
milian and  Philip  encouraged  him  to  look  for  the  hand  of  Maximilian's 
daughter,  Margaret  of  Savoy.  When  Philip  went  to  Spain,  Margaret 
was  left  as  Regent  of  the  Netherlands,  and  since  his  marriage  with  her 
would  have  given  Henry  the  government  of  that  country,  this  scheme 
was  more  than  once  the  subject  of  negotiations ;  but  she  could  not 
herself  be  induced  to  agree  to  it.  A  more  repulsive  match  was  for 
some  time  talked  about,  owing  to  Philip's  early  death  (September  25, 
1506),  namely  with  his  widow,  the  mad  Queen  Juana  of  Castile ;  which 
Henry  could  only  have  contemplated  as  a  means  of  obtaining  the 
control  of  her  kingdom.  But  another  project  was  afterwards  set  on 
foot,  which  tended  the  same  way,  and  excited  the  most  serious  jealousy 
in  Ferdinand.  As  Philip's  son  Charles,  heir  alike  to  the  lands  of  the 
House  of  Austria,  the  dukedom  of  Burgundy  and  the  throne  of  Castile, 
was  but  a  child  under  tutelage  of  his  grandfather  Maximilian,  Henry 
won  the  Emperor  over  to  an  alliance;  and  a  treaty  was  concluded 
at  Calais,  December  21,  1507,  for  the  marriage  of  Prince  Charles  to  the 
King's  second  daughter,  Mary.  Bonds  were  taken  from  various  princes 
and  towns  in  the  Netherlands  for  the  fulfilment  of  this  treaty  when 
the  prince  should  come  of  age ;  and,  on  December  17, 1508,  the  Sieur  de 
Bergues,  who  came  over  at  the  head  of  a  distinguished  embassy,  married 
the  Princess  by  proxy.  On  the  21st  a  rich  jewel  of  the  Emperor,  called 
the  fleur-de-lis^  was  given  in  pawn  to  Henry  for  50,000  crowns  of  gold. 

King  Henry,  who  had  been  subject  for  some  time  to  attacks  of 
gout,  died  on  April  21,  1509,  He  had  made  his  will  on  March  30, 
leaving  large  bequests  for  masses  and  charitable  objects,  with  strict 
injunctions  to  his  executors  to  make  restitution  for  wrongs  done  in 
answer  to  all  complaints.  He  was  buried,  according  to  his  direction, 
in  the  gorgeous  chapel  he  had  himself  built  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
During  his  life  he  had  amassed,  it  was  said,  as  much  gold  as  all  other 
Kings  in  Christendom  put  together.  A  more  distinct  and  apparently 
well-founded  statement  is  that  at  his  death  he  left  in  bullion  four  and 
a  half  millions,  besides  abundance  of  plate  and  jewels.  Doubtless  he 
had  studied  to  keep  a  large  reserve  for  his  own  security,  and  he  made 
rebellions  pay  their  own  expenses  in  fines.  But  he  had  permitted 
agents,  of  whom  the  most  notorious  were  Sir  Richard  Empson  and 
Edmund  Dudley,  further  to  fill  his  exchequer  by  extortions,  founded 
generally  on  antiquated  processes  of  law,  for  which  at  the  last  he 
expressed  remorse.  The  two  great  ministers,  Cardinal  Morton  and 
Sir  Reginald  Bray,  who  had  paved  his  way  to  the  throne,  had  died 
long  before  him.  They  had  no  doubt  given  much  judicious  counsel 
during  the  anxieties  of  the  first  part  of  his  reign.  But  in  his  latter 
years  he  was  strong  both  at  home  and  abroad,  Ms  friendship  being 
sought  after  by  all  European  princes. 


i 


478 


Accession  of  Henry  VIII 


[1509 


II 

Henry  VIII 
(1509-19) 

It  was  a  new  world  altogether  when  Henry  VIII,  in  his  eighteenth 
year,  succeeded  his  father  upon  the  throne.  With  a  full  exchequer  and 
an  undisputed  title,  the  young  King  was  at  the  commencement  of  his 
reign  liberal  and  generous ;  and  being  handsome  in  person,  highly 
accomplished  and  fond  of  manly  exercises,  he  was  abundantly  popular. 
The  old  King  just  before  his  death  had  desired  to  atone  for  past 
severities,  and  had  issued  a  general  pardon,  which  his  successor  at  once 
renewed,  excepting  from  it,  however,  among  others,  those  instruments  of 
extortion,  Empson  and  Dudley,  who  were  arrested  the  very  day  after 
his  accession.  By  his  father's  dying  advice,  moreover,  the  unfriendly 
policy  towards  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  was  dropped  at  once,  and  the  King 
married  Katharine  on  June  11.  He  was  crowned  with  her  on  the  28th 
at  Westminster. 

Dudley  was  found  guilty  of  constructive  treason  at  the  Guildhall  of 
London  on  July  18,  1509,  and  Empson  at  Northampton  on  August  8. 
The  treason  in  both  cases  consisted  in  their  having  written  to  friends  to 
come  up  to  London  armed,  in  anticipation  of  the  old  King's  death,  to 
help  them  to  maintain  their  influence.  Both  Empson  and  Dudley 
were  attainted  in  the  Parliament  which  met  in  January,  1510,  and 
both  were  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill  on  August  17  following.  The 
bonds  which  they  had  wrung  from  many  on  various  legal  pretexts  were 
one  by  one  brought  into  Chancery,  and  cancelled.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  Dudley  during  his  imprisonment  composed  a  treatise  called  The 
Tree  of  Common  Wealthy  in  which  he  pointed  out  the  chief  dangers  of 
the  time,  including  that  of  the  cruel  administration  of  penal  laws,  in 
which  he  himself  had  taken  so  much  part. 

The  first  two  years  of  the  King's  reign  were  peaceful  and  happy. 
There  were  no  events  to  chronicle  but  Court  pageants  and  tournaments, 
Christmas  revels  and  May  games;  and  when,  on  January  1,  1511, 
Katharine  bore  to  the  King  a  son  named  Henry,  a  new  stimulus  was  given 
to  these  displays.  But,  though  a  household  was  appointed  for  the  royal 
infant,  he  died  on  February  22.  That  same  month  the  King  received 
a  request  from  his  father-in-law,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon,  for  the  aid  of 
fifteen  hundred  archers  to  make  war  on  the  Moors  of  Barbary.  The  men 
were  easily  found,  and  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Lord  Darcy. 
But  the  expedition  was  unfortunate ;  for  they  had  scarcely  landed  at 
Cadiz  when  they  found  that  Ferdinand,  pressed  by  France,  had  been 


1511-12]       Early  years  of  Henry  VIIPs  reign 


479 


obliged  to  make  a  truce  with  the  Moors,  and  their  services  were  not 
required.  The  men,  too,  were  ill-disciplined,  became  intoxicated  with 
Spanish  wines,  had  f ra^^s  with  the  natives,  and  returned  home  in  ill- 
humour.  Another  expedition  of  fifteen  hundred  archers  sent  under  the 
command  of  Sir  Edward  Poynings  to  the  assistance  of  Margaret  of  Savoy 
and  the  Burgundians  against  Gelders  was  at  first  more  satisfactory  ;  for 
with  their  aid  some  places  were  captured  and  destroyed  (August).  But 
when,  after  these  successes,  siege  was  laid  to  Venloo  and  had  continued 
twenty-nine  days,  Poynings  began  to  feel  that  their  allies  were  making 
undue  use  of  the  detachment,  and  it  obtained  leave  to  return  home. 
Hereupon,  the  river  being  swollen  by  heavy  rains,  the  Burgundians 
raised  the  siege  and  retired  for  the  winter,  wasting  the  country  round 
about. 

Shortly  before  this  began  a  misunderstanding  with  James  IV  of 
Scotland,  on  account  of  acts  of  piracy  stated  to  have  been  committed 
by  his  sea  captain,  Andrew  Barton.  The  King  sent  out  against  him 
Lord  Thomas  Howard,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  with  his 
younger  brother  Edward,  soon  afterwards  knighted  and  created  Lord 
Admiral.  In  the  Downs,  Lord  Thomas  overtook  Andrew  Barton,  who 
after  a  fierce  fight  fell  into  his  hands,  mortally  wounded,  his  ship  the 
Lion  being  captured  with  her  crew  by  the  Englishmen,  who  after  a 
further  chase  also  took  the  bark  Jenny  Pinvyn^  the  Lion's  consort,  and 
brought  them  both  to  Blackwall  on  August  2.  The  Scotch  prisoners 
appealed  to  the  King  for  mercy,  confessing  their  offence  to  be  piracy, 
and  were  sent  out  of  the  country ;  but  James  was  exceedingly  angry, 
and  demanded  redress  for  Barton's  death  and  the  capture  of  his  two 
ships. 

In  this  year  (1511)  King  Henry  VIII  was  also  first  drawn  into 
continental  politics.  In  1508  the  leading  Powers  on  the  Continent  had 
combined  against  Venice  in  the  League  of  Cambray  ;  but  France,  the 
prime  mover  in  the  game,  very  soon  alarmed  her  confederates,  and 
especially  Pope  Julius  II,  by  her  successes  in  Northern  Italy.  Pope 
Julius  thereupon  made  friends  with  the  Seigniory,  and  in  April,  1510, 
sent  a  golden  rose  to  Henry  VIH.  The  surrender  of  Bologna  to  the 
French  in  May,  1511,  and  the  attempt,  in  which  Louis  XH  secured 
the  concurrence  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  to  set  up  a  Council  at 
Pisa  enraged  the  Pope  still  more,  and  drew  other  princes  to  his  aid. 
The  Holy  League  was  proclaimed  at  Rome  on  October  4  between  the 
Pope  and  Ferdinand  of  Aragon ;  and  Henry  joined  it  on  November  13, 
promising  to  make  active  war  against  France  in  the  following  spring. 
The  recovery  of  Guyenne,  which  had  now  been  lost  to  England  for 
sixty  years,  was  the  reward  held  out  to  him  by  the  treaty.  Accordingly 
in  May,  1512,  while  the  French  seemed  still  to  be  making  head  in 
Italy,  having  on  Easter  Sunday  cut  to  pieces  the  papal  and  Spanish 
forces  at  Ravenna,  an  expedition  was  despatched  to  Spain  under  the 


480 


Sir  Edward  Howard'' s  exploits  [1512-13 


Marquis  of  Dorset  for  the  invasion  of  Guyenne,  in  the  hope  of  its 
being  supported  by  Spanish  troops.  It  landed  in  Biscay  on  June  7  ; 
but  it  was  even  more  unfortunate  than  Lord  Darcy's  expedition.  No 
preparation  had  been  made  in  Spain  for  its  reception,  not  even  by  way 
of  supplying  the  soldiers  with  victuals,  or  with  carriage  for  their 
ordnance.  They  were  exposed  to  the  weather,  and  the  diet  and  wines 
of  Spain  disagreed  with  their  English  habits  of  body.  Moreover,  while 
hundreds  died  of  diarrhoea,  the  force  was  kept  idle  for  months,  expecting 
the  Duke  of  Alva  to  join  it.  But  Alva  was  engaged  on  Ferdinand's 
work  in  the  conquest  of  Navarre,  in  which  he  succeeded  perfectly  ;  and 
the  only  effect  of  the  English  expedition  was  to  hamper  the  French  in 
Italy,  where  they  soon  completely  lost  their  footing.  Dorset's  troops 
at  last  mutinied,  and  at  a  council  of  war  on  August  28  resolved  to 
return  home  without  leave,  —  in  fact,  against  orders.  The  King  was 
very  indignant,  but  was  unable  to  punish  where  so  many  were  in  fault. 

It  had  been  arranged  that,  while  Dorset  sought  to  recover  Guyenne, 
English  ships  were  to  keep  the  Channel  as  far  as  Brest,  and  the 
Spaniards  the  sea  thence  to  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  Sir  Edward  Howard 
was  appointed  Admiral  of  the  English  fleet  on  April  7,  and  after 
cruising  about  the  Channel  and  chasing  French  fishing-boats  he  accom- 
panied Dorset's  fleet  as  far  as  Brest.  He  then  landed  on  the  Breton 
coast,  burning  towns  and  villages  ruthlessly  over  a  circuit  of  thirty 
miles,  and  returned  home.  But  the  Spanish  fleet  did  not  come  to  join 
the  English  till  September,  when  it  was  really  useless ;  and  French  ships 
were  meanwhile  got  ready  both  in  Normandy  and  Britanny,  and  placed 
under  the  command  of  the  redoubted  Pr^gent  de  Bidoux,  summoned 
hastily  from  the  Mediterranean.  Thus  by  August,  when  another 
expedition  sailed  from  England  for  Brest  harbour,  the  French  had 
a  pretty  fair  squadron  there,  and  on  the  10th  a  fierce  action  took  place 
between  the  two  fleets.  The  Regent^  the  largest  vessel  on  the  English 
side,  grappled  with  her  chief  opponent  the  Cordeliere  (called  by  the 
English  the  Great  Carrack  of  Brest),  till  by  some  means  both  vessels 
took  fire,  and  were  totally  consumed,  with  the  loss  of  nearly  all  their 
crews.  Sir  Thomas  Knyvet,  commander  of  the  Regent^  was  among  the 
victims.  The  King  at  once  determined  to  repair  the  loss  of  the  Regent 
by  building  a  still  larger  ship  called  the  Henry  G-race  de  Dieu,  or  The 
Great  Harry,"  which  was  launched  two  years  later. 

In  April,  1513,  Sir  Edward  Howard  again  sailed  to  the  entrance  of 
Brest  harbour,  intent  on  avenging  Knyvet's  fate.  He  found  drawn 
up  in  shallow  water  a  line  of  French  galleys,  which  rained  shot  and 
square  bolts  upon  him  from  guns  and  crossbows.  Putting  himself  in  a 
row-barge  he  faced  this  tremendous  fire  and  boarded  Prdgent's  galley, 
while  his  men  cast  the  anchor  on  to  the  galley's  deck.  But  the  cable 
was  either  let  slip  or  cut  by  the  French ;  and  Sir  Edward,  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  was  thrust  overboard  and  perished.    The  attack 


1513] 


Invasion  of  France 


481 


was  foolhardy;  but  Howard's  gallantry  retrieved  the  honour  of  the 
English  nation. 

For  several  months  preparations  had  been  in  progress  for  an  invasion 
of  France  by  the  King  in  person.  It  may  have  been  in  order  to  prevent 
any  possible  conspiracy  at  home  that  the  unhappy  Earl  of  Suffolk,  whose 
brother  Richard  de  la  Pole  was  now  in  the  French  King's  service, 
was  beheaded  on  April  30,  notwithstanding  the  promise  given  by 
Henry  VII  that  his  life  should  be  spared.  The  first  portion  of  the 
invading  army  went  over  to  Calais  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  and 
the  King  himself  landed  there  on  June  30,  having  left  the  Queen 
behind  him  as  Regent  in  his  absence.  Siege  was  laid  to  the  fortified 
city  of  T^rouanne  on  June  22 ;  but  it  still  held  out  on  August  4, 
when  the  King  joined  the  besiegers.  On  the  11th  he  left  the  camp  and 
had  a  meeting  with  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  between  T^rouanne  and 
Aire,  in  very  foul  weather;  of  which,  indeed,  there  had  been  much 
already.  Next  day  the  Emperor  visited  the  trenches  and  returned  for 
a  time  to  Aire.  He  was  afterwards  content,  instead  of  joining  the  King 
under  his  own  banner,  to  serve  with  his  company  at  the  King's  wages 
under  the  banner  of  St  George ;  for  he  was  always  glad  of  money,  while 
his  great  military  experience  was  unquestionably  of  service  to  the  King. 
On  the  night  of  the  11th  Lyon  King  of  Arms  arrived  with  a  message 
from  James  IV,  setting  forth  various  complaints  against  England  and 
requiring  Henry  to  desist  from  the  invasion  of  a  country  which  was 
James'  ally.  To  this  an  appropriate  answer  was  next  day  returned 
by  Henry. 

On  the  16th  the  King  removed  his  camp  to  Guinegaste  in  order 
to  defeat  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  French,  who  were  mustering 
south  of  Terouanne,  at  victualling  the  place.  They  were  presently 
descried  and,  after  a  brief  encounter,  took  to  flight,  leaving  in  the 
hands  of  the  English  some  most  illustrious  prisoners,  among  whom  were 
the  Duke  of  Longueville  and  the  renowned  Chevalier  Bayard.  The 
engagement  received  the  name  of  "  the  Battle  of  the  Spurs  "  from  the 
speedy  flight  of  the  French.  A  week  later,  on  the  23rd,  Terouanne 
surrendered.  The  fortifications  which  had  made  it  so  formidable  were 
then  blown  up,  and  the  invading  army  passed  on  to  Tournay,  which 
likewise  surrendered  a  month  later,  on  September  23.  These  conquests 
were  not  valuable  to  England  unless  she  had  an  interest  in  Belgium ; 
but  Henry  looked  forward  to  the  marriage  of  his  sister  Mary  to  young 
Charles  of  Castile,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  arranged  in 
Henry  VII's  time.  The  city  of  Terouanne,  as  belonging  to  the  House 
of  Burgundy,  was  made  over  to  the  Emperor,  whose  soldiers  ruthlessly 
destroyed  it  by  fire.  On  the  way  to  Tournay  Henry  paid  a  visit  to 
Margaret  of  Savoy  at  Lille,  which  was  within  the  territory  of  Flanders ; 
and  after  the  capture  of  the  city  she  returned  the  visit,  bringing  with 
her  the  young  Prince,  then  in  his  fourteenth  year.    Yet  another  meeting 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


31 


482 


Battle  of  Flodden 


[1513 


was  held  at  Lille,  where  on  October  17  it  was  arranged  that  the  marriage 
should  take  place  at  Calais  in  the  following  year  in  presence  of  the 
Emperor,  Margaret  of  Savoy,  Henry  VIII,  and  Queen  Katharine. 
Provisions  were  also  made  for  the  defence  of  Artois  and  Hainault  in 
the  winter,  and  for  the  further  prosecution  of  the  War  next  year. 

The  ungracious  declaration  of  war  by  the  Scotch  King  had  not  been 
unexpected.  Notwithstanding  his  treaties  with  England  James  had 
formed  a  new  league  with  France  in  1512,  and  had  given  most  unsatis- 
factory answers  as  to  his  evident  preparations  for  war  to  the  English 
ambassador.  West,  Bishop  of  Ely.  Before  embarking  at  Dover,  Henry 
had  accordingly  conferred  the  command  of  the  North  upon  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Surrey,  who  conducted  the  Queen  back  to  London,  and  thence 
in  the  end  of  July  proceeded  to  his  charge.  Even  in  August  the  Scots 
made  a  raid  into  Northumberland  under  Hume,  the  Lord  Chamberlain 
of  Scotland,  in  which  they  came  off  so  badly  that  they  themselves  called 
it  "  the  111  Raid  "  ;  for  they  were  met  by  Sir  William  Bulmer  and  driven 
home  with  great  slaughter  and  the  loss  of  all  their  booty.  But  on  the 
22nd  James  himself  entered  Northumberland  with  as  large  an  army  as 
he  could  collect,  won  Norham  Castle  after  a  six  days'  siege,  and  razed 
it  to  the  ground ;  after  which  he  took  some  other  fortresses.  Hearing 
of  this  at  Durham,  Surrey  advanced  with  the  banner  of  St  Cuthbert 
to  Newcastle,  where  he  had  ordered  musters  from  all  the  Northern 
counties  to  be  held  on  September  1.  On  the  4th  he  despatched  a 
herald  to  the  King  of  Scots,  reproaching  him  with  his  bad  faith  and 
offering  to  give  him  battle  on  the  Friday  following  (September  9). 
James  awaited  his  attack  on  ground  very  well  chosen.  The  deep  river 
Till  lay  between  the  armies.  But  Surrey  bade  his  vanguard  with  the 
ordnance  cross  it  at  Twizel  bridge  near  its  junction  with  the  Tweed, 
while  the  rear  crossed  at  another  point,  threatening  to  cut  off  the  retreat 
of  the  Scotch  army.  Hereupon  the  Scots  made  an  onslaught  which 
for  a  time  was  successful ;  but  the  fortune  of  the  day  changed,  and  the 
invaders  were  disastrously  defeated.  The  King  and  the  flower  of  the 
Scottish  nobility  were  left  dead  upon  the  field  of  Flodden.  In  reward 
for  this  victory  Surrey  was  some  months  later  created  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
and  his  son  was  made  Earl  of  Surrey  in  his  own  right. 

The  success  of  the  English  arms  in  France  and  in  Scotland  produced 
important  results  both  abroad  and  at  home.  The  disgrace  which  had 
attended  Dorset's  expedition  to  Spain  was  now  more  than  wiped  out, 
and  it  was  clear  that,  even  as  a  military  Power,  England  had  to  be 
reckoned  with.  But  the  belief  still  generally  prevailed  that  she  was  an 
easy  dupe.  She  had  been  doing  the  work  of  Ferdinand  in  Spain ; 
in  France  she  had  been  winning  conquests  for  Maximilian  ;  and  by  more 
than  one  treaty  she  had  been  subsidising  that  needy  Emperor,  really  to 
keep  him  true  to  his  engagements  as  to  his  grandson's  marriage  with 
Mary.    Henry's  military  successes  compelled  scheming  politicians  to 


1513-14] 


Rise  of  Wolsey 


483 


change  their  tactics.  His  father-in-law,  Ferdinand,  did  not  relish  them 
at  all ;  for  he  had  already  made  secret  overtures  for  peace  to  France. 
Nor  had  he  ever  loved  the  project  of  an  English  princess  marrying 
Charles  of  Castile,  which  would  have  afforded  Henry  opportunities  for 
interference  in  Spain.  And  although  in  October,  1513,  his  ambassador 
at  Lille  made  a  treaty  with  the  Emperor  and  Henry  for  continuing  the 
War  against  France,  the  year  could  scarcely  have  run  out  before  he  had 
persuaded  Maximilian  to  join  him  in  coming  to  terras  with  the  enemy,  and 
leaving  England  in  the  lurch.  Thus  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year 
the  War  was  really  between  England  and  France  only;  and  Admiral 
Pr^gent  burned  the  small  fishing  village  of  Brighthelmstone  (Brighton), 
while  Wallop  committed  similar  havoc  on  the  coast  of  Normandy. 

Early  in  1513  Louis  XII  and  his  Queen,  Anne  of  Britanny,  had  in 
vain  attempted  to  break  up  the  confederacy  against  France  by  offering 
their  second  daughter  Ren^e  to  the  Prince  of  Castile,  with  the  duchy  of 
Britanny  as  her  dowry.  Anne  of  Britanny  died  in  January,  1514 ;  but 
Louis  renewed  the  offer,  and  appeared  to  meet  with  less  resistance. 
There  was,  indeed,  always  a  French  party  in  Flanders ;  and  though 
Margaret  of  Savoy  was  strongly  opposed  to  a  breach  of  faith  with 
England  in  this  matter,  she  was  overborne  by  her  father  Maximilian, 
who,  under  the  influence  of  Ferdinand,  invented  excuses  for  putting  off 
the  match  with  Mary,  which  plainly  proved  that  there  was  no  intention 
of  concluding  it. 

But  Henry  was  less  of  a  dupe  than  men  supposed.  He  had  one 
counsellor,  especially,  not  so  famous  yet  as  he  was  soon  to  become,  whose 
eye  was  keen  to  detect  false  dealing  and  treachery  abroad,  and  who  well 
knew  in  what  direction  to  look  for  a  remedy.  The  abilities  of  Thomas 
Wolsey  as  a  diplomatist  had  already  been  discovered  by  Henry  VII,  who 
made  him  his  Chaplain  and  also  Dean  of  Lincoln  ;  and  though  the 
new  King,  at  the  commencement  of  his  reign,  was  more  largely  under 
the  influence  of  others,  it  was  Wolsey  whose  energies  had  planned  and 
organised  the  naval  and  military  expeditions  of  the  last  three  years.  In 
fact  he  was  rapidly  becoming  in  most  matters  the  King's  sole  counsellor. 
He  accompanied  Henry  in  the  French  campaign  ;  and  after  the  capture 
of  Tournay  the  King  obtained  for  him  by  papal  bull  the  bishopric  of 
that  city,  the  see  being  newly  vacant,  though  another  bishop  had  been 
nominated  by  France.  In  February,  1514,  the  more  substantial  bishopric 
of  Lincoln  was  also  bestowed  upon  him ;  and,  before  many  months  were 
over,  the  death  of  Cardinal  Bainbridge  at  Rome  enabled  the  King  to 
advance  him  from  Lincoln  to  the  archbishopric  of  York. 

Under  Wolsey's  direction  it  was  not  difficult  for  Henry  to  chastise 
the  perfidy  of  Ferdinand  and  the  instability  of  Maximilian.  While 
King  Henry,  deserted  by  his  allies,  seemed  resolute  to  carry  on  the  War 
alone,  secret  negotiations  were  opened  with  France  through  the  prisoners 
left  in  English  hands  by  the  battle  of  the  Spurs;  and  there  was  no 


484 


Accession  of  Francis  I 


[1514-15 


enemy  whom  France  was  so  anxious  to  conciliate  as  England.  The 
death  of  Anne  of  Britanny  cleared  the  way  for  Louis  to  enter  the  state 
of  matrimony  again  at  the  age  of  fifty-two,  and  Henry  had  no  scruple 
about  giving  him  the  hand  of  his  own  sister  Mary,  a  beautiful  girl  of 
eighteen.  On  August  7  there  were  concluded  in  London  a  treaty  of 
peace  with  France  and  another  for  the  marriage,  a  pledge  being  given 
by  French  commissioners  for  the  payment  of  1,000,000  gold  crowns  by 
half-yearly  instalments  of  50,000  francs.  The  marriage  was  actually 
celebrated  at  Abbeville  on  October  9. 

This  new  alliance  with  France  astonished  the  world,  and  spread 
serious  alarm  in  many  places.  Henry  certainly  harboured  deep  designs 
in  connexion  with  it,  especially  against  his  father-in-law ;  while  Louis 
considered  that  he  should  now  be  able  most  effectually  to  prosecute  his 
claim  to  the  duchy  of  Milan.  But  Europe  had  scarcely  had  time  to 
consider  what  might  come  of  these  arrangements,  when  they  were 
virtually  at  an  end.  Louis  XII  died  on  January  1,  1515 ;  and,  as  he 
left  no  sons,  the  Count  of  Angouleme  succeeded  him  as  Francis  1. 
There  was,  indeed,  no  disposition,  at  all  events  on  the  part  of  Francis, 
to  break  off  the  amity  with  England;  but  it  was  clear  from  the  first 
that  that  young  and  chivalrous  King  would  be  a  rival,  and  not  a  help, 
to  Henry  in  his  European  schemes.  The  embassy  sent  to  him  from 
England  on  his  accession  was  headed  by  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of 
Suffolk,  in  whom  the  hope  had  been  raised  of  marrying  the  widowed 
French  Queen.  Unfortunately  for  the  other  purposes  of  the  Duke's 
mission,  Francis  found  out  his  secret,  and,  after  putting  him  to  the 
blush,  promised  every  possible  assistance  in  the  matter  he  had  most  at 
heart.  The  King  was  as  good  as  his  word ;  but  the  impatience  of  the 
young  couple,  who  feared  strong  opposition  in  England,  induced  them 
to  be  married  in  France  before  they  left.  On  their  return  Suffolk  was 
in  serious  danger  from  the  indignation  of  King  Henry  and  his  nobles ; 
but  by  Wolsey's  intercession  he  procured  his  pardon. 

Suffolk's  indiscretion  had,  in  fact,  entailed  the  failure  of  some  secret 
diplomacy  with  which  he  had  been  charged;  and  succeeding  ambas- 
sadors could  not  remedy  the  result  of  his  mismanagement.  Francis 
renewed  the  treaty  made  with  Suffolk's  predecessor,  and  took  his  depar- 
ture for  Italy  in  order  to  assert  his  claim  to  Milan,  evading  an  incon- 
venient demand  that  he  should  prevent  the  Duke  of  Albany  from 
proceeding  to  Scotland. 

John  Duke  of  Albany  was  the  son  of  Duke  Alexander,  who  had 
tried  to  supplant  his  brother  James  III  in  Scotland,  and  had  been 
driven  into  exile  in  France.  There  his  son  had  been  brought  up  and 
was  now  living,  —  a  Frenchman  in  birth  and  feeling,  but  next  heir 
to  the  Crown  of  Scotland  after  the  two  children  of  James  IV.  For 
this  reason  the  Scottish  people  desired  his  coming.  Immediately  after 
the  battle  of  Flodden,  it  is  true,  the  widowed  Queen  Margaret  was 


1515] 


Wolsey  created  Cardinal 


485 


recognised,  under  her  late  husband's  will,  as  Regent  for  her  infant  son 
James  V.  But  in  this  she  was  evidently  intended  to  be  controlled  by 
a  Council,  and  even  then  Albany's  presence  was  desired ;  but  Louis  XII 
would  not  allow  him  to  leave  France.  It  was  only  natural,  however, 
that  Francis  I  should  refuse  to  give  any  pledge  to  detain  him;  and 
events  in  Scotland  meanwhile  had  certainly  made  his  going  thither  more 
desirable.  For  Margaret,  after  giving  birth  to  a  posthumous  child — 
Alexander,  Duke  of  Ross  —  very  speedily  married  young  Archibald 
Douglas,  Earl  of  Angus,  and  thereby  made  herself  a  partisan  among 
the  opposing  factions  of  the  Scotch  nobility.  She  was  considered  to 
have  by  this  act  forfeited  both  the  regency  and  the  control  of  her 
children ;  and  the  Council  (August  26,  1514)  were  unanimous  that 
Albany  should  be  called  in  to  assume  the  government.  Margaret's 
position  became  intolerable,  and  in  November  she  wrote  to  Henry  from 
Stirling,  where  she  had  shut  herself  up  with  Angus,  to  send  forces  by 
sea  and  land  for  her  deliverance.  The  country  was  indeed  full  of  feuds 
and  conspiracies ;  but  Henry's  treaties  with  France  forbade  open  inter- 
ference with  Scotland,  and  he  advised  his  sister  to  escape  to  England 
instead,  and  bring  her  husband  and  her  children  with  her.  This  however 
was  not  to  be  easily  effected,  even  had  it  been  desired  by  Margaret 
herself,  which  at  first  was  very  likely  not  the  case.  Albany  arrived  in 
Scotland  in  May,  1515,  and,  being  afterwards  confirmed  as  governor  by 
the  Scottish  Parliament,  was  quite  resolved  on  obtaining  possession  of 
the  children.  To  this  end  a  deputation  of  Scotch  lords  approached  the 
Queen  at  Stirling ;  but  they  were  compelled  to  deliver  their  message 
outside  the  gates,  the  portcullis  being  dropped.  The  castle  was  besieged, 
and  Albany  himself  appeared  before  it  on  August  4  with  formidable 
artillery.  Margaret,  deserted  by  her  friends,  puts  the  keys  of  the  castle 
into  the  young  King's  hands  and  delivered  both  him  and  his  brother 
to  the  Duke.  Next  month,  by  means  of  skilful  arrangements  made  for 
her  by  Lord  Dacre,  she  contrived  to  escape  to  Harbottle  in  Northumber- 
land, where,  on  October  7,  she  was  delivered  of  a  daughter,  Margaret 
Douglas,  afterwards  the  mother  of  Lord  Darnley.  Here  the  Queen  was 
obliged  to  remain  for  the  winter,  removing  no  further  than  Morpeth  in 
November,  as  her  confinement  had  been  followed  by  a  long  illness, 
during  which  the  news  of  her  second  son's  death  at  Stirling  was  for  a 
time  concealed  from  her ;  and  she  only  visited  her  brother's  Court  in 
the  following  spring. 

Meanwhile  the  influence  of  Henry  VIII  at  Rome  had  procured 
for  Wolsey  the  title  of  Cardinal,  which  was  bestowed  upon  him  by 
Leo  X  on  September  10.  On  December  24  following  the  King  ap- 
pointed him  Lord  Chancellor,  and  ambassadors  noted  that  the  whole 
power  of  the  State  appeared  to  be  lodged  in  him.  The  King,  indeed, 
reposed  very  complete  confidence  in  him,  but  always  required  frequent 
conferences  with  him  as  to  the  aims  and  methods  of  policy,  and  the 
Cardinal  always  found  it  necessary  to  carry  out  the  objects  of  a  very 


486  Swiss  troops  hired  against  France  [1515-16 


intelligent  master,  whether  he  quite  approved  of  them  himself  or  not. 
Henry  VIII  might  hunt  and  take  his  pleasure ;  but  there  was  no 
department  of  the  State's  business  which  he  failed  to  look  into  or 
which  he  did  not  fully  command. 

In  September,  1515,  Francis  I  won  the  battle  of  Marignano,  to  the 
confusion  of  the  Pope,  and  ^he  Spaniards,  and  the  Swiss.  Nor  was  the 
news  more  acceptable  to  Henry,  who  read  the  letters  presented  to  him 
by  the  French  ambassador  with  ill-concealed  mortification.  He  had  no 
reasonable  cause,  however,  for  a  rupture  with  France,  and  Wolsey  and 
Suffolk  were  eager  to  assure  the  ambassador  that  nothing  of  the  kind 
was  in  contemplation.  But  not  only  had  he  just  (October  19)  made 
a  new  treaty  (though  a  defensive  one  only)  with  Ferdinand  of  Aragon, 
but  he  had  also  been  listening  with  interest  to  a  secretary  of  Maximilian 
Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  who  urged  him  to  league  with  the  Swiss  for 
the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Italy.  And  Wolsey  had  already 
despatched  his  very  able  secretary,  Richard  Pace,  on  a  secret  mission 
to  hire  Swiss  mercenaries  for  this  purpose,  throwing  out  a  hint  that 
their  efforts  were  likely  to  be  seconded  by  another  English  invasion  of 
France.  Unluckily,  even  before  Pace  had  set  out,  not  only  had  the 
Swiss  been  decisively  defeated  at  Marignano,  but  Milan  had  opened 
its  gates  to  the  victors,  and  the  Duke,  taken  prisoner,  had  resigned 
his  duchy  for  a  French  pension.  But  the  plan  was  not  dropped.  The 
Emperor  conferred  the  title  of  Duke  of  Milan  on  Francis  Sforza,  brother 
of  Maximilian,  and  it  was  arranged  that  the  Swiss  were  to  serve  the 
Emperor  and  to  be  paid  by  England. 

But  a  further  change  very  soon  took  place  in  the  situation.  In 
January,  1516,  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  died,  and  the  young  Prince 
Charles  was  in  Flanders  proclaimed  King  of  Castile.  It  was  desirable 
—  and  became  more  and  more  so  as  time  went  on  —  that  he  should  leave 
the  Netherlands  for  his  new  dominions,  but  there  were  many  difficulties 
to  compose.  His  Council  leaned  to  France,  and  the  Holy  League  had 
not  much  prospect  of  survival  without  Spain.  England,  however,  clung 
to  her  former  policy,  and,  as  it  seemed  at  first,  with  every  prospect  of 
success.  The  French  were  driven  into  Milan,  and  it  was  thought  that 
they  could  not  keep  the  city  against  the  Emperor,  who  had  come  down 
from  Trent  and  joined  the  Swiss  with  a  view  to  attacking  them.  But, 
when  almost  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  on  Easter  Monday,  March  24, 
lie  suddenly  changed  his  mind,  refused  to  advance  further,  and  presently 
withdrew  once  more  across  the  Adda  towards  Germany,  alleging  the 
most  frivolous  excuses  to  Pace  and  the  English  ambassador,  Wingfield. 
Whether  he  was  discontented  at  not  having  received  English  money, 
or  had  actually  received  French  money,  is  uncertain.  The  Swiss  would 
have  gone  on  without  him ;  but  their  leaders  fell  out  among  themselves, 
and  the  whole  enterprise  was  ruined.  Still,  by  Wolsey's  policy,  the 
Swiss  were  kept  in  pay,  and  the  Emperor  was  prevented  for  a  time 
from  coming  to  an  understanding  with  France. 


1516]        The  Treaty  of  Noyon  and  Maximilian  487 


Conscious  of  his  debts  to  England,  Maximilian  gravely  offered 
to  invest  King  Henry  with  the  dukedom  of  Milan,  and  even  to  resign 
the  Empire  itself  in  his  favour.  Henry  was  not  much  taken  with  these 
offers,  but  thought  it  more  important  that  the  Emperor  should  come 
down  to  Flanders  and  correct  the  French  leanings  of  his  grandson's 
counsellors;  or  he  might  come  on  to  Calais,  where,  in  that  case, 
Henry  would  meet  him.  The  suggestion  was  agreeable  to  Maximilian, 
as  it  offered  a  pretext  for  new  demands  on  Henry's  purse  for  travelling 
expenses.  He  delayed  the  journey,  however,  for  some  time,  while 
Charles  and  his  counsellors  concluded  a  treaty  with  France  at  Noyon,  on 
August  13,  with  the  object  of  settling  questions  about  Navarre  and 
Naples,  so  as  to  let  the  young  Prince  go  to  Spain  with  comfort.  This 
was  quite  disastrous  to  the  policy  of  England  and  to  the  manifest 
interests  of  Maximilian,  and  had  a  bad  effect  upon  the  Swiss.  But 
Maximilian  required  further  aid  from  England  to  prevent  Verona  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  Venetians,  and  it  was  apparently  with  this  object 
mainly  that  he  despatched  Matthias  Schinner,  Cardinal  of  Sion,  into 
England  in  October,  though  there  were  no  doubt  more  specious  pre- 
texts. For,  notwithstanding  the  Treaty  of  Noyon,  even  Charles'  coun- 
sellors admitted  the  danger  of  Francis  becoming  supreme  in  Italy  and 
putting  pressure  on  the  Pope.  The  Cardinal  of  Sion  conferred  with 
them  on  the  way  to  England,  and  a  league  for  the  defence  of  the 
Church  was  concluded  in  London  on  October  29  between  England,  the 
Emperor,  and  Spain.  But  the  Emperor  was  still  called  on  to  perform 
his  promise ;  and,  being  yet  far  from  the  Low  Countries,  he  continually 
required  golden  arguments  to  make  him  advance  further.  He  reached 
Hagenau  in  Elsass  in  the  beginning  of  December ;  and  the  Cardinal 
of  Sion,  who  joined  him  there  on  his  return  from  England,  continued 
the  begging  on  his  behalf,  writing  to  Wolsey  that  Charles'  counsellors 
were  seriously  alarmed  at  his  approach.  This  was  a  gross  falsehood ; 
for,  shameful  to  say,  at  that  very  time  the  Emperor,  by  his  commis- 
sioners at  Brussels,  had  accepted  the  Treaty  of  Noyon  and  given  his 
oath  to  observe  it.  Moreover,  he  had  put  Verona  into  the  hands  of 
the  King  of  Castile,  who,  he  pretended,  could  keep  it  better  than  him- 
self ;  but  Charles  merely  handed  it  over  by  compact  to  the  French,  to 
be  restored  by  them  to  the  Venetians. 

So,  in  fact,  all  the  King's  money  bestowed  on  Maximilian  was  lost. 
But  under  Wolsey 's  guidance  large  compensation  was  obtained  ere 
long.  No  change  was  made  in  external  policy.  The  Emperor  was 
treated  still  as  a  friend,  till  he  fell  into  suspicion  with  other  allies,  and 
lost  all  influence  in  Europe :  while,  on  the  other  hand,  England  was 
sought  by  all  parties  for  the  sake  of  her  full  coffers.  Charles  of  Castile 
felt  the  need  of  her  to  advance  money  to  him  for  his  voyage  to  Spain ; 
and,  while  Henry  was  supposed  to  be  still  bent  on  doing  France  all  the 
mischief  in  his  power,  very  secret  negotiations  began  between  France 
and  England,  first  for  the  restoration  of   Tournay,  and  ultimately, 


488        Margaret  in  England.    Evil  Mayday  [1516-17 


before  the  world  knew,  for  a  cordial  alliance,  of  which  more  will  be 
said  presently. 

Meanwhile  the  Queen  had  given  birth  in  February  to  a  daughter 
named  Mary,  who  was  afterwards  Queen  of  England;  and  in  May 
Margaret,  Queen  of  Scotland,  came  to  her  brother's  Court  at  Greenwich. 
Her  stay  in  England  gave  Henry  very  great  power  in  dealing  with  the 
Northern  kingdom.  Even  at  Harbottle  and  Morpeth  she  had  fallen 
under  the  power  of  Lord  Dacre,  a  great  master  of  intrigue,  who  under- 
stood the  King's  general  objects  and  first  induced  her  to  prefer  demands 
which  were  refused  by  the  Scotch  lords ;  then,  later,  to  sign  a  bill  of 
complaints  against  Albany,  in  which  it  was  even  insinuated  that  the 
King  was  not  safe  in  his  hands,  and  that  the  death  of  the  King's 
younger  brother  was  probably  due  to  the  Duke.  This,  however,  was 
only  a  State-paper  to  be  used  when  convenient;  for  she  was  at  that 
very  time  corresponding  with  Albany,  who  at  her  request  liberated  her 
friends  from  prison,  agreed  to  give  up  her  dowry,  and  showed  every  desire 
to  satisfy  her.  Yet,  on  June  1,  1516,  Henry  wrote  to  the  Scotch  lords 
a  formal  demand  for  Albany's  removal ;  but  he  was  met  by  an  absolute 
refusal  on  July  4.  Albany,  however,  was  really  desirous  to  revisit 
France,  and  to  this  end  he  made  a  treaty  with  Wolsey  on  July  24, 
arranged  for  a  prolongation  of  the  truce  and  a  settlement  of  Mar- 
garet's demands,  and  proposed  to  pass  through  England  on  his  way,  and 
there  conclude  a  perpetual  peace.  At  a  later  date,  he  obtained  an 
unwilling  permission  from  the  Scotch  Parliament  to  return  to  France 
for  a  time  ;  but  the  visit  to  England  had  to  be  abandoned. 

He  returned  to  France  in  June,  1517,  and  in  the  course  of  the  same 
month  Margaret  re-entered  Scotland,  having  left  London  on  May  16. 
Little  more  than  a  fortnight  before  her  departure  occurred  the  formi- 
dable riot  of  the  London  apprentices  called  Evil  Mayday.  It  arose  out 
of  a  conspiracy  against  foreigners,  on  whose  houses  a  general  attack 
was  made  during  the  night  of  April  30.  This  outbreak  was  not  unex- 
pected; but  the  civic  authorities,  in  spite  of  a  serious  warning  from 
Wolsey,  who  had  to  protect  his  own  house  at  Westminster  with  a  guard 
and  artillery,  failed  to  take  adequate  steps  to  prevent  it.  Troops  were 
despatched  into  the  City  by  various  routes,  and  cannon  were  used  to 
quell  the  disturbance.  Two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  citizens  were 
taken  prisoners,  of  whom  sixty  were  hanged  in  different  parts  of  the 
City,  and  some  beheaded  and  quartered,  the  offence  being  counted 
treason  on  account  of  the  King's  amity  with  foreign  princes.  The  rest 
were  pardoned  at  the  intercession  of  the  Queen  and  Wolsey. 

Another  public  calamity  which  speedily  followed  was  a  severe  out- 
break of  the  Sweating  Sickness  —  an  epidemic  which  first  made  notable 
ravages  in  England  immediately  after  the  accession  of  Henry  VH  (1485). 
Wolsey  was  dangerously  ill  of  it,  and  the  Court  was  obliged,  both  this 
year  and,  in  the  year  following  (1518),  to  withdraw  from  the  neighbour- 
hood of  London  for  fear  of  the  infection. 


1517-18] 


Cardinal  Wolsey  and  Campeggio 


489 


Early  in  1517  a  conspiracy  to  poison  Pope  Leo  X  was  discovered 
at  Rome,  in  which  some  Cardinals  were  implicated  —  among  others,  Car- 
dinal Adrian  de  Corneto,  the  papal  Collector  in  England,  who  held 
the  bishopric  of  Bath  and  Wells,  originally  bestowed  upon  him  by  King 
Henry  VII.  He  exercised  his  office  of  collector  by  deputy,  and  his  sub- 
collector,  the  celebrated  Polydore  Vergil,  had  already  been  imprisoned 
by  Wolsey  for  an  intrigue,  and  had  only  been  released  at  the  Pope's 
urgent  intercession.  Leo  seems  to  have  been  equally  anxious  to  spare 
Adrian  himself  the  full  penalty  of  his  guilt ;  but  Henry  insisted  that  he 
should  be  deprived  alike  of  his  cardinalate  and  of  his  English  bishopric, 
intending  that  the  latter  should  be  bestowed  on  Wolsey  in  commendam, 
to  be  held  along  with  the  archbishopric  of  York.  The  Pope  put  off 
the  deprivation  as  long  as  possible.  But  both  this  and  another  con- 
cession he  ultimately  consented  to  make,  in  order  to  advance  a  project 
of  his  own.  For  in  March,  1517,  the  Lateran  Council,  taking  advantage 
of  the  general  peace  in  Europe,  had  proposed  a  Crusade  against  the 
Turk,  and  Leo  had  before  the  year  was  out  already  sent  Legates  to 
some  countries  to  promote  it.  Henry  VIII,  however,  objected  that  it 
was  unusual  to  admit  a  foreign  Legate  in  England,  but  said  that  he 
would  waive  the  objection  if  Wolsey  also  were  made  Legate  de  latere  at 
the  same  time.  A  joint  legatine  commission  was  accordingly  issued 
by  Leo  in  May,  1518,  to  Cardinal  Campeggio  and  to  Wolsey ;  where- 
upon the  former  proceeded  as  far  as  Calais.  But  Cardinal  Adrian  was 
not  yet  deprived  of  his  bishopric,  and  powerful  intercession  was  used 
in  his  behalf.  At  Calais,  therefore,  Campeggio  had  to  remain  some 
weeks,  until  certain  intelligence  was  received  of  Adrian's  deprivation, 
when  he  was  conducted  across  the  Channel  in  July,  and  received  with 
great  magnificence  in  London. 

Nothing  came,  indeed,  of  the  expedition  against  the  Turk.  The 
selfishness  of  princes  and  the  double  views  of  the  Popes  themselves 
always  interfered  with  such  projects.  But  the  proposal  for  a  general  peace 
had  for  some  time  formed  an  admirable  blind  for  negotiations,  which 
had  been  secretly  in  progress  for  a  special  alliance  between  England  and 
France.  These  arose  out  of  private  communications  concerning  Tournay 
—  first,  seemingly  about  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  for  the  French  Bishop 
always  maintained  his  claim  against  Wolsey,  —  afterwards  about  the 
town  itself,  which  the  French  were  anxious  to  recover.  No  one  yet 
knew  what  was  going  on,  when  in  July,  1518,  a  protocol  was  signed  by 
Wolsey  and  the  French  ambassador,  Villeroy,  for  the  surrender  of  the 
city  and  for  the  future  marriage  of  the  Princess  Mary  to  the  Dauphin, 
born  in  February  of  that  same  year.  A  magnificent  embassy  then  came 
over  in  September,  and  was  received  by  the  King  in  the  presence  of 
Cardinal  Campeggio.  A  treaty  of  universal  peace,  as  it  was  called,  was 
signed  in  London  by  the  French  ambassadors  and  the  English  Privy 
Council  on  October  2,  and  on  the  next  day  the  King  and  the  ambassadors 


490  Charles  V  elected  Emperor  [1518-19 


swore  to  it  at  St.  Paul's.  It  was  professedly  a  treaty  between  Leo  X, 
Maximilian,  Francis  I,  Charles  of  Spain,  and  Henry  VIII,  for  mutual 
defence  against  invasion  ;  but  it  was  only  signed  at  present  by  repre- 
sentatives of  England  and  France,  time  being  given  to  the  Pope  and 
the  others  to  confirm  it.  This  in  itself,  however,  made  it  first  of  all 
a  closer  alliance  with  France ;  and  two  days  later  further  treaties  were 
signed  for  the  marriage,  for  the  surrender  of  Tournay,  and  for  the 
settlement  of  questions  about  depredations.  Bonnivet,  the  head  of  the 
French  embassy,  then,  as  proxy  for  the  Dauphin,  formally  married 
Mary  at  Greenwich  on  October  5,  and  finally  on  the  8th  another  treaty 
was  signed  for  an  interview  between  the  French  and  English  Kings,  to 
take  place  at  Sandingfield  near  Calais  before  April  1  of  the  following  year. 

Charles  of  Castile  did  not  like  this  treaty,  but  it  was  for  his  own 
interest  to  confirm  it,  and  he  did  so  in  Spain.  Thus  it  formed  a  fair 
beginning  for  a  European  settlement,  and  virtually  took  Campeggio's 
mission  out  of  his  hands,  making  England  the  negotiator  of  the  general 
peace,  and  consequently  the  arbiter  of  continental  differences.  To 
England,  however,  the  great  immediate  advantage  was,  in  the  first 
place,  that  France  was  willing  to  buy  her  friendship,  by  means  of  an 
understanding  that  Albany  must  be  kept  from  returning  to  Scotland, 
and  of  the  payment  of  600,000  crowns  for  the  surrender  of  Tournay  — 
a  city  which  had  been  very  expensive  to  keep,  and  to  secure  which  the 
King  had,  in  1515,  begun  to  build  a  citadel.  Wolsey,  too,  surrendered 
his  ineffectual  claims  on  the  bishopric  (whose  revenues  he  had  never 
been  able  to  draw)  for  a  pension  of  12,000  livres. 

Early  in  the  next  year  (1519)  the  Emperor  Maximilian  died  (January 
12).  Charles  of  Spain  and  Francis  I  of  France  immediately  became 
candidates  for  the  succession ;  and  perhaps  these  events  had  their  share 
in  putting  off  the  interview  between  the  Kings  of  France  and  England. 
But  in  May  Henry  himself  became  a  third  competitor,  sending  Pace 
(now  his  own  Secretary  instead  of  Wolsey's)  to  Germany,  to  suggest 
in  secret  objections  to  both  the  other  candidates  and  thus  win  the 
Electors  in  his  favour.  It  was  a  hopeless  project,  which  Wolsey  certainly 
promoted  against  his  own  better  judgment,  because  he  saw  his  master 
set  upon  it.  Moreover,  it  was  a  piece  of  double  dealing  towards  Francis, 
whose  candidature  Henry  had  promised  to  support ;  and  Francis  found 
it  out,  but  did  not  let  the  fact  disturb  the  new  amity.  Charles  was 
elected  Emperor  (June  28). 

This  brings  us  to  the  threshold  of  a  new  epoch,  to  be  treated  of 
in  a  later  volume.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  constant  tendency  had  been  for 
every  kingdom  of  Europe  to  consolidate  itself  and  bring  feudal  lordships 
into  full  subjection  to  the  supreme  ruler.  France  felt  this  necessity 
most  in  order  to  repel  the  English  invader.  England  herself  was  made 
to  feel  it  by  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.    Spain  came  together  under 


The  spirit  of  the  times 


491 


Ferdinand  and  Isabel,  and  drove  out  the  Moors.  The  House  of  Bur- 
gundy, with  its  rich  inheritance  in  the  Netherlands,  was  a  dangerous 
neighbour  to  France  and  a  natural  ally  of  England  ;  but,  ending  in 
a  female,  it  became  joined  with  the  House  of  Austria  which  had  already 
attained  to  the  Empire,  and  was  striving  to  secure  it  as  a  dynastic 
inheritance.  The  spirit  of  the  times  moved  even  the  Papacy,  whose 
territorial  claims  in  Italy  J ulius  II  advanced  by  a  warfare  much  more 
earthly  than  spiritual. 

The  spirit  of  the  times  in  political  matters  had  been  appreciated  by 
Sir  Thomas  More,  whose  Utopia  is  described  elsewhere  in  this  volume  as 
a  classic  product  of  an  age  of  discovery.  Such  it  was  in  its  most  striking 
aspect ;  but  none  the  less  was  it  in  some  parts  a  most  faithful  transcript 
of  the  Machiavellian  politics  pursued  by  the  princes  of  Europe,  and 
not  least  by  the  King  of  England.  In  More's  ideal  island  inhabited 
by  intelligent  pagans  we  find  precisely  those  arts  practised  which  were 
practised  in  the  Courts  of  Christian  Europe.  While  kingdoms  were 
advancing,  and  domestic  peace  and  security  should  have  found  a  firmer 
basis,  the  rulers  of  Christendom  were  cheating  each  other,  engaging  in 
unjust  wars,  or,  like  England,  paying  Swiss  mercenaries  to  fight  without 
declaring  themselves  belligerents.  Henry  VII  had  watched  continental 
politics  without  allowing  himself  to  be  drawn  into  continental  wars.  It 
was  otherwise  with  Henry  VIII.  Young  and  popular,  and  seated  on  a 
throne  as  secure  as  his  father's  was  unstable,  to  him  the  glories  of  war 
had  their  attractions,  and  the  practices  of  the  Utopians  in  the  conduct 
of  it  were  not  abhorrent.  Such  things  were  merely  in  the  way  of 
statesmanship,  and  when  the  King  was  satisfied  there  was  no  one  to 
call  him  to  account. 

Yet  it  was  a  highly  polished  age.  Many  ideas  of  former  days,  no 
doubt,  had  lost  their  hold.  Chivalry  had  decayed ;  the  talk  of  crusades 
against  the  Turk  had  become  a  mockery;  the  Eastern  Empire  had 
passed  away  and  the  pretensions  of  the  Western  Empire  had  become 
more  unreal  than  ever.  But  civilization  had  recovered  from  the  dis- 
orders of  papal  schisms,  internecine  wars,  and  socialistic  insurrections. 
There  was  marked  progress  in  art  and  letters,  first  in  Italy,  then  over 
the  continent  of  Europe ;  and  if  in  England  there  was  little  art  and 
the  young  vernacular  literature  seemed  to  have  languished  since  Chau- 
cer's day,  yet  this  country  was  scarcely  behind  other  nations  in  cher- 
ishing the  revived  study  of  the  classics.  Long  before  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century  English  monks,  like  Prior  Sellyng  of  Canterbury, 
had  brought  Greek  scholarship  home  from  Italian  universities;  and 
Erasmus  himself,  who  first  came  to  England  in  1497  or  1498,  and  was 
set  to  teach  Greek  at  Cambridge  in  1510,  found  the  country  a  special 
abode  of  scholarship.  More,  Colet,  Grocyn,  and  Linacre  were  the  men 
in  whom  this  culture  was  most  conspicuous ;  and  Archbishop  Warham 
and  Bishop  Fisher  were  the  leading  patrons  of  learning. 


492     Intellectual  and  social  condition  of  England 


The  people,  too,  were  polished  in  their  manners.  English  urbanity- 
struck  even  a  Venetian  who  visited  the  country  about  the  year  1500. 
But  Erasmus  found  in  English  social  intercourse  something  more  than 
mere  urbanity.  "  Did  you  but  know  the  endowments  of  Britain,"  he 
writes  to  his  poetical  friend  Andrelinus,  "  you  would  run  hither  with 
winged  feet,  and  if  the  gout  stopped  you,  you  would  wish  yourself  a 
Daedalus.  To  mention  one  thing  out  of  many.  There  are  here  nymphs 
of  divine  beauty,  gentle  and  kind,  whom  you  may  well  prefer  to  your 
Camoenae.  Moreover  there  is  a  fashion  never  sufficiently  commended. 
Wherever  you  go  you  are  received  by  every  one  with  kisses  ;  when  you 
take  leave  you  are  dismissed  with  kisses.  You  return,  kisses  again  are 
renewed.  People  come  to  you  and  kisses  are  offered ;  they  take  their 
leave  and  kisses  are  again  distributed.  Wherever  you  meet  there  are 
kisses  in  abundance ;  in  short  wherever  you  move  all  things  are  charged 
with  kisses.  And,  Faustus,  if  you  once  tasted  how  sweet  and  fragrant 
they  are,  you  would  be  glad  to  sojourn  in  England,  not  for  ten  years 
only  like  Solon,  but  to  your  dying  day." 

Such  was  English  social  life  before  the  days  of  Puritanism ;  but  it 
must  be  said,  this  pleasant  freedom  of  manners  was  accompanied  by 
much  laxity  with  regard  to  social  ties.  Our  Venetian  visitor  found,  side 
by  side  with  English  courtesy,  an  absence  of  domestic  affection  whicb 
seemed  to  him  altogether  amazing :  of  licentiousness  he  saw  instances  in 
this  country,  but  none  of  a  man  in  love  ;  and  though  Englishmen  kept 
jealous  guard  over  their  wives,  offences  against  married  life  could  always 
among  them  in  the  end  be  condoned  for  money.  For  their  children  they 
seemed  to  have  no  affection,  sending  them  out  to  service  in  other  homes 
as  soon  as  they  reached  the  age  of  seven,  or  nine  at  the  utmost,  in  order 
that  they  might  learn  manners.  These  observations  are  fully  confirmed 
by  the  evidence  of  the  Paston  Letters^  where,  among  other  things,  we 
read  of  a  young  lady  of  twenty  in  a  respectable  family  being  repeatedly 
beaten  and  having  her  head  broken  in  two  or  three  places  at  a  time,  so 
that  she  was  inclined  to  marry  an  elderly  and  ill-favoured  suitor  to 
escape  from  her  mother's  tyranny. 

This  painful  absence  of  natural  feeling  was  largely  owing  to  the 
feudal  system  of  wardships,  by  which  heirs  under  age  were  disposed 
of  in  marriage  without  their  own  consent,  and  that  union  which 
lays  the  foundation  of  all  social  life  was  commonly  made  a  matter 
of  bargain  and  sale.  It  was  anything  but  an  ideal  condition  of 
society ;  yet  the  nation  was  polite,  well  ordered,  and,  on  the  whole, 
very  submissive  to  authority.  The  people  loved  their  King,  and  even 
when  their  affection  came  to  be  sorely  tried,  honoured  him  with  a 
respectful  obedience  which  later  generations  found  it  impossible  to  pay 
to  his  successors. 


CHAPTER  XV 


ECONOMIC  CHANGE 

We  are  accustomed  to  remark  on  the  extraordinary  economic  changes 
which  have  taken  place  during  the  last  three  hundred  years.  Commercial 
intercourse  has  increased  enormously  ;  the  age  of  invention  has  brought 
about  a  veritable  revolution  in  the  processes  of  manufacture ;  and 
agriculture  has  been  indirectly,  but  deeply,  affected  by  these  influences. 
Despite  the  growth,  however,  in  the  volume  of  trade,  in  the  mass  of 
wealth,  and  in  the  numbers  of  the  population,  similar  principles  of 
economic  policy  and  commercial  enterprise  have  been  in  vogue  all  this 
time.  The  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries  belong  to 
the  same  period  in  the  world's  history.  The  turning-point  was  passed 
when  the  age  of  geographical  discovery  opened  up  the  possibility  of 
communication  between  all  parts  of  the  globe  ;  and  when  the  seventeenth 
century  began,  there  had  been  time  for  the  readjustment  of  the  more 
limited  ambitions  of  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  new  conditions.  Rival 
nationalities  were  trying  then,  as  they  are  to-day,  to  strengthen  their 
naval  and  military  forces  with  the  aid  of  resources  drawn  from  distant 
lands ;  and  a  close  analogy  is  observable  between  the  practices  which 
were  then  pursued  by  the  most  progressive  countries  and  some  of  the 
expedients  which  are  being  proposed  at  the  present  time.  The  com- 
mercial struggles  and  the  economic  controversies  of  the  seventeenth 
century  may  seem  petty  and  trivial;  but  the  atmosphere  is  perfectly 
familiar,  since  they  are  thoroughly  modern  in  character. 

The  preceding  period  of  three  hundred  years  with  which  we  are 
concerned  at  present  —  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries 
—  was  also  a  time  of  rapid  movement  in  the  economic  sphere ;  but  the 
changes  which  occurred  in  that  era  contrast  forcibly  with  those  of  the 
modern  world.  There  are  few  indications  of  steady  growth  in  those 
troubled  times  ;  they  were  marked,  instead,  by  the  break  up  of  medieval 
society  and  the  reconstruction  of  economic  organisation  on  entirely 
different  lines.  It  is  probable  that  according  to  modern  standards  no 
startling  change  in  the  total  volume  of  trade  occurred  between  the  reign 

493 


494     The  modern  and  medieval  worlds  contrasted 


of  Philip  the  Fair  and  the  accession  of  Henry  of  Navarre ;  but  during 
that  time  the  methods  of  commercial  practice  had  been  fundamentally 
altered,  and  the  institutions  which  controlled  industrial  activity  had  been 
remodelled.  Although  the  processes  of  manufacture  and  agriculture 
remained  almost  the  same,  there  was  a  veritable  revolution  in  commerce 
at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages ;  and  as  its  result,  every  aspect  of 
economic  life  and  every  member  of  the  body  economic  was  transformed. 
The  drastic  character  of  these  changes  will  be  more  easily  understood,  if 
we  try  to  compare  economic  life  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  when  medieval  institutions  were  at  their  best,  with  the  state  of 
affairs  at  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth,  when  the  modern  period  was 
already  beginning. 

The  area  traversed  by  fourteenth  century  merchants  was  very 
restricted,  when  compared  with  the  voyages  of  Dutch  or  English  traders 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  Medieval  Christendom  was  hemmed  in 
on  the  east  and  south  by  Mohammadan  lands  ;  and  though  Europeans 
ventured  to  the  borders  of  these  territories  and  founded  factories  at  many 
points  in  them,  they  could  not  penetrate  into  the  interior  or  establish 
direct  commercial  connexions  with  the  distant  regions  which  supplied 
spices  and  silk.  Maritime  intercourse  was  confined  to  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Black  Sea,  the  Baltic  and  the  North  Sea,  and  the  eastern  border 
of  the  Atlantic.  Within  these  narrow  geographical  limits,  each  commer- 
cial community  aimed  at  obtaining  a  profitable  monopoly  in  some  line 
of  trade,  and  at  ousting  competitors ;  this  policy  gave  rise  to  arbitrary 
restrictions  on  trading  voyages.  The  Genoese  and  the  Venetians  con  tended 
for  the  possession  of  the  commerce  of  the  Black  Sea ;  Venice  succeeded 
in  controlling  the  trade  on  the  Adriatic  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Po ; 
the  merchants  of  the  Hanse  towns  would  not  admit  any  rivals  in  the 
Baltic.  The  command  of  particular  harbours  carried  with  it  a  supre- 
macy in  neighbouring  waters,  and  secured  the  exclusive  possession  of 
particular  routes  so  long  as  coasting  voyages  were  in  vogue.  The 
geographical  discoveries  of  the  fifteenth  century  not  only  opened  new 
regions  to  maritime  intercourse,  but  they  also  gave  a  new  form  to 
commercial  rivalry.  The  maintenance  of  privileged  rights  at  particular 
ports  was  less  important  in  the  new  era  when  the  compass  had  come 
into  common  use ;  with  the  wide  field  for  the  activities  presented  by 
the  New  World  and  the  now  accessible  East,  merchants  no  longer 
confined  themselves  to  struggling  for  a  share  of  the  limited  trade  which 
had  grown  up  at  special  points ;  statesmen  learned  to  vie  with  each 
other  in  trying  to  extend  the  market  for  goods  by  establishing  factories 
in  remote  lands  and  planting  colonies,  for  this  seemed  to  be  the  secret 
of  commercial  success.  Political  and  commercial  considerations  were  so 
closely  mingled  at  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth  century  that  it  is 
difficult  to  distinguish  the  trading  enterprise  from  the  military  ambition 
of  this  period;   but  at  least  it  may  be  said  that  the  merchants  who 


IVie  modern  and  medieval  worlds  contrasted  495 


were  content  to  abide  by  the  old  routes  and  methods  of  business  were 
being  rapidly  deposed  from  their  former  supremacy. 

As  compared  with  the  conditions  which  prevail  in  modern  days, 
society  in  the  fourteenth  century  was  very  definitely  organised  in 
recognised  groups.  Personal  relations  were  not  easily  alterable  at  will ; 
there  were  few  opportunities  for  change  of  employment  or  even  for 
change  of  residence  from  one  place  to  another.  In  rural  districts  the 
peasantry  were  everywhere  practically  attached  to  particular  estates  as 
serfs ;  and  the  artisan  classes  had  but  little  encouragement  to  migrate 
from  place  to  place,  though  in  some  callings,  such  as  that  of  masons, 
special  provision  was  made  for  undertaking  work  in  any  locality  where 
building  was  required;  while  in  other  instances  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  recognized  period  of  Wanderjahre.  Even  the  merchants  engaged 
in  active  trade  were  forced,  as  we  have  seen,  to  keep  certain  routes  of 
commercial  connexion,  and  at  other  times  their  operations  were  confined 
to  transactions  in  some  one  class  of  goods  and  no  other;  there  was 
comparatively  little  freedom  for  change  in  any  department  of  trading 
activity.  In  the  most  advanced  communities  such  restrictions  had  not 
been  swept  away  entirely  even  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century ;  but  they  were  much  criticised,  and  the  difficulty  of  enforcing 
them  was  increasing. 

The  deeply-marked  social  distinctions  and  strong  local  attachments 
of  the  Middle  Ages  were  closely  connected  with  another  economic 
feature,  the  importance  of  which  is  sometimes  overlooked.  The  use  of 
money  was  not  nearly  so  general  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life  as  it  has 
come  to  be  in  modern  times.  In  many  rural  districts  the  peasant's 
payment  for  the  use  of  his  holding  was  rendered  in  service  or  in  kind  ; 
labourers  were  often  remunerated,  in  part  at  least,  by  being  provided 
with  rations  of  food,  shelter,  and  necessary  wearing  apparel.  Even 
when  these  vestiges  of  natural  economy  had  passed  away  and  payment 
in  money  had  been  introduced,  the  terms  of  exchange  were  frequently 
the  subject  of  regulation.  There  was  often  a  recognised  rate  at 
which  dues  in  service,  or  in  kind,  could  be  commuted  for  money ;  or 
attempts  were  made  to  determine  the  prices  of  goods  and  the  rates  of 
wages  by  authority,  either  in  the  interest  of  the  consumer  or,  at  other 
times  and  places,  in  that  of  the  producer.  All  sorts  of  rates,  which  are 
now  reached  by  bargaining  and  by  the  higgling  of  the  market,  were  then 
regarded  as  the  proper  subject  of  official  regulation.  The  circumstances 
of  the  day  and  the  limited  character  of  the  markets  rendered  this  system 
convenient;  but  it  had  also  very  strong  support  in  the  current  morality 
of  the  time.  So  long  as  theorists  maintained  that  every  article  had 
an  intrinsic  just  price  which  was  ordinarily  ascertained  by  "  common 
estimation,"  and  which  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  closely  related  to 
the  expenses  of  production,  the  strongest  prejudice  was  excited  against 
those  who  made  a  living  by  taking  advantage  of  variations  of  price 


496     The  modern  and  medieval  worlds  contrasted 


in  different  places  or  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  However  im- 
perfectly they  may  have  been  carried  out,  these  efforts  to  enforce 
reasonable  prices  probably  put  considerable  restraint  on  certain  forms  of 
extortion,  while  they  tended  to  check  the  violence  of  the  fluctuations 
which  must  occasionally  occur  in  every  kind  of  trade. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  this  elaborate  system  of  economic  regula- 
tion was  organised  by  civic  authorities ;  it  was  to  a  very  small  extent  a 
matter  for  royal  or  national  interference.  Each  town  formed  a  separate 
economic  centre,  which  not  only  regulated  its  own  internal  affairs,  but 
pursued  its  own  policy  in  its  trading  relations  with  other  places.  Some 
cities  were  banded  together  for  the  sake  of  maintaining  common 
interests  and  formed  confederations  like  that  of  the  Hanse  League ; 
but  on  the  whole  they  cherished  economic  independence.  Each  city  had 
to  deal  with  the  problem  of  its  own  food  supply ;  some  towns,  such  as 
Nimes,  could  rely  on  the  produce  of  their  own  lands,  though  others, 
like  Bordeaux,  were  dependent  on  commerce  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
inhabitants ;  while  many  erected  large  granaries,  to  enable  them  to  tide 
over  occasional  periods  of  scarcity,  which  might  arise  from  the  failure  of 
crops  or  the  interruption  of  trade.  The  diverse  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  placed  rendered  it  inevitable  that  each  should,  more  or  less 
consciously,  devise  its  own  economic  policy,  and  control  the  machinery 
which  regulated  industrial  life;  some  towns  had  special  advantages  for 
one  branch  of  manufacture  and  some  for  others.  Florence  owed  her 
prosperity  to  skill  in  the  working  and  dressing  of  cloth,  Genoa  excelled 
in  the  production  of  arms,  and  Venice  was  successful  in  bringing  the 
manufacture  of  glass  and  silk  to  a  high  state  of  perfection.  The  precise 
8tatuB  of  the  companies  and  gilds  and  lodges  of  the  Middle  Ages  varied 
from  place  to  place,  and  the  organisation  of  one  craft  might  differ 
considerably  from  that  of  another.  But  this  one  characteristic  held 
good  generally,  that  all  these  bodies  were  municipal  institutions  which 
had  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  public,  or  of  the  trade,  in  each 
particular  town. 

Civic  patriotism  not  only  affected  the  character  of  the  internal  regula- 
tion of  industry,  but  it  also  determined  the  policy  of  each  town  towards 
outsiders.  The  jealousy  of  "  foreign  "  artisans,  i.e.  of  those  who  were  not 
burgesses,  gave  rise  to  bitter  disputes  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bruges 
and  other  Flemish  towns ;  and  "  foreign "  merchants  were  seriously 
hampered  in  attempts  to  trade,  unless  they  could  secure  special  privi- 
leges, and  particular  establishments  of  their  own,  with  accommodation 
for  residence  and  for  the  warehousing  of  their  goods.  The  cities  of 
Aragon,  Provence,  and  Italy  had  such  factories  in  the  Mohammadan 
towns  of  Morocco,  Tunis,  Egypt,  and  Syria ;  the  members  of  the  Hanse 
League  had  a  similar  establishment  in  London,  and  their  settlement 
at  Bergen  became  so  powerful  as  to  dominate  over  the  native  portion 
of  the  place.    In  the  fourteenth  century  commerce  was  intermunicipal 


Hindrances  to  employment  of  capital  in  medieval  times  497 


rather  than  international  in  character :  though  similar  usages  prevailed 
very  widely  and  disputes  could  be  settled  according  to  Law  Merchant, 
which  was  recognised  as  generally  binding.  Trade  was  carried  on  to 
the  greatest  advantage  at  the  fairs,  where  the  merchants  of  many  cities 
could  meet  on  equal  terms.  In  the  present  day  free-traders  take  account 
of  the  economic  advantage  of  the  world  as  a  whole,  and  discuss  indus- 
trial and  commercial  affairs  from  a  cosmopolitan  standpoint,  while  pro- 
tectionists are  inclined  to  limit  their  consideration  to  the  interests  of 
some  one  particular  country.  In  the  Middle  Ages,  very  few  merchants 
or  politicians  were  in  a  position  to  take  account  of  national  prosperity ; 
they  limited  their  views  to  a  narrower  sphere,  and  were  content  to  con- 
centrate their  attention  on  the  welfare  of  a  particular  town.  With 
regard  both  to  the  administration  of  industry  and  to  the  regulation  of 
commerce,  the  city  was  the  principal  economic  unit,  in  the  medieval  as 
it  had  been  in  the  ancient  world. 

Such  were  the  chief  contrasts  between  the  economic  life  of  medieval 
and  of  modern  times ;  were  we  to  seek  a  phrase  which  should  indicate 
the  general  character  of  the  transition  from  one  to  the  other,  we  might 
say  that  this  revolution  consisted  in  the  rise  of  nationalities  as  the  bases 
of  industrial  organisation  and  commercial  policy.  Economically  con- 
sidered, medieval  Christendom  consisted  of  a  system  of  city  States,  while 
modern  history  describes  the  commercial  and  colonial  rivalries  of  great 
nations.  During  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  sixteenth  centuries  we 
can  trace  the  gradual  subversion  of  the  older  institutions,  and  we  can 
also  see  the  rise  of  the  newer  forms  of  organisation.  The  corresponding 
changes  were  not  of  course  exactly  synchronous  in  every  land ;  indeed, 
those  places  where  the  older  and  stereotyped  system  had  the  greatest 
vitality  were  at  a  positive  disadvantage  in  accepting  modifications  and 
adopting  new  methods.  To  follow  the  course  of  so  widespread  and 
complicated  a  revolution  would  be  well-nigh  impossible,  without  a  clue ; 
but  fortunately  we  can  have  little  doubt  as  to  the  factor  primarily  con- 
cerned in  producing  these  momentous  changes.  Even  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries  were  marked  by  the  formation  of  capital,  and 
the  process  went  on  with  great  rapidity  in  the  sixteenth;  the  whole 
period  furnishes  abundant  illustrations  of  the  power  of  moneyed  men  ; 
and  by  fixing  attention  on  them  and  their  action,  we  can  most  easily 
trace  the  influences  which  were  at  work  in  building  up  the  economic 
system  of  modern  Europe. 

Modern  economists  maintain  that  there  are  three  requisites  of 
production,  —  labour,  capital,  and  land ;  but  in  the  early  Middle  Ages 
agricultural  and  industrial  work  were  both  carried  on  without  the  inter- 
vention of  capital,  as  we  now  understand  the  term.  A  capitalist  may 
be  regarded  as  the  owner  of  a  mass  of  wealth  which  is  constantly 
altering  its  form  by  means  of  exchange.    He  tries  to  get  gain  by 

C.  M.  H.  I.  32 


498  Hindrances  to  employment  of  capital  m  medieval  times 


turning  over  his  stock,  and  is  on  the  look-out  for  opportunities  of 
applying  and  replacing  it  frequently.  This  is  equally  true  of  the  capi- 
tal of  the  financier  and  the  merchant;  and  till  recently  it  held  good 
of  capital  engaged  in  the  processes  of  manufacturing  and  of  tillage.  The 
age  of  invention  has  rendered  it  necessary  to  lock  up  large  amounts  of 
capital  in  expensive  machinery,  or  to  sink  it  in  permanent  improve- 
ments of  the  soil;  but,  at  the  beginning  of  the  modern  era,  capital 
might  be  described  as  a  mass  of  wealth  that  was  constantly  being  put 
into  circulation  and  replaced.  The  financier  exchanged  his  ready 
money  for  securities,  which  he  held  till  the  sum  was  repaid ;  the  mer- 
chant bought  and  exported  a  cargo  of  goods  which  he  hoped  to  sell  for 
money ;  manufacturers  obtained  the  services  of  labour  by  paying  wages, 
and  bought  materials  which  were  converted  into  commodities  for  sale. 
Facilities  for  exchange  were  necessary  at  every  step,  before  the  capital- 
ist administration  of  industry  and  agriculture  could  be  introduced ;  there 
had  been  no  opportunity  for  such  an  introduction,  so  long  as  society 
was  organised  on  a  basis  of  natural  economy.  In  any  department  of  life 
where  payments  are  made  in  kind  or  in  service  rather  than  in  money, 
no  room  remains  for  the  operation  of  the  capitalist.  So  long  as  the 
cultivator  continues  to  live  on  the  produce  of  his  fields  and  his  stock, 
and  only  occasionally  offers  some  of  his  surplus  for  sale,  he  is  conduct- 
ing his  business  in  a  fashion  quite  incompatible  with  the  aims  of  the 
enterprising  capitalist,  who  desires  to  dispose  of  his  whole  crop  at  a 
profit.  During  the  long  ages  when  society  had  been  organised  in  self- 
sufficing  estates,  the  familia  in  each  being  engaged  in  catering  for 
household  needs  and  not  in  working  for  a  market,  there  was  no  true 
exchange,  and  therefore  no  occasion  for  a  measure  of  value,  or  for  the 
use  of  money,  among  those  engaged  in  different  avocations. 

The  transition  from  natural  to  money  economy  was  a  gradual  process, 
and  afforded  great  opportunities  of  gain  to  the  men  whose  wealth 
consisted  of  coins  and  bullion.  In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
many  private  persons  had  large  hoards,  and  received  a  handsome  income 
by  making  advances  to  such  wealthy  people  as  were  in  temporary  straits 
for  want  of  ready  money.  Much  of  this  business  arose  in  connexion 
with  the  revenue  system;  kings  were  glad  to  borrow  on  the  security 
of  the  royal  jewels,  thus  making  it  possible  to  anticipate  the  slow 
collection  of  taxes  and  fit  out  an  armed  expedition.  The  financiers 
also  lent  money  to  landed  proprietors,  to  enable  them  to  meet  some 
sudden  demand  for  an  aid,  and  took  as  security  the  title-deeds  of  an 
estate  so  as  to  enjoy  the  certainty  of  being  reimbursed  when  rents  were 
due.  The  lending  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  was  almost 
entirely  for  military  and  other  unproductive  purposes ;  it  enriched  the 
moneyed  men  who  obtained  high  interest  on  their  loans,  but  it  did  not 
provide  capital  or  invigorate  the  industry  of  the  country.  Even  in 
those  cases  where  debts  were  contracted  in  order  to  erect  magnificent 


Hindrances  to  employment  of  capital  in  medieval  times  499 


buildings,  these  costly  edifices  were  not  available  for  promoting  the 
further  increase  of  wealth.  Medieval  capital  was  lent  for  purposes  of 
unproductive  consumption.  Thus  applied,  the  money  failed  to  bring 
about  on  increase  of  wealth,  but  remained,  as  Aristotle  would  have 
said,  "  barren."  This  fact  goes  far  to  account  for  the  long-continued 
prejudice  against  Jews  and  Lombards.  Since  no  addition  to  the  wealth 
of  the  community  arose  through  their  intervention,  it  seemed  that  any 
gain  accruing  to  them  in  their  operations  must  have  been  made  at 
the  expense  of  the  borrowers  and  ought  to  be  condemned  as  extor- 
tionate. Under  these  circumstances  the  traditional  objection  to  interest 
of  every  kind  was  strongly  maintained,  and  found  expression  in  the 
writings  of  casuists  and  in  the  decisions  of  ecclesiastical  Courts  against 
usury. 

The  unsatisfactory  character  of  the  transactions  of  medieval  bankers 
reacted  on  the  prosperity  of  their  business,  and  eventually  brought 
about  their  ruin.  It  was  a  constant  difficulty  for  their  debtors  to  scrape 
together  money  which  would  reimburse  the  Jew  or  the  Lombard  for 
wealth  that  had  been  unremuneratively  expended ;  and  it  was  natural 
enough  that  the  capitalists  should  suffer  in  turn  from  defaulting 
creditors.  The  Jews  were  under  such  serious  disabilities  that  it  was 
only  by  special  favour  that  they  could  recover  their  debts,  and  several 
of  the  Florentine  and  other  Italian  bankers  were  ruined  by  breaches  of 
royal  faith,  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  but  the 
failure  of  the  Templars,  who  had  also  organised  an  immense  banking 
business,  was  due  to  political  rather  than  economic  causes.  At  that 
time  very  few  opportunities  existed  of  so  using  capital  that  it  should 
not  only  bring  in  a  return  to  the  owner,  but  also  increase  the  wealth 
of  the  community. 

There  was,  however,  all  through  the  Middle  Ages  one  such  opening 
for  the  profitable  employment  of  capital ;  and  of  this  the  great  Italian 
houses  took  full  advantage.  The  merchant  who  engaged  in  active  trade 
and  visited  distant  markets  with  a  cargo  of  goods,  was  rendering  a 
real  service  to  the  community.  He  was  enabling  the  inhabitants  of 
certain  districts  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  products  which  did  not  grow  on 
their  own  soil,  or  of  wares  which  they  had  not  the  skill  to  manufacture. 
So  long  as  the  merchant  confined  himself  to  such  operations,  no 
question  was  raised  by  the  strictest  moralist  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  his 
transactions  or  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  gains  thus  derived ;  and  capitalists, 
who  joined  together  in  taking  the  risks  of  useful  business  of  this  kind, 
were  held  to  be  perfectly  justified  in  sharing  the  profits  which  accrued  to 
them  from  their  enterprise.  While  nearly  all  moneyed  men  were  under  sus- 
picion of  occasional  unfairness,  the  medieval  conscience  clearly  recognised 
that  the  capitalist  was  fully  entitled  to  some  gain,  so  long  as  he  trans- 
ported commodities  without  trying  to  bargain  himself  out  of  risks.  Capi- 
tal engaged  in  active  commerce  was  employed  in  producing  goods  at  the 


500    The  break-up  of  the  medieval  system^  Txiral  and  urban 


places  where  thej  were  most  wanted ;  and  it  was  being  applied  to 
facilitate  the  production  of  wealth.  The  importing  merchant  neither 
increased  the  material  objects  nor  altered  their  intrinsic  qualities ;  but  he 
gave  them  greater  utility,  by  conveying  them  to  places  where  they  were 
largely  required. 

The  economic  revolution  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages  was  largely 
due  to  the  discovery  of  new  methods  for  the  productive  employment  of 
capital.  New  lines  of  commerce  were  opened ;  and  it  was  also  found 
that  various  branches  of  industry  could  be  prosecuted  to  greater 
advantage,  when  taken  up  and  organised  by  capitalists.  Success  in 
these  ventures  enabled  enterprising  men  to  amass  more  wealth  and 
to  form  additional  capital,  while  it  tempted  those  who  had  hoards 
lying  idle  to  find  means  of  employing  them  as  capital ;  by  so  doing 
they  brought  large  sums  of  money  into  circulation  and  moreover  secured 
an  income  for  themselves.  The  formation  of  new  capital  and  the  em- 
ployment of  hoards  as  capital  for  facilitating  production  went  on  apace 
in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries ;  the  lending  of  capital  for 
purposes  of  unproductive  consumption  did  not  cease,  but  came  to  be 
an  entirely  subordinate,  because  it  proved  to  be  a  less  secure  and  less 
remunerative,  method  of  employing  wealth. 

There  was  no  apparent  reason,  so  far  as  we  can  see  in  looking  back  to 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  why  the  material  progress  which 
had  been  steadily  maintained  for  some  generations  should  not  have  been 
continued.  Medieval  society,  stereotyped  as  it  was,  had  been  capable  of 
considerable  readjustment,  as  circumstances  had  changed.  It  seems  as  if 
capital  might  have  gradually  found  openings  in  new  directions,  so  that 
the  medieval  system  would  have  been  slowly  transformed  without  any 
serious  rupture  with  the  past.  At  Florence,  in  particular,  capitalist 
organisation  existed  side  by  side  with  the  older  forms  of  industrial  life  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century ;  and  as  money  economy  became 
increasingly  prevalent,  capitalistic  enterprise  might  have  taken  advantage 
of  the  new  fields  which  were  ready  for  its  operation.  But  circumstances 
combined  to  render  this  impossible;  medieval  society  and  its  insti- 
tutions suffered  an  especially  severe  blow  from  the  terrible  pestilence 
known  as  the  Black  Death,  which  ravaged  Europe  in  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  From  this  shock  the  various  countries  of  Europe 
only  recovered  slowly;  and  when  material  prosperity  began  to  be 
restored,  the  old  institutions  were  no  longer  suitable  to  the  changed 
requirements  of  the  times.  The  old  industrial  life  had  been  so  far 
disintegrated  by  the  disturbed  conditions  of  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  that  the  change  from  the  medieval  to  the  modern  was  accom- 
plished, not  as  a  gradual  transition  but  as  a  violent  revolution. 

Three  principal  causes  combined  to  subject  the  social  and  economic 
system  of  medieval  Europe  to  an  overwhelming  strain. 


The  hreak-up  of  the  medieval  system,  rural  and  urban  501 


Some  uncertainty  must  necessarily  attach  to  conclusions  based  on 
the  statistics  drawn  from  medieval  sources ;  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  estimates  of  the  mortality  due  to  the  Black  Death, 
made  by  contemporary  writers,  were  grossly  exaggerated.  Many  records, 
however,  exist  of  the  deaths  in  particular  places,  or  among  a  special 
class  such  as  the  parochial  clergy ;  and  these  statements  appear  to  be 
well  worthy  of  credit.  It  seems  to  be  generally  agreed  that  at  least 
half  of  the  population  was  swept  away  by  the  successive  visitations  of 
this  pestilence.  While  we  cannot  easily  conceive  what  must  have  been 
the  full  effects  of  such  wholesale  destruction,  we  may  at  least  conclude 
that  considerable  tracts  of  country  were  depopulated,  so  that  the  area 
devoted  to  tillage  was  necessarily  reduced;  we  have  also  abundant 
evidence  of  labour  agitation  in  many  branches  of  industry.  The  whole 
system  of  regulated  rates  and  prices  was  seriously  undermined ;  under 
the  new  conditions  the  old  payments  had  become  unsatisfactory; 
changes  of  some  kind,  both  as  to  the  terms  on  which  land  was  rented 
and  as  to  those  on  which  labour  was  employed,  were  inevitable. 

The  constant  wars  of  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  and  the 
fifteenth  centuries  were  another  disruptive  force  and  proved  fatal  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  highly  organised  system  of  medieval  times.  In 
the  countries  which  were  the  scene  of  frequent  warlike  operations, 
immense  mischief  was  done  to  agriculture ;  it  is  difficult  to  understand 
how  a  rural  population  should  have  survived  in  France  at  all,  when  we 
read  of  the  ravages  of  the  English  armies,  and  the  devastations  caused 
by  the  factions.  The  chronic  disorder  not  only  affected  tillage  and  the 
food-supply,  but  rendered  internal  trade  so  insecure  that  it  was  practically 
suspended  altogether.  What  had  been  a  prosperous  kingdom,  with  many 
well-organised  cities,  and  with  fairs  that  were  frequented  by  merchants 
from  all  parts  of  Europe,  was  reduced  to  utter  desolation  and  ruin. 
Similar  results  attended  the  Hussite  Wars  in  Bohemia,  and,  to  a  lesser 
degree,  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  in  England;  the  Italian  cities  must  also 
have  found  their  intercivic  hostilities  a  serious  drain  on  their  resources. 
Venice  and  Genoa  had  carried  on  a  long-protracted  struggle  about 
Chioggia ;  Pisa  was  at  length  forced  to  succumb  to  Florence,  and  Milan 
gradually  established  her  superiority  over  her  neighbours.  Doubtless, 
to  many  districts  the  wars  brought  profit  as  well  as  loss;  Swiss  and 
Italian  mercenaries  often  engaged  in  fighting  as  a  regular  trade,  in 
which  much  booty  was  to  be  obtained;  and  successful  cities  might 
recoup  themselves  for  their  outlay  by  securing  new  avenues  of  commerce 
at  the  expense  of  their  rivals.  Still  the  fact  remains  that  war  was  a 
disturbing  element ;  the  instability  introduced  by  it  into  all  the  relations 
of  life  was  irreconcilable  with  the  maintenance  of  the  old  industrial 
system  or  old  trading  connexions.  The  countries  which  for  any  con- 
siderable period  enjoyed  a  relative  immunity  from  external  war,  such  as 
Flanders,  the  duchy  of  Burgundy,  the  Rhineland,  and  Bavaria,  made 


502    The  hreak-ii'p  of  the  medieval  system^  rural  and  urban 


rapid  progress,  while  others  failed  to  regain  the  prosperity  they  had 
enjoyed  before  the  Black  Death,  or  sank  into  deeper  and  deeper  decay. 
The  most  obvious  and  important  commercial  result  of  the  Wars  in  France 
was  seen  in  the  diversion  of  the  traffic  between  Italy  and  Flanders  from 
the  Rhone  valley,  so  as  to  increase  the  intercourse  over  the  Alps  and  by 
the  valley  of  the  Inn.  Augsburg,  Niirnberg,  and  the  cities  of  the  Rhine- 
land  came  to  be  for  a  time  on  the  great  highway  of  Europe  ;  while  there 
was  also  increased  maritime  communication  between  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Low  Countries  by  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  the  English 
Channel. 

Other  political  causes  affected  the  more  distant  trading  connexions 
of  European  cities.  The  union  of  the  northern  kingdoms  of  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  Sweden  under  Queen  Margaret  consolidated  the  opposition 
to  the  monopoly  asserted  by  the  Hanse  League  over  the  commerce  of  the 
North ;  while  the  rise  of  the  power  of  Poland,  and  her  successful  contests 
with  the  Teutonic  Order,  interrupted  the  lines  of  its  Eastern  com- 
munications. When  in  1477  Ivan,  Czar  of  Russia,  brought  Novgorod 
into  complete  subjection  and  it  ceased  to  be  an  independent  city,  the 
merchants  of  the  Hanse  League  lost  their  footing  at  the  point  where 
they  had  established  connexions  with  traders  who  were  engaged  in 
traffic  with  the  East. 

There  were  other  movements  in  eastern  Europe  which  seriously 
affected  the  course  of  merchandise.  The  advancing  power  of  the  Turks 
destroyed  the  commercial  colonies  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  interrupted 
the  trading  intercourse  in  the  Danube  valley;  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  fifteenth  century  the  commerce  between  East  and  West  was  almost 
entirely  confined  to  the  Egyptian  and  Syrian  routes ;  Venice  was  the 
chief  depot  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Mediterranean  for  Eastern  spices, 
and  the  centre  from  which  these  highly- valued  commodities  were  dis- 
tributed to  Germany,  Flanders,  and  the  North. 

The  Turkish  conquests  had  forced  the  principal  trade  of  the  East 
into  restricted  channels,  and  Christian  successes  were  responsible  for 
the  increasing  difficulties  under  which  the  commerce  of  the  western 
Mediterranean  was  carried  on.  The  expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain, 
which  was  completed  by  the  conquest  of  Granada,  was  followed  by  an 
extraordinary  development  of  national  vigour  and  material  prosperity 
in  many  parts  of  the  peninsula ;  but  the  exiled  population  aroused  the 
sympathy  of  their  co-religionists  in  Africa ;  an  increase  of  marauding 
expeditions  by  sea  ensued,  and  the  difficulties  of  merchants  who  trafficked 
with  Morocco  were  seriously  aggravated. 

On  every  side,  the  old  lines  of  distant  trade  were  greatly  modified  by 
political  changes ;  and  the  prosperity  of  the  towns,  which  had  risen  into 
greatness  as  centres  of  commerce,  was  shaken  at  its  very  foundations, 
while  rural  and  urban  districts  alike  long  continued  to  show  the  desola- 
tion caused  directly  and  indirectly  by  the  Black  Death. 


Commercial  fortunes  and  accelerated  circulation  503 


From  this  brief  survey  of  the  nature  of  the  revolution  and  the 
causes  v^hich  occasioned  the  decay  of  the  old  order,  we  may  now  turn  to 
look  for  the  first  signs  of  reconstruction.  No  part  of  Europe  had  been 
more  ruthlessly  devastated  than  France,  during  the  fourteenth  century 
and  the  earlier  part  of  the  fifteenth ;  but  a  turning-point  was  reached  at 
last,  and  the  reviving  prosperity  of  the  country  shaped  itself  upon  new 
lines.  Control  of  industry  and  commerce  was  now  exercised  by  national 
rather  than  civic  authority,  while  the  financial  and  commercial  business 
of  the  realm  was  no  longer  left  to  Italians  and  other  strangers,  but  was 
organised  by  native  merchants  of  enterprise  and  resource.  In  this  new 
class  one  figure  is  pre-eminent;  no  other  French  merchant  attained  to 
wealth  at  all  comparable  to  that  of  Jacques  Coeur  of  Montpellier;  and 
few  experienced  such  a  sudden  reverse  of  fortune  as  he  suffered  when  the 
royal  master  whom  he  had  served  so  faithfully  imprisoned  him  and  allowed 
him  to  die  in  exile.  Apart  from  these  elements  of  romance,  the  story  of 
Jacques  Coeur's  rise  is  interesting  because  of  the  important  part  which 
he  took  in  the  political  life  of  France.  By  helping  to  reorganise  the 
finances  of  the  realm  he  brought  the  Crown  and  the  bourgeoisie  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  into  much  closer  relations,  and  contributed  to  the 
remodelling  of  economic  life  and  to  the  rise  of  one  great  nationality. 
His  extraordinary  commercial  prosperity,  though  transitory,  helps  us  to 
understand  the  circumstances  under  which  a  merchant  class  came  into 
prominence  in  lands  where  the  active  trade  had  hitherto  been  prosecuted 
by  aliens ;  the  rapid  rise  of  one  man  to  a  pinnacle  of  greatness  as  a 
merchant  prince  throws  considerable  light  on  the  opportunities  for 
forming  capital  and  investing  it  available  in  his  day. 

Jacques  Coeur's  work  as  a  statesman  had  a  permanent  value  for  his 
country;  he  was  for  a  time  the  most  influential  of  the  royal  advisers; 
he  did  much  to  improve  the  financial  administration,  and  instituted  a 
reform  of  the  coinage.  There  can  be  little  doubt,  when  we  regard 
his  position,  his  preponderating  influence,  and  his  financial  ability, 
that  the  creation  of  the  permanent  taille  was  due  to  his  initiative. 
During  the  Hundred  Years'  War  France  had  been  subjected  not  only  to 
the  ravages  of  her  enemies,  but  to  pillage  by  her  undisciplined  soldiery, 
who  were  unpaid  and  had  no  other  means  of  obtaining  supplies.  With 
the  view  of  removing  the  excuse  for  these  outrages,  the  Crown,  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Estates  in  1439,  announced  its  intention  of  maintaining 
a  standing  army ;  and  the  taille  became  a  permanent  source  of  income 
which  was  practically  levied  at  the  royal  pleasure.  The  project  answered 
the  immediate  expectations  of  those  who  devised  it ;  the  regular  troops, 
well-disciplined  and  restrained  from  the  habitual  pillage  which  had 
proved  the  ruin  of  France,  expelled  the  English,  and  helped  to  bring 
large  districts  of  the  old  Burgundian  kingdom  within  the  boundaries 
of  France.  But  the  ulterior  effects  of  the  measure  were  far  more 
important ;  the  basis  on  which  French  finance  rested  was  altered  so  as 


I 


504    Commercial  fortunes  and  accelerated  circulation 


to  place  it  on  a  firmer  footing.  The  main  resources  of  the  feudal 
monarchs  had  been  drawn  from  the  royal  estates  and  supplemented  by 
occasional  aids ;  but  the  institution  of  a  permanent  taille  now  furnished 
to  the  Crown  a  regular  income  from  taxation,  which  was  defrayed  by 
the  trading  and  industrial  as  well  as  the  agricultural  classes.  The 
French  Crown  had  been  mainly  dependent  for  its  revenue  on  the 
landed  classes ;  but  it  henceforth  became  the  direct  interest  of  the 
King  to  watch  and  promote  the  welfare  of  industry  and  commerce. 
As  a  result  of  this  financial  policy  extraordinary  pains  were  taken  in 
regard  to  the  supervision  and  direction  of  industrial  life.  The  corps- 
de-metier  were  revived  in  one  town  after  another,  but  they  were  not 
permitted  to  retain  the  old  status  of  mere  municipal  institutions ;  they 
were  brought  into  direct  relations  with  the  Crown,  so  that  they  be- 
came part  of  a  centralised  system  for  the  administrative  control  of  the 
whole  of  French  manufactures.  This  centralisation  and  over-regulation 
came  in  time  to  be  baneful  to  industrial  interests ;  but  at  the  outset  it 
was  a  natural  result  of  the  efforts  of  the  royal  authority  to  foster 
material  prosperity.  Under  Charles  VII  the  foundations  were  laid  of 
that  bourgeois  policy  which  was  pursued  more  thoroughly,  and  in  defiance 
of  the  expressed  disapprobation  of  the  nobility,  by  Louis  XI.  We 
shall  be  better  able  to  gauge  the  importance  of  this  change  when  we 
come  to  examine  the  special  character  of  the  subsequent  revival  of 
French  prosperity  in  the  time  of  Henry  of  Navarre. 

The  far-reaching  influence  exercised  by  this  fiscal  change  contrasts 
curiously  with  the  instability  of  the  great  commercial  connexion 
established  by  Jacques  Coeur.  He  desired  to  open  up  a  direct  trade 
with  the  East,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  numerous  concessions  not 
only  from  the  French  Crown,  but  also  from  the  Pope,  and  from 
Muslim  Powers  in  Egypt  and  Syria.  These  privileges  secured  to  him 
the  monopoly  of  many  lines  of  profitable  trade ;  he  is  said  to  have 
had  no  fewer  than  three  hundred  factors  at  various  points  on  the 
eastern  Mediterranean.  This  great  commercial  fabric,  however,  rested 
on  concessions  personal  to  Jacques  Coeur  and  his  representatives ;  and, 
on  his  fall  from  favour,  the  whole  structure  collapsed.  Montpellier 
was  the  principal  seat  of  his  business,  and  the  town  enjoyed  a  period 
of  extraordinary  prosperity  through  the  trade  which  he  brought  to 
it ;  but  this  brief  efflorescence  seems  to  have  had  little  abiding  influence 
on  the  future  of  French  commerce.  The  main  interest  attaching  to  the 
career  of  Jacques  Coeur  as  a  merchant  lies  in  the  illustration  which  it 
furnishes  of  the  possibilities  open  in  the  early  fifteenth  century  to  men 
who  had  the  capacity  to  use  them. 

At  first  sight,  the  conditions  of  life  in  that  age  appear  to  have  been 
such  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  understand  how  great  fortunes  could 
have  been  amassed.  If  the  career  of  Jacques  Coeur  had  been  absolutely 
unique,  it  might  be  sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  able  to  take  advantage 


Commercial  fortunes  and  accelerated  circulation  505 


of  a  great  monopoly  and  to  trade  at  an  enormous  rate  of  profit ;  but  he 
did  not  stand  entirely  alone.  His  case  was  not  altogether  solitary ; 
though,  like  William  de  la  Pole  and  William  Canynges,  he  was  pre- 
eminent among  a  considerable  number  of  wealthy  men.  It  is  not  easy 
to  see  how  this  class  could  have  come  into  being  in  so  many  places 
during  this  particular  period;  but  this  difficulty  must  be  faced.  An 
increasing  scarcity  of  the  precious  metals  would  seem  to  have  involved  a 
steady  fall  in  prices ;  so  that,  apart  altogether  from  the  effects  of  war 
and  pestilence,  the  monetary  conditions  were  singularly  unfavourable 
to  successful  trade.  Commerce  between  Europe  and  Asia  was  carried 
on  by  means  of  a  constant  drain  of  silver  from  the  West;  there  was 
no  other  suitable  commodity  for  export  in  return  for  silks  and  spices, 
nor  was  the  stock  of  bullion  being  adequately  replenished  from 
European  mines.  The  trade  with  Morocco  did  not  result  in  an  im- 
portation of  African  gold,  but  involved  an  additional  demand  on  the 
European  supply  of  silver.  It  appears  that  the  value  of  silver  was 
steadily  rising  from  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  onwards, 
through  the  fall  of  prices  was  not  so  great  as  might  have  been  expected ; 
a  counteracting  influence  was  at  work  which  affected  the  currency  and 
prices  in  much  the  same  way  as  an  additional  supply  of  silver  bullion  ; 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  greatly  increased  rapidity  of  circulation. 
Money  was  not  laid  by  in  hoards  to  the  same  extent  as  formerly ;  and 
masses  of  bullion,  which  had  been  stored  for  public  or  private  purposes, 
were  being  regularly  utilised.  The  treasure  of  the  feudal  monarchs 
had  been  withdrawn  from  circulation  for  years ;  Charles  V  of  France 
had  accumulated  a  reserve  of  not  less  than  17,000,000  livres.  But  the 
Kings  who  borrowed  from  Jacques  Coeur  and  his  contemporaries  were 
less  thrifty ;  they  only  obtained  money  when  they  had  need  to  spend 
it,  and  there  was  no  reason  that  it  should  ever  lie  idle.  In  the  same 
way  it  would  appear  that,  as  the  monopoly  of  the  aliens  was  broken 
down,  the  hoards  of  humbler  citizens  were  drawn  upon  and  employed 
in  active  commerce. 

By  increased  rapidity  of  circulation  the  diminishing  stock  of  silver 
seems  to  have  been  rendered  available  to  meet  commercial  demands,  and 
Europe  was  saved  from  the  embarrassment  of  severe  financial  depression. 
It  is  certainly  remarkable  that,  during  the  century  which  immediately 
preceded  the  discovery  of  America  and  the  importation  of  bullion  from 
the  New  World,  there  should  have  been  so  many  instances  of  men  who 
rose  to  considerable  wealth,  and  who  in  some  cases  amassed  very  large 
fortunes.  This  phenomenon  should  be  borne  in  mind,  even  if  we  are 
dissatisfied  with  attempts  to  account  for  it ;  but  it  seems  to  be  at  least 
partially  accounted  for  by  the  shifting  of  trade  into  new  channels  and 
into  the  hands  of  native  merchants,  and  partly  by  the  practical  in- 
crease of  the  available  currency  which  resulted  from  the  manner  in 
which  hoards  of  bullion  were  being  brought  into  circulation. 


506         The  formation  of  capital  at  Augsburg 


Success  in  commerce  had  apparently  been  the  chief  avenue  to  wealth 
in  the  earlier  part  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  when  we  pass  to  the  latter 
half,  there  is  less  difficulty  in  tracing  the  means  by  which  fortunes  could 
be  amassed.  The  matter  is  particularly  clear  in  the  case  of  the  group 
of  Augsburg  capitalists,  who  were  destined  to  exercise  such  a  potent 
influence  on  the  political  and  economic  condition  of  Europe.  They 
could  draw  from  three  sources  of  wealth ;  for  they  had  access  to  many 
frequented  trading  centres,  they  were  connected  with  an  important 
textile  industry,  and  they  had  the  opportunity  of  engaging  in  profitable 
mining  speculation.  The  fresh  supplies  of  silver  which  they  obtained 
from  the  mines  enabled  them  to  accumulate  and  store  wealth  for  pro- 
fitable investment  as  opportunities  arose.  The  man  of  frugal  habits, 
with  a  prosperous  self-sufficing  household,  can  lay  up  supplies  against 
a  bad  season ;  but  his  wealth  is  not  in  a  form  which  enables  him  to 
avail  himself  of  chances  for  turning  over  his  capital.  Only  those  who 
are  in  the  habit  of  using  money  or  of  handling  the  precious  metals  are 
likely  to  make  rapid  gains  and  so  to  amass  a  great  fortune. 

The  Fugger  family  of  Augsburg  eventually  became  pre-eminent 
among  European  financiers;  they  were  originally  interested  in  the 
weaving  of  cloth;  but,  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  they  began  to 
take  part  in  the  spice  and  silk  trades,  and  established  connexions 
with  Venice  ;  Jacob  Fugger,  who  settled  the  style  and  constitution  of 
the  firm,  received  his  business  training  at  the  German  factory  in  that 
city.  Even  before  his  time,  the  family  had  made  some  profitable 
speculations  in  mining;  they  were  engaged  in  working  for  silver  in 
Tyrol  in  1487,  and  ten  years  later  they  took  up  copper  mining  in 
Hungary ;  they  contrived  to  combine  with  other  Augsburg  merchants 
and  form  a  ring  which  controlled  the  copper  market  at  Venice.  The 
career  of  the  Fuggers  was  not  exceptional ;  the  Welsers  attained  to  great 
financial  eminence  by  similar  methods ;  they  too  had  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  their  fortune  by  trading  with  Venice,  and  subsequently  engaged 
in  silver  mining  in  Tyrol  and  in  Saxony. 

Altogether,  there  was  about  this  time  in  different  parts  of  Germany 
a  great  development  of  mining,  both  for  the  precious  and  the  useful 
metals.  The  working  of  silver  at  Schwatz  dates  from  1448,  at 
Salzburg  from  1460,  and  in  Saxony  from  1471;  while  the  Bohemian 
mines,  which  had  been  practically  closed  for  eighty  years  in  consequence 
of  the  Hussite  Wars,  were  reopened  in  1492.  Early  in  the  sixteenth 
century  some  Niirnberg  capitalists  established  iron  forges  in  Thuringia, 
and  they  were  also  actively  engaged  in  copper  mining.  Apparently, 
in  all  these  cases,  commerce  gave  these  enterprising  undertakers  their 
first  start ;  the  mineral  resources  of  Germany,  though  not  unknown, 
had  been  neglected;  but  money  made  in  commerce  was  available  in 
the  fifteenth  century  to  work  the  mines,  and  large  fortunes  were  gained 
in  connexion  with  these  operations.    Even  before  the  discovery  of 


Capitalists  and  the  mechanism  of  modern  commerce  507 


America,  with  her  extraordinary  treasure,  there  had  been  considerable 
additions  to  the  supply  of  silver  in  Europe ;  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
the  Augsburg  merchants  were  able  to  secure  the  means  of  hoarding, 
and  of  thus  amassing  wealth  which  they  were  eager  to  use  as  capital  in 
any  direction  offering  a  profit. 

Though  Augsburg  and  its  neighbourhood  had  afforded  excellent 
facilities  for  the  formation  of  capital,  it  gradually  ceased  to  be  the  best 
centre  for  making  profitable  investments.  The  changed  political  con- 
ditions of  Europe  and  the  new  discoveries  had  to  some  extent  interfered 
with  the  traffic  on  the  great  route  from  the  Adriatic  by  the  Brenner  and 
the  Inn ;  the  commerce  of  Venice  was  declining,  relatively  even  to  that 
of  some  other  Italian  cities.  The  Genoese  secured  a  practical  monopoly 
in  the  wool  trade  between  the  North  and  Italy  by  the  valley  of  the 
Rhone ;  and  after  the  fall  of  the  Greek  Empire  at  Constantinople  they 
had  been  permitted  by  the  Turks  to  establish  a  factory  there.  Florence, 
by  her  victory  over  Pisa,  and  her  agreement  with  Genoa  as  to  Leghorn, 
was  becoming  a  considerable  naval  Power ;  and  the  trade  with  Morocco 
offered  the  opportunity  for  the  rise  of  a  new  Florentine  commercial 
aristocracy.  Venice  had  lost  much  of  her  old  importance  as  a  trading 
centre ;  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  traffic  which  was  maintained  between 
the  Adriatic  and  the  Low  Countries  was  now  conducted  by  sea.  Augsburg, 
formerly  situate  on  one  of  the  great  routes  of  the  world's  trade,  found 
that  the  stream  of  commerce  had  been  diverted;  its  merchants  re- 
cognised the  trend  of  affairs,  and  began  to  establish  themselves  in  the 
Low  Countries.  They  could  gather  the  threads  of  old  connexions 
there ;  the  Genoese  were  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  Bruges ;  but  the 
Venetians  despatched  some  of  their  galleys  to  its  rising  competitor 
Antwerp,  and  in  this  city  an  Augsburg  capitalist,  Ludwig  Menting, 
established  a  business  in  1474.  The  other  leading  houses  subsequently 
followed  this  example,  and  Antwerp  came  to  be  the  chief  centre  for 
the  financial  operations  of  the  great  German  capitalists.  Their  fortunes 
were  not  inseparably  linked  with  the  prosperity  of  the  town  of  their 
origin ;  capital  is  fluid,  and  can  be  easily  transferred  from  one  city  or 
one  employment  to  another.  The  Fuggers  and  Welsers  and  other 
Augsburg  capitalists  were  ready  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  changed 
conditions  of  business ;  the  centre  of  the  world's  commerce  was  shifting, 
but  they  would  not  submit  to  be  kept  back  from  having  a  share  in 
the  new  developments  of  trade  and  finance. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  Antwerp  afforded 
unexampled  opportunities  to  enterprising  men  of  any  nationality  who 
had  wealth  at  their  command  and  were  anxious  to  engage  in  commerce. 
The  Portuguese  had  opened  direct  trading  intercourse  with  the  East ; 
but  they  were  too  busily  engaged  in  securing  their  footing  in  the 
Indies,  and  in  prosecuting  the  distant  trades,  to  have  energy  to  spare 


508    Capitalists  and  the  mechanism  of  modern  commerce 


for  increasing  their  shipping  in  northern  waters.  They  left  to  other 
merchants  the  business  of  distributing  to  European  consumers  the 
spices  and  other  valuable  products  which  were  imported  to  Lisbon ; 
and  Antwerp,  from  her  position  and  still  more  from  her  policy,  became 
the  chief  centre  of  the  capitalists  who  were  ready  to  take  a  part  in 
this  profitable  commerce. 

The  organisations  for  intermunicipal  commerce  in  the  Middle  Ages 
hampered  the  enterprising  capitalist,  as  they  tended  to  confine  him  to 
dealings  in  one  particular  class  of  goods  and  to  limit  the  amount  of 
his  transactions.  The  modern  capitalist  desires  to  be  free  to  engage 
in  any  promising  venture,  and  to  push  his  business  as  fast  as  he  can  ;  but 
to  this  the  medieval  merchants  hardly  aspired.  To  secure  a  footing  at 
some  particular  port  was  a  difficult  and  costly  business ;  and  when  they 
succeeded  in  this  they  organised  the  trade  with  care,  so  as  to  avoid 
flooding  the  market  with  their  imports,  and  to  ensure  that  all  who 
joined  in  maintaining  the  factory  and  in  contributing  to  the  expenses  of 
the  establishment  should  have  a  share  of  the  available  trade.  The  old 
merchant  organisations,  with  their  particular  privileges,  their  private 
factories,  and  "well-ordered  trade,"  were  a  mere  encumbrance  at  a 
time  when  the  main  routes  of  the  world's  commerce  were  being  shifted ; 
the  real  chance  of  rising  to  fortune  lay  with  the  men  who  were  free 
to  adapt  themselves  to  these  changing  conditions ;  and  Antwerp  was  a 
town  which  imposed  little  restriction  on  the  employment  of  capital 
in  any  direction.  The  Merchant  Adventurers  had  transferred  their 
factory  from  Bruges  to  Antwerp  in  1446 ;  but  they  were  almost  the 
only  traders  who  enjoyed  special  privileges  in  the  city  on  the  Scheldt. 
English  commerce  had  given  a  great  impetus  to  the  growth  of  the 
town,  which  also  became  a  staple  for  the  products  of  Holland,  and 
eventually  secured  much  of  the  trade  in  fish,  barley,  and  salt  that  had 
been  previously  carried  on  at  Malines.  The  men  of  Antwerp  were 
thus  brought  into  direct  antagonism  with  other  Flemish  cities,  and 
were  forced,  almost  unconsciously  perhaps,  to  adopt  an  economic  policy 
in  consonance  with  the  requirements  of  the  coming  age.  The  towns 
which  followed  the  traditional  scheme  tried  to  make  outside  commerce 
directly  subservient  to  their  particular  interests  as  producers  or  con- 
sumers ;  the  men  of  Antwerp  were  merely  concerned  to  increase  the 
volume  of  trade  and  to  take  advantage  of  any  benefit  that  happened 
to  accrue  ;  they  bought  out  the  rights  of  the  landowners  who  took 
tolls  on  the  Scheldt  and  made  their  city  a  centre  of  free  intercourse, 
where  men  of  all  nations  were  welcome  to  engage  in  trade  on  equal 
terms.  During  the  Middle  Ages  the  only  opportunities  for  such  un- 
restricted intercourse  had  occurred  at  fairs;  Antwerp  owed  its  first 
importance  to  one  of  these  gatherings,  and  so  far  as  its  economic 
institutions  were  concerned  it  was  not  so  much  a  city  as  a  permanent 
fair.    Hence  it  was  most  natural  that  the  German  capitalists,  who  saw  , 


Capitalists  and  the  mechanism  of  modern  commerce  509 


that  traffic  was  being  diverted  to  new  centres,  should  emigrate  to  a  town 
which  offered  the  fewest  restrictions  to  their  operations  as  merchants  or 
financiers.  Bruges  was  completely  distanced  at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century ;  it  continued  for  a  time  to  be  the  privileged  resort  of  Spanish 
merchants;  but  it  lay  off  the  line  of  Portuguese  trading  connexions. 
The  German  merchants,  who  had  been  the  distributors  of  the  spices 
imported  by  the  Venetians,  now  became  the  principal  intermediaries 
in  connexion  with  the  cargoes  brought  from  the  East  to  Lisbon,  which 
was  frequented  by  the  factors  of  the  principal  German  houses,  though 
Antwerp  was  the  chief  centre  of  their  commercial  operations. 

It  followed,  almost  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  commercial 
activity  of  Antwerp,  that  this  city  soon  became  a  great  monetary  centre  ; 
in  this  respect  again  it  had  the  character  of  a  permanent  fair.  The  fairs 
of  the  Middle  Ages  had  been  the  great  occasions  for  financial  transactions 
of  every  kind ;  rates  for  making  remittances  could  be  easily  quoted,  and 
loans  could  be  negotiated  to  run  to  the  date  of  the  next  fair ;  there 
was  a  sort  of  clearing-house  at  each  fair  for  settling  the  transactions 
that  took  place  during  its  continuance.  One  district  after  another  had 
been  the  principal  scene  of  these  operations ;  the  fairs  of  Champagne 
had  given  place  to  those  of  Geneva;  Geneva  had  been  superseded 
by  Lyons,  which  Charles  VIII  found  a  convenient  place  for  making 
payments  to  his  Swiss  mercenaries.  In  the  sixteenth  century  Antwerp 
took  the  lead ;  it  was  a  money-market  where  there  was  less  organisation 
and  more  freedom  for  negotiating  loans  than  at  Lyons ;  business  was 
carried  on  with  little  variation  all  the  year  round  and  was  not  restricted 
by  the  definite  dates  fixed  by  the  occurrence  of  the  fair ;  nor  was  there 
any  attempt  to  fix  a  normal  rate  of  exchange,  as  had  been  the  practice 
at  Lyons.  The  merchant  had  far  better  opportunities  here  than 
elsewhere  of  borrowing  capital  at  the  moment  when  he  required  it,  and 
for  the  precise  term  desired  by  him ;  so  that  mercantile  life  at  Antwerp 
had  many  features  in  common  with  the  commercial  centres  of  the 
modern  era.  The  discovery  of  the  New  World,  with  its  enormous 
treasure  of  precious  metals,  introduced  an  extraordinary  confusion 
into  economic  relations  in  Europe.  There  are  many  unsolved  problems 
as  to  the  course  of  the  distribution  of  the  American  silver  and  the 
effects  produced  by  it  in  different  countries  ;  but  at  all  events  we  can  see 
that  the  money-market  at  Antwerp  was  so  arranged  as  to  be  capable 
of  taking  a  very  effective  part  in  the  transference  of  the  precious  metals 
from  country  to  country,  and  in  facilitating  the  application  of  capital 
to  new  enterprises. 

These  monetary  and  commercial  conditions  were  favourable  to  rapid 
growth ;  and  Antwerp  rose  quickly  from  comparative  unimportance  to 
'  be  the  leading  city  of  Europe.  She  was  enriched  by  her  connexions 
with  Lisbon  and  the  spice-trade  of  the  Portuguese  ;  she  did  not,  however, 
remain  a  mere  trading  city  but  became  a  manufacturing  town  as  well. 


510    Capitalists  and  the  mechanism  of  modern  commerce 


There  was  a  considerable  migration  of  German  industry  in  the  wake  of 
German  capital:  both  the  linen  and  the  fustian  manufacture  were 
attracted  to  a  region  from  which  there  was  such  easy  access  to  distant 
markets.  The  prosperity  of  the  town  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds, 
until  in  1576  the  Spanish  Fury  dealt  it  a  blow  from  which  it  never 
recovered. 

Though  her  greatness  was  short-lived,  Antwerp  occupies  a  very 
important  place  in  the  transition  from  medieval  to  modern  commerce ; 
for  her  merchants  are  said  to  have  developed  the  modern  system  of 
commission-business.  In  the  Middle  Ages  every  possible  obstacle  had 
been  put  in  the  way  of  such  transactions.  Each  merchant  travelled 
personally  with  his  own  goods,  or  consigned  them  to  a  factor  who  acted 
exclusively  as  the  representative  of  a  single  employer.  Each  city  was 
cautious  about  admitting  outsiders  to  any  trading  privileges  within  its 
walls ;  and  no  merchant,  who  was  free  to  carry  on  business  himself,  was 
allowed  to  "  colour "  the  goods  of  an  unfree  trader,  or  to  act  as  his 
broker.  At  Antwerp  no  such  jealousy  of  outsiders  existed:  any  one 
might  settle  and  commence  trade,  and  there  was  no  objection  to  his 
doing  business  for  the  men  of  any  city,  or  on  any  terms  that  suited 
him.  This  implied  an  immense  reduction  in  the  cost  of  maintaining 
agencies  and  in  the  incidental  expenses  of  trade  ;  and  when  once  the 
new  system  got  a  fair  trial,  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  it  had  come 
to  stay. 

The  rise  of  Antwerp  is  also  significant  of  the  change  in  the  centre 
of  gravity  of  the  world's  commerce  which  has  occurred,  since  ocean 
voyages  have  become  the  chief  means  of  mercantile  intercourse.  The 
Mediterranean  ports  were  left  stranded,  and  Lisbon  failed  to  take  their 
place.  The  trade  which  had  been  opened  up  by  Portuguese  enterprise 
did  not  react  on  home  industries,  or  give  increased  and  profitable 
employment  to  productive  labourers.  The  carrying  trade  between 
Lisbon  and  Antwerp  was  largely  taken  up  by  the  merchants  of  Holland, 
who  had  ships  and  sailors  engaged  in  fishing,  and  these  could  be 
easily  and  remuneratively  employed  in  other  waters.  The  Iberian 
peninsula  offered  an  immense  market  for  the  salt-fish,  the  cloth,  and 
linen  of  the  Low  Countries ;  Antwerp  merchants  had  the  means  of 
purchasing  the  products  brought  from  the  East.  While  the  energies 
of  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  were  thrown  into  the  task  of 
establishing  their  power  in  the  Indies,  and  prosecuting  distant  trade, 
the  Netherlanders  reaped  much  of  the  profit  of  carrying  goods 
in  European  waters,  and  their  industrial  and  maritime  activity  was 
greatly  stimulated.  Antwerp  obtained  for  a  time  that  supremacy 
in  the  world's  commerce,  which  has  never  since  been  wrested  from 
northern  ports. 

The  discussion  of  the  application  of  capital  to  commerce,  and  of  the 


The  application  of  capital  to  industry  511 


changes  in  business  practice  which  it  introduced,  have  led  us  far  away 
from  the  rise  of  the  Augsburg  merchants  in  the  fifteenth  century.  We 
should  have  to  turn  back  to  a  very  early  time  in  order  to  trace  the  first 
beginnings  of  the  influence  which  capital  exercised  on  manufactures ; 
indications  of  it  can  be  found  in  the  thirteenth  century,  but  it  was  at 
that  date  quite  exceptional.  Medieval  industrial  organisation  usually 
consisted  of  a  number  of  separate  gilds,  each  composed  of  independent 
craftsmen  ;  these  associations  had  the  power  of  regulating  the  trades 
with  which  they  were  respectively  connected,  subject  to  the  approval  by 
municipal  or  royal  authority  of  the  manner  in  which  they  exercised 
their  rights,  and  of  the  particular  rules  which  they  framed.  If  we  are 
careful  to  remember  that,  while  this  was  the  ordinary  state  of  affairs,  it 
was  not  universal  in  all  cities,  that  its  origin  was  not  the  same  in  all 
places  and  that  it  did  not  hold  good  equally  in  all  trades,  we  may 
look  a  little  more  closely  at  the  economic  features  and  conditions  of 
this  type  of  organisation. 

The  craft-gild  was  formed  with  reference  to  the  requirements  of  a 
particular  city,  and  looked  to  a  very  limited  circle  of  the  public  for  the 
demand  for  goods.  Part  of  its  function  was  to  see  that  the  quality  of 
the  goods  was  maintained ;  but  its  policy  was  chiefly  determined  by  a 
desire  to  give  each  member  his  fair  share  of  the  available  employment. 
Each  master  was  to  have  his  chance,  and  none  was  allowed,  by  unduly 
multiplying  the  number  of  apprentices  or  journeymen,  to  supplant 
other  workmen.  These  restrictions  told  in  favour  of  the  good  training 
of  apprentices,  and  improved  their  chance  of  employment  as  journeymen 
after  they  had  served  their  time,  but  the  rules  hampered  any  man 
who  was  trying  to  push  his  business  and  manufacture  on  a  large 
scale. 

The  master  workman  would  be  in  the  habit  of  buying  on  his  own 
account  the  material  which  he  required,  or  he  might  have  the  advantage 
of  purchasing  wholesale  in  association  with  other  members  of  the  craft ; 
he  would  also  sell  the  finished  article  to  the  man  who  wished  to  use 
it  —  the  consumer;  in  some  crafts,  such  as  the  tailors',  an  even  more 
primitive  practice  was  long  maintained,  and  the  craftsman  worked  on 
materials  furnished  to  him  by  the  consumers.  Hence  we  can  see  that 
there  were  two  points  at  which  the  intervention  of  the  capitalist  would 
easily  occur.  In  the  case  of  goods  exported  to  a  distant  market, 
when  an  exporting  merchant  was  the  customer,  he  might  find  it  con- 
venient to  have  them  manufactured  under  his  direction  and  at  his 
time  instead  of  procuring  them  from  an  independent  craftsman  ;  the 
transition  was  easy  from  the  position  of  a  constant  purchaser  to  that 
of  an  employer.  On  the  other  hand,  when  goods  were  made  from 
imported  materials,  it  was  convenient  for  the  merchant  to  retain  his 
ownership  in  the  materials  and  employ  craftsmen  to  work  them  up. 
The  effect  of  drawing  any  industry  into  the  circle  of  distant  trade  with 


512         The  application  of  capital  to  industry 


reference  either  to  the  materials  or  to  the  vent  for  the  product,  was 
to  render  capitalist  intervention  almost  inevitable  ;  when  the  capitalist 
system  is  thoroughly  adopted,  the  employer  owns  the  materials  and  also 
undertakes  to  act  as  an  intermediary  in  the  disposal  of  finished  goods. 
It  is  needless  to  observe  that,  when  this  transition  is  complete,  it  becomes 
the  interest  of  the  employer  to  push  his  trade  and  to  turn  over  his 
capital  as  rapidly  as  may  be;  he  has  to  cater  for  a  varying  market,  and 
the  restrictions  devised  for  those  who  have  been  sharing  the  employment 
afforded  by  a  known  market  would  not  suit  him  at  all. 

There  were  some  industries,  however,  in  great  commercial  centres, 
which  from  their  first  planting  were  dependent,  either  for  materials  or 
for  the  vent  of  their  products,  on  distant  trade.  Organisation,  in  such 
callings,  was  almost  certain  to  proceed  on  capitalist  lines  ;  the  rules  laid 
down  by  the  leading  men  were  devised  by  great  employers,  and  not,  as 
in  the  craft-gilds,  by  small  masters  who  personally  worked  at  the  trade. 
The  working  and  dressing  of  cloth  at  Florence  was  dependent  on  the 
importation  of  undressed  cloths,  which  were  converted  into  excellently 
finished  fabrics  and  exported  on  profitable  terms.  This  Arte  di  Calimala 
appears  to  have  been  organised  and  regulated  as  a  capitalist  industry 
from  the  earliest  times ;  and  the  Arte  di  Lana^  which  was  dependent 
on  the  importation  of  raw  wool  from  the  North,  was  also  an  association 
of  wealthy  employers.  The  Arte  di  Seta  was  another  long-established 
industry ;  it  had  been  improved  by  immigrants  from  Lucca  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  was  conducted  on  similar  lines. 
Capitalist  organisation  was  not  universal  in  industries  of  this  commercial 
type  ;  for  we  find  that  the  silk-trade  of  Venice  in  the  thirteenth  century 
was  regulated  by  small  masters,  who  were  however  dependent  on  the 
services  of  merchants  for  securing  a  stock  of  materials  to  be  used  in 
regular  work  and  for  selling  the  fabrics  of  the  looms;  it  need  be  no 
matter  of  surprise,  that  a  change  had  occurred  before  the  most  flourishing 
period  of  the  Venetian  silk-trade  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  that 
merchants  were  engaged  in  it  as  capitalist  employers. 

The  capitalist  organisation  of  industry  was  not  confined  to  the  more 
advanced  communities,  but  might  be  found  in  the  most  backward 
countries,  when  the  commercial  conditions  were  favourable.  In  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  when  there  was  little  export  of  cloth, 
weavers'  gilds  existed  in  London,  Winchester,  Beverley,  and  other  centres, 
and  the  trade  was  properly  conducted  by  independent  workmen.  But  the 
clothing- trade  of  England  was  developed  with  increasing  success,  so  that 
in  the  fifteenth  century  large  quantities  of  woollen  cloths  were  exported; 
it  was  evidently  assuming  the  conditions  of  a  capitalist  trade,  and  was 
being  organised  by  large  employers.  In  England  the  transition  to  the 
new  condition  of  affairs  took  place  with  little  friction  ;  weaving  began 
to  be  practised  in  villages  where  civic  gilds  had  no  jurisdiction,  and  the 
quality  of  the  product  was  inspected  by  a  royal  oflScer,  so  that  the 


The  application  of  capital  to  industry  513 


capitalist  system  of  giving  out  materials  to  the  weavers  and  buying  their 
cloth  was  able  to  make  its  way  imperceptibly. 

In  continental  towns,  where  there  was  a  large  number  of  independent 
masters  strongly  organized  in  craft-gilds,  a  very  decided  antagonism 
prevailed  between  the  old  order  and  the  new  that  was  being  gradually 
introduced.  In  France  the  corps- de-metier  assumed  a  more  and  more 
oligarchical  character,  as  increasing  obstacles  were  being  put  in  the 
way  of  journeymen  who  aimed  at  attaining  the  status  of  independent 
masters.  A  further  indication  of  the  same  tendency,  and  of  the 
differentiation  of  the  journeymen  as  a  permanent  class  within  the  trade, 
is  found  in  the  existence  of  journeyman  gilds  at  Strassburg  and  else- 
where. The  rise  of  a  wealthy  capitalist  class  within  a  craft-gild  tended 
on  the  one  hand  to  change  the  character  of  the  old  association  and  to 
make  it  a  company  of  capitalists  and  traders,  each  of  whom  employed 
a  large  number  of  paid  workmen  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  call  forth 
associations  among  the  journeymen  who  had  little  hope  of  attaining 
to  a  higher  status  as  independent  masters,  and  who  were  therefore 
interested  in  maintaining  favourable  conditions  for  a  wage-earning  class. 
In  other  cases  the  pressure  of  the  changed  conditions  was  most  severely 
felt  by  the  small  masters,  since  the  men  with  large  capital  and  a  growing 
trade  were  able  to  pay  better  wages  ;  the  capitalists  and  journeymen 
were  then  united  in  opposition  to  the  small  masters,  who  desired  to 
retain  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  old  craft-gilds. 

Where  the  conservative  policy  was  successful  and  the  small  inde- 
pendent masters  held  their  own,  the  results  were  not  satisfactory  ;  the 
craft-gilds  could  maintain  the  old  rules,  but  they  could  not  control  the 
course  of  trade ;  business  migrated  to  the  centres  where  it  could  be 
conducted  on  capitalistic  lines.  In  Flanders  and  in  England  we  hear 
much  of  the  conflict  between  urban  and  suburban  workmen  ;  this 
antagonism  was  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  journeymen  were 
inclined  to  migrate  to  districts  where  the  rules  which  prevented  them 
from  setting  up  in  business  or  working  for  capitalist  employers  could 
not  be  enforced.  The  trend  of  affairs  was  going  against  the  old  type 
of  craft-gild  ;  and  these  institutions,  in  so  far  as  they  were  incompatible 
with  the  investment  of  capital  in  industrial  occupations,  were  bound 
to  pass  away. 

To  some  extent,  however,  they  proved  to  be  compatible  with  the  new 
order ;  the  craft-gilds  played  an  important  part  by  exercising  a  right  of 
search,  and  by  insisting  that  the  wares  exposed  for  sale  should  be  good 
in  quality.  Both  in  France  and  in  England  they  were  retained  to  some 
extent  as  convenient  instruments  for  the  royal  or  parliamentary  control 
of  the  conditions  of  work  and  the  quality  of  the  output ;  occasionally, 
too,  they  retained  their  name  and  tradition,  though  they  had  changed 
their  character  and  become  associations  of  employers.  At  the  close  of 
the  sixteenth  century  the  organisation  of  industry  by  capitalists,  which 

C.  M.  H.  I.  33 


514 


Territorial  economic  policy 


had  been  exceptional  in  the  fourteenth  century,  had  come  to  be  an 
ordinary  arrangement  in  the  principal  manufacturing  centres. 

The  freedom  thus  obtained  for  capitalist  administration  proved  of 
immense  importance  in  facilitating  the  planting  of  industries  at  new 
centres  and  in  undeveloped  lands.  Under  no  circumstances  is  this  a 
simple  task  ;  but  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  in  the  earlier  part  of  modern 
times  it  could  only  be  accomplished  by  transferring  skilled  labour  from 
one  place  to  another.  It  was  through  the  migration  of  great  employers, 
with  the  labour  which  followed  in  their  wake,  that  the  silk-trade  was 
developed  in  Venice,  Bologna,  Genoa,  Florence,  and  France  ;  that  an  im- 
proved manufacture  of  woollen  cloth  was  introduced  into  England  under 
Edward  III ;  that  the  Spanish  cities  responded  in  some  degree  to  the 
call  made  upon  them  by  colonial  demand,  and  that  the  manufactures  of 
linen,  glass,  and  pottery  were  introduced  into  France.  A  most  remark- 
able development  of  industry  in  the  fifteenth  century  seems  to  have 
been  carried  through  by  the  Florentine  capitalists,  who  were  interested 
in  the  dressing  and  dying  of  cloth.  They  devoted  themselves  to 
encouraging  the  weaving  of  cloth  in  the  wool-growing  lands  of  the 
North,  in  order  to  command  a  supply  of  the  half-manufactured  goods 
which  could  be  so  finished  at  Florence  as  to  be  a  most  valuable  article 
of  commerce.  In  medieval  times  the  industrial  system  had  been 
intensely  local  in  character  ;  but  as  capital  and  capitalist  organisation 
were  introduced,  the  local  attachments  were  severed  one  by  one;  in 
the  new  era  the  great  employer  is  prepared  to  carry  on  business  in  any 
place  and  under  any  government  where  there  is  good  prospect  of 
working  at  a  profit. 

In  the  preceding  sections  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  show 
how  the  rising  power  of  capitalism  broke  down  the  medieval  forms  of 
commercial  and  industrial  regulation  ;  the  capitalists,  who  could  not 
dominate  them,  migrated  to  places  where  they  were  free  from  old- 
fashioned  restrictions.  Capital  offered  facilities  for  the  planting  of  new 
industries,  the  development  of  trade,  and  the  opening  up  of  mines  and 
other  natural  advantages  ;  so  that  the  means  lay  at  hand  for  promoting 
material  progress  of  every  kind.  Hence  new  questions  of  economic 
policy  came  to  the  front.  The  efforts  of  traders  were  no  longer 
confined  to  retaining  exclusive  commercial  rights ;  but  they  began 
to  consider  how  the  various  resources  within  a  given  area  might  be 
developed,  so  that  by  the  interaction  of  different  interests  the  greatest 
material  prosperity  might  be  attained  in  the  community  as  a  whole. 
We  have  already  seen  that  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  French  monarchs 
had  come  to  be  directly  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  trading  as 
well  as  in  that  of  the  landed  classes  ;  and  at  this  period  some  of 
the  German  princes  were  becoming  alive  to  the  necessity  of  paying 
attention  to  all  the  different  elements  in  the  community.  Other 


Territorial  economic  policy ;  Italy  515 


influences  were  at  work  elsewhere  which  tended  to  the  growth  of  a  new 
economic  system;  many  of  the  cities  of  Italy  and  of  Germany  had 
become  great  territorial  Powers,  and,  with  a  keen  eye  to  business,  they 
were  endeavouring  to  devise  schemes  of  policy  which  should  enable 
them  to  reap  the  greatest  advantage  from  their  acquisitions. 

It  is  of  course  true  that  many  European  cities  had  from  the  earliest 
period  of  their  development  had  landed  possessions  and  agricultural 
interests,  and  that  the  burgesses  had  enjoyed  rights  in  respect  of 
tillage  and  pasturage.  But  the  questions  which  arose  under  these  old 
circumstances  were  very  different  from  those  which  presented  themselves 
to  citizens  ruling  over  a  large  province  and  controlling  the  development 
of  a  considerable  territory.  Several  of  the  cities  of  Italy  and  of  the 
Rhineland  had  attained  to  great  political  importance  in  the  early  part 
of  the  fourteenth  century ;  in  some  cases  they  were  successful  in  military 
operations  and  extended  their  domain  by  conquest ;  in  others  the  power 
of  some  city  promised  protection  and  attracted  neighbours  to  commend 
themselves  to  a  civic  superior ;  in  other  instances  land  temporarily 
assigned  to  some  town  as  a  pledge  for  money  borrowed  was  permanently 
transferred,  when  the  borrower  proved  quite  unable  to  repay  his  debt. 
In  these  various  ways  civic  control  came  to  be  exercised  over  consider- 
able areas,  and  civic  authorities  were  concerned  in  regulating  a  large 
territory,  with  its  distinct  and  conflicting  interests,  in  such  a  way  as  to 
produce  the  best  results  for  the  commonwealth  as  a  whole. 

The  great  Italian  towns,  which  were  the  seats  of  manufactures,  had 
considerable  difliculty  in  obtaining  a  sufficient  food-supply  for  the  very 
large  population  which  had  been  attracted  to  them,  or  had  grown  up 
within  their  walls.  Venice  was  forced  to  control  the  agricultural 
produce  of  her  own  district,  and  to  prevent  all  other  towns,  such  as 
Ancona,  Ferrara,  and  Bologna,  from  competing  with  her  in  Lower  Italy, 
the  district  from  which  she  obtained  corn,  eggs,  and  other  produce  ;  to 
purchase  these  commodities,  the  neighbouring  towns  were  compelled 
to  frequent  the  Venetian  market.  Florence  and  Milan,  Bern  and  Basel, 
Ulm  and  Strassburg  had  alike  to  give  close  attention  to  the  question 
of  food-supply,  and  pursued  a  similar  object,  though  with  such  modifica- 
tions as  the  special  circumstances  of  each  town  might  suggest. 

There  was  a  marked  contrast  between  the  expedients  adopted  by  the 
Venetians  and  those  which  commended  themselves  to  the  Florentines. 
The  merchant  princes  of  Florence  bought  large  estates  in  Tuscany, 
and  devoted  themselves  to  agriculture.  The  conditions  of  the  rural 
population  were  such  that  capitalist  farming  could  be  easily  introduced ; 
serfdom  had  entirely  disappeared  in  this  neighbourhood,  and  money 
dealings  permeated  the  whole  fabric  of  rural  society;  but  agriculture 
cannot  have  been  a  very  profitable  investment.  The  policy  of  the  city 
was  that  of  providing  cheap  food  for  the  consumer ;  export  was  for- 
bidden, and  the  price  at  which  corn  might  be  sold  was  fixed  by  a  tariff. 


516 


Territorial  economic  policy  ;  Italy 


Free  access  was  given  to  food-stuffs  imported  from  abroad,  so  that  the 
farmer  was  not  only  restricted  in  his  operations,  but  was  obliged  to 
contend  with  foreign  competitors  in  the  home  markets.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  that  this  policy  must  have  pressed  with  great  severity  on 
the  rural  population  ;  a  maximum  was  fixed  for  the  wages  of  labour ; 
and  the  terms  of  their  contracts  were  such  that  the  loss  from  bad 
seasons  fell  on  the  cultivating  tenants  rather  than  the  proprietor.  The 
depression  of  the  rural  inhabitants  in  the  interest  of  the  consumers  was 
disastrous ;  but  many  communities  besides  Florence  were  tempted  to 
pursue  this  policy.  It  seemed  as  if  the  peasant  could  be  forced  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  tillage,  whatever  pressure  was  put  upon  him ; 
there  was  little  danger  of  his  giving  up  rural  occupations  altogether, 
while  the  advantage  of  cheap  food  to  an  industrial  and  trading 
community  was  obvious. 

The  cities  were  also  concerned  in  the  wise  management  of  such  parts 
of  their  territory  as  were  suitable  for  pasturage,  partly  for  the  sake 
of  a  supply  of  meat,  but  also  with  the  view  of  procuring  wool ;  the 
Florentines  had  large  flocks  upon  the  Maremma,  for  the  obtaining  of  raw 
material  was  of  primary  importance  to  the  Arte  di  Lana.  We  also  find 
evidences  of  the  introduction  of  sericulture  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  towns  where  the  weaving  of  silk  had  been  introduced.  The  pro- 
vision of  raw  material  and  of  a  proper  food-supply  were  the  two  main 
points  in  the  economic  policy  which  the  towns  pursued  in  the  large 
territories  under  their  control. 

This  practice  of  treating  town  and  country  avocations  as  parts  of  one 
economic  whole  was  commonly  adopted,  though  it  had  hardly  been 
definitely  formulated  in  the  fifteenth  century ;  but  the  general  principles 
which  it  involved  had  at  least  been  so  far  thought  out  that  they 
could  be  habitually  assumed  in  the  political  writings  of  Machiavelli. 
He  is  quite  clear  as  to  the  necessity  of  subordinating  the  interest  of 
the  citizen  to  that  of  the  State ;  the  civic  policy  of  the  Middle  Ages 
had  been  that  of  severing  different  trading  bodies  and  keeping  them 
from  encroaching  on  one  another,  rather  than  of  subordinating  all 
to  an  ulterior  object.  With  Machiavelli  the  ulterior  object  towards 
which  all  commercial  activities  should  be  directed  is  the  power  of 
the  prince.  He  points  out  that  measures  which  tend  to  increase  the 
wealth  of  the  prince,  without  enriching  the  people,  provide  the  firmest 
basis  for  absolute  power. 

Such  ideas  were  widely  current  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  they  may  easily  have  affected  the  statesmen  who  were 
guiding  the  destinies  of  the  rising  nationalities  of  Europe.  In  many 
countries  all  the  elements  that  combine  to  form  true  national  life  were 
present;  for  there  was  a  common  stock,  a  common  language,  and  a 
common  law.  But  the  fusion  was  incomplete  and  local  divisions  were  deep 
and  real.    The  ambitions  which  were  opened  up  by  the  age  of  discovery 


Territorial  economic  policy 


517 


strengthened  national  sentiment  by  affording  an  unlimited  field  for 
national  rivalries ;  and  the  religious  differences,  which  accentuated  the 
divisions  of  Christendom,  rendered  the  sense  of  national  religion  a  con- 
venient badge  in  warfare.  These  positive  elements  in  the  growth  of 
national  life  were  strengthened  in  any  country  where  a  territorial  eco- 
nomic policy  was  adopted,  so  as  to  bring  out  a  community  of  interest 
among  the  citizens,  and  to  give  solidarity  to  the  whole  social  system. 
Definite  schemes  for  the  development  of  material  resources,  with  a  view 
to  one  supreme  object,  involved  the  suppression  of  local  privileges  and 
the  increase  of  commercial  intercourse ;  and  this  tended  in  its  turn  to 
give  the  opportunity  for  the  healthy  interaction  of  rural,  urban,  and 
commercial  life  upon  each  other.  As  the  economic  life  of  a  country 
adapted  itself  to  these  new  conditions,  and  as  appropriate  institutions 
were  organised,  the  body  economic  came  to  be  reconstituted  on  a 
national,  not,  as  of  old,  on  a  civic  basis.  The  recognition  of  ties  of 
common  interest  throughout  a  large  territory  gave  definite  shape  to  the 
groups  which  were  pervaded  by  similar  sentiments  of  race  and  religion. 
The  sense  of  economic  welfare  as  something  common  to  the  whole 
of  a  country  strengthened  the  bonds  which  united  each  rising 
nationality  in  a  common  economic  life,  that  was  of  importance  to  all 
citizens  alike. 

In  the  earlier  sections  of  this  chapter  it  has  seemed  convenient  to 
deal  chiefly  with  the  rise  of  capital  and  the  influence  of  its  growing 
power  over  the  economic  institutions  of  medieval  cities.  The  city  was 
the  type  of  economic  organisation  which  had  flourished  in  the  ancient 
and  in  the  medieval  world ;  but  it  was  not  adequate  to  the  requirements 
of  modern  life,  and  the  old  associations  were  disintegrated  and  destroyed. 
In  the  sixteenth  century  we  see  the  signs  of  real  reconstruction,  and  the 
growth  of  economic  institutions  and  regulations  which  were  compatible 
with  capitalistic  enterprise  both  in  industry  and  commerce ;  even 
though  this  was  still  restricted  within  limits  that  we  regard  as  narrow. 
One  nation  after  another  adopted  a  territorial  economic  policy,  which 
implied  the  conscious  subordination  of  certain  private  interests  to  the 
welfare  of  the  realm,  the  conscious  development  of  the  resources  of  the 
country,  and  the  conscious  building  up  of  the  sinews  of  national  power. 
The  main  feature  of  this  territorial  economic  policy  was  similar  in  the 
case  of  all  nations ;  all  the  rivals  desired  to  accumulate  treasure,  as 
the  means  of  equipping  or  of  hiring  armies ;  but  there  were  different 
methods  by  which  this  aim  could  be  attained,  and  different  subordinate 
objects  to  be  pursued,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  each  par- 
ticular country.  To  these  we  must  now  turn ;  for  by  briefly  tracing 
the  special  schemes  of  territorial  development  which  were  adopted  in 
Spain,  England,  and  France  respectively,  we  shall  see  most  clearly  the 
nature  of  the  enlarged  body  economic  which  has  come  into  prominence 
in  modern  times. 


518 


Spain  and  the  accumulation  of  treasure 


The  discovery  of  America  by  Colombo  gave  the  Spaniards  access  to 
an  enormous  territory  of  which  they  were  complete  masters,  and  which 
they  were  free  to  develop  on  any  lines  that  seemed  good  to  them.  It  is 
no  part  of  our  present  purpose  to  discuss  by  itself  the  colonial  policy 
which  the  monarchs  followed  ;  we  have  rather  to  consider  the  aims  pur- 
sued by  them  for  their  empire  as  a  whole.  The  large  mass  of  bullion  that 
was  imported,  together  with  the  great  commercial  opportunities  that  were 
opened  up,  exercised  a  remarkable  influence  upon  economic  conditions 
in  the  peninsula.  The  amount  of  gold  and  silver  which  the  Spaniards 
acquired  was  quite  unprecedented,  and  might  have  been  used  to  form 
a  very  large  capital  indeed.  The  West  India  islands  supplied  increasing 
quantities  of  gold  from  the  time  of  their  discovery  until  1516.  In  1522 
the  exploitation  of  Mexico  began;  silver  was  acquired  in  greater  and 
greater  masses,  and  the  introduction,  in  1557,  of  a  simpler  process  of 
reduction  of  the  ore  by  means  of  quicksilver  diminished  the  cost  of 
production  and  still  further  augmented  the  yield  of  bullion.  In  1533 
the  Spaniards  also  obtained  access  to  Peru,  from  which  additional 
supplies  of  silver  were  procured.  Altogether,  an  enormous  stream  of 
bullion  poured  into  Spain  during  the  whole  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  Spaniards  were  able  to  rely  on  the  best  possible  advice  as  to  the 
organisation  of  business  of  every  kind.  Genoese  financiers  were  ready 
to  give  every  assistance,  and  the  South-German  capitalists,  who  had 
so  much  experience  of  mining  and  enterprise  of  every  sort,  were  closely 
attached  to  the  interests  of  Charles  V ;  after  his  accession  to  the  throne 
of  Spain  they  were  attracted  to  that  country  in  large  numbers,  as  great 
privileges  were  conferred  upon  them.  They  were  able  to  take  part 
in  colonisation,  and  to  engage  directly  in  mining.  The  Fuggers 
undertook  to  develop  the  quicksilver  deposits  of  Almaden ;  they  formed 
business  connexions  in  the  New  World,  and  founded  settlements  in 
Peru.  The  Welsers  established  a  colony  in  Venezuela,  and  undertook 
copper-mining  in  San  Domingo.  There  was  at  the  same  time  an 
incursion,  chiefly  to  Seville,  of  other  German  capitalists,  who  were 
prepared  to  devote  their  energies  to  developing  the  industrial  arts 
of  Spain.  With  all  these  material  and  technical  advantages  it  seems 
extraordinary  that  the  dreams  of  Charles  V  and  Philip  II  were  not 
realised,  and  that  they  failed  to  build  up  such  a  military  power  as 
would  have  enabled  them  to  establish  a  complete  supremacy  in 
Europe. 

It  would  be  exceedingly  interesting  if  we  were  able  to  examine  in 
detail  the  extent  to  which  the  precious  metals  came  into  circulation  in 
Spain,  and  the  precise  course  of  economic  affairs  in  different  parts  of  the 
country ;  but  the  material  for  such  an  enquiry  does  not  appear  to  be 
forthcoming.  Yet  one  thing  is  obvious ;  the  Spanish  colonists  devoted 
themselves  almost  entirely  to  mining  for  the  precious  metals,  and  they 
were  largely  dependent  for  their  supply  of  food  of  all  kinds  on  the 


Spain  and  the  accumulation  of  treasure  519 


mother  country.  This  caused  an  increased  demand  for  corn  in  Spain 
and  a  rapid  rise  of  prices  there,  as  the  colonists  were  able  to  pay  large 
sums  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  Charles  V,  indeed,  endeavoured  to  carry 
out  works  of  irrigation,  and  to  increase  the  food-supply  by  bringing  a 
larger  area  under  cultivation.  But  tillage  could  not  be  developed  so  as 
to  meet  the  new  demands.  The  methods  of  cultivation  already  in  vogue 
were  as  high  as  was  generally  practicable  in  the  existing  state  of  societ}^ ; 
the  vine-  and  olive-growers  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  pasture-farmers  on 
the  other,  resented  any  encroachments  on  the  land  at  their  disposal,  so  that 
it  was  impossible  to  bring  a  larger  area  under  crop.  So  powerful  were 
the  Mesta^  a  great  corporation  of  sheep-farmers,  that  they  were  actually 
able  in  1552  to  insist  that  Crown-  and  Church-land  which  had  been 
brought  under  tillage  should  revert  to  pasture.  The  result  was  in- 
evitable ;  food  became  dearer,  and  the  government  was  forced  to  recognise 
the  fact  by  raising  the  maximum  limit  of  price ;  as  a  consequence,  the 
necessary  outlay  of  all  classes  increased,  while  a  large  part  of  the  popu- 
lation were  not  compensated  by  the  profit  obtained  through  the  new 
facilities  for  trade. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  increase  in  the  price  of  food  would 
have  been  merely  injurious  to  industry ;  it  would  necessitate  a  larger  out- 
lay in  the  expenses  of  production,  and  would  leave  less  margin  for  profit, 
and  no  opportunity  for  the  formation  of  capital.  Ultimately,  this  seems 
to  have  been  the  effect  on  Spanish  manufactures,  and  the  high  cost  of 
production  in  the  peninsula  rendered  it  possible  for  other  European 
countries,  where  the  range  of  prices  was  lower,  to  undersell  the  Spanish 
producer  in  the  home  market.  No  serious  attempt  was  made  by  the 
government  to  check  this  tendency,  as  the  policy  pursued  was  in  the 
main  that  of  favouring  the  consumer,  and  protective  tariffs  were  not 
introduced. 

The  circumstances  which  prevailed  in  Spain  at  the  opening  of  the 
sixteenth  century  were,  however,  quite  exceptional,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  there  seems  to  have  been  a  considerable,  though  short-lived,  develop- 
ment of  industry.  The  colonists  not  only  imported  their  food,  but 
manufactures  as  well ;  there  was  a  sudden  increase  in  the  demand  both 
for  textile  goods  and  for  hardware,  to  meet  the  American  requirements, 
and  of  course  there  was  a  great  rise  of  prices.  The  small  independent 
masters,  working  on  the  old  industrial  system,  were  unable  to  cope  with 
this  new  state  of  affairs ;  but  the  foreign  capitalists  saw  their  opportunity. 
Manufacturing  of  every  kind  was  organised  on  a  large  scale  at  Toledo 
and  other  centres  ;  wages  rose  enormously,  and  a  great  influx  of  popula- 
tion was  attracted  into  the  city.  This  was  doubtless  drawn  to  some 
extent  from  the  rural  districts ;  but  the  stream  must  have  been  con- 
siderably augmented  by  the  immigration  of  French  and  Italians.  Hence 
it  appears  that  this  rapid  industrial  development  was  merely  an 
excrescence,  which  had  no  very  deep  attachment  to  the  country;  the 


520       Spain  and  the  accumulation  of  treasure 


Spaniards  themselves  appear  to  have  regarded  it  as  an  intrusion,  and 
to  have  resented  it  accordingly.  The  Spanish  gentry  had  no  means 
of  paying  the  increased  prices  which  the  colonial  demand  had  occa- 
sioned, for  natural  economy  was  still  in  vogue  in  many  rural  districts. 
Indeed,  this  revolution  in  industry  must  have  given  rise  to  many 
social  grievances ;  the  craftsman  of  the  old  school  would  suffer  from 
the  competition  of  the  capitalist  in  his  own  trade,  while  the  great 
rise  of  prices  to  consumers  was  attributed  to  the  greed  of  the  foreigner. 
The  government  was  persuaded  to  pass  measures  which  imposed  dis- 
abilities on  foreign  capitalists ;  it  succeeded  in  forcing  the  withdrawal 
of  the  French  and  Italian  workmen,  as  well  as  in  expelling  the  Moriseos. 
As  these  changes  ensued,  the  foreign  capitalists  were  doubtless  successful 
in  transferring  large  portions  of  their  capital  to  other  lands ;  but  the 
decline  of  alien  competition  on  Spanish  soil  did  not  enable  native 
manufacturers  to  take  their  place  or  to  recover  the  lost  ground.  With 
the  new  scale  of  outlay  they  had  little  opportunity  for  forming  capital, 
and  the  bourgeois  class  may  not  have  had  the  skill  for  organising 
business  on  the  new  lines.  On  the  whole  it  appears  that  the  large 
colonial  demands  for  food  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  large  supplies  of 
foreign  manufactures  on  the  other,  prevented  a  healthy  reaction  of 
commercial  on  agricultural  and  industrial  development ;  Spain  was  left 
exhausted  by  the  feverish  activity  which  had  been  temporarily  induced, 
and  which  passed  away. 

The  Spanish  government  was  firmly  convinced  that  the  best  means 
of  promoting  the  power  of  the  country  was  by  hoarding  the  large  share 
of  the  produce  of  the  mmes  which  came  into  their  possession,  and  they 
made  frequent  efforts  to  prevent  the  export  of  any  bullion  into  other 
parts  of  Europe,  though  the  Genoese  and  German  capitalists  had  special 
licenses  which  allowed  them  to  transmit  it.  It  is  obviously  impossible 
that  the  government  could  have  succeeded  in  enforcing  this  prohibi- 
tion, under  the  existing  conditions  of  trade  ;  most  of  the  bullion  which 
arrived  at  Seville  belonged  to  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  who  were 
concerned  in  supplying  the  colonial  demand  for  goods.  The  ingots  which 
were  not  taken  to  the  mint  may  have  been  hoarded  for  a  time  ;  but  the 
foreign  capitalists  would  not  allow  their  money  to  lie  idle,  and  much  of 
it  must  have  been  exported,  in  spite  of  all  laws  to  the  contrary,  to  pay 
for  the  cheaper  manufactures  which  were  coming  in  from  abroad. 
Comparatively  little  coin  could  have  passed  into  general  circulation  in 
Spain  itself ;  payments  from  the  towns  for  agricultural  produce  would 
scarcely  overbalance  the  payments  due  from  the  country  for  the  dearer 
manufactured  goods. 

The  Spanish  rulers  had  ignorantly  and  unintentionally  pursued 
the  precise  course  of  policy  recommended  by  Machiavelli.  They  had 
sought  to  accumulate  treasure  in  the  coffers  of  the  State,  and  they 
had  by  their  mistaken  measures  allowed  the  subjects  to  continue  poor. 


The  gains  of  the  Dutch 


521 


The  wealth  which  passed  into  the  country  had  no  steady  and  persistent 
reaction  on  industrial  and  agricultural  life ;  and  when  the  military 
exigencies  of  Philip's  policy  reduced  him  to  bankruptcy,  it  became 
obvious  to  the  world  that  the  Spaniards  had  completely  misused  the 
unique  opportunities  which  lay  within  their  grasp.  They  had  sacrificed 
everything  else  to  the  accumulation  of  treasure  by  the  Crown,  and  they 
had  completely  failed  to  attain  the  one  object  on  which  they  had 
concentrated  all  their  efforts. 

The  permanent  gain  from  the  treasure  imported  into  Europe  went  to 
those  countries  which  were  able  to  employ  it  as  capital  for  industrial 
or  agricultural  improvement,  and  Spain  could  do  neither.  There  was 
every  prospect,  at  one  time,  that  the  greatest  advantage  would  be  reaped 
by  Spanish  subjects  in  the  Netherlands.  The  policy  of  the  government, 
however,  and  the  failure  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  to  recognise  the  importance 
of  trading  interests,  rendered  this  impossible.  The  War  in  the  Low 
Countries  not  only  caused  the  migration  of  industry  from  that  part  of 
Spanish  territory,  but  tended  to  bring  about  the  collapse  of  the  great 
capitalists  who  had  allied  themselves  to  the  Spanish  interest.  The 
foreigners  were  being  gradually  excluded  from  taking  any  direct  part 
in  the  new  industrial  developments  in  Spain ;  they  confined  themselves 
more  and  more  to  banking  business,  and  to  financial  operations  in  the 
government  service.  But  the  persistent  failure  of  the  Spanish  and 
imperial  policy  in  one  country  after  another  had  the  effect  of  crippling 
several  of  the  great  Genoese  and  German  houses,  and  at  length  drained 
the  resources  even  of  such  millionaires  as  the  Fuggers.  The  decline  of 
these  bankers  proved  that  the  control  of  the  treasure  of  the  New  World 
was  passing  into  other  hands ;  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  shifting  more 
and  more  into  the  possession  of  the  Dutch,  who  were  making  their 
country  a  harbour  of  refuge  for  persons  expelled  from  the  Spanish 
Netherlands,  and  who  were  building  up  a  great  centre  of  commercial 
and  industrial  life  at  Amsterdam.  At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  people  of  Holland  had  succeeded  in  winning  the  greater  part 
of  the  gains  which  accrued  from  the  Portuguese  discoveries,  while  they 
had  also  succeeded  in  drawing  to  themselves  a  large  share  of  the  treasure 
of  Spanish  America,  and  in  using  it  as  capital  in  commerce,  in  shipping, 
and  in  industrial  pursuits.  It  was  the  nemesis  of  the  policy  of  his 
Catholic  Majesty  that  his  subjects  failed  to  derive  real  advantage  from 
the  much-vaunted  American  possessions,  and  that  the  gains  which  might 
have  enriched  the  peninsula  went  to  his  bitterest  enemies. 

In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  England  was  not  a  com- 
petitor with  Spain  and  France  for  the  sovereignty  of  the  world  ;  her 
political  ambition  was  far  humbler ;  the  dangers  that  threatened  her 
were  so  imminent,  and  her  means  of  defence  so  insufficient,  that  it  was 
only  by  devoting  great  care  to  the  development  of  her  resources  that  she 


522     Burghley  and  the  naval  power  of  Eyigland 


could  hope  to  retain  political  independence.  William  Cecil  found  him- 
self called  upon  to  guide  the  destinies  of  the  realm  at  a  time  when  the 
country  was  destitute  of  munitions  of  war.  Elizabeth's  Protestantism 
seriously  interfered  with  the  opportunities  of  procuring  military  stores ; 
the  chief  supply  of  saltpetre  and  sulphur,  which  were  required  for  gun- 
powder, as  well  as  of  the  metals  which  were  necessary  for  the  making 
of  ordnance,  came  from  ports  controlled  by  the  great  Roman  Catholic 
Powers.  The  native  mining  industries  were  quite  undeveloped,  and 
England  could  easily  have  been  prevented  from  purchasing  copper  and 
iron  from  abroad.  Woollen  cloth  was  the  chief  export  from  the  coun- 
try ;  but  alum,  which  was  used  in  the  processes  of  dyeing  and  finishing, 
was  obtained  from  Ischia,  an  island  which  belonged  to  the  Pope. 
A  hoard  of  bullion,  laid  up  against  possible  emergencies,  was  a  political 
luxury  which  Cecil  could  not  afford ;  all  the  resources  that  the  Crown 
could  dispose  of,  either  as  personal  possessions,  or  by  influence  exercised 
on  loyal  subjects,  were  devoted  to  the  planting  of  industries  which 
directly  subserved  the  strength  of  the  realm  and  rendered  it  less 
hopelessly  unprepared  for  the  struggle  that  could  not  be  indefinitely 
postponed.  When  the  storm  burst  at  last,  and  England  had  to  get 
ready  for  meeting  the  Spanish  Armada,  it  was  found  that  the  leeway 
had  been  entirely  made  up,  and  that  English  guns  and  gunners  were  as 
good  as  those  of  Spain,  and  better  too. 

It  would  in  any  case  have  been  useless  for  Cecil  to  imitate  the 
Spanish  policy  and  amass  bullion  to  serve  for  the  payment  of  mercenaries. 
England  had  no  access  to  silver  mines,  and  she  was  forced  to  rely  on  her 
own  sons  to  man  her  fleets  and  to  serve  in  her  armies.    It  was  essential 
to  adhere  to  the  policy  which  was  even  then  traditional  in  England, 
and  to  take  pains  that  there  should  be  a  well-diffused  and  healthy 
population.    With  this  end  in  view,  the  government  was  specially 
anxious  to  maintain  tillage,  as  an  avocation  which  gave  employment  to 
vigorous  labourers ;  and  agriculture  came  to  be  encouraged,  not  merely 
on  economic  but  on  military  grounds.    In  a  similar  way,  much  attention 
was  paid  to  securing  favourable  conditions  for  the  maintenance  of  a  i 
large  sea-faring  population.    The  fishing  trades  were  important  as  a 
source  of  wealth,  but  even  more  so  as  a  school  of  seamanship  and  a  ready 
way  of  training  men  who  should  be  capable  of  serving  in  naval  warfare ; 
this  employment  was  artificially  stimulated,  and  people  were  compelled 
by  law  to  eat  fish  on  three  days  in  the  week.    The  special  exigencies  of 
the  situation  forced  Cecil  to  devote  the  greatest  possible  care  to  develop- 
ing native  resources  of  every  kind  in  such  a  fashion  that  they  should,  as  . 
much  as  possible,  contribute  directly  to  the  national  strength.    The  | 
government  was  of  course  aware  that  the  general  increase  of  industrial  || 
skill  and  of  commercial  activity  was  likewise  of  importance ;  in  the  j 
actual  circumstances  of  England  these  were  the  only  means  of  procuring  I 
treasure  at  all ;  but,  since  the  supply  could  only  be  secured  indirectly,  it 


Burghley  and  the  naval  power  of  England  523 


was  not  treated  as  an  immediate,  far  less  as  an  exclusive  object,  as  it 
had  been  with  the  Spaniards. 

The  method  which  Cecil  adopted  for  carrying  out  these  aims  presents 
another  interesting  contrast  with  the  course  of  affairs  in  Spain.  He  had, 
indeed,  to  obtain  assistance  from  the  group  of  Augsburg  capitalists  who 
had  taken  such  a  leading  part  in  European  finance ;  but  he  relied  on 
them  rather  for  their  technical  skill  and  enterprise  in  organising  under- 
takings, than  for  the  capital  with  which  new  schemes  were  carried  out. 
The  usual  plan  was  to  grant  a  concession  to  a  company,  the  capital 
being  subscribed  in  England,  though  the  management  was  controlled 
by  the  Hochstetters  and  other  German  adventurers.  By  these  means, 
the  arts  of  brass-founding  and  wire-drawing  were  planted,  and  mining 
for  the  useful  metals  was  largely  carried  on.  Most  important  of  all 
was  the  skill  of  German  engineers  ;  their  methods  of  pumping  water 
were  introduced,  and  rendered  mining  possible  where  it  had  never  been 
practised  before.  Not  only  the  hardware  trades,  but  whatever  other 
industry  was  subsidiary  to  any  of  the  forms  of  national  strength, 
came  under  Cecil's  special  care;  among  these  may  be  instanced  the 
manufacture  of  sailcloth,  which  he  was  at  personal  pains  to  promote. 

The  government  looked  with  a  favourable  eye  on  the  introduction 
of  useful  industries  of  any  kind ;  but  especially  welcomed  those  which 
consisted  in  the  working  up  of  native  products,  and  which  would  save 
the  necessity  of  importing  finished  goods  from  abroad.  The  favourite 
mode  of  encouragement  was  one  which  cost  the  Crown  nothing,  while 
yet  it  encouraged  alien  adventurers  to  do  their  best.  Exclusive  privi- 
leges for  the  exercise  of  the  trade  were  granted,  and  in  this  way  the 
manufacture  of  glass,  paper,  starch,  soap,  and  other  commodities  of 
common  consumption  were  successfully  established.  Circumstances  were 
specially  favourable  to  such  attempts  at  this  particular  time.  England 
served  as  a  haven  of  refuge  for  many  of  the  artisans  who  were  dispersed 
by  the  wars  in  the  Netherlands,  and  skilled  workmen  emigrated  hither 
even  from  such  distant  countries  as  Greece,  Italy,  and  Spain.  Some  of 
them  appear  to  have  possessed  capital,  and  many  of  them  were  highly 
skilled  in  departments  of  industry  which  had  been  practically  unrepre- 
sented in  England. 

The  dislike  felt  by  Englishmen  for  foreigners  was  almost  as  strong 
as  that  of  the  Spaniards,  and  there  was  some  little  difficulty  in 
disarming  the  local  hostility  to  these  settlers.  The  new  industries 
were  on  the  whole  developed  on  capitalist  lines;  the  old  craft-gilds 
had  ceased  to  be  effective  forces,  and  there  was  little  serious  oppo- 
sition from  them.  In  so  far  as  native  industrial  organisation  was 
reinvigorated  in  England  towards  the  close  of  this  reign,  it  took  the  form 
of  capitalist  associations,  and  these  appear  to  have  been  for  a  time  the 
strongholds  of  opposition  to  the  alien  invasion.  The  central  govern- 
ment, however,  was  firm  in  its  attitude  of  encouraging  the  immigrants, 


524        The  recovery  of  agriculture  in  England 


while  it  also  desired  so  far  as  possible  to  merge  them  with  the  existing 
population,  and  to  use  them  as  means  for  the  technical  education  of 
Englishmen.  In  this  Cecil,  who  personally  revised  the  regulations  for 
settling  the  aliens,  was  singularly  successful ;  though  the  Dutch  and 
Walloon  colonies  were  separately  organised  for  social  and  religious 
purposes,  they  soon  came  to  be  highly  appreciated  by  their  neighbours 
as  an  important  factor  in  the  economic  welfare  of  the  country.  Spain 
had  suffered  seriously  by  imposing  disabilities  on  aliens,  and  England 
gained  immensely  by  encouraging  their  immigration  and  absorbing  them 
as  an  integral  part  of  the  nation. 

The  improvement  of  industry  had  a  very  favourable  reaction  on  the 
progress  of  agriculture.  At  the  beginning  of  Elizabeth's  reign  the 
condition  of  rural  life  was  eminently  unsatisfactory  ;  an  increasing  area 
was  being  diverted  from  tillage  to  pasture-farming;  the  wool  which 
was  produced  in  such  large  quantities,  and  the  cloth  into  which  it  was 
manufactured,  fetched  very  high  prices ;  this  export-trade  was  un- 
doubtedly the  channel  through  which  a  portion  of  the  treasure  from 
the  New  World  began  to  flow  into  England.  Beneficial  as  this  de- 
velopment was  in  many  ways,  it  yet  entailed  serious  grievances  in  rural 
districts.  The  price  of  corn  was  relatively  low,  and  there  seemed  to 
be  a  danger  that  the  food-supply  would  fall  short.  Measures  were 
devised  for  giving  the  farmer  the  best  opportunity  for  selling  his  corn 
in  any  part  of  the  country,  and  not  unfrequently  for  exporting  it  on 
easy  terms.  Great  pains  were  also  taken  to  ensure  that  he  should  have 
an  adequate  supply  of  labour,  and  to  encourage  those  particular  forms 
of  industry  which  were  subsidiary  to  agricultural  operations.  In  no  other 
country  of  Europe  were  the  interests  of  agriculture  put  so  prominently 
forward.  English  statesmen  realised  that  it  was  necessary  to  render 
tillage  profitable  if  it  was  to  be  properly  maintained,  and  progress  in 
the  industrial  arts  was  treated  as  a  subordinate  consideration.  As  the 
demands  of  the  industrial  population  for  food  increased,  and  as  the 
improving  marine  of  England  gave  access  to  markets  abroad,  those  who 
were  pursuing  agriculture  as  a  trade  found  that  they  could  work  at  a 
profit.  The  revival  of  agriculture,  moreover,  was  possible  without  a  seri- 
ous diminution  of  the  area  which  was  devoted  to  sheep.  The  conflict 
between  the  two  rural  interests  in  England  was  not  so  keen  as  in  Spain. 
By  the  introduction  of  convertible  husbandry,  a  better  return  could  be 
obtained  from  the  same  acreage.  The  old  common  fields  were  broken 
up  ;  land  was  occupied  in  severalty ;  and  each  farmer  was  free  to  pursue 
his  avocation  to  the  best  of  his  ability  and  means.  By  this  new  method 
the  land  enjoyed  long  periods  of  rest,  and  the  soil  recovered  from  the 
exhausting  effects  of  the  persistent,  though  slovenly,  tillage  to  which  it 
had  long  been  subjected.  Enclosure  and  readjustment  afforded  the 
opportunity  of  greatly  increasing  the  production  from  the  land,  without 
additional  expenditure  of  capital. 


The  revival  of  material  prosperity  in  France  625 


The  improvement  of  industry  and  tillage  had  very  favourable  effects 
on  the  commerce  of  the  country.  There  was  each  year  a  larger  and 
larger  available  surplus  which  could  be  exported.  The  export  of  English 
cloth  came  to  be  entirely  in  the  hands  of  English  shippers ;  and,  when 
the  opportunity  at  length  occurred  for  England  to  plant  colonies  beyond 
the  seas,  she  was  able  to  meet  their  immediate  necessities  without  any 
strain  upon  her  internal  condition.  Partly  through  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances, but  partly  also  through  the  wisdom  of  the  government, 
there  was  a  development  of  the  manufacture  of  native  products,  which 
reacted  in  a  healthy  and  natural  manner  on  the  improvement  of 
agriculture  and  the  increase  of  trade.  The  admirable  picture  given 
in  Hales'  Discourse  of  the  Common  Weal,  of  the  condition  of  affairs 
under  Edward  VI  shows  us  the  evils  of  the  transition  at  a  time  when 
both  the  Crown  and  the  people  felt  the  pressure  of  poverty.  This 
was  in  some  ways  more  apparent  than  real,  and  was  partly  due  to 
the  debased  condition  of  the  coinage.  When  with  the  restoration  of 
the  currency  England  began  to  receive  her  share  of  the  treasure 
of  the  New  World,  improvement  proceeded  rapidly.  At  the  close  of 
Elizabeth's  reign  the  people  were  wonderfully  prosperous,  and  the 
pauperism  of  earlier  years  had  ceased  to  be  a  serious  problem.  The  poli- 
tical future  of  England  was  largely  affected  by  the  fact  that  the  industrial 
population  was  becoming  wealthy  while  the  Crown  was  relatively  poor. 

The  rapidity  with  which  countries  may  recover  from  the  ravages  of 
war  has  been  often  remarked  upon ;  in  no  case  was  it  more  strikingly 
exemplified  than  by  the  marvellous  growth  of  material  prosperity  in 
France,  so  soon  as  Henry  IV  was  complete  master  of  the  realm.  This 
can  hardly  be  ascribed,  however,  to  a  natural  recuperation  after  the 
removal  of  the  disturbing  causes ;  it  was  really  due  to  the  view  which 
Henry  and  his  advisers  took  of  the  duty  of  government,  and  the  excel- 
lent manner  in  which  they  discharged  their  task.  It  was  to  the  interest 
of  the  French  monarchy,  with  its  large  income  drawn  from  taxation, 
that  measures  should  be  taken  to  advance  internal  trade,  to  plant 
industries,  and  to  improve  agriculture,  so  that  the  people  might  be 
prosperous  and  able  to  contribute  their  quota  to  the  revenue. 
Henry  IV  set  himself  consciously  and  deliberately  to  develop  the 
material  resources  of  France,  and  his  schemes  were  so  well  devised 
,  that  the  foundations  of  the  magnificent  and  powerful  monarchy  of 
Louis  XIV  were  successfully  laid.  The  King  was  admirably  assisted  by 
I  Sully,  and  profited  from  the  suggestions  of  Laffemas  and  Olivier  de 
.  Serres,  who  were  respectively  experts  in  the  organisation  of  industry  and 
in  promoting  agriculture;  and  he  possessed,  moreover,  the  means  for 
carrying  out  the  schemes  that  met  his  approval.  The  revival  of  France 
was  brought  about  on  royal  initiative,  by  royal  administrators,  and  to 
a  large  extent  by  drawing  on  royal  wealth  for  the  necessary  capitaL 


526    The  revival  of  material  'prosperity  in  France 


A  comparison  with  the  position  of  the  Crown  in  England,  when 
Cecil  was  working  for  the  development  of  the  realm,  may  serve  to  point 
the  contrast.    Elizabeth  was  very  poor,  and  she  was  particularly  averse 
to  summoning  Parliament  and  levying  taxation  ;  she  had  little  money  \ 
to  spare  for  encouraging  improvements  in  rural  and  industrial  pursuits  i 
that  would  only  bring  indirect  gains  to  the  government.    The  King  of  \ 
France  had  a  large  permanent  income  from  taxation,  and  it  was  worth  \ 
his  while  to  invest  a  part  of  it  in  undertakings  that  were  not  directly 
remunerative ;  the  increase  of  the  wealth  of  its  subjects  was  the  surest 
method  of  increasing  the  prospective  income  of  the  Crown. 

At  the  time  when  Sully  became  superintendent  of  finances  in  1598, 
he  had  to  face  an  enormous  burden  of  debt,  entailed  by  the  expenses  ij 
of  the  Wars  in  which  Henry  had  rendered  his  possession  of  the  throne 
secure.    The  debt  amounted  to  no  less  than  348  million  livres  ;  loans 
had  been  obtained  by  pledging  the  personal  estates  of  the  King,  as 
well  as  a  large  part  of  the  receipts  from  taxation.    Only  a  com- 
paratively small  portion  of  the  taille  was  available  for  current  expen- 
diture.   Sully's  first  care  was  to  reform  the  abuses  in  the  collection  \ 
of  the  revenue  ;  he  completely  overhauled  the  fiscal  administration  and 
rendered  the  incidence  of  taxation  more  equable ;  while,  by  cancelling  ' 
heavy  arrears  of  taille^  he  relieved  the  tax-payers  from  an  intolerable  I 
burden,  and  placed  them  in  a  position  of  solvency  which  rendered  it  j 
possible  for  them  to  meet  the  current  demands  of  the  government.  { 
By  these  means  he  was  able  to  steadily  diminish  the  burden  of 
indebtedness,  while  there  was  money  at  command,  not  only  for  the 
expenses  of  the  Court,  but  also  for  much-needed  public  works. 

The  most  important  undertaking  was  that  of  facilitating  internal  j 
trade  by  improving  the  water-communication  through  different  parts  of  ■ 
France.  Humphry  Bradley,  who  had  had  much  experience  in  Holland, 
was  the  principal  engineer  employed ;  in  some  cases  rivers  were  opened 
to  the  passage  of  barges,  while  canals  were  also  laid  out  to  connect  the 
river-basins,  and  thus  to  provide  great  channels  of  through  communi- 
cation; a  canal  was  planned  between  the  Garonne  and  the  Aude 
to  complete  a  water-way  from  the  Bay  of  Biscay  to  the  Mediterranean ; 
and  another  to  connect  the  Loire  with  the  Seine  was  begun.  Great 
engineering  works  were  also  undertaken  in  the  way  of  banking  and 
draining,  so  as  to  recover  considerable  stretches  of  land  that  were  lying 
waste  ;  and  attempts  were  made  to  improve  the  facilities  for  travel  by  \ 
land,  especially  in  the  reconstruction  of  bridges.  In  many  instances  the 
town  chiefly  concerned  defrayed  part  of  this  last  expense ;  but  the  main 
burden  generally  lay  with  the  government  which  had  been  responsible 
for  initiating  these  improvements,  and  no  less  a  sum  than  a  million 
livres  a  year  was  devoted  to  the  construction  of  main  roads. 

The  policy  pursued  by  the   French  Crown  in  the   planting  of 
industry  is  open  to  criticism ;  but  it  must  at  least  be  allowed  to  ' 


The  revival  of  material  prosperity  in  France  527 


have  attained  success.  France  was  already  richly  supplied  with  the 
necessaries  of  life,  and  considerable  progress  had  been  made  in  the 
useful  arts ;  but  large  sums  were  expended  yearly  in  the  purchase  of 
luxuries,  and  it  seemed  possible  to  introduce  the  manufacture  of  silk 
and  artistic  goods,  so  that  there  should  be  less  reason  for  the  drain 
of  treasure,  and  that  the  country  might  be  entirely  self-sufficing,  not 
only  for  necessaries,  but  also  for  luxuries.  Sully  was  doubtful  as  to 
this  policy ;  he  would  have  preferred  to  check  the  use  of  luxuries  by 
sumptuary  laws,  and  to  develop  those  industries  in  which  French 
products  were  the  materials  employed.  This  objection  was  partly  met 
by  extensive  efforts  to  introduce  sericulture  on  French  soil ;  and,  on  the 
whole,  experience  seems  to  have  proved  that  the  King  was  well  advised 
in  following  the  example  of  Venice  and  Florence  and  trying  to  plant 
this  new  industry,  even  though  it  required  large  subventions  at  first. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  flourished  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  provide  an  important  and  valuable  article  of  export 
trade,  so  that  foreign  customers  had  to  pay  a  considerable  balance 
in  bullion.  The  manufacture  of  glass  and  that  of  fine  pottery  were 
introduced  during  this  reign  into  various  districts  of  France  by  persons 
who  had  special  privileges  conferred  upon  them;  the  tapestry-manu- 
facture needed  still  further  encouragement,  and  obtained  a  royal  sub- 
vention of  100,000  livres^  and  a  sum  of  150,000  livres  was  lent  to  two 
merchants  of  Rouen  who  proposed  to  undertake  the  making  of  fine 
cloth.  While  such  pains  were  taken  to  stimulate  exotic  and  plant 
new  industries,  a  very  careful  scheme  was  devised  for  the  reorganisation 
of  the  corps-de-metier,  so  as  to  provide  more  effective  supervision  for 
the  existing  trades ;  attempts  were  made  to  check  the  preposterous 
claims  of  the  "  Kings  of  the  Mercers,"  and  to  break  down  the  arbitrary 
restrictions  by  which  the  status  of  master  in  any  trade  had  been 
guarded.  A  Council  of  Commerce  was  established,  which  carried  out 
some  useful  changes  in  particular  trades,  though  it  did  not  reconstitute 
the  corps-de-mStier  as  completely  as  might  have  been  desirable.  Their 
powers  were,  however,  limited,  and  they  were  not  allowed  to  obstruct 
enterprising  individuals  who  were  trying  to  introduce  improved  processes 
of  manufacture ;  many  abuses  were  checked,  and  these  institutions  as 
modified  continued  to  be  a  convenient  piece  of  administrative  machinery. 

The  efforts  that  were  made  to  improve  agriculture  also  resulted  in 
the  stereotyping  of  the  old  social  organisation.  The  King  could  not 
interfere  to  force  on  progress  in  the  arts  of  tillage ;  all  that  could  be 
done  was  to  set  an  example  of  enterprise  on  the  royal  estates,  and  to 
bring  pressure  upon  the  magnates  to  follow  it.  The  cultivators  could 
only  be  effectively  reached  through  the  landed  aristocracy,  and  there 
was  a  tendency  to  coerce  them  for  their  good  by  the  exercise  of 
seigniorial  powers.  The  preservation  of  the  relics  of  natural  economy 
was  also  unfortunate,  inasmuch  as  the  mStayers  were  thus  cut  off  from 


528        Progressive  and  unprogressive  countries 


the  stimulating  influence  of  the  independent  pursuit  of  their  calling  as 
a  trade. 

The  French  government  was  extraordinarily  successful  in  consoli- 
dating the  nation  by  these  means.  Separate  and  local  interests  were 
cared  for ;  but  they  were  always  kept  in  conscious  subordination  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  entire  realm.  The  views  of  Henry  were  on  the  whole 
most  judicious,  and  the  suddenness  of  the  revival  of  French  prosperity 
is  a  testimony  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  administration.  But  a  heavy 
price  was  being  paid  for  these  advantages ;  the  national  economic  life 
was  rendered  dependent  on  royal  initiative  and  royal  supervision ;  in 
subsequent  times  French  industry  suffered  from  the  over-elaboration  of 
administrative  machinery,  while  the  commercial  and  colonial  develop- 
ment of  the  country  was  destitute  of  the  healthy  vigour  called  out  where 
private  enterprise  was  allowed  free  play. 

The  success  of  the  royal  policy  in  England  and  France  presents  a 
marked  contrast  to  the  failure  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  whose  ultimate 
aim  was  nevertheless  the  same ;  each  prince  desired  to  raise  the  whole 
land  over  which  he  ruled  into  the  highest  pitch  of  prosperity.  It  was 
impossible  for  Charles  V  or  Philip  II  to  accumulate  the  treasure  which 
was  so  necessary  for  the  country,  and  with  the  aid  of  which  each  hoped 
in  his  turn  to  become  the  most  powerful  ruler  in  the  world.  The 
American  silver  could  not  be  kept  in  Spain,  and  there  was  so  little 
native  capital  for  use  in  that  widely  extended  empire,  that  it  declined. 
England,  on  the  other  hand,  was  consciously  developed  by  the  great 
middle  class,  who  were  ready  to  invest  comparatively  small  sums  in 
promising  undertakings,  while  the  government  gave  active  support  to 
the  foreign  capitalists  and  workers  whose  experience  was  so  valuable. 
The  English  minister,  Cecil,  nursed  the  realm  as  carefully  as  if  he  were 
the  steward  of  a  private  estate,  but  he  was  hampered  by  the  poverty 
of  the  Crown,  and  his  great  work  lay  in  stimulating  other  people  to 
take  the  initiative  and  trust  to  themselves  for  their  own  remuneration. 

As  we  have  just  seen,  the  revival  of  France  was  due  to  the  capital  in 
the  hands  of  the  King,  whose  measures  were  largely  innovations  and 
experiments  carried  out  in  spite  of  opposition.  In  England  the  devel- 
opment of  the  country  was  carried  on  by  the  people,  in  France  for  the 
people ;  but  both  countries  attained  a  high  degree  of  national  prosperity. 
Huge  empires,  like  those  of  Macedonia  and  Rome,  had  already  been 
familiar  in  the  ancient  world,  but  nations  constituted  like  France  and 
England  were  something  quite  new.  The  intimate  union  of  all  parts  of 
such  large  areas  and  the  interdependence  of  each  part  on  the  other,  as 
well  as  the  conscious  subordination  of  local  interests  to  the  larger  idea  of 
"the  realm,"  —  these  were  conceptions  not  merely  distinct  from  the  civic 
policy  of  the  Middle  Ages  but  equally  foreign  to  the  idea  of  the  great 
polities  of  ancient  days. 


Unprogressive  towns 


529 


The  nation  is  not  only  a  new  phenomenon,  but  it  is  the  character- 
istic feature  of  what  we  are  wont  to  call  modern  times  ;  and  hence 
the  rise  of  Holland,  as  the  heir  of  Portugal  and  a  victor  over  Spain, 
the  increased  importance  of  England  and  the  revival  of  France,  mark 
an  era  in  economic  history.  The  transition  from  the  medieval  to  the 
modern  age  has  been  accomplished ;  we  are  no  longer  concerned  with 
the  struggle  of  town  with  town,  but  of  nation  with  nation,  each  trying 
to  secure  the  greatest  material  advantages  for  its  own  land  and  its  own 
people.  The  chief  economic  interest  of  the  subsequent  century  lies  in 
the  study  of  the  means  taken  by  these  three  rivals  to  build  up  their 
own  strength  and  to  weaken  their  adversaries.  Each  had  entered  on 
a  career  of  material  prosperity,  and  each  had  adapted  its  system  with 
more  or  less  success  to  modern  industrial  and  commercial  conditions. 
It  is  worth  while,  however,  to  cast  a  retrospecting  glance  at  some  of  the 
places  which  had  been  distanced  in  the  race  for  wealth,  and  to  enquire 
why  so  many  of  the  cities  which  had  attained  to  great  prosperity  in  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  failed  to  share  in  the  extraordinary 
impulse  which  was  given  to  progress  by  the  discovery  of  the  New  World 
and  its  treasures.  Some  of  them  did  not  advance,  and  others  distinctly 
declined. 

The  change  of  commercial  routes  was  the  most  obvious  reason 
for  the  decadence  of  some  of  the  magnificent  cities  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Commerce  takes  the  path  of  the  least  resistance,  and  none  of  the  overland 
routes  to  the  East  or  passes  across  the  Alps  could  compare  with  the 
convenience  of  an  unbroken  voyage  from  the  Moluccas  to  Amsterdam. 
The  Italian  and  South-German  towns  which  had  been  occupied  with  the 
Eastern  trade,  and  the  Baltic  and  Lithuanian  cities  which  had  been  the 
great  depots  of  the  Hanse  League,  ceased  to  be  the  chief  centres  of 
commerce,  and  from  the  mere  fact  of  their  geographical  position  were 
left  on  a  siding.  In  the  case  of  Stettin  and  other  towns  which  had 
been  merely  mercantile,  and  where  there  had  been  no  success  in  de- 
veloping industry  as  subsidiary  to  commerce,  the  decline  of  trade  was 
a  desperate  blow.  The  towns  which  had  developed  an  industrial  life, 
Cologne  and  Strassburg,  Augsburg  and  Niirnberg,  Venice,  Genoa,  and 
Florence,  did  indeed  suffer  severely.  They  lost  their  facilities  for  access 
to  the  best  markets  or  for  the  most  convenient  purchase  of  food  and 
materials ;  but  they  were  able  to  re-adapt  themselves  to  their  diminished 
opportunities,  and  to  utilise  their  resources  for  the  maintenance  of  a 
prosperous  though  less  notable  economic  life. 

Certain  social  conditions  prevented  some  communities  from  adopting 
innovations  which  w^re  necessary  for  maintaining  the  continuance  of 
their  prosperity.  Where  society  had  been  very  definitely  organised 
and  a  social  system  was  stereotyped,  many  insensible  hindrances 
opposed  themselves  to  modification  of  any  kind.  Success  in  the  new 
order  of  things  depended  on  adaptability.    Capitalists  were  organising 

C.  M.  H.  I.  34 


530  Obstacles  to  agricultural  progress 


industry  on  other  lines,  and  opening  up  wider  commercial  connexions. 
Those  who  were  unable  to  adopt  the  modern  methods  of  business  were 
necessarily  distanced  in  the  race.  The  industrial  centres  where  the 
craft-gilds  had  been  most  vigorous  and  had  retained  their  power  most 
successfully,  were  at  a  positive  disadvantage  in  entering  on  competition 
with  neighbours  who  had  imposed  no  such  restrictions.  Modern  nations 
have  incorporated  the  towns  which  were  formerly  so  powerful  and  which 
failed  to  maintain  the  leading  position  they  once  held  ;  this  has  been  in 
part  at  all  events  because  their  very  success  under  the  old  system  ren- 
dered them  incapable  of  giving  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  new. 

In  conjunction  with  this  social  obstacle  to  progress  may  be  specially 
noticed  the  antagonism  which  was  felt  in  many  quarters  to  the  intro- 
duction or  the  retention  of  alien  and  seemingly  incongruous  elements 
of  population.  The  strength  of  the  capitalist  system  consists  in  its 
ability  to  utilise  the  most  varied  elements.  Both  Holland,  and  to  a 
less  extent  England,  in  receiving  immigrants  from  other  countries, 
increased  their  industrial  resources  by  that  most  precious  of  all  national 
possessions,  —  great  skill  in  industrial  employments  of  every  kind. 
Varieties  of  type  and  of  intelligence  have  been  of  the  greatest  import- 
ance in  introducing  new  methods  of  business  and  improved  processes 
of  production ;  France  and  Spain,  on  the  contrary,  suffered  severely 
from  the  policy  which  insisted  on  assimilating  the  whole  population  to 
conformity  in  religious  and  political  thought. 

Such  were  the  trading  and  social  conditions  which  placed  capital  at 
a  disadvantage,  and  which  determined  those  who  controlled  it  to  seek 
opportunities  for  investment  in  other  lands.  But  there  was  one  occu- 
pation throughout  Europe  which  offered  little  attraction  to  the  enter- 
prising capitalist,  and  which  therefore  continued  to  lie  almost  outside 
the  sphere  of  his  operation.  The  agricultural  system  on  the  Continent 
in  general  was  highly  stereotyped.  In  Germany  and  Hungary  serfdom 
remained;  in  Spain,  France,  and  Italy  vestiges  of  natural  economy 
survived.  Such  a  reorganisation  of  the  population  as  would  have 
produced  better  results  presented  great  difficulties  ;  while  the  intro- 
duction of  improved  methods  often  involved  an  outlay  of  capital  and 
a  diminished  rate  of  return.  The  small  proprietary  and  cultivating 
peasantry  were  destitute  of  the  means  of  introducing  improvements, 
even  if  the  value  of  the  change  had  been  apparent.  Some  public  works 
for  the  benefit  of  agriculture  were  undertaken  by  the  Crown  both  in 
France  and  Spain;  but  it  was  only  in  Holland  where  there  was  a 
plethora  of  capital,  and  in  England  where  the  trade  of  the  farmer  was 
encouraged,  that  private  capitalists  became  interested  in  the  improve- 
ment of  the  soil.  There  was,  as  a  consequence,  little  alteration  in  the 
condition  of  the  rural  population,  and  the  first  changes  which  occurred 
with  the  gradual  introduction  of  capitalism  were  often  for  the  worse. 
It  was  left  for  the  social  and  political  revolutions  of  the  last  hundred 


Ultimate  results 


531 


years  to  sweep  away  the  system  which  had  been  previously  left  un- 
touched by  economic  progress. 

These  were  the  general  conditions  that  determined  the  ultimate 
distribution  of  the  treasure  which  was  brought  from  the  New  World. 
Transferred  in  the  sixteenth  century,  partly  in  response  to  military 
requirements,  partly  by  successful  depredation,  and  partly  by  mere 
smuggling,  this  treasure  sooner  or  later  found  its  way  into  the  hands  of 
agents  of  commerce,  who  desired  to  use  it  as  capital  and  who  employed 
it  in  the  places  and  avocations  where  they  had  most  reason  to  expect  a 
large  profit.  The  actual  return  depended  partly  on  social,  partly  on 
physical  conditions ;  but  the  results  that  followed  were  curious  and 
unequal,  for  while  some  of  the  more  backward  countries  moved  rapidly 
forward,  making  huge  strides  in  wealth  and  material  prosperity,  whole 
classes  in  every  community  and  large  districts  of  continental  Europe 
remained  almost  stationary,  untouched  and  unaffected  by  the  march  of 
progress. 

Nevertheless,  though  these  great  economic  movements  were  retarded, 
they  could  not  be  wholly  arrested.  Capitalism  has  gradually  overcome 
the  medieval  obstacles ;  it  has  swept  away  local  exclusiveness,  and  has 
been  the  means  of  developing  large  economic  areas.  A  revolution  has 
taken  place  in  business  practice,  and  the  breaking  down  of  commercial 
restrictions  is  a  change  which  has  affected  the  traders  in  all  lands. 
Industry  has  become  capitalistic,  and  the  whole  foundation  of  trading 
relations  and  commercial  morality  has  been  altered  so  as  to  open 
indefinite  possibilities  to  every  merchant.  Civic  has  given  place  to 
national  economic  life.  At  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth 
century  neither  Germany  nor  Italy  had  become  true  nations,  but  in 
the  course  of  time  the  European  peoples  have  come  to  conform  more 
and  more  to  the  larger  type  of  organisation  that  had  already  arisen  in 
England  and  in  France. 


CHAPTER  XYI 

THE  CLASSICAL  EENAISSANCE 

The  Renaissance,  in  the  largest  sense  of  the  term,  is  the  whole 
process  of  transition  in  Europe  from  the  medieval  to  the  modern  order. 
The  Revival  of  Learning,  by  which  is  meant  more  especially  the 
resuscitated  knowledge  of  classical  antiquity,  is  the  most  potent  and 
characteristic  of  the  forces  which  operated  in  the  Renaissance.  That 
revival  has  two  aspects.  In  one,  it  is  the  recovery  of  a  lost  culture ;  in 
another,  of  even  higher  and  wider  significance,  it  is  the  renewed  diffusion 
of  a  liberal  spirit  which  for  centuries  had  been  dead  or  sleeping.  The 
conception  which  dominated  the  Middle  Ages  was  that  of  the  Universal 
Empire  and  the  Universal  Church.  A  gradual  decadence  of  that  idea, 
from  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  to  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth,  was  the  clearest  outward  sign  that  a  great  change  was  be- 
ginning to  pass  over  the  world.  From  the  twelfth  century  onwards 
there  was  a  new  stirring  of  minds,  a  growing  desire  of  light;  and  the 
first  large  result  was  the  Scholastic  Philosophy.  That  was  an  attempt  to 
codify  all  existing  knowledge  under  certain  laws  and  formulas,  and  so  to 
reconcile  it  logically  with  the  one  Truth  ;  just  as  all  rights  are  referable 
to  the  one  Right,  that  is,  to  certain  general  principles  of  justice.  No 
revolt  was  implied  there,  no  break  with  the  reigning  tendencies  of 
thought.  The  direct  aim  of  the  Schoolmen  was  not,  indeed,  to  bind  all 
knowledge  to  the  rock  of  St  Peter ;  but  the  truth  which  they  took  as 
their  standard  was  that  to  which  the  Church  had  given  her  sanction. 
In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  when  Scholasticism  was  already 
waning,  another  intellectual  movement  set  in.  This  was  Humanism, 
born  in  Italy  of  a  new  feeling  for  the  past  greatness  of  Rome.  And 
now  the  barriers  so  long  imposed  on  the  exercise  of  the  reason  were 
broken  down ;  not  all  at  once,  but  by  degrees.  It  was  recognised  that 
there  had  been  a  time  when  men  had  used  all  their  faculties  of  mind 
and  imagination  without  fear  or  reproof  ;  not  restricted  to  certain  paths 
or  bound  by  formulas,  but  freely  seeking  for  knowledge  in  every  field  of 
speculation,  and  for  beauty  in  all  the  realms  of  fancy.  Those  men  had 
bequeathed  to  posterity  a  literature  different  in  quality  and  range  from 

532 


The  dark  age 


633 


anything  that  had  been  written  for  a  thousand  years.  They  had  left, 
too,  works  of  architecture  such  that  even  the  mutilated  remains  had 
been  regarded  by  legend  as  the  work  of  supernatural  beings  whom 
heathen  poets  had  constrained  by  spells.  The  pagan  view  was  now 
once  more  proclaimed,  that  man  was  made,  not  only  to  toil  and  suffer, 
but  to  enjoy.  And  naturally  enough,  in  the  first  reaction  from  a 
more  ascetic  ideal,  the  lower  side  of  ancient  life  obscured,  with  many 
men,  its  better  aspects.  It  was  thus  that  Humanism  first  appeared, 
bringing  a  claim  for  the  mental  freedom  of  man,  and  for  the  full 
development  of  his  being.  But,  in  order  to  see  the  point  of  departure, 
it  is  necessary  to  trace  in  outline  the  general  course  of  literary  tradition 
in  Europe  from  the  fifth  century  to  the  fourteenth. 

The  fall  of  the  Western  Empire  in  the  fifth  century  was  followed 
by  a  rapid  decline  of  education  and  of  general  culture.  The  later 
ages  of  classical  antiquity,  if  comparatively  poor  in  the  higher  kind  of 
literary  genius,  were  still  familiar  with  the  best  writers  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  and  continued  to  be  prolific  in  work  inspired  by  good  models. 
They  also  retained  the  traditions  of  that  civilisation  and  social  life  out 
of  which  the  classical  literature  had  arisen.  But  the  barbarian  invaders 
of  Italy  and  Gaul  were  strangers  to  that  civilisation ;  they  brought  with 
them  a  life  in  which  the  ancient  culture  found  no  place.  The  schools  of 
the  Roman  Empire  were  swept  away,  or  died  out.  Such  education  as 
survived  was  preserved  by  the  Church,  and  was  almost  wholly  confined 
to  ecclesiastics.  Monasteries  had  begun  to  multiply  in  the  West  from 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century.  Their  schools,  and  those  attached  to 
cathedrals,  alone  tempered  the  reign  of  ignorance.  The  level  of  the 
monastic  schools  was  the  higher.  In  the  cathedral  schools  the  training 
was  usually  restricted  to  such  rudiments  of  knowledge  as  were  indis- 
pensable for  the  secular  clergy,  viz.,  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and 
elementary  music.  But  even  in  the  monastic  schools  the  course  was 
usually  meagre  and  narrow.  The  superior  education  of  the  age  was  chiefly 
based  on  a  few  jejune  text-books,  compilations,  and  abridgments  from 
older  sources.  One  of  these  was  the  treatise  of  the  African  rhetorician, 
Martianus  Capella  (flor.  c.  420),  on  the  Septem  Artes  Liherales, —  gram- 
mar, logic,  rhetoric,  music,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy.  The 
form  is  allegorical ;  Mercury  weds  Philology,  and  at  their  nuptials  assigns 
the  Arts  to  her  as  handmaids.  Capella  was,  however,  regarded  with 
disfavour  by  those  Christian  teachers  who  rigorously  proscribed  pagan 
literature  ;  and  his  book,  though  it  remained  an  authority  down  to  the 
Renaissance,  was  not  everywhere  admitted.  Thus  it  is  absent  from 
Alcuin's  catalogue  (made  c.  770)  of  the  library  at  York,  a  fairly  repre- 
sentative collection  of  the  books  which  then  were  most  read.  The 
Seven  Arts  had  been  distributed,  so  early  as  the  fifth  century,  into 
the  trivium,  consisting  of  grammar,  logic,  and  rhetoric,  and  the  quad- 
rivium,  comprising  the  other  four.    Grammar  was  taught  by  excerpts 


I 


534 


Monastic  students  and  teachers 


from  Donatus  or  Priscian ;  rhetoric,  often  with  the  aid  of  extracts  from 
Cicero's  De  Inventione  and  Topica^  or  the  treatise  Ad  Herennium.  For 
the  trivium  generally  a  favourite  text-book  was  Cassiodorus  (d.  568), 
De  Artihus  et  DiscipUnis  Liheralium  Artium.  For  the  quadrivium^  and 
for  the  more  advanced  logic,  the  standard  manuals  were  the  treatises  of 
Boetius  (d.  524),  which  included  some  Latin  transcripts  from  parts  of 
Aristotle's  Organon.  Boetius,  "  the  last  of  the  Romans,"  was,  indeed, 
an  author  of  cardinal  importance  in  the  higher  education  of  the  earlier 
Middle  Ages.  Another  standard  work  was  an  encyclopaedia  of  arts 
and  sciences  by  Isidore,  Bishop  of  Seville  (d.  636),  containing  a  mass 
of  information  in  every  recognised  branch  of  knowledge  (^Originum  s. 
Etymologiarum  lihri  XX^.  It  is  characteristic  of  education  in  the 
Middle  Ages  that  compendia  of  this  poor  kind  had  largely  superseded 
their  own  classical  sources  in  the  ordinary  use  of  the  schools.  Note 
should  be  taken  also  of  the  persistent  tendency  to  look  for  allegorical 
and  mystic  senses  beneath  the  literal  meaning  of  a  passage.  This 
tendency  dates  at  least  from  the  teaching  of  Cassian  (tlor.  c.  400),  one 
of  the  chief  founders  of  Western  monachism.  It  was  applied  first  to 
the  Scriptures,  and  thence  transferred  to  other  books,  with  an  influence 
which  did  much  to  vitiate  the  medieval  study  of  literature. 

The  period  from  c.  500  to  the  latter  part  of  the  eighth  century  was 
that  during  which  the  general  level  of  knowledge  in  Europe  was  probably 
lowest.  Gregory  of  Tours  (d.  595)  could  declare  that  "  the  study  of 
letters  "  had  "  perished.'*  Nearly  two  hundred  years  later  Charles  the 
Great  re-echoed  the  complaint,  and  sought  a  remedy.  Yet,  even  in 
those  centuries,  there  were  places  of  comparative  light.  Chief  among 
these,  on  the  Continent,  were  the  Benedictine  houses.  It  was  in  528 
that  the  Abbey  of  Monte  Cassino  was  founded  by  St  Benedict.  His 
rule,  formulated  in  529,  provided  for  regular  study.  Thenceforth  his 
Order,  wherever  established,  was  a  powerful  agency  in  the  maintenance 
of  knowledge.  To  the  Benedictines  is  largely  due  the  survival  of  the 
Latin  classics  ;  indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  overrate  their  services  as 
guardians  of  books  in  the  darkest  age  of  Europe.  In  Germany  the 
Benedictine  Abbey  of  Fulda,  founded  by  St  Boniface  (d.  755),  was 
pre-eminent  during  the  ninth  century  as  a  home  of  literary  studies. 
Meanwhile  the  condition  of  letters  in  the  British  Islands  was  somewhat 
better  than  that  which  prevailed  on  the  Continent.  This  was  con- 
spicuously the  case  in  Ireland,  the  stronghold  of  Celtic  monachism, 
which  was  independent  of  Benedictine  influences.  The  Irish  monasteries,  , 
many  of  which  arose  before  500,  were  prosperous.  They  were  devoted 
to  learning,  derived  partly  from  a  monastic  community,  the  once- 
famous  Insulani,  planted  (c.  400)  by  St  Honoratus  in  the  isle  near 
Cannes  which  bears  his  name ;  and  they  had  the  unique  distinction  of  ' 
witnessing  to  an  affinity  between  the  Celtic  and  the  Hellenic  spirit.  • 
Alone  among  the  religious  houses  of  the  West  in  that  age,  they  fostered 


The  schools  of  Charles  the  Great 


535 


the  study  of  the  Greek  Fathers.  Ireland  sent  forth  not  a  few  of  the 
scholars  and  missionaries  whose  names  shine  most  clearly  through  the 
gloom  of  those  centuries  :  St  Columba  (d.  597),  who  made  lona  a  centre 
of  light  for  northern  Britain  ;  St  Columbanus  (d.  615),  a  founder  and 
reformer  of  monastic  houses  in  Europe ;  Clement,  who  succeeded  Alcuin 
(c.  798)  as  head  of  the  school  at  Aachen;  and  John  Scotus  Erigena 
(d.  c.  875),  whose  acquirements  included  some  knowledge  of  Greek,  and 
whose  independence  as  a  philosophical  thinker  renders  him  the  most 
interesting  intellectual  figure  of  the  ninth  century.  England  also,  from 
600  to  800,  was  probably  less  dark  than  the  Continent.  Augustine,  a 
Benedictine,  and  his  Roman  fellow-missionaries,  came  in  597,  bringing 
with  them  the  Latin  language  and  Latin  books.  In  668  the  Greek 
Theodore  became  seventh  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  was  zealous 
for  the  promotion  of  learning,  and  certainly  introduced  some  knowledge 
of  Greek  among  his  clergy,  though  the  measure  and  duration  of  that 
knowledge  are  uncertain.  Baeda  (d.  735),  the  ascetic  monk  of  Jarrow, 
was  the  comprehensive  interpreter  of  all  the  literature,  theological,  his- 
torical, and  educational,  which  had  come  into  England  with  Christianity. 
Alcuin  (d.  804),  trained  in  the  famous  monastery  of  York,  where  he 
afterwards  presided  over  the  school,  won  repute  as  a  theologian,  and 
more  especially  as  a  grammarian.  He  does  not  seem  to  have  been  a 
man  of  originality  or  force,  and  he  inherited  the  narrow  view  which 
was  adverse  to  pagan  lore ;  but,  under  the  auspices  of  Charles  the  Great, 
he  did  a  large  work  for  education. 

The  reign  of  that  monarch  (768-814)  saw  the  first  large  and 
systematic  effort  towards  a  restoration  of  letters.  The  motives  which 
actuated  the  new  Emperor  of  the  West  were  primarily  political  and 
social.  He  felt  that  it  was  of  vital  moment  for  his  realm  to  mitigate 
the  mischief  and  reproach  of  illiteracy.  In  782  he  induced  Alcuin  to 
leave  York  and  take  up  his  abode  at  Aachen,  as  the  head  of  a  school 
in  connexion  with  the  Court.  With  Alcuin's  advice  and  aid,  he  did 
his  best  to  stimulate  and  improve  the  only  educational  agencies  which 
existed,  —  those  of  the  episcopal  and  monastic  schools.  Bishops  were 
encouraged  to  provide  elementary  instruction  for  the  children  of  the 
laity.  The  Capitulary  of  789  directs  the  more  important  monasteries 
to  establish  higher  schools  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  schools  provided 
by  religious  houses.  Not  a  few  of  these  higher  schools  became  dis- 
tinguished. Foremost  among  them  was  that  of  the  Abbey  of  Fulda. 
Others  belonged  to  the  Abbeys  of  Tours,  Reims,  St  Gall,  and  Corvey. 
Throughout  the  ninth  century  such  schools  rendered  good  service  to 
learnmg.  Rabanus  Maurus,  Abbot  of  Fulda  (d.  856),  who  was  free 
from  any  blind  prejudice  against  the  classics,  did  much  to  liberalise 
monastic  studies.  His  pupil.  Lupus  Servatus,  had  a  wide  range  of 
reading  in  good  Latin  authors,  and  studied  them  with  a  zeal  not 
unworthy  of  the  Renaissance.    Many  of  these  monastic  schools  perished 


636 


Medieval  study  of  Latin 


in  the  tenth  century.  In  the  second  half  of  that  century,  however,  the 
Emperor  Otto  the  Great  (936-73)  enlarged  the  horizon  and  stimu- 
lated the  culture  of  the  German  people.  His  reign  brought  security  to 
such  seats  of  study  as  existed ;  and  their  welfare  was  promoted  by  his- 
brother,  the  learned  Bruno,  Archbishop  of  Cologne. 

Gerbert,  afterwards  Pope  Sylvester  II,  who  died  in  1003,  shows  how 
much  was  possible  for  a  gifted  scholar  in  the  tenth  century.  He  had 
not  merely  read  a  great  deal  of  the  best  Latin  literature,  but  had 
appreciated  it  on  the  literary  side,  had  imbibed  something  of  its  spirit, 
and  had  found  in  it  an  instrument  of  self-culture.  His  case  is,  indeed, 
a  very  exceptional  one.  But  some  knowledge,  at  least,  of  the  Latin 
classics  was  not  even  then  a  rare  accomplishment.  A  tradition  of 
learning,  derived  especially  from  Fulda,  had  been  created,  which  de- 
scended without  a  break  to  the  time  when  the  University  of  Paris 
arose.  Nowhere  on  the  Continent  was  there  such  a  violent  interruption, 
or  such  a  general  blight  upon  culture,  as  was  caused  in  England  and 
Ireland  by  the  raids  of  the  destroying  Northmen.  From  about  the  end 
of  the  tenth  century  onwards  culture  began  to  be  somewhat  more  widely 
diffused.  There  are  indications  that  the  course  of  Latin  reading  in 
the  better  schools  was  now  no  longer  confined  to  meagre  text-books, 
but  had  become  fairly  liberal.  Thus  at  the  school  of  Paderborn  in 
Westphalia,  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  the  plan  of  study  included 
Virgil,  Horace,  Statins,  and  Sallust.  Towards  the  close  of  that  century, 
Bernard  of  Chartres,  after  teaching  his  pupils  the  rules  of  grammar 
from  Donatus  and  Priscian,  led  them  on  to  the  Latin  poets,  orators,  and 
historians,  dwelling  especially  on  the  rhetorical  precepts  of  Cicero  and 
Quintilian.  His  method  is  praised  by  John  of  Salisbury,  writing  in  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  who  was  himself  strongly  imbued  with  a 
love  of  classical  studies,  being  especially  familiar  with  Horace,  and  with 
much  of  Cicero.  Among  other  classics  who  found  medieval  readers 
may  be  named  Terence  (a  favourite),  Ovid,  Lucan,  Martial,  Caesar, 
Livy,  and  Suetonius.  The  incipient  revival  of  a  better  literary  taste 
was  checked  in  the  thirteenth  century  by  the  influence  of  the  Scholastic 
Philosophy.  That  discipline,  intent  on  subtleties  of  logic  and  meta- 
physic,  was  indifferent  to  literary  form,  and  soon  became  encumbered 
with  the  technical  jargon  which  Erasmus  ridicules.  Such  doctors  as 
Albertus  Magnus  and  Duns  Scotus  lent  the  prestige  of  their  authority 
to  barbarous  Latin.  In  the  Universities  dialectic  now  shared  the  foremost 
place  with  theology,  and  their  professors  were  generally  adverse  to  the 
literary  subjects  represented  by  the  trivium.  In  England,  France,  and 
Germany,  during  the  thirteenth  century,  the  study  of  ancient  literature 
gained  no  ground,  but  rather  receded;  and  the  fourteenth  century 
showed  no  improvement.  Italy,  meanwhile,  where  the  Scholastic  Philo- 
sophy had  taken  less  hold,  had  been  showing  some  signs  of  a  growing 
interest  in  the  Latin  classics  for  more  than  a  century  before  Petrarch. 


Loss  of  Greek  in  the  West 


537 


With  him  the  Italian  revival  of  learning  began  in  earnest,  and  at  a 
time  when,  owing  to  the  causes  above  noticed,  there  were  as  yet  few 
symptoms  of  such  a  movement  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe. 

The  medieval  fortunes  of  the  Latin  classics  differed  widely  from 
those  of  the  Greek.  The  classical  Latin  language  and  literature 
were  never  wholly  lost.  But,  after  the  fifth  century,  a  knowledge  of 
classical  Greek  rapidly  faded  out  of  the  West,  until  it  became  practically 
extinct.  Between  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire  and  the  Renaissance, 
no  general  provision  for  teaching  Greek  existed  in  the  West,  similar  to 
that  which  was  made  in  regard  to  Latin.  Charles  the  Great  wished, 
indeed,  to  restore  Greek,  mainly  for  the  practical  purpose  of  intercourse 
with  the  East.  One  of  the  Capitularies  attests  his  design  ("  Grraecas  et 
Latinas  scholas  in  perpetuum  manere  ordinavimus  ")  ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  his  purpose  was  anywhere  fulfilled.  Some  study  of  Greek  was 
fostered,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  Irish  monasteries ;  and  a  few  instances 
of  it  occur  in  other  places.  Thus  in  the  tenth  century  Greek  was 
studied  by  some  brethren  of  the  Abbey  of  St  Gall.  The  Council  of 
Vienne  (1311)  had  proposed  to  establish  chairs  of  Greek  in  several  cities 
of  Europe;  but  nothing  was  done.  Several  eminent  men  of  western 
Europe,  in  the  course  of  those  centuries,  certainly  possessed  some 
knowledge  of  Greek,  though  it  is  often  difficult  to  say  how  much. 
After  the  schism  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  sporadic 
settlements  of  Greeks  occurred  in  the  West,  especially  in  France ;  and 
Latin  controversialists  had  a  new  motive  for  acquiring  the  language  of 
their  opponents.  Grosseteste,  according  to  Matthew  Paris,  was  aided 
by  a  Greek  priest  of  St  Albans  in  translating  the  Testament  of  the 
Twelve  Patriarchs  into  Latin.  The  Benedictine  historians  give  lists  of 
the  persons  in  each  century  who  were  reputed  to  know  Greek ;  but  it 
may  well  be  that  these  lists,  short  though  they  are,  include  men  who 
had  merely  gained  some  slight  knowledge  of  the  language  from  inter- 
course with  Greeks.  In  Italy,  doubtless,  the  number  of  those  who  knew 
some  Greek  was  larger  than  elsewhere,  owing  to  the  greater  closeness 
of  Italy's  relations  with  the  East.  But  even  at  Constantinople  itself,  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  a  sound  knowledge  of  ancient  Greek  was  con- 
fined to  a  narrow  circle ;  and  an  intelligent  appreciation  of  the  ancient 
Hellenic  literature  was  probably  rarer  still. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  guard  against  the  notion  that  the  Italian 
revival  of  learning  was  something  more  sudden  and  abrupt  than  it 
actually  was.  The  movement  in  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century  would  appear  almost  miraculous,  if  the  new  light  were  supposed 
to  have  flashed  upon  Italy,  at  Petrarch's  word,  from  a  background  of 
utter  darkness.  The  fact  is  rather  that  the  dawn  had  long  been 
growing  in  the  sky.  On  the  other  hand,  the  revival  which  dates  from 
Petrarch  was,  in  a  very  definite  sense,  the  beginning  of  a  new  era. 
The  appreciation  of  classical  antiquity  which  came  with  it  differed  in 


538 


The  Italian  Revival,  Petrarch 


two  respects  from  any  which  the  earlier  Middle  Ages  could  show.  In 
the  first  place,  the  excellence  of  literary  form  exhibited  by  the  ancient 
masters  of  Latin  style  now  became  a  direct  object  of  study  and  of 
imitation.  Such  portions  of  these  authors  as  had  been  read  in  the 
period  preceding  the  Renaissance  had  been  valued  chiefly  for  the  facts, 
or  sentiments,  or  supposed  allegorical  meanings,  which  could  be  drawn 
from  them ;  they  were,  as  a  rule,  but  dimly  apprehended  as  literature, 
and  had  very  little  influence  on  the  medieval  writing  of  Latin.  The 
second  difference  was  still  more  important.  Ancient  literature  was  now 
welcomed,  not  only  as  supplying  standards  of  form,  but  as  disclosing  a 
new  conception  of  life;  a  conception  freer,  larger,  more  rational,  and 
more  joyous,  than  the  medieval ;  one  which  gave  unfettered  scope  to 
the  play  of  the  human  feelings,  to  the  sense  of  beauty,  and  to  all  the 
activities  of  the  intellect.  Ancient  Latin  writers  used  the  word 
humanitas  to  denote  the  civilising  and  refining  influence  of  polite  letters 
and  of  the  liberal  arts ;  as  they  also  applied  the  epithet  humanus  to  a 
character  which  had  received  that  influence.  The  Italian  scholars  of 
the  Renaissance,  to  whom  the  classical  literature  of  antiquity  was  not 
merely  a  model,  but  a  culture,  and  indeed  a  life,  found  it  natural  to 
employ  a  phrase  not  used  by  the  ancients,  and  to  speak  of  litterae 
humanae  or  litterae  humaniores ;  meaning  by  the  comparative,  not 
"  secular  rather  than  theological,"  but  "  distinctively  humane  " ;  more 
so,  that  is,  than  other  literature.  The  "humanist,"  a  term  already 
known  to  Ariosto,  is  the  student  of  humane  letters.  A  man  like  John 
of  Salisbury,  imbued  with  the  loving  study  of  good  Latin  classics,  or 
even  a  man  like  Gerbert,  whose  genius  gave  almost  a  foretaste  of  the 
revival,  was  still  divided  by  a  broad  and  deep  gulf  from  the  Italian 
humanist  of  the  age  opened  by  Petrarch.  Medieval  orthodoxy  would 
have  recoiled  from  that  view  of  human  life,  and  especially  from  that 
claim  of  absolute  liberty  for  the  reason,  which  formed  part  of  the 
humanist's  ideal.  Indeed  we  are  continually  reminded,  throughout  the 
course  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  that  the  new  movement  has  medieval 
forces  to  combat  or  to  reconcile.  It  is  only  some  of  the  clearer  and 
stronger  spirits,  in  that  time  of  transition,  that  thoroughly  succeed  in 
harmonising  Christian  teaching  with  a  full  acceptance  of  the  New 
Learning. 

Francesco  Petrarca  (1304-74),  —  who  thus  modified,  for  euphony's 
sake,  his  surname  Petracco,  —  was  born  at  Arezzo.  He  was  nine  years 
old  when  his  father  settled  at  Avignon,  the  seat,  since  1309,  of  the 
Papacy.  At  Avignon  Petrarch  passed  his  boyhood,  —  already  charmed, 
at  school,  by  Cicero's  periods  ;  and  there,  when  he  was  twenty-three,  he 
saw  in  a  church  the  Laura  of  his  sonnets.  The  central  interest  of  his 
life,  from  an  early  age,  was  in  the  classical  past  of  Italy.  He  longed  to 
see  the  ancient  glories  of  Rome  revived.  Twice,  in  poetical  epistles,  he 
adjured  Benedict  XII  to  quit  the  "  Babylon  "  on  the  Rhone  for  the  city 


PetrarcKs  work  for  Humanism 


539 


on  the  Tiber.  In  1336,  when  he  saw  Rome  for  the  first  time,  he  was 
impressed  by  the  contrast  between  the  grandeur  of  the  decaying  monu- 
ments and  the  squalor  of  their  medieval  surroundings.  Then  he  spent 
some  years  in  his  beautiful  retreat  at  Vaucluse,  near  Avignon,  brooding 
on  Roman  history.  There  he  began  a  Latin  epic,  Africa^  with  Scipio 
Africanus  for  its  hero,  a  poem  which  slowly  grew  under  his  hands,  but 
was  never  completed ;  tame  in  parts,  and  lacking  Virgilian  finish,  yet  full 
of  powerful  and  musical  lines.  But  it  was  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  his 
Canzoniere^  —  where  he  had  reached  absolute  perfection  within  a  limited 
sphere,  —  that  won  him  the  honor  of  being  crowned  with  the  laurel  on 
the  Capitol  at  Rome  (1341,  aet.  37).  Thenceforth  he  was  recognised  as 
the  foremost  man  of  letters  in  Europe.  When,  in  May,  1347,  Rienzi 
was  proclaimed  head  of  "  the  Holy  Roman  Republic,"  Petrarch  hailed 
the  "  tribune "  as  a  heaven-sent  deliverer,  who  was  to  rid  Italy  of 
the  "foreign  tyrants,"  as  humanism  loved  to  style  the  feudal  nobles. 
With  many  of  these  "  tyrants,"  such  as  the  Colonnesi  and  the  Visconti, 
Petrarch  lived,  then  and  afterwards,  on  terms  of  much  cordiality  and 
reciprocal  advantage.  Patriotic  archaeology  had  inspired  that  crazy 
scheme  of  restoring  the  Roman  Commonwealth.  But  the  same  en- 
thusiasm for  classical  antiquity  made  Petrarch  the  leader  in  a  solid  and 
permanent  restoration  of  literature. 

He  was  steeped  in  the  life,  the  thoughts,  and  the  emotions  of  the 
Latin  classics.  His  way  of  using  them  might  be  contrasted  with 
Dante's  in  the  Be  Monarchia.  To  Petrarch  they  were  real  men,  his 
Italian  ancestors.  He  was  the  first  who  zealously  collected  Latin 
manuscripts,  inscriptions,  and  coins.  He  was  the  first  typical  humanist 
in  his  cultivation  of  Latin  style.  And  with  him  the  imitatio  veterum 
was  never  slavish.  In  a  letter  to  Boccaccio  he  remarks  that  the  re- 
semblance of  a  modern's  work  to  his  ancient  model  should  not  be  that 
of  a  portrait  to  the  original,  but  rather  the  family  likeness  of  child  to 
parent.  He  deprecated  even  the  smallest  debts  of  phrase  to  the  ancients, 
and  was  annoyed  when  it  was  pointed  out  to  him  that  in  one  of  his 
Eclogues  he  had  unconsciously  borrowed  from  Virgil  the  words  atque 
intonat  ore.  The  Latin  letters  which  he  poured  out  so  abundantly  were 
in  large  part  finished  essays,  in  a  style  founded  mainly  on  Seneca  and 
St  Augustine,  but  tinged  (especially  in  his  later  period)  by  Cicero.  In 
them  he  was  ever  pleading,  directly  or  indirectly,  the  cause  of  humanism. 
An  orthodox  Churchman,  a  student  of  the  Vulgate  and  of  the  Fathers, 
he  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  neopaganism  of  some  later  men. 
He  advocated  the  study  of  the  classics  as  the  key  to  a  larger  mental  life, 
not  contrary  to  the  Christian,  but  ancillary  to  it;  one  which  should 
educate  and  exercise  men's  highest  faculties.  In  all  subjects  he  was 
adverse  to  pedantic  and  narrowing  methods.  If  his  egotism  was  ab- 
sorbing, it  was  the  reflex  of  a  passion  for  self-culture ;  here  he  had  a 
kinship  with  Goethe.    The  desire  of  fame  was  a  ruling  motive  with  him, 


540  Obstacles  to  a  revival  of  Greek 


as  with  so  many  Italians  of  the  maturer  Renaissance  ;  but  in  him  it  was  in- 
separable from  the  desire  to  have  a  new  pattern  of  self-culture  recognised. 

Nor  did  he  plead  in  vain.  The  age  was  ready  for  some  new 
kind  of  intellectual  activity ;  the  subtleties  of  the  Schoolmen's  dialectic 
were  beginning  to  pall,  and  the  professional  studies  of  the  Universities 
were  unsatisfying.  Petrarch,  by  his  great  gifts  and  unique  position^ 
succeeded  in  making  countless  friends  and  patrons  for  humanism  among 
those  persons  whose  favour  was  indispensable  to  its  earlier  progress. 
For  it  should  be  remembered  that  humanism  was  not  cradled  in  the 
bosom  of  Universities,  —  which,  indeed,  for  a  long  while,  were  mostly 
hostile  to  it;  nor,  again,  was  it  brought  in  by  a  sweeping  movement 
of  the  popular  mind.  Humanism  depended,  in  its  infancy  and  youth, 
on  encouragement  by  powerful  and  wealthy  individuals,  through  whom 
the  humanist  gained  a  footing  and  an  audience  in  this  or  that  Italian 
city.  Petrarch  won  the  ear  of  men  who  became  patrons  of  humanism. 
But  he  did  more  than  that.  He  stimulated  an  inner  circle  of  disciples, 
foremost  among  whom  was  his  devoted  friend  and  admirer,  Boccaccio. 
When,  therefore,  Petrarch  is  designated  as  the  "father"  or  "founder" 
of  humanism,  the  description  is  correct,  if  rightly  understood.  He  was, 
in  his  own  person,  the  first  brilliant  humanist;  he  was  also  the  first 
effective  propagator  of  humanism  in  the  world  at  large ;  and  he  inspired 
chosen  pupils  who  continued  the  tradition. 

In  his  letter  To  Horner^  Petrarch  says,  "I  have  not  been  so  for- 
tunate as  to  learn  Greek."  But  he  had  at  least  made  some  attempt 
to  do  so.  Barlaam,  a  Calabrian  by  birth,  who  had  long  resided  at 
Constantinople,  came  to  Italy  in  1339  on  a  mission  from  the  Emperor 
Cantacuzenus.  It  was  probably  in  1342  that  Petrarch  began  to  study 
Greek  with  him.  "  I  had  thrown  myself  into  the  work,"  he  says,  "with 
eager  hope  and  keen  desire.  But  the  strangeness  of  the  foreign  tongue, 
and  the  early  departure  of  my  teacher,  baffled  my  purpose."  The 
failure,  thus  shortly  told,  throws  an  instructive  light  on  the  difficulties 
which  beset  a  revival  of  Greek.  No  aids  to  the  acquisition  of  Greek 
then  existed  in  the  Latin  or  the  Italian  language.  The  rudiments  of 
grammar  and  vocabulary  could  be  acquired  only  from  a  Greek-speaking 
teacher.  If  the  learner's  aim  had  been  merely  to  gain  some  knowledge 
of  the  Romaic  spoken  and  written  in  the  daily  life  of  the  Levant, 
tutors  in  plenty  could  have  been  found  at  Venice,  or  at  any  Italian 
centre  of  commerce.  But  a  scholarly  knowledge  of  ancient  Greek  was 
a  rare  attainment ;  rarer  still  was  a  scholarly  acquaintance  with  the 
Greek  classics.  Even  at  Constantinople  such  knowledge  was  then  pos- 
sessed only  by  a  few  persons  of  superior  education,  including  those 
who  were  professional  students  or  men  of  letters.  A  Greek  teacher 
of  this  class  could  be  drawn  to  Italy,  as  a  rule,  only  by  some  definite 
prospect  of  honour  and  emolument.  The  Italian  revival  of  Greek  in 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  was  effected  mainly  by  a  small 


Boccaccio.  —  Chrysoloras  at  Florence  541 


number  of  highly-accomplished  Greeks,  who  were  induced  to  settle  as 
professors  at  Florence  or  other  centres.  The  revival  was  also  furthered 
by  the  visits  which  several  Italian  scholars  made  to  Constantinople  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  the  language  there.  In  viewing  the  Italian 
revival  of  Greek  as  a  whole,  we  must  remember  its  essential  dependence 
on  these  sources.  The  higher  Byzantine  level  of  Greek  scholarship  in 
that  age  was  the  highest  to  which  Italy  could  then  aspire.  Italian 
students  of  Greek  in  the  earlier  and  middle  periods  of  the  Renaissance 
learned  the  classical  language  from  men  to  whom  its  modern  form  was 
a  vernacular.  This  was,  in  one  way,  a  distinct  advantage,  since  there 
is  a  large  continuity  both  of  idiom  and  of  vocabulary  between  classical 
Greek  and  the  more  polished  modern  Greek.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Byzantine  feeling  for  the  genius  and  style  of  the  classical  literature 
had  become  grievously  defective. 

Boccaccio  is  the  first  Italian  of  the  Renaissance  who  is  known  to 
have  made  any  progress  in  the  study  of  Greek.  He  was  impelled  to  it 
by  the  advice  of  Petrarch,  a  friend  to  whom  his  modest  and  affectionate 
nature  gave  an  ungrudging  and  unbounded  worship.  His  teacher  was 
Leontius  Pilatus,  a  pupil  of  the  Barlaam  who  had  been  Petrarch's 
instructor,  and,  like  him,  a  Calabrian  who  had  migrated  to  Byzantium. 
The  notion  of  Leontius  to  be  gathered  from  Petrarch  (who  had  read 
with  him  at  Venice),  and  from  Boccaccio,  again  illustrates  the  diffi- 
culty of  finding  tolerable  Greek  teaching  in  Italy.  Leontius  evidently 
knew  little  or  nothing  beyond  the  Byzantine  Greek  of  the  day  ;  he  was 
stupid  and  pretentious ;  his  temper  appears  to  have  been  morose,  and  his 
personal  habits  were  repulsive.  Nevertheless  Boccaccio  received  him  into 
his  house  at  Florence,  and  caused  him  to  be  appointed  professor  of  Greek 
in  the  Studio  there.  He  made  for  Boccaccio  a  bald  and  faulty  translation 
of  Homer  into  bad  Latin  prose,  which  was  sent  to  Petrarch,  and  received 
by  him  as  an  inestimable  boon. 

But  the  first  real  teacher  of  Greek  in  Italy,  the  man  with  whom  the 
revival  of  Greek  learning  in  the  West  began,  was  Manuel  Chrysoloras, 
who  lectured  on  Greek  at  Florence  from  1397  to  1400.  He  was  a 
Byzantine  of  good  family,  who  had  previously  visited  Italy  on  a  mission 
from  the  Emperor  Paleologus,  for  the  purpose  of  seeking  aid  against 
the  Turks.  Some  cultivated  Florentines,  who  had  then  met  him,  after- 
wards prevailed  on  the  Signoria  of  Florence  to  offer  him  the  chair  of 
Greek,  which  he  accepted.  His  coming  made  an  epoch  in  the  history 
of  European  letters.  He  was  a  scholar,  able  to  interpret  the  classical 
Greek  poets  and  prose-writers  ;  and  he  was  eloquent.  The  enthusiasm 
created  at  Florence  must  have  been  remarkable.  For  the  first  time, 
Italians  were  placed  in  sympathy  with  the  Ancient  Greek  mind  at  its 
best.  Ardent  students,  young  and  old,  including  several  who  afterwards 
became  eminent,  crowded  the  lecture-room.  One  of  these  was  Lionardo 
Bruni,  well  known  in  later  life  for  his  Latin  History  of  Florence^  as  also 


542  Other  Greek  teachers  in  Italy 

for  translations  from  Plato,  Aristotle,  Demosthenes,  and  Plutarch.  He 
has  described  the  powerful  spell  by  which  the  new  teacher  drew  him 
away  from  the  study  of  Civil  Law.  It  is  especially  noteworthy  that  he 
speaks  of  Chrysoloras,  without  hesitation,  as  opening  a  new  era.  "  The 
knowledge  of  Greek,"  he  says,  "  was  revived,  after  an  interval  of  seven 
centuries."  (He  might  have  said,  eight  or  nine.)  "  Chrysoloras  of  By- 
zantium . . .  brought  us  Greek  learning ...  I  gave  myself  to  his  teaching 
with  such  ardour,  that  my  dreams  at  night  were  filled  with  what  I  had 
learned  from  him  by  day.  "  Another  scholar,  who  met  Chrysoloras  at 
Pavia,  Pier  Candido  Decembrio,  speaks  of  him  with  a  similar  enthusiasm. 
The  Greek  Grammar  of  Chrysoloras,  in  the  form  of  questions  and 
answers  (^Erotemata)^  was  the  earliest  modern  book  of  the  kind.  Florence 
was  then  the  intellectual  centre  of  Italy ;  and  throughout  the  fifteenth 
century  it  continued  to  be  pre-eminently  the  home  of  Greek  studies, 
while  at  the  same  time  taking  its  full  share  in  the  advancement  of 
Latin  scholarship.  But  Chrysoloras  did  not  confine  his  activities  to 
Florence.  He  taught  Greek  at  Pavia  (for  some  time  between  1400  and 
1403) ;  as  well  as  at  Milan,  at  Venice,  and  perhaps  at  Rome.  He 
visited  Padua  also,  but  did  not  teach  there. 

The  movement  so  powerfully  and  widely  initiated  by  Chrysoloras 
was  continued  by  several  of  his  compatriots,  most  of  whom  came  to 
Italy  between  1400  and  the  capture  of  Constantinople  in  1453.  The 
restoration  of  Greek  letters  in  Italy  preceded  the  fall  of  the  Eastern 
Empire,  and  was  not,  as  has  sometimes  been  supposed,  a  result  of 
emigrations  caused  by  that  event.  The  Greeks  who  chiefly  effected  the 
revival  were  drawn  westward  by  the  demand  for  teachers  which  offered 
them  distinguished  and  lucrative  careers.  The  subsequent  break-up  of 
Byzantine  society  sent  over,  no  doubt,  a  fresh  stream  of  exiles,  and 
reinforced  the  ranks  of  Hellenism  in  the  West ;  but  by  that  time  Greek 
studies  in  Italy  were  already  vigorous. 

A  few  names  stand  pre-eminent  in  the  series  of  Greeks  who 
furthered  the  Hellenic  Renaissance.  Georgius  Trapezuntius  (George 
of  Trebizond),  who  came  to  Italy  about  1420,  taught  at  Venice, 
Florence,  Rome,  and  elsewhere.  His  work  is  more  especially  associated 
with  Rome,  where  his  criticisms  on  Plato  brought  him  into  controversy 
with  his  compatriot.  Cardinal  Bessarion.  While  primarily  busied  with 
his  native  language,  George  of  Trebizond  also  gained  the  highest  repute 
as  a  master  of  Latin  style.  Theodorus  Gaza,  arriving  in  Italy  about 
1430,  taught  Greek  for  some  nine  years  (1441-50)  at  Ferrara,  and 
afterwards  settled  at  Rome.  His  best-known  works  were  translations 
from  Aristotle,  and  a  Greek  grammar,  which  was  already  a  classic  when 
printed  by  Aldus  in  1495.  The  study  of  Plato  and  the  Neoplatonists 
at  Florence  received  a  marked  impetus  from  the  visit  in  1438  of 
Gemistos  Pie thon,  whose  mysticism,  if  eccentric  and  sometimes  extrava- 
gant, was  allied  with  power  and  sincerity.    It  was  his  influence  which 


Progress  of  Latin  scholarship  543 


led  Cosmo  de'  Medici  to  found  the  Platonic  Academy  of  Florence. 
Another  fruit  of  his  visit  was  the  Latin  translation  of  Plato  by  Marsilio 
Ficino  (printed  in  1482).  Among  the  Greek  teachers  specially  associ- 
ated with  Florence  none,  perhaps,  is  more  worthy  of  a  place  next  to 
Chrysoloras  than  John  Argyropoulos,  who  held  the  Greek  chair  for 
fifteen  years  (1456-71),  afterwards  going  to  Rome,  where  one  of  his 
best  pupils  was  Reuchlin.  Somewhat  later  the  Florentine  professor- 
ship was  held  by  Andronicus  Callistus,  who  had  Politian  among  his 
hearers.  It  was  about  1447  that  Demetrius  Chalcondylas  came  from 
Constantinople  to  Rome.  He  obtained  the  chair  of  Greek  at  Perugia, 
where  he  taught  with  great  success.  Other  names  of  high  merit  might 
be  cited,  but  perhaps  only  one  remains  which  is  of  quite  the  same  rank 
as  those  above  mentioned.  John  Lascaris,  much  of  whose  work  as  a 
teacher  was  done  in  Paris,  was  invited  by  Leo  X  to  Rome,  where  he 
helped  to  promote  Greek  studies.  After  another  visit  to  France,  he 
died  at  Rome  in  1535.  These  Greek  restorers  of  Greek  letters  in  the 
West  were  happy  in  the  season  of  their  labours.  The  temper  of  the  age 
is  reflected  in  Bruni's  enthusiasm  for  Chrysoloras,  and  in  the  words 
which  a  young  student  at  Perugia  wrote  concerning  the  lectures  of 
Chalcondylas  :  —  "A  Greek  has  just  come,  and  has  begun  to  teach  me 
with  great  diligence,  while  I  listen  to  him  with  indescribable  pleasure, 
because  he  is  a  Greek.  .  .  It  seems  to  me  as  if  in  him  were  mirrored  the 
wisdom,  the  refined  intelligence,  and  the  elegance  of  those  famous  men 
of  old." 

Meanwhile  the  revival  of  Latin  scholarship  was  following  the  course 
on  which  it  had  been  started  by  Petrarch.  Giovanni  di  Conversino  da 
Ravenna,  who  had  lived  as  a  pupil  in  Petrarch's  house,  became  the  most 
eminent  Latinist  of  his  time.  He  was  the  earliest  example  of  a  teacher 
who  went  from  city  to  city,  communicating  his  own  ardour  to  successive 
groups  of  students ;  but  the  chief  scene  of  his  labours  was  Padua,  where 
he  was  professor  of  rhetoric  from  1392  to  about  1405.  Among  his 
pupils  were  two  who  were  destined  to  become  famous  as  humanist 
educators,  Vittorino  da  Feltre  and  Guarino  da  Verona.  Conversino's 
favourite  author  was  Cicero,  but  he  lectured  also  on  the  Roman  poets. 
Though  not  distinguished  as  a  writer,  he  contributed  by  his  teaching  to 
that  zealous  study  of  Latin  style  which  was  a  characteristic  feature  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance. 

The  "  imitation  of  the  ancients  "  was  more  than  a  literary  fashion  or 
a  pedantic  exercise.  It  sprang  from  the  desire  of  Italians,  for  whom 
Latin  literature  was  being  opened  anew,  to  recover  the  tongue  of  their 
Roman  ancestors,  —  that  language,  barbarised  in  the  course  of  centuries, 
which  bore  witness  to  the  ancient  glories  of  the  land  in  which  they  lived, 
and  to  the  civilisation  whose  monuments  were  around  them.  Italy 
had  many  dialects,  and  Tuscan,  even  in  the  fifteenth  century,  had  only 
a  limited  currency,  while  Latin  was  an  universal  language.  Practical 


544  Latin  letter-writing 

utility  thus  conspired  with  patriotic  sentiment  and  with  the  zeal  of 
scholarship.  But  it  was  not  easy  to  lift  Latin  to  a  higher  level,  while 
the  medieval  form  of  it  was  still  current  in  the  learned  professions,  in 
the  offices  of  the  Church,  and  in  ordinary  correspondence.  Letter- 
writing  was  the  department  of  Latin  composition  to  which  the  humanists 
naturally  and  properly  gave  their  first  attention.  It  was  in  this  that 
Petrarch  had  especially  shown  his  power.  His  younger  contemporary, 
Coluccio  de'  Salutati,  who  became  Chancellor  of  Florence  in  1375,  set 
the  example  of  writing  classical  and  elegant  Latin  in  public  documents. 
The  higher  standard  of  official  and  diplomatic  Latinity  which  he 
introduced  had  the  effect  of  opening  employment  to  professional  scholars 
in  many  chanceries  and  Courts  of  Italy.  A  close  study  of  Cicero's 
Letters,  with  a  view  to  correctness  and  fluency  in  Latin  correspondence, 
won  a  reputation  for  Gasparino  da  Barzizza,  who,  on  the  invitation  of 
Filippo  Maria  Visconti,  opened  a  school  at  Milan  in  1418. 

Latin  epistolography  was  now  cultivated  as  a  special  branch  of 
literature.  The  letters  exchanged  between  eminent  scholars  were,  as  a 
rule,  private  only  in  form,  being  vehicles  for  the  display  of  style,  wit, 
and  learning.  They  were  usually  intended,  if  not  for  publication  in  the 
modern  sense,  at  least  for  a  large  circulation.  The  range  of  topics 
was  conventionally  restricted  by  a  pervading  desire  to  write  somewhat 
as  Cicero  might  have  written  to  Atticus.  Notices  of  books  and  manu- 
scripts, literary  criticism,  introductions  or  recommendations  of  friends, 
requests  and  commissions,  thanks,  compliments,  occasional  glimpses  into 
the  writer's  daily  occupations,  form  the  staple  of  such  epistles.  There  is 
seldom  any  reference  to  contemporary  politics,  to  questions  of  theology, 
or  to  any  modern  subjects  which  could  not  be  handled  without  breaking 
the  classical  illusion.  Sometimes,  indeed,  eminent  scholars  addressed 
theological  or  political  pamphlets,  in  choice  Latin,  to  princes  or  prelates ; 
but  such  efforts  lay  outside  the  ordinary  province  of  humanistic  letter- 
writing.  Nor  were  really  private  matters  often  confided  to  these  Latin 
letters.  "  I  always  write  in  the  vulgar  tongue  (alia  grossolana)^^^  says 
Filelfo,  "  those  things  which  I  do  not  wish  to  be  copied."  Nevertheless, 
the  Latin  letter-writing  of  the  Renaissance  has  the  interest  of  exhibiting 
with  great  distinctness  the  characters  of  the  writers  and  their  friends. 
It  has  also  a  larger  claim  on  our  gratitude.  It  was  an  exercise,  suf- 
ficiently pleasurable  to  be  widely  used,  by  which  successive  generations 
of  lettered  men  gradually  rose  to  the  conception  of  a  style  which  should 
be  correct,  fluent,  and  easy.  In  the  darker  ages  the  model  of  a  good 
prose  had  been  lost.  The  Italian  letter- writers  of  the  Renaissance,  the 
imitators  of  Cicero,  were  labouring  to  restore  it.  They  achieved  their 
object ;  and  the  achievement  bore  fruit,  not  merely  in  Latin,  but  after- 
wards in  the  modern  languages  of  Europe. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that,  as  the  cultivation  of  Latin  style 
progressed,  the  imitation  of  the  ancient  models  should  become  more 


Latin  style 


545 


critical.  Lorenzo  Valla,  who  died  in  1457,  was  the  author  of  a  work  De 
Elegantiis  Latinae  Linguae^  which  marked  the  highest  level  that  had 
yet  been  reached  in  the  critical  study  of  Latin.  He  dealt  with  various 
points  of  grammar,  with  niceties  of  phrase  and  idiom,  and  with  the 
discrimination  of  synonyms.  His  book  appears  to  have  been  reprinted 
nearly  sixty  times  between  1471  and  1536.  After  Valla,  the  next 
Italian  Latinist  who  became  an  authority  on  the  more  minute  refine- 
ments of  style  was  Bembo,  whose  reputation  was  at  its  zenith  in  the 
pontificate  of  Leo  X  (1513-21).  But  Bembo's  scope  was  much  more 
limited  than  Valla's.  Cicero's  usage  was  a  law  from  which  Bembo 
never  consciously  swerved.  In  strong  contrast  with  his  timid  and  even 
morbid  Ciceronianism,  —  a  symptom  that  the  Italian  revival  had  passed 
its  prime,  —  stands  a  quality  which  we  recognise  in  the  Latin  writing  of 
the  more  powerful  and  genial  humanists.  This  is,  briefly,  the  gift  of 
writing  Latin  almost  as  if  it  were  a  living  language.  Politian  had  this 
gift  in  an  eminent  degree,  and  exhibits  it  in  verse  no  less  than  in  prose. 
Poggio,  before  him,  had  it  too,  though  his  Latin  was  much  rougher 
and  less  classical.  The  same  quality  may  be  ascribed  to  Paulus  Jovius 
(1483-1552),  whose  vivid  and  picturesque  style  in  narrative  was  compared 
by  Leo  X,  —  with  some  exaggeration,  but  not  without  some  justice, — 
to  that  of  Livy.  To  write  Latin  as  such  men  wrote  it,  demanded  the 
union  of  general  correctness  with  ease  and  spontaneity.  The  fact  that 
several  Italian  humanists  attained  to  this  merit  is  a  proof  that  the 
imitatio  veterum  was  not  necessarily  lifeless  or  mechanical,  but  could 
serve  a  truly  educative  purpose,  by  helping  men  to  regain  a  flexible 
organ  of  literary  expression.  Erasmus,  though  in  touch  with  the  Italian 
Renaissance,  belongs  to  a  stage  beyond  it.  His  ridicule  of  pseudo- 
Ciceronianism  falls  on  the  sect  of  Bembo.  But  his  own  Latin  style,  so 
admirable  in  its  elasticity,  edge,  and  force,  is  a  result  which  only  the 
Italian  Renaissance  had  made  possible. 

Yet  the  cultivation  of  Latin  style,  while  it  was  so  salient  a  trait  of 
the  Italian  revival,  was  only  one  of  its  manifold  energies.  The  same 
study  of  the  classical  writers  which  incited  men  to  imitate  their  form 
inspired  also  the  wish  to  comprehend  their  subject-matter.  There  was 
a  widespread  desire  to  enter  into  the  ideas  and  the  meaning  of  the 
ancient  Greek  and  Roman  civilisations.  Italians  were  especially  eager 
to  reconstruct  an  image,  as  distinct  as  possible,  of  the  manner  in  which 
their  ancestors  had  lived.  But  the  aids  to  such  study,  now  so  abundant, 
did  not  yet  exist.  There  were  no  dictionaries  of  mythology,  of  biography, 
of  antiquities,  no  treatises  on  classical  archaeology,  no  collections  of 
inscriptions.  A  teacher  in  the  earlier  time  of  the  Renaissance,  when 
he  dictated  an  all-embracing  commentary  to  his  pupils,  had  to  rely 
mostly  on  the  stores  gathered  by  his  own  reading.  The  erudite  labour 
done  by  the  Italian  humanists  was  of  great  variety  and  volume. 
Many  of  the  more  eminent  scholars  published  notes,  critical  or 

C.  M.  H.  I.  35 


546      Erudition,  —  The  higher  criticism  :  Valla 


exegetical,  on  the  Greek  or  Latin  authors  whom  they  expounded  in 
their  lectures ;  but  such  work  has  left  comparatively  few  distinctive 
traces,  having  been  either  absorbed  into  later  books,  or  superseded. 
Latin  translations  from  the  Greek  classics  formed  an  important  depart- 
ment of  humanistic  work,  and  were  of  the  greatest  service,  not  only  at 
the  Renaissance  but  long  afterwards,  in  diffusing  the  study  of  Greek 
literature.  The  learned  humanist  Tommaso  Parentucelli,  who  became 
Pope  Nicholas  V  in  1447,  was  especially  zealous  in  promoting  such 
translations,  many  of  which  were  made  at  Rome  during  his  pontificate. 
Greek  residents  in  Italy  contributed  to  the  work.  But  Italians  were 
not  less  active ;  indeed  there  were  few  distinguished  humanists  who  did 
not  give  this  proof  of  their  Greek  scholarship.  In  the  field  of  textual 
criticism  mention  is  due  to  Politian's  edition  of  the  Pandects  of 
Justinian,  perhaps  the  earliest  work  based  on  a  careful  collation  of 
manuscripts  and  on  a  critical  estimate  of  their  relative  authority.  The 
manuals  of  grammar  produced  at  the  Renaissance  were  inevitably  of  a 
crude  kind  ;  but  some  of  them,  at  least,  had  merits  which  made  them 
standard  works  for  several  generations.  Thus  the  earliest  of  the  Renais- 
sance Greek  grammars,  that  of  Manuel  Chrysoloras  (afterwards  translated 
from  Greek  into  Latin  by  Guarino),  held  its  ground  well  into  the 
sixteenth  century.  It  was  the  first  text-book  used  by  Erasmus  when 
teaching  Greek  at  Cambridge:  the  next  to  which  he  introduced  his 
pupils  was  the  more  advanced  Greek  grammar  of  Theodorus  Gaza, 
dating  perhaps  from  about  1445,  though  first  printed  in  1495.  The 
Greek  grammar  of  Constantine  Lascaris  (composed  perhaps  about  1460, 
and  printed  in  1476)  also  had  a  high  reputation.  The  Latin  grammar 
of  Nicholas  Perotti,  printed  at  Rome  in  1473,  treats  grammar  in 
connexion  with  rhetoric,  and  is  commended  by  Erasmus  as  the  most 
complete  manual  on  the  subject  then  extant. 

The  higher  historical  criticism  is  represented  by  Lorenzo  Valla, 
already  mentioned  as  a  fine  Latinist.  In  1440,  when  Naples  was  at 
feud  with  the  papal  See,  he  published  a  tract  on  the  Donation  of 
Constantine,  proving  that  the  chief  document  of  the  temporal  power  was 
spurious.  Eugenius  IV  was  then  Pope.  His  successor,  Nicholas  V,  a 
scholar  and  a  statesman,  read  in  Valla's  tract  a  sign  of  the  times.  The 
Council  of  Florence  (1438),  where  Greeks  and  Latins  met  in  conference, 
had  lately  shown  that  the  history  of  the  early  Church  could  not  be  fully 
understood  without  a  knowledge  of  Greek  writings.  And  now  it  was 
plain  that  the  long  impunity  of  ecclesiastical  forgery  was  drawing  to  an 
end.  Nicholas  saw  that  humanism  would  be  less  disastrous  to  the 
Vatican  as  an  uncongenial  inmate  than  as  an  irrepressible  critic.  He 
made  Valla  an  official  of  the  Curia.  It  was  a  turning-point.  The  new 
papal  policy  was  continued,  with  few  breaks,  down  to  the  Reformation. 

Beyond  the  limits  of  strictly  literary  studies,  there  was  a  wide  and 
varied  field  of  interests  which  the  classical  revival  opened  to  Italians. 


Roman  monuments.  —  Biondo 


547 


The  superstitious  awe  with  which  the  Middle  Ages  had  viewed  the  ruins 
of  ancient  Rome  was  not  accompanied  by  any  feeling  for  their  artistic 
worth,  or  by  the  slightest  desire  to  preserve  them.  A  Latin  epigram  by 
Pius  II  (1458-64) — the  first  Pope  who  endeavoured  to  arrest  their 
decay  —  attests  the  fact,  to  which  there  are  other  witnesses,  that  even 
then  the  citizens  of  Rome  used  to  strip  marbles  from  the  ancient  mon- 
uments, in  order  to  burn  them  as  lime.  Where  the  Roman  remains 
were  capable  of  conversion  into  dwellings  or  strongholds,  as  was  the  case 
especially  with  some  of  the  baths  and  tombs,  they  had  often  been 
occupied  by  medieval  nobles,  and  had  thus  been  exposed  to  further 
damage.  Many  such  monuments  had  been  destroyed,  and  the  ruins 
had  then  been  used  as  quarries.  But  a  change  of  feeling  came  with 
the  spirit  of  the  incipient  Renaissance.  The  first  phase  of  this  new 
feeling  was  a  sense  of  pathetic  contrast  between  the  majesty  of  the 
ancient  remains  and  the  squalor  of  the  modern  city.  Petrarch  com- 
pares Rome  to  a  stately  woman,  of  venerable  aspect,  but  clad  in  mean 
and  tattered  garments.  Poggio  is  reminded  of  a  queen  in  slavery.  He 
was  the  first  man  of  the  Renaissance  who  had  studied  the  monuments 
of  Rome  with  the  method  of  a  scholar  and  an  archaeologist,  comparing 
them  with  the  testimony  of  the  Latin  classics.  His  Urhis  Romae  De- 
scriptio  —  the  title  commonly  given  to  the  first  section  of  his  essay 
De  Varietate  Fortunae  —  is  the  clearest  general  survey  now  extant  of  the 
Roman  monuments  as  they  existed  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Poggio  gives  us  some  idea  of  the  rate  at  which  destructive 
agencies  had  been  working  even  in  his  own  lifetime.  But  a  better  day 
was  at  hand.  The  interest  in  Italian  archaeology  had  already  become 
active.  Flavio  Biondo  (Blondus),  who  died  in  1463,  compiled  an  en- 
cyclopaedic work  in  three  parts,  Roma  Instaurata^  Roma  Triumphans, 
and  Italia  lUustrata^  on  the  history,  institutions,  manners,  topography, 
and  monuments  of  ancient  Italy.  He  lived  to  complete  also  more  than 
thirty  books  of  a  great  work  on  the  period  commencing  with  the  decline 
of  the  Roman  Empire,  Historiarum  ah  inclinatione  Romanorum,  In  an 
age  so  largely  occupied  with  style,  which  was  not  among  his  gifts, 
Biondo  is  a  signal  example  of  laborious  and  comprehensive  erudition. 
He  holds  indeed  an  honourable  place  among  the  founders  of  Roman 
archaeology. 

It  was  just  at  the  close  of  Biondo's  life  that  Pius  II,  in  1462, 
issued  his  bull  designed  to  protect  the  remains  of  ancient  Rome 
from  further  depredations.  The  solicitude  of  which  this  was  the 
first  official  expression  was  not  always  imitated  by  his  successors. 
But  the  period  from  about  1470  to  1525  was  one  which  saw  a  notable 
advance  in  the  care  and  study  bestowed  on  works  of  ancient  art  and 
architecture.  Within  that  period  the  Museum  of  the  Capitol  and  the 
Museum  of  the  Vatican  were  founded.  The  appreciation  of  classical 
sculpture  was  quickened  by  the  recovery  of  many  ancient  works.  Near 


548       New  feeling  for  ancient  art,  —  Raffaelle 


the  entrance  to  the  garden  of  the  Belvedere,  the  newly-found  Apollo 
was  erected  by  Julius  II  (1503-13), — the  Pope  who  perceived  how 
renascent  art  could  add  splendour  to  the  See  of  St  Peter,  and  at  whose 
bidding  Bramante  replaced  the  ancient  basilica  of  Constantine  by  the 
greatest  church  of  Christendom.  Michelangelo  saw  the  Laocoon  dis- 
interred from  the  ruined  Baths  of  Titus.  Leo  X  acquired  the  reclining 
statues  of  the  Nile  and  the  Tiber,  and  the  so-called  Antinous.  These 
and  other  specimens  of  classical  art,  though  not  representative  of  that 
art  at  its  best,  helped  to  educate  Italian  taste,  already  well-disposed 
towards  every  form  of  classical  culture.  The  Latin  verse-writers  of 
Leo's  age  show  the  impression  made  by  the  newly-found  works  of  sculp- 
ture. It  is  more  interesting  to  note  the  remark  of  an  expert,  the 
Florentine  sculptor  Ghiberti,  who,  in  speaking  of  an  ancient  statue 
which  he  had  seen  at  Rome,  observes  that  its  subtle  perfection  eludes 
the  eye,  and  can  be  fully  appreciated  only  by  passing  the  hand  over  the 
surface  of  the  marble. 

The  most  memorable  record  of  the  new  zeal  for  ancient  Rome  is  the 
letter  addressed  to  Leo  X,  in  1518,  by  Raffaelle.  He  writes  as  Master 
of  the  Works  at  St  Peter's,  and  Inspector-General  of  Antiquities,  having 
been  appointed  to  these  posts  in  1515.  For  a  long  time  he  had  been 
engaged  in  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  ancient  monuments.  In  them, 
he  says,  he  had  recognised  "the  divinity  of  those  minds  of  the  old 
world."  A  pitiful  sight  it  is  to  him,  "  the  mangled  corpse  of  this  noble 
mother,  once  the  queen  of  the  world."  "Temples,  arches,  statues,  and 
other  buildings,  the  glory  of  their  founders,"  had  been  allowed  to  suffer 
defacement  or  destruction.  "  I  would  not  hesitate  to  say,"  he  continues, 
"  that  all  this  new  Rome  which  our  eyes  behold,  grand  and  beautiful  as 
it  is,  adorned  with  palaces,  churches,  and  other  structures,  has  been  built 
with  lime  made  from  ancient  marbles."  He  next  recalls,  with  details, 
the  progress  of  the  havoc  during  the  twelve  yeara  which  he  has  passed  in 
Rome.  And  then  he  unfolds  his  project.  Mapping  out  Rome  into 
fourteen  regions,  he  urges  that  systematic  works  should  be  undertaken 
for  the  purpose  of  clearing,  or  excavating,  all  existing  remains  of  the 
ancient  city,  and  then  safeguarding  them  against  further  injury.  His 
premature  death  in  1520  prevented  the  execution  of  the  design.  The 
greatness  of  that  design  is  well  expressed  in  one  of  the  Latin  elegies 
which  mourned  his  loss :  Nunc  Romam  in  Roma  quaerit  reperitque 
Raphael,  It  shows  the  grasp  of  his  genius,  and  is  also  an  impressive 
witness  to  the  new  spirit  of  the  Renaissance. 

This  was  a  period  at  which  Vitruvius  (edited  not  long  before  by  Fra 
Giocondo)  and  Frontinus  found  many  readers.  The  classical  influence 
was  indeed  already  the  dominant  one  in  Italian  sculpture  and  architec- 
ture. It  was  a  power  which  might  tend  to  cold  formalism,  as  in  Palladio, 
or  happily  ally  itself  with  the  native  bent  of  the  modern  artist,  as  in 
Giulio  Romano ;  but,  for  good  or  evil,  it  was  everywhere.  Meanwhile 


Archaeology,  —  Search  for  manuscripts  549 


scholars  were  producing  learned  work  in  various  branches  of  Roman 
archaeology.  A  permanently  valuable  service  to  Latin  epigraphy  was 
rendered  by  Jacopo  Mazochi  and  his  collaborator  Francesco  Albertini  in 
Epigrammata  Antiquae  Urhis  Romae  (1521),  where  some  use  was  made 
of  earlier  collections  by  Ciriaco  of  Ancona  and  Fra  Giocondo.  Andrea 
Fulvio  published  in  1527  his  Antiquitates  Urhis  Romae,  The  Urhis 
Romae  TopograpMa  of  Bartolommeo  Marliano  appeared  in  1587.  Such 
books,  though  their  contents  have  been  mostly  absorbed  or  transmuted 
in  later  works,  claim  the  gratitude  which  is  due  to  indefatigable 
pioneers. 

The  buoyancy  and  animation  of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy  were 
sustained  throughout  by  the  joys  of  discovery,  and  of  these  none  was 
keener  than  the  delight  of  acquiring  manuscripts.  Petrarch  was  the 
leader  in  this  as  in  other  ways.  He  was  prepared  to  undertake  any 
trouble,  in  his  own  person  or  through  emissaries,  for  the  sake  of  finding 
a  new  classical  book,  or  a  better  copy  of  one  which  was  already  known. 
The  first  of  his  epistles  To  Marcus  TuUius  Cicero  expresses  the 
feelings  stirred  in  him  by  reading  the  orator's  Letters  to  Atticus, 
Brutus,  and  Quintus,  which  he  had  just  been  fortunate  enough  to 
unearth  at  Verona :  he  was  not  destined  to  know  the  Epistolae  ad 
Familiares,  which  were  found  about  1389  at  Vercelli.  Petrarch  had  a 
quaint  and  lively  way,  which  was  copied  by  his  immediate  successors,  of 
personifying  the  hidden  and  neglected  manuscripts  of  the  classics  as 
gentle  prisoners  held  in  captivity  by  barbarous  gaolers.  The  monastic 
or  cathedral  libraries  of  Italy  were  the  places  which  first  attracted 
research.  Boccaccio's  account  of  his  visit  to  the  Abbey  of  Monte 
Cassino  in  Apulia,  recorded  by  a  pupil,  vividly  pictures  the  scandalous 
treatment  of  the  books  there,  which  the  monks  ruthlessly  mutilated  for 
the  purpose  of  making  cheap  psalters,  amulets,  or  anything  by  which 
they  could  earn  a  few  pence.  But  the  quest  was  not  confined  to  Italy. 
Italian  or  foreign  agents  of  the  Roman  Curia  had  frequent  opportunities 
of  prosecuting  research  in  the  libraries  of  northern  Europe.  Thus 
Poggio's  journey  to  the  Council  of  Constance  in  1414,  in  the  capacity  of 
Apostolic  Secretary,  enabled  him  to  visit  several  religious  houses  in 
Switzerland  and  Swabia.  At  the  Abbey  of  St  Gall  he  discovered,  to  his 
intense  pleasure,  the  Institutions  of  Quintilian,  previously  known  only 
through  a  defective  copy  found  by  Petrarch  at  Florence.  The  place  in 
which  the  books  were  kept  is  described  by  Poggio  as  a  sort  of  dungeon, 
foul  and  dark,  at  the  bottom  of  a  tower.  Quintilian,  he  says,  "  seemed 
to  be  stretching  out  his  hands,  calling  upon  the  Romans,"  and  praying 
to  be  saved  from  the  doom  to  which  barbarians  had  consigned  him. 
Some  other  classical  authors,  including  Valerius  Flaccus,  were  found 
by  Poggio  on  the  same  occasion.  He  was,  indeed,  one  of  the  most 
fortunate  of  the  searchers.  Among  his  rewards  were  Cicero's  speech 
for  Caecina,  Lucretius,  Silius  Italicus,  Manilius,  Columella,  Vitruvius, 


550        Greek  manuscripts  especially  in  request 


and  Ammianus  Marcellinus.  Centuries  were  to  elapse  before  the 
process  of  exploration  begun  bj  these  early  humanists  was  to  be 
finished.  Only  in  our  own  day  has  the  actual  wealth  of  Europe  in 
classical  manuscripts  been  ascertained  with  any  approach  to  completeness. 
But  in  the  period  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  discoveries  more  or  less 
important  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  no  one  could  tell  from  what 
quarter  the  next  treasure-trove  might  come.  Thus  in  1425  Cicero's 
rhetorical  treatises  were  found  by  Gherardo  Landriani  in  the  Duomo  at 
Lodi;  and  four  years  later  Nicholas  of  Treves,  a  fiscal  agent  of  the 
Vatican  in  Germany,  sent  thence  to  Rome  the  most  complete  codex  of 
Plautus.  One  of  the  greatest  acquisitions  was  among  the  latest.  Not 
till  1508  did  the  modern  world  recover  the  first  six  books  of  the  Annals 
of  Tacitus.  The  manuscript,  said  to  have  been  found  in  the  monastery 
of  Corvey,  was  sent  from  Westphalia  to  Rome,  and  was  acquired  by 
Giovanni  de'  Medici,  afterwards  Leo  X. 

But  it  was  more  especially  the  quest  for  Greek  classics  that  engaged 
the  ardent  zeal  of  the  earlier  humanists.  The  comparative  novelty  of 
Greek  literature  stimulated  curiosity ;  Greek  codices  were  sought,  not 
only  by  students  eager  for  knowledge,  but  also  by  a  much  larger  world. 
Commercial  houses  at  Florence,  such  as  that  of  the  Medici,  with  agencies 
throughout  Europe  and  the  Levant,  spared  no  expense  in  procuring 
Greek  books.  Princes,  and  sometimes  Popes,  joined  in  the  competition. 
A  new  Greek  classic  gave  not  only  the  kind  of  pleasure  which  an  expert 
finds  in  a  rare  book,  but  also  the  pride  of  possession,  not  necessarily 
allied  with  knowledge,  which  a  wealthy  collector  feels  in  a  good  picture. 
In  short,  classical  antiquity,  Greek  especially,  was  vehemently  the  fashion 
in  Italy,  if  that  phrase  be  not  less  than  just  to  the  earnestness  of  the 
movement.  A  letter-writer  of  the  time  has  related  that,  just  after  the 
publication  of  Politian's  Miscellanea  at  Florence  in  1489,  he  happened 
to  go  into  a  public  office,  and  found  the  clerks  neglecting  their  business 
while  they  devoured  the  new  book,  divided  in  sheets  among  them.  In 
an  age  when  the  demand  for  manuscripts  had  all  these  forces  behind  it, 
the  search  could  not  fail  to  be  well  organised,  if  only  as  a  branch  of 
commerce.  For  Greek  books,  Constantinople  was  the  chief  hunting- 
ground.  Thither,  for  at  least  half  a  century  before  the  fatal  year  1453, 
many  Italian  humanists  repaired;  enjoying,  we  may  suppose,  every 
facility  for  research.  Three  such  men  are  foremost  among  those  who 
brought  copies  of  the  Greek  classics  to  Italy.  Giovanni  Aurispa 
(1369-1459)  went  to  Constantinople  in  youth,  to  study  Greek ;  and, 
returning  to  Italy  in  1423,  carried  with  him  no  less  than  238  manu- 
scripts. A  quiet  teacher  and  student,  as  he  is  described  by  Filelfo, 
—  '-''placidis  Aurispa  Camoenis  deditus,''  —  he  closed  his  long  life  at 
Ferrara.  Guarino  da  Verona  (1370-1460),  who  also  acquired  Greek  at  j 
Constantinople,  brought  back  with  him  a  large  number  of  Greek  books.  ' 
But  neither  he  nor  Aurispa  can  have  had  better  opportunities  than 


Filel/o.  —  Vespasiano.  —  Niccoli 


551 


Francesco  Filelfo  (1398-1481),  afterwards  so  conspicuous  as  a  humanist. 
He  studied  Greek  at  Constantinople  with  John  (brother  of  Manuel) 
Chrysoloras,  whose  daughter  he  married.  In  selecting  the  books  which 
he  brought  home  with  him,  he  doubtless  had  access  to  the  best  stores  of 
the  Eastern  metropolis.  Considerable  interest  therefore  attaches  to  the  list 
of  his  Greek  books  which  Filelfo  gives  in  a  letter  to  Ambrogio  Traversari, 
written  shortly  after  his  return  to  Venice  in  1427.  The  manuscripts 
which  he  enumerates  are  those  which  he  had  carried  with  him  to  Italy. 
He  says  that  he  is  expecting  a  few  more  ("  alios  .  . .  nonnullos  *')  by  the 
next  Venetian  ships  from  the  Bosporus ;  but  we  may  assume  that  the 
catalogue  in  this  letter  includes  the  great  bulk  of  his  Greek  library.  It 
comprises  the  principal  Greek  poets  (including  the  Alexandrian),  with 
the  notable  exceptiofn  of  the  Attic  dramatists,  who  are  represented  only 
by  "  seven  plays  of  Euripides."  In  prose  he  has  the  historians,  from 
Herodotus  to  Polybius;  of  the  orators,  Demosthenes,  Aeschines,  and 
"  one  oration  of  Lysias  "  ;  no  dialogue  of  Plato,  but  nearly  all  the  more 
important  writings  of  Aristotle ;  also  much  prose  literature,  good 
and  bad,  of  the  Alexandrian  and  Roman  ages.  The  list  contains  no 
book  which  is  not  now  extant. 

Not  all  men,  however,  were  in  a  position  to  seek  manuscripts  for 
themselves  at  Constantinople  or  elsewhere.  The  majority  of  collectors 
perforce  relied  on  agents.  A  typical  figure  in  the  manuscript-trade  of 
the  Renaissance  was  Vespasiano  da  Bisticci  of  Florence  (1421-98),  to 
whose  pen  we  owe  vivid  portraits  of  several  among  his  more  distinguished 
clients.  He  acted  as  an  agent  in  procuring  and  purchasing  manuscripts. 
He  also  employed  a  staff  of  copyists  which  was  probably  the  largest  in 
Europe.  But  he  was  not  merely  a  man  of  business.  He  was  scholar 
enough  to  see  that  his  men  made  correct  transcripts.  In  his  later  years 
the  printer  was  beginning  to  supersede  the  scribe.  Vespasiano  regarded 
this  new  mechanical  contrivance  with  all  the  scorn  of  a  connoisseur  in 
penmanship,  and  of  one  who  grieved  that  those  treasures  which  he 
procured  for  the  select  few  should  be  placed  within  the  reach  of  the 
multitude.  Among  the  eminent  men  of  whom  Vespasiano  became  the 
biographer  was  Niccolo  de'  Niccoli,  of  Florence,  one  of  the  most  notable 
collectors  in  the  earlier  Renaissance.  Niccoli  was  an  elegant  Latin 
scholar,  and  held  a  prominent  place  in  the  literary  circle  of  Cosmo  de' 
Medici.  His  house  was  filled  with  choice  relics  of  antiquity,  marbles, 
coins,  and  gems ;  in  the  refined  luxury  of  his  private  life  he  seemed  to 
Vespasiano  "  a  perfect  model  of  the  men  of  old " ;  but  the  object  to 
which  he  devoted  most  of  his  wealth  and  thought  was  the  acquisition  of 
Greek  and  Latin  manuscripts.  It  was  to  him  that  Aurispa  brought  the 
famous  eleventh-century  codex  now  known  as  the  Laurentian,  containing 
Aeschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Apollonius  Rhodius.  Bred  in  the  days  when 
good  copyists  were  scarce,  Niccoli  had  become  inured,  like  Petrarch, 
Boccaccio,  and  Poggio,  to  the  labour  of  transcribing  manuscripts,  and  a 


552 


Founders  of  ^public  libraries 


large  proportion  of  those  in  his  library  were  the  work  of  his  own  hand. 
At  his  death  in  1437  he  bequeathed  800  manuscripts  to  Cosmo  de'  Medici 
and  fifteen  other  trustees,  among  whom  were  Ambrogio  Traversari  and 
Poggio. 

This  noble  bequest  was  worthily  used  by  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  who 
stands  out  as  the  first  great  founder  of  libraries  at  the  Renaissance. 
Already,  in  his  exile  from  Florence,  he  had  founded  at  Venice,  in  1433, 
the  Library  of  San  Giorgio  Maggiore.  In  1441,  when  the  new  hall  of 
the  Convent  of  San  Marco  at  Florence  was  ready  to  receive  books,  he 
placed  there  400  of  Niccoli's  volumes.  Of  the  other  400  the  greater 
part  passed  into  his  own  large  collection,  which  became  the  nucleus  of 
the  Medicean  Library.  For  the  new  Abbey  which  he  had  built  at 
Fiesole  he  also  provided  a  library,  giving  a  commission  to  Vespasiano, 
who  set  forty-five  copyists  to  work,  and  produced  200  manuscripts 
in  twenty-two  months.  The  Medicean  collection,  joined  to  those  of 
San  Marco  and  of  the  Abbey  at  Fiesole,  form  the  oldest  part  of  the 
books  now  in  the  Biblioteca  Mediceo-Laurenziana. 

Another  great  library  which  first  took  shape  in  the  fifteenth  century 
is  that  of  the  Vatican.  A  papal  library  of  some  sort  had  existed  from 
very  early  times,  and  had  received  from  Pope  Zacharias  (741-52)  a 
large  addition  to  its  stock  of  Greek  manuscripts.  This  old  collection  had 
been  deposited  in  the  Lateran.  When  the  papal  Court  was  removed  to 
Avignon  in  1309,  the  books  were  taken  thither.  The  Great  Schism, 
which  began  in  1378,  was  closed  by  the  election  of  Martin  V  in  1417. 
The  books  were  subsequently  brought  back  from  Avignon  to  Rome,  and 
placed  in  the  Vatican.  Eugenius  IV  (1431-47),  who  came  next  after 
Martin  V,  interested  himself  in  this  matter.  But  his  successor,  Nicholas  V 
(1447-55),  has  the  best  claim  to  be  called  the  founder  of  the  Vatican 
Library.  As  Tommaso  Parentucelli,  he  had  catalogued  the  Library  of 
San  Marco  at  Florence  for  Cosmo  de'  Medici.  He  was  thus  well 
qualified  to  build  up  a  great  collection  for  the  Vatican.  During  the 
eight  years  of  his  pontificate,  he  enlarged  that  collection  with  energy 
and  judgment,  adding  to  it  several  thousands  of  manuscripts.  The 
number  of  Latin  manuscripts  alone  was,  at  his  death,  824,  as  is  shown 
by  a  catalogue  dated  April  16,  1455.  He  had  intended  also  to  erect  a 
spacious  library,  which  should  be  thrown  open  to  the  public  ;  but  he  did 
not  live  to  execute  that  design.  His  successor,  Calixtus  III  (1455-8), 
added  many  volumes  brought  from  Constantinople  after  its  capture  by 
the  Turks.  Sixtus  IV  (1471-84),  —  Francesco  della  Rovere,  a  Fran- 
ciscan monk  of  learning  and  eloquence,  —  became  the  second  founder  of 
the  library.  In  1475  he  appointed  as  librarian  the  erudite  Bartolommeo 
Sacchi,  known  as  Platina  from  the  Latinised  name  of  his  birthplace 
Piadena.  Under  the  supervision  of  Platina,  to  whom  Sixtus  IV  gave 
a  free  hand,  the  collection  was  lodged  in  its  present  abode,  a  suite  of 
rooms  on  the  ground-floor  of  a  building  in  the  Vatican  which  had  been 


Private  libraries,  —  Humanist  lecturers  553 


erected  by  Nicholas  V,  but  had  hitherto  been  used  for  other  purposes. 
Before  his  death  in  1481,  Platina  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
these  rooms  suitably  furnished  and  decorated.  A  catalogue  had  also 
been  made,  and  the  Vatican  Library  had  been  completely  established  in 
its  new  home. 

Among  private  founders  of  libraries  in  the  fifteenth  century  mention 
is  due  to  Federigo  da  Montefeltro,  Duke  of  Urbino,  who  created  there  a 
great  collection  of  classics,  of  theology,  and  of  medieval  and  humanistic 
literature.  Vespasiano  states  that  during  fourteen  years  a  large  staff  of 
scribes  was  constantly  occupied  in  adding  to  this  collection,  and  records 
with  marked  satisfaction  that  no  printed  book  was  suffered  to  profane  it. 
Few  private  libraries  then  in  existence  can  have  rivalled  that  of  Urbino ; 
but  many  others  must  have  been  very  considerable.  Such,  for  instance, 
was  the  library  of  Cardinal  Bessarion  at  Rome,  said  by  Vespasiano  to 
have  contained  600  Greek  and  Latin  manuscripts.  The  owner  presented 
it,  in  1468,  to  St  Mark's  at  Venice  ;  but,  with  that  apathy  towards  the 
Classical  Renaissance  which  characterised  the  Venetian  Republic  down 
to  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  a  generation  went  by  before  the 
munificent  gift  was  worthily  housed. 

The  incessant  quest  for  manuscripts,  and  the  gradual  formation  of 
large  libraries,  slowly  improved  the  external  facilities  for  humanistic 
study.  Much  progress  was  made  in  this  respect  during  the  interval 
between  the  death  of  Petrarch  in  1374  and  that  of  Politian  in  1494. 
Yet,  even  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  good  classical  texts 
were  far  from  abundant.  It  was  only  by  the  printing  press  that  such 
books  were  made  easily  accessible  to  the  majority  of  students.  This  fact 
must  be  remembered  if  we  would  understand  the  part  played  in  Italy  by 
the  humanist  professors.  In  the  Italian  Revival,  viewed  as  a  whole,  two 
principal  agencies  may  be  distinguished,  corresponding  with  two  suc- 
cessive stages  of  the  movement.  The  first  agency  is  that  of  oral  teaching 
by  a  scholar  of  eminence,  who  addresses  large  audiences,  including 
persons  of  various  ages  and  attainments.  Such  a  lecturer  did  not,  as  a 
rule,  confine  his  labours  to  any  one  place,  but  accepted  invitations  from 
several  cities  in  succession.  This  method  of  teaching  began  immediately 
after  Petrarch.  In  the  earlier  days  of  humanism  it  was  a  necessity; 
there  was  no  other  way  in  which  the  first  elements  of  the  new  learning 
could  be  diffused.  Such  a  lecturer  as  Manuel  Chrysoloras  or  Giovanni 
di  Conversino  appealed  to  an  enthusiasm  which  was  still  in  its  youth. 
By  such  men  the  seeds  of  humanism  were  sown  far  and  wide.  But 
meanwhile  another  agency  was  coming  into  existence,  better  fitted,  in 
some  respects,  to  promote  the  higher  humanism.  It  was  that  of  private 
groups  or  coteries,  formed  by  patrons  and  students  of  letters,  who  held 
meetings  for  the  purpose  of  learned  converse  and  discussion.  In  con- 
trast with  the  influence  of  the  humanist  professor,  who  often  changed 
his  abode,  such  an  Academy  was  a  permanent  centre  of  study  in  the 


554 


Filelfo  at  Florence 


place  where  it  was  formed.  In  contrast  with  the  professor's  large 
and  miscellaneous  audience,  the  members  of  an  Academy  were  limited 
in  number,  and  carefully  selected ;  and,  while  the  lecturer  was  usually 
constrained  to  adopt  a  more  or  less  popular  mode  of  treatment,  the 
work  of  an  Academy  was  more  esoteric. 

Among  the  humanist  professors,  none  were  more  eminent  or  successful 
in  their  day  than  Filelfo  and  Politian.  Each  is  a  representative  man. 
Filelfo  is  a  type  of  the  wandering  humanist  who  played  so  conspicuous 
a  part  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Politian,  in  the  latter 
part  of  that  century,  represents  the  public  teaching  of  the  classics  in  a 
riper  phase :  with  him,  indeed,  it  reached  the  highest  level  to  which 
Italy  ever  saw  it  lifted  by  the  union  of  learning  with  genius.  The 
zenith  of  Filelfo's  reputation  may  be  placed  at  the  time,  in  1429,  when, 
after  teaching  at  Venice  and  Bologna,  he  came  as  professor  to  Florence. 
We  have  already  seen  that,  after  studying  Greek  at  Constantinople,  he 
had  brought  home  with  him  a  considerable  store  of  classical  manuscripts. 
He  especially  prided  himself  on  a  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  literatures,  and  on  his  facility  in  using  both  languages,  alike 
in  prose  and  in  verse.  At  Florence,  for  a  time  at  least,  he  often  gave 
four  lectures  a  day,  taking  (for  instance)  Cicero  and  Homer  in  the 
morning,  followed  by  Terence  and  Thucydides  in  the  afternoon.  "  My 
audience,"  he  says,  "  numbers  every  day  four  hundred  persons,  —  perhaps 
more " ;  or  perhaps  less ;  for  his  own  later  recollections  reduced  the 
estimate  by  one  half.  At  any  rate  the  attendance  was  very  large. 
There  were  youths  (some  from  France,  Germany,  Spain,  Cyprus),  but 
also  middle-aged  or  elderly  men,  including  the  foremost  in  Florence. 
This  state  of  things  did  not,  indeed,  last  long ;  for  Filelfo  had  a  fatal 
knack  of  rousing  enmities.  But  it  is  a  good  illustration  of  what  was 
possible  for  a  very  eminent  humanist  at  that  period.  The  method  of 
teaching  was  determined  by  the  peculiar  conditions.  Among  Filelfo's 
large  audience  there  would  be  many,  possibly  a  majority,  who  would 
regard  the  lecture  mainly  as  a  display  of  Latin  eloquence,  and  who 
would  not  attempt  to  take  notes.  But  there  would  also  be  many 
serious  students,  intent  on  recording  what  the  lecturer  said;  and  of 
these  only  a  few  would  possess  manuscripts  of  the  author,  —  (^icero, 
for  example,  —  whom  he  was  expounding.  After  an  introduction,  Filelfo 
would  therefore  dictate  a  portion  of  Cicero's  text,  which  the  students 
would  transcribe.  To  this  he  would  add  a  commentary,  dealing  with 
grammar,  with  the  usage  of  words,  and  with  everything  in  the  subject- 
matter  which  needed  to  be  explained  or  illustrated.  Thus,  at  the  end 
of  such  a  course,  the  lecturer  would  have  dictated  a  fully  annotated 
edition  of  the  classical  book,  or  portion  of  a  book,  which  he  was  treating ; 
and  the  diligent  student  would  have  transcribed  it.  The  migratory 
habits  of  the  earlier  humanists  are  partly  to  be  explained  by  the  fact 
that,  when  a  lecturer  had  exhausted  his  existing  stock  of  annotated  texts, 


Politian 


555 


a  change  of  scene  and  of  audience  would  enable  him  to  use  them  over 
again.  A  lecture  by  such  a  man  as  Filelfo  had,  in  fact,  a  twofold 
quality.  On  the  one  hand,  it  was  an  exposition,  —  not  of  an  advanced 
character,  judged  by  modern  standards,  yet  not  too  elementary  for  the 
conditions  of  the  time.  On  the  other,  it  was  a  recognised  opportunity 
for  the  display  of  oratorical  and  dialectical  skill.  The  audience  were 
prepared  for  flashes  of  lively  eloquence,  quotations,  epigrams,  strokes 
of  satire,  panegyric,  or  invective.  As  scholarship  advanced  in  Italy,  the 
humanistic  lecture  became  more  sparing  of  irrelevant  ornament ;  but  it 
always  preserved  something  of  its  old  rhetorical  character. 

Angelo  Ambrogini,  called  Poliziano  (Politianus)  from  his  birthplace, 
Montepulciano,  was  born  in  1454.  His  precocious  abilities  were  shown 
in  boyhood.  In  1470  he  earned  the  designation  of  "  Homericus  iuvenis  " 
by  translating  four  books  of  the  Iliad  (ii-v)  into  Latin.  At  eighteen 
he  published  an  edition  of  Catullus.  He  attracted  the  notice  of  Lorenzo 
de'  Medici,  who  made  him  tutor  to  his  children.  Before  he  was  thirty 
he  became  professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  at  Florence.  He  held  that  chair 
till  his  death,  in  1494,  at  the  age  of  forty.  Like  Filelfo,  Politian 
covered  in  his  lectures  a  wide  field  of  literature  in  both  the  classical 
languages.  But  his  standard  of  scholarship,  best  exemplified  in  his 
edition  of  the  Pandects,  was  higher  and  more  critical  than  that  of  any 
predecessor.  A  quality  which  distinguished  him  not  less  than  his 
comprehensive  scholarship  was  his  rhetorical  genius.  Its  characteristics 
were  spontaneity,  swiftness,  fire,  with  a  certain  copiousness  of  matter, 
poured  forth  from  a  rich  and  prompt  memory.  This,  indeed,  even  more 
than  his  learning,  was  the  gift  to  which  he  owed  his  unique  fame  with 
his  contemporaries.  A  vivid  idea  of  his  power  as  a  rhetorician,  which 
also  helps  us  to  imagine  him  as  a  lecturer,  is  given  by  four  Latin  poems 
comprised  in  his  Sylvae,  Each  of  these  poems  was  written  in  order  that 
he  might  recite  it  in  his  lecture-room  as  a  prelude  to  a  course  of  lectures. 
The  first  piece,  entitled  Nutricia,  is  an  outline  of  the  history  of  poetry 
from  Homer  to  Boccaccio,  with  a  peroration  in  praise  of  Lorenzo  de' 
Medici.  It  may  justly  be  called  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  products 
of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  The  facility  and  rapidity  of  the  sonorous 
hexameters  are  extraordinary.  Politian  is  said  to  have  been,  in  all 
styles,  a  swift  composer ;  and  these  verses  convince  the  reader  that  they 
flowed  forth.  The  matter  is  scarcely  less  remarkable.  We  observe  that 
this  great  humanist  is  far  more  at  home  with  the  Latin  poets  than  with 
the  Greek.  Thus,  though  no  less  than  twenty-seven  verses  are  given  to 
Pindar,  these  turn  wholly  on  the  ancient  traditions  about  his  life ; 
there  is  not  a  word  that  proves  knowledge  of  his  work  or  insight  into 
his  genius.  The  three  masters  of  Greek  tragedy  are  dismissed  with  one 
verse  apiece,  purporting  to  tell  how  each  was  killed  ;  —  Aeschylus,  by  a 
tortoise  falling  on  his  head,  —  Sophocles,  by  a  shock  of  joy  at  the  success 
of  a  play,  —  and  Euripides,  by  wild  dogs  in  Macedon.    This  brief  passage 


556  Humanism  in  schools.  —  Vittorino 


is  quaintly  significant  of  the  scant  attention  given  to  the  Attic  drama 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  But  nothing  in  the  poem  is  truer  to  the 
feeling  of  Italian  humanism,  or  better  indicates  one  of  its  limitations 
on  the  critical  side,  than  the  estimate  of  Homer  and  Virgil.  Virgil, 
says  Politian,  ranks  next  to  Homer;  or,  were  not  Homer  the  elder, 
might  even  rank  above  him  {vel^  ni  veneranda  senectus  Obstiterit^ 
fortasse  prior}.  The  second  poem  of  the  Sylvae^  called  Musticus^  was 
an  introduction  to  the  author's  lectures  on  Hesiod's  Works  and  Days^ 
Virgil's  Eclogues  and  Greorgics,  and  other  bucolic  poetry.  The  third, 
Manto^  was  a  brilliant  eulogy  on  Virgil.  The  fourth,  Ambra^  was 
prefatory  to  lectures  on  Homer.  Politian's  Italian  lyrics  have  been 
deemed  by  competent  critics  to  possess  high  poetical  merit,  entitling 
him  to  a  place  between  Petrarch  and  Ariosto.  His  Latin  verse, 
brilliant  as  it  is  in  rhetorical  quality,  wants  the  tact  in  selection  of 
topics,  and  the  artistic  finish,  which  belong  to  poetry.  But  it  is  easy 
to  conceive  how  powerful  must  have  been  the  effect  of  those  impetuous 
hexameters,  when  Politian,  who  was  skilled  in  elocution  and  gifted  with 
a  voice  of  much  charm,  declaimed  them  in  his  crowded  lecture-room 
at  Florence,  as  a  proem  to  discourses  full  of  eloquence  and  learning. 
His  audience  was  cosmopolitan,  and  the  fame  of  his  teaching  was  borne 
to  every  country  in  Europe.  Politian's  work  was  cut  short  by  death  at 
an  age  when  most  men  of  comparable  eminence  in  the  annals  of 
scholarship  have  been  only  at  the  outset  of  their  career.  But  his 
function  was  to  inspire ;  and  his  gifts  were  such  that  his  brief  span  of 
life  sufficed  to  render  him  one  of  the  most  influential  personalities  in  the 
history  of  Italian  humanism. 

The  teaching  by  public  lecture,  of  which  Filelfo  and  Politian  were 
such  distinguished  exponents,  gave  occupation,  throughout  the  fifteenth 
century,  to  a  long  series  of  able  men.  It  flourished  at  almost  every 
considerable  centre  of  Italian  life.  And,  from  the  second  quarter  of  the 
century  onwards,  the  humanist  professor  had  found  an  efficient  ally  in 
the  schoolmaster,  who  prepared  the  ground  for  him.  The  Italian 
Renaissance  brought  forth  no  fairer  fruit,  and  none  fraught  with  more 
important  consequences  for  the  liberal  culture  of  the  world,  than  the 
school-training,  based  on  the  ideas  of  humanism,  which  took  shape  at 
that  period.  A  place  of  special  honour  in  the  history  of  education  is 
due  to  the  founder  of  that  system,  Vittorino  da  Feltre.  Born  in  1378 
at  Feltre,  a  small  town  of  Venetia,  he  went  at  eighteen  to  the  University 
of  Padua,  then  second  in  Italy  only  to  the  University  of  Bologna,  and 
sharing  with  Pavia  the  distinction,  still  rare  at  that  time  in  Universities, 
of  being  comparatively  favourable  to  the  New  Learning.  At  Padua, 
Vittorino  was  the  pupil  of  Giovanni  di  Conversino  and  afterwards  of 
Gasparino  da  Barzizza,  scholars  whose  important  services  to  the  study 
of  Latin  have  already  been  noticed.  Another  Paduan  teacher  of  that 
day  whose  influence  Vittorino  doubtless  felt  was  Vergerius,  the  author 


Vittorino's  system 


557 


of  an  essay  on  the  formation  of  character  (^De  Ingenuis  Morihus)  which 
remained  a  classic  for  two  centuries,  passing  through  some  forty  editions 
before  the  year  1600.  The  Renaissance  was  fertile  in  educational 
treatises ;  but  this  tractate  was  the  clearest,  as  it  was  the  earliest,  state- 
ment of  the  principles  on  which  humanistic  training  rested.  Vittorino, 
after  holding  a  chair  of  rhetoric  at  Padua,  and  then  teaching  privately 
at  Venice,  was  invited  by  Gian  Francesco  Gonzaga,  Marquis  of  Mantua, 
to  undertake  the  tuition  of  his  children.  In  1425  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  a  villa  assigned  to  him  for  that  purpose  at  Mantua,  where 
he  remained  till  his  death  in  1446.  Here  he  created  a  school  of  a  type 
previously  unknown. 

His  aim  was  to  develop  the  whole  nature  of  his  pupils,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  physical;  not  with  a  view  to  any  special  calling,  but  so 
as  to  form  good  citizens  and  useful  members  of  society,  capable  of 
bearing  their  part  with  credit  in  public  and  private  life.  For  intel- 
lectual training  he  took  the  Latin  classics  as  a  basis ;  teaching  them, 
however,  not  in  the  dry  and  meagre  fashion  generally  prevalent  in  the 
medieval  schools,  where  their  meaning  as  literature  was  too  often  ob- 
scured by  artificial  and  pedantic  methods,  but  in  the  large  and  generous 
spirit  of  Renaissance  humanism.  Poetry,  oratory,  Roman  history,  and 
the  ethics  of  Roman  Stoicism,  were  studied  in  the  best  Latin  writers, 
and  in  a  way  fitted  to  interest  and  stimulate  boys.  By  degrees  Vittorino 
introduced  some  Greek  classics  also.  The  scholars  were  practised  in 
Latin  composition,  and  to  some  extent  in  Greek ;  also  in  recitation,  and 
in  reading  aloud.  He  further  provided  for  some  teaching  of  mathematics, 
including  geometry  (a  subject  which  the  humanists  preferred  to  the 
schoolmen's  logic),  arithmetic,  and  the  elements  of  astronomy.  Nor  did 
he  neglect  the  rudiments  of  such  knowledge  as  then  passed  for  natural 
philosophy  and  natural  history.  Music  and  singing  also  found  a  place. 
Unlike  some  of  the  contemporary  humanists,  Vittorino  was  an  orthodox, 
even  a  devout  churchman,  and  one  whose  precepts  were  enforced  by  his 
practice.  He  was  a  layman,  and  the  type  of  education  which  he  was 
creating  might  even  be  contrasted  in  some  respects  with  the  ecclesiastical 
type  which  had  preceded  it.  But  he  was  entirely  exempt  from  any 
tendency  to  neopaganism  in  religion  or  ethics ;  and  his  ethical  influence 
as  a  teacher  seems  to  have  been  thoroughly  sound. 

With  great  insight  and  tact,  Vittorino  saw  how  far  social  education 
could  be  given  in  a  school  with  advantage  to  morals  and  without  loss 
to  manliness ;  he  inculcated  a  good  tone  of  manners,  and  encouraged 
the  acquirement  of  such  social  accomplishments  as  the  age  demanded 
in  well-educated  men.  As  to  physical  training,  he  provided  instructors 
in  riding,  swimming,  and  military  exercises.  He  also  promoted  every 
kind  of  healthy  outdoor  activity.  This  was  a  new  thing  in  schools.  The 
ecclesiastical  schoolmaster  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  not  usually  concerned 
himself  with  it.    The  medieval  provision  for  physical  training  had  been 


558 


Guarino  da  Verona 


chiefly  in  the  households  of  princes  or  nobles,  where  horsemanship,  hunt- 
ing, and  martial  sports  were  in  vogue.  Vittorino  was  in  some  sort  continu- 
ing this  old  training ;  many  of  his  pupils  were  young  nobles  destined  to 
the  life  of  courts  and  camps.  But  his  point  of  view  was  a  novel  one. 
The  idea  which  dominated  his  whole  system  was  the  classical,  primarily 
Greek,  idea  of  an  education  in  which  mind  and  body  should  be  har- 
moniously developed.  The  force  with  which  this  idea  appealed  to  the 
humanists  was  partly  due  to  its  contrast  with  medieval  theory  and  practice. 
The  new  type  of  school-education  developed  by  Vittorino  is  rightly 
called  humanistic ;  but  the  reason  for  so  calling  it  is  not  solely  or 
chiefly  that  the  intellectual  part  of  it  was  based  on  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics.  It  was  humanistic,  in  a  deeper  sense,  because  it  was  at  once 
intellectual,  moral,  and  physical.  Vittorino  was  resolved  that  the  ad- 
vantages of  his  school  should  be  open  to  all  boys  who  were  fitted  to 
profit  by  them.  Pupils  were  sent  to  him  from  several  of  the  Italian 
Courts  to  be  educated  with  the  young  Mantuan  princes.  But  he  also 
maintained  at  his  own  cost  a  large  number  of  poorer  scholars,  for  whom 
lodgings  were  found  near  the  villa.  The  rules  of  life  and  study  were  the 
same  for  all.  Many  of  the  most  distinguished  scholars  of  the  century 
had  enjoyed  his  teaching.  Among  these  were  George  of  Trebizond, 
Valla,  Nicholas  Perotti,  and  John,  Bishop  of  Aleria,  who  prepared  for 
the  Roman  press  (in  1469-71)  the  editiones  principes  of  many  Latin 
classics. 

Next  to  Vittorino  must  be  named  the  other  great  schoolmaster  of 
the  time,  his  contemporary  and  friend  Guarino  da  Verona.  Guarino, 
after  studying  Latin  under  Giovanni  di  Conversino,  had  learned  Greek 
at  Constantinople,  where  for  five  years  he  lived  in  the  house  of  Manuel 
Chrysoloras  (1403-8).  No  other  Italian  of  that  day  was  probably 
Guarino's  equal  as  a  Greek  scholar.  Filelfo  and  Aurispa  were  indeed 
the  only  contemporary  Italians  who  shared  his  facility  in  speaking  and 
writing  Greek.  It  was  in  1414  that  Guarino  opened  at  Venice  the  first 
humanistic  school  which  had  been  established  in  that  city.  Vittorino 
studied  Greek  with  him  there  for  a  year  and  a  half.  In  1418  Guarino 
finally  left  Venice.  He  was  subsequently  invited  by  Niccolo  d'  Este, 
Marquis  of  Ferrara,  to  undertake  the  education  of  his  son  and  heir, 
Lionello.  After  the  early  death  of  Lionello,  a  youth  of  great  promise, 
Guarino  remained  at  Ferrara,  where  he  enjoyed  the  highest  repute  as  a 
teacher,  drawing  pupils  from  all  parts  of  Italy.  He  died  there  in  1460, 
aged  ninety. 

Thus,  before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  school  and  lecture- 
room  had  diffused  the  influences  of  humanism  throughout  Italy.  The 
spirit  of  humanistic  study  had  given  a  new  bent  to  the  intellectual 
interests  of  cultivated  society,  and  had  become  a  potent  factor  in  the 
education  of  youth.  In  all  the  principal  cities  there  were  men  who 
found  themselves  drawn  together  by  a  common  taste  for  ancient 


The  Academy  of  Florence 


559 


literature  and  art.  The  time  was  ripe  for  raising  the  new  studies  to  a 
somewhat  higher  level  by  the  exercise  of  a  keener  criticism,  such  as  is 
generated  by  the  play  of  mind  upon  mind  within  a  limited  social  circle, 
to  which  the  only  passport  is  a  recognised  standard  of  attainment  or 
genius.  The  age  of  Academies  was  at  hand.  Florence,  the  metropolis 
of  humanism,  was  the  place  where  the  earliest  of  such  societies  arose. 
We  have  seen  that  the  visit  of  Gemistos  Plethon  in  1438  had  stimulated 
the  Florentine  study  of  Plato,  and  had  impelled  Cosmo  de'  Medici  to 
found  his  Platonic  Academy.  But  the  palmy  days  of  that  institution 
were  rather  in  the  time  of  his  grandson,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  who  be- 
came head  of  the  State  in  1469,  and  died  in  1492. 

Lorenzo  was  remarkable  for  versatility  even  among  the  men  of  the 
Renaissance.  Few  can  ever  have  been  more  brilliantly  qualified,  by 
natural  abilities  and  by  varied  accomplishments,  to  adorn  the  part  of  a 
Maecenas.  The  Platonic  Academy  usually  met  in  his  palace  at  Florence 
or  in  his  villa  on  the  heights  of  Fiesole.  Only  a  few  members  of  the 
society  can  be  named  here.  Platonic  studies  were  more  especially 
represented  by  Marsilio  Ficino,  who  had  given  a  great  impulse  to  them, 
though  he  had  no  critical  comprehension  of  Plato.  Giovanni  Pico  della 
Mirandola  brought  to  Lorenzo's  circle  those  varied  gifts  of  mind  and 
character  which  so  strongly  impressed  his  contemporaries.  A  keen  in- 
terest in  ancient  philosophy,  and  a  desire  to  harmonise  it  with  Christian 
doctrine,  were  distinctive  of  him.  He  was  destined  to  die,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-one,  in  1494.  Leo  Battista  Alberti,  architect,  musician,  painter, 
an  excellent  writer  in  both  Latin  and  Italian,  contributed  an  example  of 
versatile  power  almost  comparable  to  that  of  Lionardo  da  Vinci.  There, 
too,  was  Michelangelo,  already  a  poet,  but  with  his  greatest  artistic 
achievements  still  before  him.  Scholarship  had  several  representatives. 
Foremost  among  them  was  Politian,  who  has  commemorated  in  Latin 
verse  the  gatherings  at  his  patron's  villa.  Another  was  Cristoforo 
Landino,  an  able  Latinist,  the  author  of  some  dialogues,  on  the 
model  of  Cicero's  Tusculans^  which  aid  us  in  imagining  the  kind  of 
discourse  to  which  the  meetings  of  the  Academy  gave  rise.  These 
are  the  well-known  Disputationes  Oamaldunenses,  so  called  because  the 
conversations  are  supposed  to  take  place  at  a  house  of  the  Camaldulite 
Order  in  the  Apennines.  Landino  introduces  us  to  Lorenzo  de'  Medici 
and  a  party  of  his  friends,  who  have  sought  refuge  there  from  the 
summer  heat  of  Florence.  The  conversation  turns  on  the  merits  of  that 
active  life  which  they  have  left  behind  them  in  the  fair  city  on  the 
Arno,  as  compared  with  the  contemplative  life  of  the  philosopher  or 
the  monk.  Alberti  argues  in,  favour  of  the  contemplative  existence ; 
Lorenzo,  of  the  active :  and  their  hearers  pronounce  the  opinion  that 
both  must  contribute  to  form  the  complete  man.  So  passes  their  first 
evening  among  the  hills.  On  three  following  days  the  friends  discourse 
of  Virgil.    Humanists  though  they  are,  they  cling  (as  Petrarch  did)  to 


560  The  Academies  of  Rome  and  Naples 


the  faith  that  his  poetry  is  allegorical;  and  in  the  veiled  meanings 
which  underlie  it  they  discover  links  with  Platonic  doctrine.  Landino's 
work  in  these  imaginary  conversations  must  be  accepted  as  true  to  the 
general  tendency  and  tone  of  the  circle  which  he  knew  so  well.  It 
should  be  added  that  the  cult  of  Plato  by  the  Florentine  Academy 
included  certain  ceremonial  observances.  They  kept  his  birthday  with 
a  banquet,  after  which  some  portion  of  his  works  was  read  and  discussed. 
The  anniversary  of  his  death  had  also  its  fitting  commemoration.  His 
bust  was  crowned  with  flowers,  and  a  lamp  was  burned  before  it. 
Such  things,  which  may  seem  childish  now,  were  outward  signs  of  the 
strong  and  fresh  reality  which  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  ancients 
had  for  the  men  of  the  Renaissance,  the  heirs  of  the  Middle  Age,  who 
had  not  wholly  broken,  even  yet,  with  its  feelings  and  impulses. 

Rome,  too,  had  its  Academy.  This  was  founded,  about  1460,  by 
Julius  Pomponius  Laetus,  an  enthusiast  for  Latin  scholarship,  in  which 
Valla  had  been  his  master.  It  was  the  peculiar  amibition  of  Laetus  to 
imitate  as  closely  as  possible  the  manners,  occupations,  and  even  amuse- 
ments, of  the  ancients.  The  Academy  founded  by  him  devoted  itself 
especially  to  the  study  of  Latin  antiquities.  Its  members  also  followed 
his  bent  by  celebrating  the  Palilia  on  the  legendary  birthday  of  Rome,  — 
by  acting  comedies  of  Plautus,  —  and  generally  by  raising,  among  them- 
selves, such  a  phantom  as  they  could  of  ancient  life.  It  is  not  alto- 
gether surprising  that  a  Pope  devoid  of  humanistic  sympathies  should 
have  regarded  such  a  society  with  disapproval.  The  Roman  Academy 
was  temporarily  suppressed  by  Paul  II.  But  it  was  revived  under 
Sixtus  IV,  and  lived  on  into  the  age  of  Leo  X,  when  it  greatly  flourished. 
Among  its  members  at  that  later  period  were  three  of  the  eminent  Latin 
scholars  who  became  Cardinals,  —  Bembo,  Sadoleto,  and  Egidio  Canisio ; 
also  the  sparkling  historian  and  biographer  Paulus  Jovius.  It  could 
claim  also  that  brilliant  ornament  of  Leo's  Court,  Baldassare  Castiglione, 
the  author  of  the  Cortegiano^  and  himself  a  mirror  of  the  accomplish- 
ments which  he  describes. 

The  Academy  of  Naples  differed  in  stamp  both  from  the  Florentine 
and  from  the  Roman.  Alfonso  V  of  Aragon,  who  made  himself  master 
of  Naples  in  1442,  had  drawn  a  number  of  distinguished  scholars  to  his 
Court  in  that  city.  After  his  death  in  1458  there  was  no  longer  a  centre 
at  Naples  round  which  such  men  could  gather.  Then  it  was  that  J ovianus 
Pontanus,  an  excellent  writer  of  Latin,  and  especially  of  Latin  verse,  de- 
veloped an  Academy  out  of  what  had  previously  been  an  informal  society 
of  scholarly  friends.  The  distinctive  note  of  the  Neapolitan  Academy 
continued  to  be  that  which  it  derived  from  its  origin.  It  was  occupied 
more  especially  with  the  cultivation  of  style.  The  activity  distinctive  of 
it  is  represented  by  a  series  of  Latin  versifiers,  remarkable  for  scholarship, 
for  vigour,  and  also  for  a  neopagan  tendency.  The  Florentine  Academy 
was  predominantly  philosophic ;  the  Roman   was  antiquarian ;  the 


Ahh  Manuzio 


561 


Neapolitan  was  literary.  Many  similar  societies,  of  more  or  less  note^ 
arose  in  other  Italian  cities.  At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  almost 
every  considerable  centre  of  culture  possessed  its  Academy.  The  manner 
in  which  these  institutions  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  scholarship 
and  learning  was  somewhat  different  from  that  associated  with  more 
modern  bodies  of  a  similar  nature.  The  Italian  Academies  of  the 
Renaissance  had  little  to  show  in  the  way  of  "  transactions  "  or  memoirs 
which  could  be  regarded  as  permanently  valuable  contributions  to  special 
branches  of  knowledge.  But  the  variety  and  brilliancy  of  the  men 
whom  these  societies  are  known  to  have  brought  into  sympathetic 
converse  would  sufBce  to  establish  the  importance  of  the  movement. 
Such  Academies  raised  the  classic  Renaissance  to  a  higher  level. 

Cooperation  of  the  academic  kind  bore  a  necessary  part  in  that  great 
work  which  crowned  the  labours  of  the  Italian  revival  by  securing  the 
Greek  and  Latin  classics  against  the  accidents  of  time.  Aldo  Manuzio 
was  aided  in  the  affairs  of  his  press  by  the  "  New  Academy  "  (^Neaca- 
demia)  which  he  founded  at  Venice.  In  order  justly  to  estimate  his 
achievement,  we  must  recall  what  had  been  done  in  the  same  field  before 
him.  Italy  was  the  country  where  the  recently  invented  art  of  printing 
first  became  largely  fruitful  in  the  service  of  letters.  In  the  Benedictine 
House  of  Santa  Scolastica  at  Subiaco  the  German  printers  Schweinheim 
and  Pannartz  printed  in  1465  the  first  edition  of  Lactantius.  Removing 
to  Rome  in  1467,  they  began  to  issue  the  Latin  classics.  In  1469  their 
press  produced  Caesar,  Livy,  Aulus  Gellius,  Virgil,  and  Lucan ;  which 
were  shortly  followed  by  Cicero's  Letters,  with  a  volume  of  his  Orations, 
and  by  Ovid.  Some  twenty-three  Latin  authors  were  published  by 
them  in  little  more  than  two  years.  At  about  the  same  time  printing 
was  begun  at  Venice  by  John  of  Speyer,  and  by  a  Frenchman,  Nicolas 
Jenson.  They,  too,  sent  forth  many  Latin  authors.  Milan  seems  to 
have  had  a  press  as  early  as  1469.  At  Florence,  in  1471,  Bernardo 
Cennini  printed  the  commentary  of  Servius  on  Virgil's  Eclogues.  Another 
Florentine  printing-house  was  that  of  Giunta,  afterwards  famed  for  the 
editiones  luntinae.  The  printing  of  Greek  began  not  long  after  the  first 
entrance  of  the  art  into  Italy.  In  1476  the  Greek  Grammar  of  Con- 
stantine  Lascaris  was  printed  at  Milan  by  Zarot.  At  Milan,  Theocritus 
{Idylls  I — xviii)  and  Hesiod  (  Works  and  Bays')  came  from  the  press  in 
or  about  1481 ;  and  Isocrates  (edited  by  Demetrius  Chalcondylas)  in 
1493.  Venice  contributed,  in  1484,  the  Greek  Grammar  (JErotemata)  of 
Manuel  Chrysoloras.  At  Florence,  in  1488,  Lorenzo  Alopa,  a  Venetian, 
published  a  Homer,  edited  by  Chalcondylas.  Such  was  the  general 
situation  when  Aldo  commenced  his  labours.  Most  of  the  greater  Latin 
classics  had  been  printed ;  but  of  the  Greek,  only  Homer,  Hesiod's 
Works  and  Days^  eighteen  Idylls  of  Theocritus,  and  Isocrates. 

Teobaldo  Manucci,  who  Latinised  his  name  into  Aldus  Manutius, 
and  is  now  more  usually  called  Aldo  Manuzio,  was  born  in  1450.  His 

C.  M.  H.  I.  36 


662 


The  Aldine  Press  at  Venice 


aim  in  youth  was  to  qualify  himself  for  the  profession  of  a  humanist. 
He  studied  Greek  at  Ferrara  under  Guarino  da  Verona,  to  whom  he 
afterwards  inscribed  his  Theocritus.  At  Rome  Gasparino  da  Verona  was 
his  master  in  Latin.  Aldo  became  tutor  to  the  young  princes  of  Carpi, 
Alberto  and  Lionella  Pio,  nephews  of  his  old  fellow-student,  the  brilliant 
Pico  della  Mirandola.  But  he  had  now  formed  the  great  design  of 
printing  all  the  masterpieces  of  Greek  literature,  and  on  that  project  all 
his  thoughts  were  intent.  He  was  supplied  with  the  means  of  executing 
it  by  his  pupil  Alberto  Pio,  to  whom,  as  tQ>  tmv  ovtcov  ipaary,  he 
dedicated  the  editio prineeps  of  Aristotle.  In  1490  he  settled  at  Venice,  in 
a  house  near  the  church  of  San  Agostino,  and  entered  upon  preparations 
for  his  task.  A  Cretan,  Marcus  Musurus,  was  the  most  important  of 
his  assistants.  The  handwriting  of  Musurus  was  the  pattern  from  which 
Aldo's  Greek  type  was  cast,  —  as,  in  a  later  day,  Porson's  hand  supplied 
a  model  to  the  Cambridge  press.  It  is  noteworthy  that  another  Cretan, 
Demetrius,  had  designed  the  types  used  by  Alopa  in  the  Florentine 
Homer  of  1488.  Many  of  Aldo's  compositors  were  likewise  Cretans. 
His  printing  establishment  at  Venice  was  a  Greek-speaking  household. 
There  was  a  separate  department  for  binding  books.  The  printing-ink 
was  made  in  the  house ;  the  excellent  paper  came  from  the  mills  of 
Fabriano. 

In  1493  Aldo  began  his  series  of  Greek  editions  with  the  Hero  and 
Leander  of  Musaeus  ;  whom,  as  appears  from  the  preface,  he  identified 
with  the  pre-Homeric  bard  of  legend.  Thenceforward  Aldo's  work  was 
prosecuted  with  steady  vigour,  though  not  without  some  enforced  inter- 
ruptions. The  whole  of  Hesiod,  with  Theocritus  (thirty  Idylls),  Theog- 
nis,  and  some  other  gnomic  poetry,  came  out  in  1495.  Aristotle,  in  five 
volumes,  appeared  in  the  years  1495-8.  Nine  plays  of  Aristophanes 
were  issued  in  1498.  The  year  1502  produced  Thucydides,  Sophocles, 
and  Herodotus.  In  1503  came  Xenophon's  Hellenica^  and  Euripides ; 
in  1504,  Demosthenes  ;  in  1508,  Lysias  and  other  orators  ;  in  1509,  parts 
of  Plutarch.  The  year  1518  was  signalised  by  the  editio  prineeps  of  Plato, 
dedicated  to  Leo  X.  In  1514  Pindar  was  sent  forth ;  also  Hesychius 
and  Athenaeus.  When  Aldo  died  in  1515,  he  had  produced  twenty- 
eight  editiones  principes  of  Greek  and  Latin  classics  within  the  space  of 
some  twenty-two  years.  And  these  editions  were  of  a  merit  hitherto 
unequalled.  Pains  had  been  taken  with  the  collation  of  manuscripts 
and  with  criticism  of  the  text ;  and  in  this  respect  many  of  the  books, 
though  they  may  fail  to  satisfy  the  modern  standard,  were  superior  to 
any  that  had  preceded  them.  The  printing  was  of  much  beauty ;  and 
the  small  form  of  the  volumes  was  a  welcome  boon  in  an  age  accustomed 
to  folios  or  quartos.  But  the  most  important  benefit  was  the  extraor- 
dinary cheapness  of  these  editions.  The  price  of  an  Aldine  volume 
ranged  from  about  a  shilling  to  half-a-crown  of  our  money.  It  was  not 
without  many  difficulties  and  discouragements  that  such  a  result  had 


Aldo^s  Academy,  —  His  work  for  letters  563 


been  attained.  Aldo  suffered  from  the  jealousy  of  rival  printers  and  the 
frauds  of  piratical  booksellers.  On  four  occasions  (he  writes  in  1501) 
the  persons  in  his  employment  had  caballed  against  him,  with  the  aim 
of  making  larger  gains  at  his  expense.  Then  the  work  of  his  press  was 
twice  stopped  by  war;  first  in  1506,  and  again  in  1510-15.  But  Aldo 
was  sustained  by  a  sober  enthusiasm. 

He  must  also  have  been  cheered  by  the  sympathy  of  the  Hellenists 
whom  he  had  drawn  around  him.  His  "Neacademia"  was  formed  at 
Venice  in  1500.  Its  rules  were  drawn  up  in  Greek,  and  that  language 
was  spoken  at  its  meetings.  The  secretary  of  the  society  was  Scipione 
Fortiguerra,  the  author  of  a  once  famous  essay  In  praise  of  Greek 
Letters^  who  grecised  his  name  as  Carteromachus ;  an  example  which 
the  other  members  of  the  body  followed.  The  eminent  scholar  John 
Lascaris  was  one  of  several  distinguished  Greeks  resident  in  Italy  who 
joined  Aldo's  Academy.  Among  the  subjects  with  which  the  Neacademia 
occupied  itself  was  the  choice  of  books  to  be  printed,  the  collation  of 
manuscripts,  and  the  discussion  of  various  readings.  Some  of  the 
members  assisted  Aldo  as  editors  of  particular  classics.  It  was  in  order 
to  see  a  new  edition  of  his  own  Adagia  through  the  press  that  Erasmus 
became  a  guest  under  Aldo's  roof  in  1508.  He  has  described  how  he 
sat  in  the  same  room  with  his  host,  revising  the  book,  while  Aldo  and 
his  proof-reader  Seraphinus  pushed  forward  the  printing.  Erasmus  be- 
came, as  was  natural,  an  honorary  member  of  the  Neacademia.  That 
distinction  was  enjoyed  also  by  an  Englishman  who  had  studied  humane 
letters  under  Politian,  Thomas  Linacre.  Aldo's  Academy  thus  stands 
out  among  kindred  institutions  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  as  a  body 
actively  associated  with  a  definite  work  on  a  grand  scale,  the  printing  of 
the  classics.  After  Aldo's  death  in  1515,  the  business  of  the  press  was 
carried  on  by  his  brothers-in-law  and  partners,  the  Asolani ;  and  then 
by  his  son,  Paolo  Manuzio,  and  his  grandson,  Aldo  the  younger.  The 
series  of  Greek  classics  was  continued  with  Pausanias,  Strabo,  Aeschylus, 
Galen,  Hippocrates,  and  Longinus.  When  Aeschylus  had  appeared,  in 
1518,  no  extant  Greek  classic  of  the  first  rank  remained  unprinted. 
Aldo  was  not  only  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  benefactors  to  literature,  but 
also  a  man  whose  disinterested  ardour  and  generous  character  compel 
admiration.  Alluding  to  the  device  on  his  title-pages,  the  dolphin  and 
the  anchor,  —  symbols  of  speed  and  tenacity,  with  the  motto  Festina 
lente, — he  said  (in  1499),  "I  have  achieved  much  by  patience  (^cunc- 
tando)^  and  I  work  without  pause."  The  energy,  knowing  neither 
haste  nor  rest,  which  carried  him  to  his  goal  was  inspired  by  the 
same  feeling  which,  in  the  dawn  of  the  Renaissance,  had  animated 
Petrarch  and  Boccaccio.  Those  pioneers,  when  they  ransacked  libraries 
for  manuscripts,  felt  as  if  they  were  liberating  the  master-spirits  of  old 
j  from  captivity.  So  does  Aldo  exult,  in  one  of  his  prefaces,  at  the 
I  thought  that  he  has  delivered  the  classics  from  bondage  to  'Hhe  buriers 


564       Later  phases  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 


of  books,"  the  misers  of  bibliography  who  hid  their  treasures  from  the 
light.  And  no  one  was  more  liberal  than  Aldo  to  all  who  worked  with 
him,  or  who  sought  his  aid. 

At  the  time  when  his  task  was  advancing  towards  completion,  Greek 
learning  had  already  begun  to  decline  in  Italy,  and  the  last  period  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance  had  set  in.  That  period  may  be  roughly  dated 
from  the  year  1494 ;  and  the  end,  or  beginning  of  the  end,  is  marked  by 
the  sack  of  Rome  in  1527.  It  was  in  1494  that  Charles  VIII  of  France 
marched  on  Naples.  He  conquered  it  easily,  but  lost  it  again  after  his 
withdrawal.  A  time  of  turmoil  ensued  in  Italy,  which  became  the 
battle-ground  where  foreign  princes  fought  out  their  feuds.  The  Medici 
were  driven  from  Florence,  which  thereupon  was  rent  by  the  struggle 
between  the  Piagnoni  and  the  Ottimati.  Naples  was  acquired  in  1504 
by  Ferdinand  of  Aragon.  Milan  was  harassed  by  the  passage  of  French, 
Swiss,  and  German  armies.  Almost  everywhere  Italy  lay  down-trodden 
under  the  contending  invaders.  Only  a  few  of  the  smaller  principalities, 
such  as  Ferrara  and  Mantua,  retained  any  vigorous  or  independent  life. 
Rome,  meanwhile,  was  wealthy,  and  still  untroubled  by  war.  The 
papacy  was  now  the  chief  Italian  Power  in  the  peninsula.  It  was  at 
Rome,  therefore,  that  humanistic  culture  held  its  central  seat  in  this 
closing  period  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.  Erasmus  was  there  in  1509, 
when  Cardinal  Grimani  pressed  him  to  make  Rome  his  permanent  abode  ; 
and  he  has  recorded  his  impressions.  He  saw  a  bright  and  glorious  city, 
an  opulent  treasure-house  of  literature  and  art,  the  metropolis  of  polite 
society,  refined  luxury,  and  learned  intercourse.  Nor  was  this  merely 
the  estimate  of  a  northern  visitor.  A  similar  view  of  Rome  brought 
consolation  to  contemporary  Italians.  The  Poetica  of  Marco  Vida  (148^- 
1566)  ends  with  a  panegyric  on  Leo  X,  in  which  he  laments,  indeed, 
that  Italy  has  become  a  prey  to  "foreign  tyrants."  The  "fortune  of 
arms  "  has  forsaken  her.  "  But  may  she  still  excel,"  he  cries,  "  in  the 
studies  of  Minerva ;  and  may  Rome,  peerless  in  beauty,  still  teach  the 
nations  !  "  The  claim  which  Virgil  made  immortal  is  reversed  by  Vida. 
Let  others  wield  the  sword,  and  bear  rule  ;  but  let  Rome  be  supreme  in 
letters  and  in  arts. 

The  prevalent  tendency  of  humanism  at  this  period  was  towards 
accuracy  and  elegance  of  Latin  style.  That  wide  range  of  study  which 
had  been  characteristic  of  Politian,  and  of  the  greatest  humanists  before 
him,  was  no  longer  in  vogue.  Attention  was  now  concentrated  on  a  few 
models  of  composition,  especially  on  Cicero  and  Virgil.  Bembo,  strictest 
of  Ciceronians,  a  literary  dictator  in  the  age  of  Leo  X,  warned  the  learned 
Sadoleto  against  allowing  his  style  to  be  depraved  by  the  diction  of 
St  Paul's  Epistles  ("  Omitte  has  nugas  ")  ;  advice  which  did  not,  however, 
ultimately  deter  Sadoleto  from  publishing  a  commentary  on  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans.  Another  trait  of  the  time,  justly  ridiculed  by  Erasmus, 
was  the  fashion  of  using  pagan  paraphrases  for  Christian  ideas,  or  for 


Pope  Leo  X 


565 


things  wholly  modern.  Thus  the  saints  are  divi;  the  papal  tiara  is 
infula  Romulea.  Not  merely  good  taste,  but  reverence,  was  often 
sacrificed  to  this  affectation.  With  regard  to  pagan  themes,  Bembo  is  a 
proof  that  they  could  now  be  treated  in  Latin  verse,  and  by  an  ecclesiastic, 
with  a  frank  paganism  which  no  ancient  could  have  outdone. 

The  central  figure  in  this  period  is  Pope  Leo  X  (1513-21).  He 
had  an  inborn  zeal  for  the  Classical  Renaissance.  At  Rome,  under  his 
reign,  the  cult  of  the  antique  engaged  a  circle  much  larger,  though  far 
less  rich  in  genius,  than  the  group  which  had  surrounded  his  father 
Lorenzo  de'  Medici  at  Florence.  The  position  of  humanism  at  the 
Vatican  was  now  very  different  from  what  it  had  been  in  the  pre- 
ceding century.  So  far  as  the  earlier  humanists  came  into  relations 
with  the  papal  Curia,  it  was  chiefly  because  they  were  required  as  writers 
of  Latin.  Poggio,  Lionardo  Bruni,  and  Lorenzo  Valla,  were  employed 
as  Apostolic  secretaries;  Valla's  appointment  marked,  indeed,  as  we 
have  seen,  a  new  policy  of  the  Vatican  towards  humanism  :  but  all  three 
remained  laymen;  and  that  was  the  general  rule.  In  those  days, 
humanists  seldom  rose  to  high  ecclesiastical  office.  It  was  otherwise 
now.  Distinction  in  scholarship  had  become  one  of  the  surest  avenues 
to  preferment  in  the  Church.  A  youth  gained  some  literary  distinction, 
was  brought  to  Rome  by  his  patron,  and  attracted  the  notice  of  the 
Pope.  Thus  Bembo,  Sadoleto,  and  Aleander  attained  to  the  sacred 
purple ;  Paulus  Jovius,  Vida,  and  Marcus  Musurus  became  bishops. 
Such  cases  were  frequent.  Scholars  were  now  in  the  high  places  of  the 
Vatican.  They  gave  the  tone  to  the  Court  and  to  Roman  society  It 
was  a  world  pervaded  by  a  sense  of  beauty  in  literature,  in  plastic 
art,  in  architecture,  in  painting ;  a  world  in  which  graceful  accomplish- 
ments and  courtly  manners  lent  a  charm  to  daily  life.  A  scholar  or 
artist,  coming  to  Rome  in  Leo's  reign,  would  have  found  there  all,  or 
more  than  all,  that  had  fascinated  Erasmus  a  few  years  before.  To  Leo 
and  his  contemporaries  it  might  well  have  seemed  that  their  age  was 
the  very  flower  and  crown  of  the  Renaissance.  The  aesthetic  pleasures 
of  their  existence  had  been  prepared  by  the  labours  of  predecessors  who 
had  brought  back  the  ancient  culture.  But  the  humanism  of  Leo's  age 
had  no  longer  within  it  the  seeds  of  further  growth.  The  classical 
revival  in  Italy  had  now  well-nigh  run  its  course.  Its  best  and  freshest 
forces  were  spent.  It  was  rather  in  the  literature  of  the  Italian  language 
that  the  original  power  of  the  Italian  genius  was  now  seeking  expression. 

Leo  X  should  not,  however,  be  identified  merely  with  that  phase 
of  humanism,  brilliant,  indeed,  yet  already  decadent,  which  was 
mirrored  in  his  Court.  He  was  also,  beyond  doubt,  a  man  animated 
by  a  strong  and  genuine  desire  to  promote  intellectual  culture,  not 
only  in  the  form  of  elegant  accomplishment,  but  also  in  that  of  solid 
learning.  Of  this  he  gave  several  proofs.  The  Roman  University  (the 
*'Sapienza")  had  hitherto  been  inferior,  as  a  school  of  humanism,  to 


566    Attitude  of  Pope  Leo  X  towards  the  New  Learning 


some  others  in  Italy.  It  had  never  rivalled  Florence,  and  it  could  not 
now  compete  with  Ferrara.  Leo,  in  the  first  year  of  his  pontificate 
(1513),  made  a  serious  effort  to  improve  it ;  and  it  was  not  his  fault  if 
that  effort  had  little  permanent  success.  He  remodelled  the  statutes  of 
the  University  ;  created  some  new  chairs ;  enlarged  the  emoluments  of 
those  which  existed ;  and  induced  some  scholars  of  eminence  to  join  the 
staff.  Another  way  in  which  he  showed  his  earnest  sympathy  with 
learning  was  by  his  encouragement  of  Greek  studies.  More  than  forty 
years  before  this,  editions  of  Latin  classics  had  begun  to  issue  from  the 
Roman  press.  But  Rome  had  hitherto  lagged  behind  in  the  printing  of 
Greek.  The  first  Greek  book  printed  at  Rome  was  a  Pindar,  published 
in  1515  by  Zacharias  Calliergi,  a  Cretan,  who  had  helped  to  bring  out 
the  Etymologicum  Magnum  at  Venice  in  1499.  A  Greek  printing 
press  was  now  established  in  Rome  by  Leo.  He  also  instituted  the 
Gymnasium  Caballini  Montis,"  where  lectures  were  given  by  Aldo's 
former  assistant,  the  eminent  Cretan  scholar  Marcus  Musurus,  and 
also  by  the  veteran  John  Lascaris.  This  was  perhaps  the  last  con- 
siderable effort  made  in  Italy  to  arrest  the  incipient  decline  of  Greek 
studies. 

A  permanent  interest  attaches  to  the  profession  of  faith  in  humanism 
left  on  record  by  Leo  X.  When,  in  1515,  the  first  six  books  of  the 
AnnaU  of  Tacitus  appeared  in  the  editio  princeps  of  Filippo  Beroaldo 
the  younger,  the  Pope  conferred  upon  the  editor  a  privilege  for  the  sale 
and  reprinting  of  the  book.  In  the  brief  which  granted  this  privilege, 
and  which  was  prefixed  to  the  edition,  Leo  expressed  his  estimate  of  the 
New  Learning.  "  We  have  been  accustomed,"  he  says,  "  even  from  our 
early  years,  to  think  that  nothing  more  excellent  or  more  useful  has 
been  given  by  the  Creator  to  mankind,  if  we  except  only  the  know- 
ledge and  true  worship  of  Himself,  than  these  studies,  which  not  only 
lead  to  the  ornament  and  guidance  of  human  life,  but  are  applicable  and 
useful  to  every  particular  situation ;  in  adversity  consolatory,  in  pros- 
perity pleasing  and  honourable  ;  insomuch  that  without  them  we  should 
be  deprived  of  all  the  grace  of  life  and  all  the  polish  of  social  inter- 
course." He  then  observes  that  "the  security  and  extension  of  these 
studies  "  seem  to  depend  chiefly  on  two  things,  —  "the  number  of  men  of 
learning,  and  the  ample  supply  of  excellent  authors."  As  to  the  first,  it 
has  always  been  his  earnest  desire  to  encourage  men  of  letters  ;  and  as  to 
the  acquisition  of  books,  he  rejoices  when  an  opportunity  is  thus  afforded 
him  of  thus  "promoting  the  advantage  of  mankind."  The  best  spirit 
of  Italian  humanism  finds  a  noble  expression  in  these  words,  written  by 
one  who,  both  as  Giovanni  de'  Medici  and  as  Leo  X,  had  proved  the 
sincerity  of  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  letters.  That  sympathy  was 
interwoven  with  his  personal  character  and  temperament;  it  scarcely 
needed  to  be  strengthened  by  the  great  traditions  of  his  house.  We 
may  doubt  whether  he  was  conscious  that  the  Classical  Renaissance  had 


Close  of  the  Italian  Renaissance 


567 


SO  decidedly  passed  its  zenith :  certainly  he  can  have  had  no  presage  of 
what  was  to  happen  a  few  years  after  his  death. 

The  capture  of  Rome  by  the  imperialist  troops  in  1527  broke  up 
that  Roman  world  of  literature  and  art  which,  as  viewed  by  the  men 
who  were  under  its  spell,  had  rivalled  the  age  of  Pericles  or  of  Augustus. 
Valeriano,  who  knew  the  city  both  before  and  after  that  fatal  year,  has 
described,  in  his  dialogue  JDe  Liter atorum  Infelicitate^  the  horror  and 
completeness  of  the  catastrophe.  When  he  asked  for  the  men  of  letters 
whom  he  remembered  at  Rome,  he  learned  that  many  of  them  had 
perished  by  the  sword,  by  torture,  or  by  disease.  Others  had  escaped 
only  to  end  their  days  in  penury  and  suffering.  But  some  fine  scholars 
were  still  left  in  Italy.  Petrus  Victorius  (1499-1584),  who  taught  at 
his  native  Florence  from  1538  onwards,  showed  much  acuteness  in  his 
Variae  Lectiones.  His  labours  included  some  good  work  for  the  Attic 
tragedians,  Aristotle,  and  Cicero.  Lombardy  was  now  the  part  of  Italy 
in  which  classical  culture  found  its  chief  refuge.  At  Ferrara  humanism 
was  represented  especially  by  Lilius  Gyraldus  (1479-1552),  whose  His- 
toria  Poetarum  (1545)  was  one  of  the  earliest  books  on  the  history  of 
classical  literature.  Robortellus  (1516-67),  a  sound  Hellenist,  who 
taught  at  Pavia  and  elsewhere,  edited  Aeschylus  and  Callimachus ;  while 
by  his  treatise  Be  Arte  sive  Ratione  Corrigendi  Antiquos  Lihros  he 
ranks  among  the  founders  of  textual  criticism.  Ever  since  the  days  of 
Politian,  the  cultivation  of  Latin  verse  writing  had  been  popular.  Along 
with  much  that  was  mediocre  or  bad,  some  admirable  work  in  this  kind 
was  produced.  Andre  Navagero,  of  Venice,  who  died  in  1529,  might 
be  instanced  as  a  Latin  scholar  who  wrote  verse  in  a  really  classical  taste, 
untainted  by  the  coarseness  which  was  then  too  common.  A  few  years 
after  the  sack  of  Rome,  Marcantonio  Flaminio,  of  Imola,  dedicated  to 
his  patron,  Alessandro  Farnese,  a  collection  of  verses  by  scholars  belong- 
ing to  Venice,  Modena,  Verona,  Mantua,  and  other  North-Italian  towns. 
The  condition  of  Italy  at  this  time  was  utterly  miserable.  But 
Flaminio's  elegant  verse  breathes  only  a  scholar's  exultation.  Happy, 
too  happy,  are  our  days,  which  have  given  birth  to  a  Catullus,  a 
Tibullus,  a  Horace,  and  a  Virgil  of  their  own  !  Who  would  have 
thought  that,  after  the  darkness  of  so  many  centuries,  and  the  dire 
disasters  of  Italy,  so  many  lights  could  have  arisen  within  the  narrow 
region  beyond  the  Po  ?  "  Such  words,  written  in  such  days,  have  an 
unconscious  pathos.  They  are  significant  of  Italy's  patient  fidelity  to 
the  ideals  of  the  Renaissance,  as  well  as  of  the  price  which  she  paid  for 
it.  And  now  at  last  the  tide  was  about  to  turn.  The  power  of  the 
Roman  Church,  strenuously  engaged  in  combating  the  Reformation, 
became  adverse  also  to  the  aims  and  the  spirit  of  the  New  Learning. 
In  1530  Clement  VII  and  Charles  V  made  their  compact  at  Bologna. 
Spain,  supported  by  the  papacy,  effected  the  pacification  of  Italy.  So 
far  as  Italy  was  concerned,  the  humanistic  movement  was  now  arrested, 


568      Achievements  of  the  Classical  Renaissance 


and  a  reaction  had  begun.  Writing  about  1540,  Paulus  Jovius  lamented 
that  scholarship  had  migrated  from  Italy  to  Germany.  His  complaint 
was  somewhat  premature ;  but  such  a  process  had  indeed  set  in.  The 
most  learned  Italian  of  the  next  generation,  Cardinal  Baronius  (1538- 
1607),  the  author  of  Annates  Ecclesiastici^  was  unacquainted  with  Greek, 
The  work  accomplished  by  the  Italian  Renaissance  claims  the  lasting 
gratitude  of  mankind.  In  the  interval  between  the  time  of  Petrarch  and 
that  of  Leo  X,  a  space  of  about  a  hundred  and  seventy  years,  ardent 
and  unceasing  labours  bridged  the  gulf  between  the  medieval  and  the 
modern  world.  Latin,  the  universal  language,  was  purged  from 
barbarism.  Latin  literature  was  brought  back  into  the  full  light  of 
intelligent  study.  Greek  was  restored  to  the  West.  After  centuries 
of  intellectual  poverty,  men  entered  once  more  into  possession  of  the 
poetry  and  the  eloquence,  the  wisdom  and  the  wit,  bequeathed  by 
ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  The  period  of  this  revival  was  one  in  which 
the  general  tone  of  morality  was  low;  and  cynicism,  bred  partly  of 
abuses  in  the  church,  had  well-nigh  paralysed  the  restraining  power  of 
religion.  Some  of  the  humanists  were  pagans,  not  as  Seneca  was,  but  as 
Petronius  Arbiter  ;  and,  far  from  suffering  in  public  esteem,  enjoyed 
the  applause  of  princes  and  prelates.  Not  a  little  that  was  odious  or 
shameful  occasionally  marked  their  conduct  and  disfigured  their  writings. 
But  it  is  hardly  needful  to  observe  that  such  exponents  of  humanism 
were  in  no  way  representative  of  its  essence,  or  even  of  its  inevitable 
conditions  in  a  corrupt  age.  Among  the  foremost  Italian  scholars  were 
many  exemplars  of  worthy  life  and  noble  character,  men  whose  en- 
thusiasm for  letters  was  joined  to  moral  qualities  which  compel  respect 
and  admiration.  And  no  transient  phase  of  fashionable  paganism  could 
mar  the  distinctive  merits  of  the  Italian  Renaissance,  or  affect  its 
permanent  results.  Italian  humanism  restored  good  standards  of  style 
in  prose  and  verse,  thereby  benefiting  not  classical  studies  alone,  but 
modern  literature  as  well ;  it  did  much  for  erudition,  and  prepared  the 
ground  for  more ;  it  founded  literary  education  of  a  liberal  type ;  it 
had  a  wide  outlook,  and  taught  men  to  regard  classical  antiquity  as  a 
whole,  a  fruitful  stage  in  the  history  of  human  development.  Lastly,  it 
achieved  a  result  even  larger  than  its  work  for  scholarship,  by  diffusing 
a  new  spirit,  the  foe  of  obscurantism,  the  ally  of  all  forces  that  make  for 
light,  for  the  advancement  of  knowledge,  and  for  reasonable  freedom. 

Long  before  the  Renaissance  had  run  its  course  in  Italy,  its  in- 
fluences had  begun  to  pass  the  Alps.  But  there  is  one  man  who,  above 
all  others,  must  be  regarded  as  the  herald  of  humanism  in  the  North. 
It  is  the  distinction  of  Erasmus  that  by  the  peculiar  qualities  of  his 
genius,  and  by  the  unique  popularity  of  his  writings,  he  prepared  the 
advent  of  the  New  Learning,  not  in  his  native  Holland  alone,  but 
throughout  Europe.    Before  indicating  the  special  directions  which  the 


Erasmus 


569 


Renaissance  took  in  particular  countries,  it  is  fitting  to  speak  of  him 
whose  work  affected  them  all. 

Born  at  Rotterdam  in  1467,  Erasmus  was  approaching  manhood 
when  Italian  humanism,  having  culminated  in  the  days  of  Politian, 
was  about  to  decline.  His  own  training  was  not  directly  due  to  Italy. 
When  he  was  a  schoolboy  at  De venter,  his  precocious  ability  was 
recognised  by  Rudolf  Agricola,  whom  he  has  designated  as  "the  first 
who  brought  from  Italy  some  breath  of  a  better  culture."  Erasmus 
avers  that,  in  his  boyhood,  northern  Europe  was  barbarously  ignorant 
of  humane  literature.  A  knowledge  of  Greek  was  "  the  next  thing  to 
heresy."  "  I  did  my  best,"  he  says,  "  to  deliver  the  rising  generation 
from  this  slough  of  ignorance,  and  to  inspire  them  with  a  taste  for 
better  studies."  He  made  himself  a  good  scholar  by  dint  of  hard 
private  work,  suffering  privations  which  left  him  a  chronic  invalid.  In 
1498  he  visited  Oxford,  meeting  there  some  of  the  earliest  English 
humanists.  From  1500  to  1505  he  was  in  Paris,  working  hard  at 
Greek.  He  spent  the  years  1506-9  in  Italy.  From  the  close  of  1510 
to  that  of  1513  he  was  at  Cambridge,  where  he  lectured  on  Greek,  and 
also  held  the  Lady  Margaret  Professorship  of  Divinity.  There,  in 
1512,  he  completed  his  collation  of  the  Greek  text  of  the  new  Testa- 
ment. In  1516  his  edition  of  it,  the  first  ever  published,  was  brought 
out  by  Froben  at  Basel.  He  left  England  in  1514,  to  return  only  for 
a  few  months  somewhat  later.  His  life,  after  1514,  was  passed  chiefly 
at  Basel,  where  he  died  in  1536.  Those  twenty-two  years  were  full  of 
marvellous  literary  activity. 

The  attitude  of  Erasmus  towards  humanism  had  a  general  affinity 
with  that  of  Petrarch  and  the  other  leaders  of  the  Italian  revival.  Like 
them,  he  hailed  a  new  conception  of  knowledge,  an  enlargement  of  the 
boundaries  within  which  the  intellect  and  imagination  could  move. 
Like  them,  he  welcomed  the  recovered  literatures  of  Greece  and  Rome 
as  inestimable  organs  of  that  mental  and  spiritual  enfranchisement.  But 
there  was  also  a  difference.  To  Petrarch,  as  to  the  typical  Italian  hu- 
manist generally,  the  New  Learning  was  above  all  things  an  instrument 
for  the  self-culture  of  the  individual.  To  Erasmus,  on  the  other  hand, 
self-culture  was,  in  itself,  —  greatly  though  he  valued  it,  —  a  secondary 
object,  subservient  to  a  greater  end.  He  regarded  humanism  as  the 
most  effectual  weapon  for  combating  that  widespread  ignorance  which 
he  considered  to  be  the  root  of  many  evils  that  were  around  him. 
He  saw  the  abuses  in  the  Church,  the  scandals  among  the  clergy,  the 
illiteracy  prevalent  in  some  of  the  monastic  Orders.  Kings  wrought 
untold  misery  for  selfish  aims:  "when  princes  purpose  to  exhaust  a 
commonwealth,"  he  said,  "  they  speak  of  a  just  war ;  when  they  unite 
for  that  object,  they  call  it  peace."  The  pedantries  of  the  Schoolmen, 
though  decaying,  were  still  obstacles  to  intellectual  progress.  The 
moral  standards  in  public  and  private  life  were  deplorably  low.  Erasmus 


570 


The  dominant  motive  of  Erasmus 


held  that  the  first  step  towards  mitigating  such  evils  was  to  disseminate 
as  widely  as  possible  the  civilising  influence  of  knowledge  ;  and  in 
humanism  he  found  the  knowledge  best  suited  for  the  purpose.  He 
overrated  the  rapidity  with  which  such  an  influence  could  permeate 
the  world.  But  he  was  constant  to  his  object,  and  did  much  towards 
attaining  it. 

Thus,  in  all  his  work,  his  aim  was  essentially  educational.  He  was 
an  ardent  and  indefatigable  student.  But  through  all  his  labours  there 
ran  the  purpose  of  a  practical  moralist,  who  hoped  to  leave  human 
society  better  than  he  had  found  it.  No  aspect  of  the  Renaissance 
interested  him  which  he  did  not  think  conducive  to  that  end.  He  cared 
nothing  for  its  metaphysics,  archaeology,  or  art.  All  his  own  writings 
illustrate  his  ruling  motive.  The  Adagia  are  maxims  or  proverbial 
sayings,  culled  from  the  classics,  which  he  often  applies  to  the  affairs 
of  his  own  day.  The  Colloquia  are  lively  dialogues,  partly  meant  to 
serve  as  models  of  Latin  writing,  which  convey,  in  a  dramatic  guise, 
his  views  on  contemporary  questions.  The  Apophthegms  are  pointed 
sayings  from  various  authors,  largely  from  Plutarch.  An  educational 
and  ethical  aim  also  guided  his  choice  of  books  to  be  edited.  His  best 
edition  of  a  classic  was  that  of  his  favourite  poet  Terence.  Next  in 
merit,  perhaps,  stood  his  edition  of  Seneca.  An  equal  importance  can 
scarcely  be  claimed  for  his  editions  of  Greek  classics,  belonging 
chiefly  to  the  last  five  years  of  his  life ;  though  they  did  the  service  of 
making  the  authors  more  accessible,  and  of  supplying  improved  texts. 
He  also  promoted  a  wider  knowledge  of  Greek  poetry  and  prose  by 
several  Latin  translations.  But  that  purpose  which  gave  unity  to  his 
life-work  received  its  highest  embodiment  in  his  contributions  to 
Biblical  criticism  and  exegesis.  The  Scholastic  Theology  had  been 
wont  to  use  isolated  texts,  detached  from  their  context,  and  artificially 
interpreted.  The  object  of  Erasmus  was  to  let  all  men  know  what  the 
Bible  really  said  and  meant.  We  have  seen  that  his  edition  of  the 
Greek  Testament  was  the  earliest.  He  also  made  a  Latin  version  of 
the  New  Testament,  aiming  at  an  accuracy  greater  than  that  of  the 
Vulgate.  He  wrote  Latin  paraphrases  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment (except  Revelation\  with  the  object  of  exhibiting  the  thought 
in  a  more  modern  form.  Lastly,  he  recalled  attention  from  the  medieval 
expositors  of  Christian  doctrine  to  the  Fathers  of  the  early  Church.  He 
edited  Jerome,  and  some  other  Latin  Fathers ;  he  also  made  Latin 
translations  from  some  of  the  Greek  Fathers,  especially  from  Chrysostom 
and  Athanasius,  and  so  helped  to  make  their  writings  better  known  in 
the  West.  He  wished  to  see  the  Scriptures  translated  into  every 
language,  and  given  to  all.  "  I  long,"  he  said,  "  that  the  husbandman 
should  sing  them  to  himself  as  he  follows  the  plough,  that  the  weaver 
should  hum  them  to  the  tune  of  his  shuttle,  that  the  traveller  should 
beguile  with  them  the  weariness  of  his  journey." 


The  Renaissance  in  Nortliern  Europe  571 


The  more  popular  writings  of  Erasmus  had  a  circulation  throughout 
Europe  which  even  now  would  be  considered  enormous.  When  it  was 
rumoured  that  the  Sorbonne  intended  to  brand  his  OoUoqma  as  heretical, 
a  Paris  bookseller  deemed  it  well  to  hurry  through  the  press  an  edition 
of  24,000  copies.  We  hear  that  in  1527  a  Spanish  version  of  his 
Encheiridion  (a  manual  of  Christian  Ethics)  could  be  found  in  many 
country-inns  throughout  Spain.  It  would  probably  be  difficult  to  name 
an  author  whose  writings  were  so  often  reprinted  in  his  lifetime  as  were 
those  of  Erasmus.  He  was  not,  indeed,  a  Scaliger,  a  Casaubon,  or  a 
Bentley.  He  did  not  contribute,  in  the  same  sense  or  in  a  similar 
degree,  to  the  progress  of  scientific  scholarship.  But  no  one  else  so 
effectively  propagated  the  influence  of  humanism.  Of  all  scholars  who 
have  popularised  scholarly  literature  Erasmus  was  the  most  brilliant, 
the  man  whose  aims  were  loftiest,  and  who  produced  lasting  effects  over 
the  widest  area.  His  work  was  done,  too,  at  the  right  moment  for  the 
North.  A  genial  power  was  needed  to  thaw  the  frost-bound  soil,  and  to 
prepare  those  fruits  which  each  land  was  to  bring  forth  in  its  own  way. 

The  energies  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  had  been  concentrated  on 
the  literature  and  art  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  The  Italian  mind 
had  a  native  and  intimate  sympathy  with  classical  antiquity.  For  Italy, 
the  whole  movement  of  the  Renaissance  is  virtually  identical  with  the 
restoration  of  classical  learning.  It  is  otherwise  when  we  follow  that 
movement  into  northern  Europe.  Humanism  is  still,  indeed,  the 
principal  organ  through  which  the  new  spirit  works ;  but  the  operations 
of  the  spirit  itself  become  larger  and  more  varied.  The  history  of  the 
Classical  Revival  passes,  on  one  side,  into  that  of  the  Reformation ;  on 
another,  into  provinces  which  belong  to  modern  literature.  It  might  be 
said  that  the  close  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  is  also,  in  strictness,  the 
close  of  the  process  by  which  a  knowledge  of  classical  antiquity  was 
restored :  what  remained,  was  to  diffuse  the  results  throughout  Europe, 
and  to  give  them  a  riper  development.  But  it  is  desirable  to  indicate, 
at  least  in  outline,  the  general  conditions  under  which  humanism  first 
entered  the  countries  of  the  North.    We  may  begin  with  Germany. 

In  the  course  of  the  fifteenth  century,  some  German  students  had 
resorted  to  teachers  of  the  New  Learning  at  various  Italian  centres. 
Among  the  earliest  of  these  was  Johann  Miiller  (1436-76),  born  at 
Konigsberg  near  Coburg,  and  hence  known  as  Regiomontanus.  He  was 
the  first  who  made  humanism  the  handmaid  of  science.  After  working 
at  Vienna  under  the  astronomer  Purbach,  he  went  with  Cardinal 
Bessarion  to  Italy,  where  he  spent  several  years  in  studying  Greek 
(1462-70).  He  translated  into  Latin  the  works  of  Ptolemy,  the 
Oonics  of  Apollonius  of  Perga,  and  other  scientific  treatises.  Settling 
at  Niirnberg  in  1471,  he  founded  an  observatory,  and  made  several 
improvements  in  practical  astronomy.  His  Ephemerides^  the  precursors 
of  nautical  almanacs,  helped  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  explorers  to 


572 


Pioneers  in  Germany 


navigate  un travelled  seas.  Another  of  the  German  pioneers  was  Roelof 
Huysmann,  known  in  literary  history  as  Rudolf  Agricola  (1443- 
85).  Going  to  Ferrara  in  1476,  he  attended  the  Greek  lectures  of 
Theodorus  Gaza.  Through  the  good  offices  of  Johann  von  Dalberg, 
the  scholarly  Bishop  of  Worms,  he  was  appointed  to  a  professorship  at 
Heidelberg.  There,  as  also  at  Worms,  he  lectured  on  the  Greek  and 
Roman  literature.  He  was  an  opponent  of  the  scholastic  philosophy  as 
it  existed  in  his  day,  and  his  best-known  work,  De  Inventione  Dialectica^ 
was  a  plea  for  its  reform.  But  his  special  claim  to  remembrance  is 
that  he  was  the  first  who  systematically  sought  to  make  classical  study 
an  effective  force  in  German  education.  He,  and  such  as  he,  when  they 
returned  to  Germany  from  their  studies  in  Italy,  found  themselves  in 
an  atmosphere  wholly  different  from  that  which  surrounded  the  early 
Italian  humanists.  Erasmus  has  described  the  intellectual  torpor  which 
prevailed  in  Germany  during  his  own  boyhood  and  youth.  The  teaching 
of  Latin  was  dull  and  meagre  ;  Greek  was  scarcely  taught  at  all.  The 
masters  were  content  with  a  few  old  hand-books,  and  wedded  to  outworn 
methods.  Scholastic  theologians  and  illiterate  monks  were  equally  hostile 
to  the  new  humanism.  It  had,  however,  some  powerful  protectors, 
including  the  Roman  King  Maximilian ;  Joachim,  the  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg ;  Albert,  Archbishop  of  Mainz ;  and,  not  least,  Frederick,  Elector 
of  Saxony.  Of  the  seventeen  Universities,  some,  such  as  Vienna, 
Heidelberg,  and  Erfurt,  admitted  the  New  Learning,  though  in  some 
others,  such  as  Cologne,  it  was  opposed.  There  were  also  groups  of 
learned  students  at  several  centres,  such  as  Basel,  Strassburg,  Augsburg, 
and  Niirnberg ;  and  there  were  some  rising  societies  or  academies, 
devoted  to  humane  letters.  But  there  was,  as  yet,  no  general  or  widely- 
diffused  interest  in  the  New  Learning ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
were  powerful  influences  directly  and  strongly  opposed  to  it.  The  first 
event  which  roused  the  public  mind  to  a  more  active  sympathy  is 
connected  with  an  illustrious  name. 

Johann  Reuchlin  (1455-1522)  studied  Greek  at  Paris,  and  also  at 
Basel.  He  afterwards  went  to  Italy.  At  Rome,  in  1482,  he  heard 
Argyropoulos  lecture  on  Thucydides,  and  was  noticed  by  him  as  a 
student  of  great  promise.  He  published  some  Latin  versions  from 
Greek  authors,  and  some  elementary  Greek  manuals  which  were  used  in 
German  schools.  But  after  1492  his  chief  interest  was  in  Hebrew, — 
mainly  as  a  key  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  also  on  account  of  the 
Cabhala^  that  medieval  system  of  Jewish  theosophy  which  he  regarded  as 
helpful  towards  reconciling  ancient  philosophy  with  Christian  doctrine. 
The  same  notion  had  been  cherished  by  Pico  della  Mirandola  (1463- 
94),  who,  like  Reuchlin,  had  approached  the  Cabbala  through 
Neoplatonism.  Reuchlin's  views  on  the  subject  were  set  forth  in  his 
treatises  De  Verho  Mirifico  (1494)  and  De  Arte  Cahalistica  (1517). 
Thus  alike  on  theological  and  on  philosophical  grounds  Reuchlin  was 


Reiichlin.  —  Melanchthon 


573 


an  enthusiast  for  Hebrew  scholarship.  He  furnished  it  with  several 
aids,  including  the  grammar  and  lexicon  (^Rudimenta  Hehraicd)  which 
he  brought  out  in  1506.  And  it  was  as  a  defender  of  Hebrew  letters 
that  he  became  engaged  in  a  struggle  which  went  far  to  decide  the 
immediate  future  of  the  New  Learning  in  Germany. 

In  1509  Johann  Pf efferkorn,  a  converted  Jew,  sought  from  the  Emperor 
Maximilian  a  mandate  for  the  suppression  of  all  Hebrew  books  except 
copies  of  the  Bible.  Reuchlin  was  consulted,  and  opposed  the  measure. 
He  was  then  attacked  by  Pfefferkorn  as  a  traitor  to  the  Church.  In 
1514  he  was  accused  by  the  Dominicans  of  Cologne,  whose  dean  was 
the  Inquisitor  Hochstraten,  in  the  ecclesiastical  court  at  Mainz.  The 
Bishop  of  Speyer,  acting  for  the  Pope,  acquitted  him,  and  the  decision 
was  confirmed  at  Rome  in  1516.  This  was  an  impressive  victory  for 
Reuchlin.  Afterwards,  on  an  appeal  of  the  Dominicans,  Rome  reversed 
the  previous  judgment,  and  condemned  him  (1520)  ;  but  that  sentence 
passed  unnoticed,  and  has  come  to  light  only  in  our  own  time. 

Meanwhile  the  German  humanists  had  taken  up  Reuchlin's  cause, 
which,  as  they  saw,  was  their  own.  If  Jews  should  be  forbidden  to  read 
such  an  author  as  Maimonides,  who  was  useful  to  St  Thomas  Aquinas, 
how  could  Christians  be  allowed  to  read  Homer,  who  depicts  the  im- 
moralities of  Olympus  ?  Never  was  intolerance  a  fairer  mark  for  the 
shafts  of  ridicule.  The  first  volume  of  the  Epistolae  Ohscurorum  Vi- 
rorum,  written  chiefly  by  Crotus  Rubeanus,  appeared  in  1514 ;  the 
second,  chiefly  by  Ulrich  von  Hutten,  in  1517.  The  writers  wield,  with 
trenchant  if  somewhat  brutal  force,  a  weapon  which  had  been  used  with 
greater  subtlety  by  Plato,  and  to  which  a  keener  edge  was  afterwards 
given  by  Pascal.  They  put  the  satire  into  the  mouths  of  the  satirised. 
Bigots  and  obscurantists  bear  witness  in  dog-Latin  to  their  own  in- 
eptitude. Reuchlin's  triumph  in  1516  had  an  immediate  and  momentous 
effect  on  German  opinion.  A  decided  impetus  was  given  to  Hebrew 
and  to  Greek  studies,  especially  in  their  bearing  on  Biblical  criticism 
and  on  theology.  This  was  the  direction  characteristic  of  the  earlier 
humanism  in  Germany.  Almost  all  the  more  eminent  scholars  were 
occupied,  at  least  occasionally,  with  theological  discussions.  In  1525, 
three  years  after  Reuchlin's  death,  Erasmus  wrote  a  letter  to  Alberto 
Pio,  prince  of  Carpi  (the  pupil  and  benefactor  of  Aldo),  in  which  he 
observes  that  the  adversaries  of  the  New  Learning  had  been  anxious 
to  identify  it  with  the  Lutheran  cause.  They  hoped,  he  says,  thus  to 
damage  two  enemies  at  once.  In  Germany,  during  the  earlier  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  the  alliance  between  humanism  and  the  Refor- 
mation was  real  and  intimate.  The  paramount  task  which  the  New 
Learning  found  in  Germany  was  the  elucidation  of  the  Bible.  But  the 
study  of  the  classical  literatures  also  made  steady  progress,  and  was 
soon  firmly  established  in  German  education. 

Foremost  among  those  who  contributed  to  that  result  was  Melanchthon 


574         Character  of  the  German  Renaissance 


(1497-1560),  though  his  services  to  humanism  in  earlier  life  are  now 
less  prominently  associated  with  his  memory  than  the  part  which 
he  afterwards  bore  in  the  theological  controversies  of  his  age.  It  was 
from  Reuchlin  that  the  precocious  boy,  Philip  Schwartzerd,  received  the 
Greek  name,  a  version  of  his  patronymic,  under  which  he  was  to  be- 
come famous.  After  taking  his  doctor's  degree  at  Tiibingen  in  1514, 
Melanchthon  won  notice  by  expositions  of  Virgil  and  Terence,  which  led 
Erasmus  to  hail  him  as  a  rising  star  of  learning.  He  was  only  twenty- 
one  when,  in  1518,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  moved  by  Reuchlin,  appointed 
him  to  the  chair  of  Greek  in  the  University  of  Wittenberg.  It  was 
characteristic  of  the  man  and  of  the  period  that  he  began  with  two 
concurrent  sets  of  lectures,  one  upon  the  Epistle  to  Titus^  and  the  other 
upon  Homer ;  observing,  in  reference  to  the  latter,  that,  like  Solomon, 
he  sought  "  Tyrian  brass  and  gems  "  for  the  adornment  of  God's  temple* 
Luther,  his  senior  by  fourteen  years,  derived  from  him  a  new  impulse 
to  the  study  of  Greek.  Melanchthon  did  very  important  work  towards 
establishing  or  improving  humanistic  education  in  the  schools  of 
Germany.  In  his  Discourse  on  Reforming  the  Studies  of  Youths  a 
work  imbued  with  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  Renaissance,  he  advocated 
a  liberal  discipline  of  classical  literature  as  the  soundest  basis  of  school- 
training,  in  opposition  to  the  methods  of  instruction  favoured  by  the 
older  scholastic  system.  Many  of  the  aids  to  classical  study  which 
Melanchthon  produced  (chiefly  at  Wittenberg)  were  popular  school- 
books  in  their  day.  Among  these  were  his  Institutiones  Linguae  G-raeeae 
(1518)  ;  his  Grammatica  Latina  (1525)  ;  Latin  versions  from  Greek 
classics;  and  comments  on  various  Greek  and  Latin  authors.  After 
Melanchthon  may  justly  be  named  his  friend  and  biographer  Camerarius 
(Joachim  Kammermeister,  1500-74),  a  prolific  contributor  to  scholarly 
literature,  whose  edition  of  Plautus  (1552)  was  the  first  that  placed  the 
text  on  a  sound  basis. 

Thus,  in  the  course  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  new  studies 
gradually  conquered  a  secure  position  in  Germany.  Broad  and  solid 
foundations  were  laid  for  the  classical  learning  which  Germans  of  a 
later  age  were  to  build  up.  But,  while  there  was  this  progress  in 
humane  letters,  the  Teutonic  movement  showed  nothing  analogous  to 
the  Italian  feeling  for  the  aesthetic  charm  of  ancient  culture  and 
existence.  The  German  mind,  earnest,  and  intellectually  practical,  had 
not  the  Italian's  delight  in  beauty  of  literary  style  and  form,  still  less 
his  instinctive  sympathy  with  the  pagan  spirit.  Germany  drew  fresh 
mental  vigour  and  freedom  from  the  Classical  Revival,  without  adopting 
the  Italian  ideal  of  self-culture,  or  admitting  a  refined  paganism  into 
social  life.  The  Teutonic  genius,  which  had  moulded  so  much  of  all 
that  was  distinctively  medieval,  remained  sturdily  itself.  A  like  con- 
trast is  seen  in  the  province  of  art.  Michelangelo  and  Raffaelle  are 
intimately  affected  by  classical  influences ;  Dlirer  and  Holbein,  men  of 


Early  Humanism  in  France 


575 


the  same  period,  also  show  a  new  mastery,  but  remain  Gothic.  Thus 
the  first  period  of  Humanism  in  Germany  presents  a  strongly-marked 
character  of  its  own,  wholly  different  from  the  Italian.  So  far  as 
concerns  the  main  current  of  intellectual  and  literary  interests,  the 
German  Renaissance  is  the  Reformation. 

France  had  received  the  influences  of  Italian  Humanism  with  the 
facility  of  a  country  to  which  they  were  historically  congenial,  and  had 
been  penetrated  by  them  before  the  conflict  opened  by  Luther  had 
become  a  disturbing  force  in  Europe.  In  France  the  basis  of  the 
national  character  was  Latin,  and  no  admixture  of  other  elements  could 
overpower  the  innate  capacity  of  a  Latin  race  to  assimilate  the  spirit  of 
classical  antiquity.  The  University  of  Paris  was  one  of  the  greatest 
intellectual  centres  in  Europe,  drawing  to  itself,  in  some  measure,  every 
new  form  of  knowledge,  while  it  promoted  communication  between  Paris 
and  all  foreign  seats  of  literary  activity.  It  was  in  1494,  when  the 
Italian  Renaissance  was  at  its  height,  that  Charles  VIII  made  his 
expedition  to  Naples.  For  nearly  a  century  afterwards,  until  the  line 
of  the  Valois  Kings  ended  with  the  death  of  Henry  III  in  1589,  the 
intercourse  between  France  and  Italy  was  close  and  continuous.  A 
tincture  of  Italian  manners  pervaded  the  French  Court.  Italian  studies 
of  antiquity  reacted  upon  French  literature  and  art.  Thus,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  France  offered  a  smooth  course  to 
the  Classical  Revival.  Greek  studies  had,  however,  been  planted  in 
France  at  a  somewhat  earlier  time.  In  1458  Gregory  Tifernas,  an  Italian 
of  Greek  origin,  had  petitioned  the  University  of  Paris  to  appoint  him 
teacher  of  Greek.  He  received  that  post,  with  a  salary,  on  condition 
that  he  should  take  no  fees,  and  should  give  two  lectures  daily,  one  on 
Greek  and  the  other  on  rhetoric.  The  scholastic  theology  and  logic 
were  then  still  dominant  at  Paris,  while  the  humanities  seem  to  have 
occupied  an  inferior  place.  But,  at  any  rate,  the  University  had  now 
given  official  sanction  to  the  teaching  of  Greek.  The  eminent  Byzantine, 
John  Lascaris,  lectured  on  that  language  at  Paris  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  VIH.  His  teaching  was  continued  at  intervals  under  Louis  XII, 
who  once  sent  him  as  ambassador  to  Venice ;  and  also  under  Francis  I, 
for  whom  he  supervised  the  formation  of  a  library  at  Fontainebleau. 
A  still  more  eminent  name  in  the  early  history  of  French  humanism 
is  that  of  the  Italian  Jerome  Aleander,  afterwards  so  strenuous  an 
antagonist  of  the  Reformation.  Coming  to  Paris  in  1508,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-eight,  he  gave  lectures  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew,  winning  a 
reputation  which  caused  him  to  be  appointed  Rector  of  the  University. 
On  his  return  to  Rome  in  1516  he  became  librarian  of  the  Vatican, 
and  in  1538  was  made  a  Cardinal.  Aleander,  who  was  fortunate  in  the 
time  of  his  work  at  Paris,  has  been  regarded,  probably  with  justice,  as 
the  first  scholar  who  gave  a  decisive  stimulus  to  philological  studies 
in  France. 


576 


French  printers  mid  scholars 


Just  before  the  arrival  of  Aleander,  Paris  had  begun  to  take  part 
in  the  work  of  publishing  Greek  books,  a  field  of  labour  in  which 
its  scholarly  printers  were  afterwards  to  win  so  much  distinction.  The 
first  Greek  press  at  Paris  was  that  of  Gourmont,  who  in  1507  issued 
the  Grammar  of  Chrysoloras,  Hesiod's  Works  and  Days^  the  pseudo- 
Homeric  Frogs  and  Mice,  Theocritus,  and  Musaeus.  Portions  of 
Plutarch's  Moralia  followed  in  1509,  under  the  editorship  of  Aleander. 
After  an  interval,  the  length  of  which  perhaps  indicates  that  the 
demand  for  Greek  classics  was  still  very  limited,  a  text  of  Aristophanes 
came  from  Gourmont's  press  in  1528.  A  Sophocles  was  published  by 
Simon  Colinaeus  in  1529.  Robert  Estienne  (1503-59),  scholar  and 
printer,  brought  out  in  1532  his  Thesaurus  Linguae  Latinae,  which  was 
much  enlarged  in  the  succeeding  editions  (1536  and  1543).  Among  his 
Greek  editiones  principes  were  those  of  Eusebius  (1544-6),  Dionysius 
of  Halicarnassus  (1547),  Dio  Cassius  (1548),  and  Appian  (1551).  His 
son,  Henri  Estienne  (1528-98),  who  had  the  distinction  of  first 
printing  the  Agamemnon  in  its  entirety,  is  especially  remembered  by 
his  great  work,  the  Thesaurus  Linguae  Grraecae  (1572).  Before  the 
middle  of  the  century  the  stream  of  classical  publications  had  fairly  set 
in  at  Paris,  and  thenceforth  continued  to  be  abundant.  Meanwhile  a 
French  scholar  had  arisen  who  reflected  lustre  on  his  country  through- 
out Europe.  Budaeus  (Guillaume  Bud^,  1467-1540),  after  producing  in 
1514  an  able  treatise  on  Roman  money  (^JDe  Asse'),  gained  a  commanding 
reputation  by  his  Commentarii  Linguae  Grraecae,  published  at  Paris  in 
1529.  That  work  proved  a  mine  to  lexicographers,  and  was  more 
particularly  useful  to  students  of  the  Greek  orators,  owing  to  the  care 
which  the  author  had  bestowed  on  explaining  the  technical  terms  of 
Greek  law.  Budaeus  was,  beyond  question,  the  best  Greek  scholar  o^ 
his  day  in  Europe,  being  superior  in  that  respect  to  Erasmus,  though 
no  rival  to  him  in  literary  genius.  But  special  knowledge  is  superseded, 
while  the  salt  of  style  lasts  for  ever ;  and  Erasmus  lives,  while  Budaeus 
is  well-nigh  forgotten.  The  relations  between  these  two  distinguished 
men  became  somewhat  strained,  through  the  fault,  as  it  would  seem, 
of  Erasmus,  whose  sly  strictures  on  the  Frenchman  are  certainly  sug 
gestive  of  a  covert  jealousy  ;  and  French  scholars  made  the  quarre^ 
a  national  one.  Another  French  Hellenist  of  great  eminence  at  thi 
period  is  Turnebus  (Adrien  Turn^be,  1512-65),  who  belonged  to  the 
generation  following  that  of  Budaeus.  The  Royal  College  had  been 
founded  at  Paris  by  Francis  I,  in  1531,  with  the  special  object  of 
encouraging  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew  learning.  Turnebus  was  ap- 
pointed, in  1547,  to  the  chair  of  Greek  at  that  College.  He  also  held 
the  office  of  King's  printer.  One  of  his  chief  works  was  an  edition  of 
Sophocles,  published  at  Paris  in  1553,  which  did  much  to  determine  the 
text  followed  by  later  editors  of  that  poet  before  Brunck.  Henri 
Estienne,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of  Turnebus,  has  recorded  his  veneration 


Characteristics  of  French  humanism 


677 


for  him.  A  better-known  tribute  is  that  paid  by  Montaigne,  his  junior 
by  twenty-one  years,  who  declares  that  "  Adrianus  Turnebus  knew  more, 
and  knew  it  better,  than  any  man  of  his  century,  or  for  ages  past.'*  He 
was  entirely  free,  as  Montaigne  testifies,  from  pedantry:  "his  quick 
understanding  and  sound  judgment "  were  equally  remarkable,  whether 
the  subject  of  conversation  was  literary  or  political.  Lambinus  (Denys 
Lambin,  1520-72),  who  in  1561  became  a  professor  at  the  Royal 
College,  published  editions  of  Horace  and  Cicero  which  made  a  new 
epoch  in  the  study  of  those  authors.  Auratus  (Jean  Dorat,  1507-88), 
poet  and  scholar,  who  taught  Greek  at  the  College,  shone  especially  in 
the  criticism  of  Aeschylus.  Mention  is  due  also  to  the  ill-fated  Estienne 
Dolet  (1509-46),  who  took  up  the  cause  of  the  Ciceronians  against 
Erasmus,  and  in  1536,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  published  his  two 
folio  volumes  Commentariorum  Linguae  Latinae.  Ten  years  later,  he 
was  unjustly  condemned  by  the  Sorbonne  on  a  charge  of  atheism,  and 
put  to  a  cruel  death.  It  should  be  noted  that  French  scholars  won 
special  distinction  in  the  study  of  Roman  Law.  Instead  of  relying  on 
commentators  who  had  merely  repeated  the  older  glossatores^  they 
turned  to  the  original  Roman  texts.  Cujacius  (Jacques  Cujas,  1522- 
90),  the  greatest  interpreter  of  the  sources  of  law,  struck  out  a  new 
path  of  critical  and  historical  exposition.  Donellus  (Hugues  Doneau, 
1527-91)  introduced  systematic  arrangement  by  his  Commentarii  Juris 
Civilis.  Brissonius  (Barnab^  Brisson,  1531-91)  was  pre-eminently  the 
lexicographer  of  the  civil  law.  Gothofredus  (Denys  Godefroy,  1549- 
1621)  produced  an  edition  of  the  Corpus  Juris  Civilis  which  is  still 
valued.    His  son  Jacques  (1587-1652)  edited  the  Theodosian  Code. 

During  the  century  which  followed  the  death  of  Turnebus,  the 
history  of  French  humanism  is  illustrated  by  names  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude. Such  are  those  of  Joseph  Scaliger,  Salmasius,  and  Casaubon  ; 
but  these  great  scholars  stand  beyond  the  borders  of  the  Renaissance, 
and  belong,  like  Bentley,  to  a  maturer  stage  in  the  erudite  development 
of  classical  philology.  In  them,  however,  the  national  characteristics 
of  humanism  were  essentially  the  same  that  had  appeared  in  French 
scholars  of  the  preceding  period.  These  characteristics  are  alert  intelli- 
gence, fine  perception,  boldness  in  criticism,  and  lucid  exposition.  There 
is  a  notable  difference  between  the  Italian  and  the  French  mind  of  the 
Renaissance  in  relation  to  the  antique.  The  Italian  mind  surrendered 
itself,  without  reserve,  to  classical  antiquity:  the  Italian  desire  was 
to  absorb  the  classical  spirit,  and  to  reproduce  it  with  artistic  fidelity. 
The  French  mind,  on  the  other  hand,  when  brought  into  contact  with 
the  antique,  always  preserved  its  originality  and  independence.  It 
contemplated  the  work  of  the  ancients  with  intelligent  sympathy,  yet 
with  self-possessed  detachment,  adopting  the  classical  qualities  which 
it  admired,  but  blending  them  with  qualities  of  its  own ;  so  that  the 
outcome  is  not  a  reproduction,  but  a  new  result.    This  may  be  traced  in 

C.  M.  H.  I.  37 


578       The  Renaissance  in  Spain  and  Portugal 


the  French  architecture  and  sculpture  of  the  Renaissance  no  less  than 
in  the  criticism  and  the  literature. 

The  seeds  of  humanism  were  brought  to  the  Iberian  peninsula  by 
a  few  students  who  had  visited  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
Spaniard  Arias  Barbosa,  who  had  studied  under  Politian,  was  regarded 
by  his  countrymen  as  their  first  effective  Hellenist.  He  lectured  on 
Greek  for  about  twenty  years  at  the  University  of  Salamanca,  at- 
tracting his  hearers  not  only  by  "  a  large  and  rich  vein  of  learning," 
but  also  by  his  poetical  taste.  A  higher  fame,  however,  was  gained  by 
his  contemporary,  Antonio  Lebrixa  ("  Nebrissensis  ")  After  a  sojourn 
of  ten  years  in  Italy,  Lebrixa  returned  to  Spain  in  1473,  and  taught 
successively  at  the  Universities  of  Seville,  Salamanca,  and  Alcala.  He 
is  described  as  inferior  to  Barbosa  in  Greek  scholarship,  but  wider  in 
his  range  of  knowledge,  which  included  Hebrew.  Lebrixa's  reputation 
among  his  Spanish  contemporaries,  though  not  in  Europe  at  large,  was 
comparable  to  that  which  Budaeus  enjoyed  in  France.  He  had  some 
distinguished  pupils.  One  of  them  was  Fernando  de  Guzman  Nunez, 
better  known  as  "  Pintianus  "  (from  Pintia,  the  ancient  name  of  Val- 
ladolid),  whose  fame  even  eclipsed  his  master's.  Nunez  taught  Greek 
at  Alcala,  and  subsequently  at  Salamanca,  but  in  literature  was  best 
known  by  an  edition  of  Seneca  which  appeared  in  1536.  Another  pupil 
of  Lebrixa,  the  Portuguese  historian  and  poet  Resende,  did  much  to 
promote  classical  education  at  Lisbon. 

Thus  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  afforded  grounds  for  the 
hope  that  in  the  Peninsula,  as  in  other  countries  of  Europe,  humanism 
was  destined  to  flourish.  Cardinal  Ximenes,  the  founder  of  the  College 
at  Alcaic,  caused  the  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament  to  be  printed 
there ;  a  task  which  was  completed  in  1514.  It  formed  the  fifth  volume 
of  the  Complutensian  Polyglot,  published  at  Alcaic  in  1522.  That 
work  reflected  honour  on  the  country,  and  might  well  be  deemed  a  good 
omen  for  the  future  of  Spanish  learning.  But  after  the  compact  of 
Charles  V  with  Clement  VII,  concluded  at  Bologna  in  1530,  Spain  was 
definitely  ranged  on  the  side  of  those  forces  which  were  reacting  against 
the  liberal  studies  of  the  Renaissance.  The  Spanish  humanists  had 
never  been  anything  more  than  centres  of  cultivated  groups,  enabled  by 
powerful  patronage  to  defy  the  general  hostility  of  priests  and  monks. 
Humanism  had  gained  no  hold  on  Spanish  society  at  large ;  and  its  foes 
were  now  more  influential  than  ever.  The  Jesuits,  who  afterwards  did 
so  much  for  classical  education  elsewhere,  were  then  no  friends  to  it  in 
Spain.  The  Spanish  Inquisition  was  a  terror  to  every  suspected  pursuit.  . 
It  is  not  strange  that,  under  such  conditions,  Greek  learning  did  not  j 
prosper  in  the  Peninsula ;  though  it  still  produced  good  Latinists,  such 
as  Francisco  Sanchez,  of  Brozas  (1523-1601),  who  wrote  on  grammar, 
and  the  Portuguese  Achille  Esta90  (Achilles  Statius,  1524-81),  whose  | 
criticism  of  Suetonius  was  highly  praised  by  Casaubon.    The  vigorous,  j 


The  Netherlands,  —  England  579 


Iberian  mind,  with  its  strongly-marked  individuality,  showed  the  im- 
petus given  by  the  Renaissance  in  other  forms  than  those  of  classical 
scholarship.  It  found  expression  in  the  romance  of  Cervantes,  in  the 
epic  of  Camoens,  and  in  the  dramas  of  Lope  de  Vega ;  or,  not  less 
characteristically,  in  the  wistful  ardour  of  exploration  which  animated 
Vasco  da  Gama  and  Colombo. 

Reactionary  Spain,  a  stepmother  to  classical  studies  on  her  own  soil, 
also  delayed  their  progress  in  the  Netherlands.  Little  time  could  be 
spared  to  them  by  men  who  were  struggling  against  Philip  II  for  political 
independence  and  for  the  reformed  religion.  But  when  humanism  had 
once  been  planted  in  the  Low  Countries,  its  growth  was  remarkably 
vigorous  and  rapid.  The  University  of  Leyden  became  the  principal 
centre  of  the  New  Learning.  Among  scholars  of  Dutch  birth  at  the 
period  of  the  Renaissance,  Erasmus  is  the  first  in  time  as  in  rank ;  but 
neither  his  higher  training  nor  his  life-work  was  specially  connected  with 
his  native  land.  He  was,  as  we  have  seen,  cosmopolitan.  The  first 
great  name,  after  his,  in  the  earlier  annals  of  Dutch  scholarship  is  that 
of  Justus  Lipsius  (Joest  Lips,  1547-1606),  who  was  especially  strong  in 
knowledge  of  the  Latin  historians  and  of  Roman  antiquities.  His  chief 
work  was  his  celebrated  edition  of  Tacitus  (1575).  William  Canter 
(1542-75),  of  Utrecht,  who  did  good  work  for  Greek  tragedy,  laid 
down  sound  principles  of  textual  criticism  in  his  Syntagma  de  ratione 
emendandi  Graecos  auctores  (1566).  In  the  next  generation,  Vossius 
(Gerard  John  Vos,  1577-1649)  rendered  solid  services  to  the  historical 
study  of  antiquity,  more  especially  by  setting  the  example  of  treating 
ancient  religions  from  the  historical  point  of  view.  In  Daniel  Heinsius 
(1580-1655)  Holland  produced  a  scholar  who  had  more  affinity  with 
the  Italian  humanists.  He  excelled  in  the  composition  of  Latin  verse 
and  prose;  and,  as  an  editor,  in  his  treatment  of  the  Greek  poets. 
Hugo  Grotius  (Huig  van  Groot,  1583-1645)  owes  his  fame  to  the  De 
lure  Belli  et  Pads  (1625),  a  work  fundamental  to  the  modern  science  of 
the  law  of  nature  and  nations.  He  wrote  Christus  Patiens,  and  two  other 
plays,  in  Latin  verse.  With  regard  to  the  earlier  Dutch  humanism  as  a 
whole,  it  may  be  said  that  its  characteristic  aim  was  to  arrange,  classify, 
and  criticise  the  materials  which  earlier  labours  had  amassed,  while  at 
the  same  time  it  was  distinguished  by  an  original  subtlety  and  elegance. 

England  felt  the  movement  of  the  Renaissance  somewhat  later 
than  France,  and  with  less  instinctive  sympathy,  but  also  without  such 
active  repugnance  as  had  to  be  overcome  in  Germany.  A  few  English- 
men had  been  pupils  of  the  Italian  masters.  One  of  the  earliest  was 
William  Selling,  an  Oxonian,  who  died  in  1495.  Erasmus,  when  he 
came  to  Oxford  in  1498,  found  there  a  congenial  group  of  Hellenists, 
chief  among  whom  were  William  Grocyn  and  Thomas  Linacre.  Both 
had  heard  Politian  at  Florence :  Linacre  had  also  been  a  member  of 
Aldo's  Neacademia  at  Venice.    Another  Oxonian  who  did  much  for 


580    The  New  Learning  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge 


the  New  Learning  in  England  was  William  Lilly,  who  had  studied 
Greek  in  Rhodes,  and  afterwards  at  Rome.  There  were  others  then  at 
Oxford  who  had  some  knowledge  of  Greek,  though  the  whole  number 
cannot  have  been  large.  Few  books  which  could  help  a  beginner  with 
the  first  rudiments  of  Greek  had  as  yet  found  their  way  to  England. 
An  English  student  desirous  of  acquiring  that  language  was,  as  a  rule, 
obliged  to  go  abroad.  Erasmus  mentions  that  John  Fisher,  the  Bishop 
of  Rochester,  who  began  Greek  late  in  life,  had  been  dissuaded  by 
Latimer  from  attempting  it  unless  he  could  procure  a  teacher  from  Italy. 
John  Colet,  a  scholar  of  most  active  mind  and  of  great  industry,  lamented 
in  1516  that  he  had  not  been  able  to  learn  Greek  —  a  deficiency  which  he 
afterwards  made  strenuous  efforts  to  repair.  But  the  Oxford  Hellenists, 
though  not  numerous,  represented  a  new  ideal  of  humane  learning,  and 
had  a  fruitful  influence  on  its  progress  in  England.  At  Cambridge  the 
study  of  Greek  received  its  first  impulse  from  the  teaching  of  Erasmus 
between  1610  and  1513.  He  began  with  the  rudiments,  using  first  the 
Erotemata  of  Chrysoloras,  and  then  the  larger  manual  of  Theodorus 
Gaza.  His  class  was  a  small  one,  but  included  some  ardent  students, 
such  as  his  friend  Henry  Bullock ;  who,  writing  to  him  in  1516, 
reported  that  the  Greek  studies  which  he  had  initiated  were  being 
vigorously  prosecuted.  Richard  Croke,  of  King's  College,  Cambridge, 
who  took  his  degree  in  the  year  1509-10,  studied  Greek  at  Oxford 
with  William  Grocyn  ;  went  thence  to  Paris ;  and  subsequently  taught 
Greek  at  Cologne,  Louvain,  Leipzig,  and  Dresden.  Returning  to 
Cambridge  in  1518  he  began  a  course  of  lectures  there  on  the  Greek 
language,  though  without  official  sanction.  In  1519  he  was  formally 
appointed  University  reader  of  Greek,  and  delivered  a  remarkable 
inaugural  address  in  praise  of  Greek  studies,  which  is  still  extant.  His 
successor  in  the  readership  was  a  man  of  rare  ability.  Sir  Thomas  Smith 
(1512-77),  of  Queens'  College,  who  afterwards  rose  to  eminence  in  the 
public  service.  Smith  lectured  on  Greek,  with  great  success,  from  about 
1535  to  1540.  In  the  latter  year  Henry  VIII  founded  the  five  Regius 
Professorships  of  Divinity,  Civil  Law,  Physic,  Hebrew,  and  Greek.  Smith 
received  the  chair  of  Civil  Law ;  that  of  Greek  was  given  to  his  close  i 
friend,  John  Cheke  (1514-57),  of  St  John's  College,  whose  repute  i 
already  stood  very  high. 

Roger  Ascham  was  Cheke's  contemporary,  and  a  member  of  the  same 
College.  Scarcely  two  years  after  Cheke's  appointment,  Ascham  wrote  i 
an  interesting  letter  from  Cambridge  to  a  Fellow  of  St  John's,  in  which  j 
he  describes  the  state  of  classical  studies  in  the  University.  Aristotle  j| 
and  Plato,  he  mentions,  are  read  by  the  undergraduates;  as  had,  1, 
indeed,  been  the  case,  at  least  in  his  own  College,  for  some  five  years.  \ 
Sophocles  and  Euripides,"  he  then  says,  *'  are  more  familiar  authors  \ 
than  Plautus  was  in  your  time  "  about  1525-35].  "Herodotus,  , 
Thucydides,  and  Xenophon  are  more  conned  and  discussed  than  Livy 


Pronunciation  of  Greek,  —  English  schools  581 


was  then.  Demosthenes  is  as  familiar  an  author  as  Cicero  used  to  be ; 
and  there  are  more  copies  of  Isocrates  in  use  than  there  formerly  were 
of  Terence.  Nor  do  we  disregard  the  Latin  authors,  but  study  with 
the  greatest  zeal  the  choicest  writers  of  the  best  period.  It  is  Cheke's 
labour  and  example  that  have  lighted  up  and  continue  to  sustain  this 
learned  ardour."  This  was  written  in  1542.  It  is  perhaps  the  most 
precise  testimony  that  exists  as  to  the  state  of  Greek  studies  at  any 
important  English  seat  of  learning  at  any  moment  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  Great  progress  had  evidently  been  made  in  the  preceding  ten 
or  twenty  years.  Sir  John  Cheke's  services  to  Greek  learning  in  his  day 
were  certainly  unequalled  in  England ;  but  Sir  Thomas  Smith  deserves 
to  be  remembered  along  with  him  as  a  man  who  had  also  given  a  new 
and  great  impetus  to  those  studies. 

Mention  is  due  here  to  the  important  part  which  both  these 
eminent  men  bore  in  a  controversy  which  excited  and  divided  the 
humanists  of  that  age.  The  teachers  from  whom  the  scholars  of  the 
Renaissance  learned  Greek  pronounced  that  language  as  Greeks  do  at 
the  present  day.  In  1528  Erasmus  published  at  Basel  his  dialogue  De 
recta  Latini  Grraecique  sermoyiis  Pronuntiatione.  His  protest  was  chiefly 
directed  against  the  modern  Greek  "iotacism";  i.e.  the  pronunciation 
of  several  different  vowels  and  diphthongs  with  the  same  sound,  that  of 
the  Italian  i.  He  rightly  maintained  that  the  ancients  must  have  given 
to  each  of  these  vowels  and  diphthongs  a  distinctive  sound ;  and  he  urged 
that  it  was  both  irrational  and  inconvenient  not  to  do  so.  He  also 
objected  to  the  modern  Greek  mode  of  pronouncing  certain  consonants. 
His  reformed  pronunciation  came  to  be  known  as  the  "  Erasmian  " ; 
while  that  used  by  modern  Greeks  was  called  the  "  Reuchlinian,"  because 
Reuchlin  (whom  Melanchthon  followed)  had  upheld  it.  i\.bout  1535, 
Thomas  Smith  and  John  Cheke  —  then  young  men  of  about  twenty  — 
examined  the  question  for  themselves,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
Erasmus  was  right.  Thereupon  Smith  began  to  use  the  "  Erasmian  " 
pronunciation  in  his  Greek  lectures  —  though  cautiously  at  first ;  Cheke 
and  others  supported  him ;  and  the  reform  was  soon  generally  accepted. 
But  in  1542  Bishop  Gardiner,  the  Chancellor  of  the  University,  issued 
a  decree,  enjoining  a  return  to  the  Reuchlinian  mode.  Ascham  has 
described,  not  without  humour,  the  discontent  which  this  edict  evoked. 
After  Elizabeth's  accession,  the  "  Erasmian  "  method  was  restored. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a  classical 
training  had  been  introduced  into  English  schools.  In  developing  this 
type  of  education  Italy  had  preceded  England  by  about  eighty  years. 
Vittorino's  school  at  Mantua,  already  described,  was  the  earliest  model. 
Winchester  College  had  been  founded  when  Vittorino  was  a  boy ;  Eton 
College  arose  at  a  time  when  his  school  was  in  its  zenith;  but  these 
great  English  foundations,  since  so  distinguished  as  seats  of  classical 
teaching,  came  into  being  long  before  the  humanistic  influences  of  the 


582       Survey  of  the  earlier  English  humanism 


Renaissance  had  begun  to  be  felt  in  England.  The  oldest  English 
school  which  has  been  humanistic  from  its  origin  is  St  Paul's,  founded 
by  Dean  Colet,  who,  in  1512,  appointed  William  Lilly  to  be  the 
first  High  Master.  Lilly  was,  as  we  have  seen,  among  the  pioneers 
of  Greek  study  in  England,  though  he  is  now  best  remembered  by 
his  Latin  grammar.  The  statutes  of  St  Paul's  (1518)  enjoin  that 
the  Master  shall  be  "  learned  in  good  and  clean  Latin,  and  also  in 
Greek,  if  such  may  be  gotten."  The  proviso  implies  some  scarcity;  and 
in  fact  it  was  not,  probably,  till  about  1560  that  Greek  was  thoroughly 
established  among  the  regular  studies  of  English  schools.  The  statutes 
of  Harrow  School  (1590)  prescribe  the  teaching  of  some  Greek  orators 
and  historians,  and  of  Hesiod's  poems.  This  seems  to  be  one  of  the 
earliest  instances  in  our  school-statutes  where  the  directions  for  Greek 
teaching  are  precise,  and  not  merely  general.  Many  large  public 
schools,  such  as  Christ's  Hospital,  Westminster,  Merchant  Taylors', 
and  Charterhouse,  were  established  in  or  near  London  within  a  century 
after  the  foundation  of  St  Paul's  School.  In  all  these  the  basis  of  study 
was  humanistic ;  as  it  was  also  in  many  other  grammar  schools  founded, 
during  the  same  period,  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

A  general  survey  of  English  humanism  in  the  sixteenth  century 
supplies  abundant  evidence  of  zealous  work,  and  of  a  progress  which, 
before  the  year  1600,  had  secured  the  future  of  classical  studies  in 
England.  There  were  many  able  teachers,  and  a  few  who  were  really 
eminent  in  their  day.  Yet,  in  two  respects,  a  comparison  with  the 
leading  countries  of  the  Continent  is  disadvantageous  for  our  country  at 
that  period.  Britain  produced  in  the  sixteenth  century  no  scholar  of 
the  first  rank  ;  though  in  George  Buchanan  (1506-82)  Scotland  could 
show  a  consummate  writer  of  the  Latin  language.  And  our  press  sent 
forth  few  books  which  advanced  Greek  or  Latin  learning.  Linacre's 
treatise  on  certain  points  of  Latin  usage  (De  emendata  structura  Latini 
sermonis,  1514),  a  work  of  the  same  class  as  Valla's  Elegantiae^  is  one 
of  the  very  few  English  books  in  that  department  of  knowledge  which 
attained  to  the  distinction  of  being  reprinted  abroad,  having  been 
recommended  to  German  students  by  Melanchthon  and  Camerarius. 
It  was  in  the  seventeenth  century  that  English  learning  first  became 
an  important  contributor  to  the  European  literature  of  humanism; 
and  the  earliest  English  name  of  the  first  magnitude  is  that  of 
Richard  Bentley.  It  should  be  recollected,  however,  that  in  the 
sixteenth  century  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  were  not  the  only 
channels  through  which  England  received  the  humanism  of  the  Renais- 
sance. English  versions  of  the  classics,  such  as  Chapman's  Homer, 
Phaer's  Virgil,  and  North's  Plutarch,  circulated  in  a  world  larger  than 
that  of  scholars.  Italian  authors  who  were  themselves  representative  of 
the  Renaissance  also  became  known  in  English  translations.  Thus  the 
rendering  of  Tasso  by  Fairfax,  and  of  Ariosto  by  Harrington,  enabled 


Conclusion,  —  The  work  of  Italy  583 


English  readers  to  appreciate  the  influence  of  the  Renaissance  on  Italian 
poetry.  Hoby's  version  of  Castiglione's  Cortegiano  brought  before 
them  the  new  Italian  ideal  of  intellectual  and  social  accomplishment. 
Milton,  the  greatest  humanist  among  poets  of  the  first  rank,  best 
illustrates  the  various  sources  of  culture,  ancient  and  modern,  but  more 
especially  Greek  and  Italian,  which  had  become  available  for  Englishmen 
not  long  before  his  own  time.  The  modern  sources  had  been  opened  to 
almost  all  who  cared  for  literature  ;  the  ancient,  as  yet,  less  widely.  It 
is  the  prerogative  of  Milton  to  fuse  in  a  splendid  unity  both  the  ancient 
and  the  modern  elements  that  have  contributed  to  enrich  his  genius ; 
he  can  be  genuinely  classical  without  loss  of  spontaneity  or  freshness. 
His  poetry  is  not,  however,  the  most  characteristic  expression  of  the 
English  Renaissance  in  its  larger  aspects.  That  is  to  be  found  rather 
in  the  Elizabethan  drama ;  and  its  supreme  exponent  is  Shakespeare. 

While  the  Revival  of  Learning  thus  presents  varying  aspects  in  the 
several  countries  to  which  it  passed  from  Italy,  the  essential  gift  which 
it  brought  was  the  same  for  all.  That  gift  was  the  recovery  of  an 
inheritance  which  men  had  temporarily  lost ;  one  so  valuable  in  itself 
that  human  life  would  be  definitely  poorer  without  it,  and  also  fraught 
with  such  power  to  educate  and  to  stimulate,  that  the  permanent  loss 
of  it  would  have  been  the  annulment  of  an  inestimable  agency  in  the 
development  of  human  faculty.  The  creative  mind  of  ancient  Greece 
was  the  greatest  originating  force  which  the  world  has  seen.  It  left 
typical  standards  of  form  in  poetiy  and  prose,  as  of  plastic  beauty  in  art. 
Ideas  which  sprang  from  it  have  been  fruitful  in  every  province  of 
knowledge.  The  ancient  Latin  mind  also,  which  received  the  lessons  of 
Greece  without  losing  its  own  individuality,  was  the  parent  of  master- 
works  which  bear  its  character,  and  of  thoughts  which  are  altogether  its 
own;  while  both  the  classical  literatures  contain  a  varied  wealth  of 
observation  and  experience.  There  was  a  time  when  men  had  allowed 
the  best  part  of  these  treasures  to  be  buried  out  of  sight,  and  had 
almost  forgotten  their  existence.  The  Italians  found  them  again,  and 
gave  them  back  to  those  races  of  Europe  on  which  the  future  of  civili- 
zation chiefly  depended: 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  any  other  people  than  the  Italian 
would  have  been  equal  to  achieving  this  great  task.  When  Greek  and 
Latin  studies  had  once  been  resuscitated  into  a  vigorous  life,  it  was 
easy  for  nations  outside  of  Italy  to  carry  the  work  further.  But 
wonderful  qualities  were  demanded  in  the  men  who  initiated  and  ac- 
complished the  revival  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  There 
are  cases  in  which  it  is  easier  to  apprehend  the  temper  and  tone  of  a 
past  age  than  to  picture  the  chief  actors.  Thucydides  conveys  a  more 
vivid  idea  of  Periclean  Athens  than  of  the  statesman  by  whose  genius  it 
had  been  moulded.  It  is  not  so  with  the  Italian  Renaissance.  From 
letters  and  other  sources,  one  can  form  tolerably  clear  images  of  many 


684 


Result  of  the  Classical  Renaissance 


among  the  foremost  personalities,  such  as  Petrarch,  Boccaccio,  Politian, 
and  Aldo;  even  though  it  may  be  difficult  to  conceive  such  prodigies 
of  versatility  as  a  Battista  Alberti  or  a  Lionardo  da  Vinci.  But  it 
is  a  much  harder  thing  to  imagine  the  general  atmosphere  of  the 
revival,  the  pervading  enthusiasm,  sustained  through  several  genera- 
tions, which  was  so  prolific  in  many-sided  work,  so  far-reaching  in  its 
influence  on  other  lands.  This  atmosphere  was  created,  this  enthusiasm 
kindled,  by  the  labours  and  examples  of  men  extraordinary  both  in 
their  powers  and  in  their  ardour.  Yet  it  may  be  doubted  whether  even 
they  could  have  wrought  so  effectually,  had  they  not  felt  the  motive 
which  at  the  Renaissance  was  peculiar  to  Italians,  —  that  patriotism 
which,  failing  of  political  expression,  was  concentrated  on  restoring  the 
ancestral  language  and  literature.  No  other  country  could  show  a 
parallel  to  the  zeal  with  which  Latin  was  cultivated  in  Italy,  as  the 
chief  organ  of  literary  expression,  from  the  days  of  Petrarch  to 
those  of  Politian,  The  ancient  tongue,  not  the  modern,  was  that  in 
which  the  ablest  men  of  letters  chiefly  aspired  to  shine.  Few  masters 
of  Italian  prose  emerge  in  the  interval  of  about  a  century  and  a  half 
which  separates  the  age  of  Villani  and  Boccaccio  from  that  of  Machia- 
velli  and  Guicciardini.  Such  men  as  Petrarch,  Aeneas  Sylvius,  Jovianus 
Pontanus,  and  Paulus  Jovius,  who  might  have  enriched  the  prose  of 
their  vernacular,  preferred  to  write  in  Latin.  The  Platonic  Academy 
of  Florence  was  the  first  influential  coterie  which  gave  its  sanction  to 
the  view  that  literary  taste  and  skill,  disciplined  by  the  ancient  models, 
could  be  worthily  exercised  in  Italian.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  set  an 
example  in  his  lyrics ;  a  more  authoritative  one  was  given  by  Politian, 
especially  in  his  Orfeo^  the  first  Italian  drama  of  true  literary  merit. 
This  larger  virtue  of  the  Classical  Renaissance,  as  educating  a  new 
capacity  for  culture  in  general,  which  came  out  in  Italy  only  towards 
the  close  of  the  movement,  was  manifested  in  other  countries  almost  as 
soon  as  they  had  been  fully  brought  under  the  influences  of  the  New 
Learning.  It  was  conspicuously  seen  in  France,  not  merely  in  the  work 
which  classicists  such  as  Ronsard  and  his  group  did  for  the  French 
language,  but  also,  for  example,  in  the  Aristophanic  genius  of  Rabelais, 
— the  greatest  literary  representative  of  the  Renaissance  for  France,  in 
the  same  large  sense  that  Cervantes  was  such  for  Spain,  and  Shakespeare 
for  England.  The  historical  importance  of  the  Classical  Revival  in  Italy 
depends  ultimately  on  the  fact  that  it  broadened  out  into  this  diffusion 
of  a  general  capacity  for  liberal  culture,  taking  various  forms  under 
different  local  and  national  conditions.  That  capacity,  once  restored 
to  the  civilized  world,  became  a  part  of  the  higher  life  of  the  race,  an 
energy  which,  though  it  might  be  temporarily  retarded  here  and  there 
by  reactionary  forces,  could  not  again  be  lost.  Not  in  literature  or  in 
art  alone,  but  in  every  form  of  intellectual  activity,  the  Renaissance 
opened  a  new  era  for  mankind. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  CHEJSTIAN  RENAISSANCE 

"Numberless  portions  of  the  wisdom  of  God  are  wanting  to  ns. 
Many  books  of  the  Sacred  Text  remain  untranslated,  as  two  books  of 
the  Maccabees  which  I  know  to  exist  in  Greek ;  and  many  other  books 
of  divers  Prophets,  whereto  reference  is  made  in  the  books  of  Kings  and 
Chronicles.  Josephus,  too,  in  the  books  of  his  Antiquities^  is  altogether 
falsely  rendered  as  far  as  concerns  the  chronological  side :  and  without 
him  nothing  can  be  known  of  the  history  of  the  Sacred  Text.  Unless  he 
be  corrected,  in  a  new  translation,  he  is  of  no  avail,  and  the  Biblical 
history  is  lost.  Numberless  books,  again,  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  ex- 
positors are  wanting  to  the  Latins :  as  those  of  Origen,  Basil,  Gregory 
Nazianzen,  Damascene,  Dionysius,  Chrysostom,  and  other  most  noble 
Doctors,  alike  in  Hebrew  and  in  Greek.  The  Church,  therefore,  is 
slumbering.  She  does  nothing  in  this  matter,  nor  hath  done  these 
seventy  years ;  save  that  my  Lord  Robert,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  of  holy 
memory,  did  give  to  the  Latins  some  part  of  the  writings  of  St  Dionysius 
and  of  Damascene,  and  some  other  holy  Doctors.  It  is  an  amazing 
thing,  this  negligence  of  the  Church:  for,  from  the  time  of  Pope 
Damasus  there  hath  not  been  any  Pope,  nor  any  of  less  rank,  who  hath 
busied  himself  for  the  advantaging  of  the  Church  by  translations,  except 
the  aforesaid  glorious  Bishop." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  better  statement,  in  the  same  compass, 
of  those  gaps  in  the  knowledge  of  Western  Christendom  which  the 
Christian  Renaissance  was  to  fill.  Roger  Bacon,  the  author  of  the 
passage,  and  Robert  Grosseteste,  who  is  in  part  the  subject  of  it,  were 
the  two  men  who,  to  all  appearance,  first  realised  the  scientific  needs  of 
the  Church.  If  they  did  not  actually  initiate  the  Christian  Renaissance 
they  at  least  stood  very  close  to  its  beginnings,  —  as  close,  one  may  say, 
as  Petrarch  to  the  beginnings  of  the  Classical  Renaissance. 

We  shall  see  reason  to  believe  that  their  influence  upon  their  con- 
temporaries and  successors  was  very  great  in  this  respect :  and  it  must 
also  be  said  that  their  actual  achievements  in  the  way  of  preparing 
materials,  and  in  work  done,  were  far  from  inconsiderable.  They  merit 
a  more  detailed  notice  than  has  commonly  been  accorded  to  them. 

585 


586         Grosseteste^ s  translations  from  Greek 


It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  Grosseteste  brought  Greek 
books  to  England  (probably  most  of  them  came  from  Sicily  and  South 
Italy),  and  that  in  conjunction  with  at  least  two  other  men  whose  names 
are  known  —  Nicholas  the  Greek,  and  John  of  Basingstoke  —  he  gave  to 
the  world  Latin  versions  of  certain  Greek  documents.  Foremost  among 
these  were  the  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs^  a  famous  and  early 
apocryphal  book.  The  manuscript  from  which  the  Latin  version  was 
made  is  now  in  the  University  Library  at  Cambridge.  Of  the  same 
character  was  a  book  whose  existence  in  a  Latin  dress  is  almost  certainly 
due  to  Grosseteste  —  though  his  name  has  not  until  recently  been  men- 
tioned in  connexion  with  it.  This  is  the  pretty  Greek  romance  which 
treats  of  the  life  of  Asenath,  the  patriarch  Joseph's  Egyptian  wife. 
Though  now  forgotten,  it  was  widely  known  to  medieval  men,  owing 
to  its  inclusion  in  the  great  Speculum  Historiale  of  Vincent  commonly 
called  "  of  Beauvais."  The  claim  is  sometimes  set  up  in  Grosseteste's 
behalf  that  he  translated  the  Lexicon  of  Suidas  into  Latin ;  but  when 
this  very  curious  assertion  is  examined,  we  find  that  all  he  did  was  to 
render  into  Latin  a  few  of  the  more  important  biographical  articles  in 
it.  The  principal  one  which  has  survived  in  his  version  is  the  article 
on  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  in  reality  another  apocryphon^  containing  the 
story  of  an  enquiry  into  the  priestly  descent  of  our  Lord.  However, 
the  undoubted  fact  that  he  possessed  a  manuscript  of  the  Lexicon  is  a 
sufficiently  interesting  one. 

Far  more  important  in  its  bearings  on  Christian  literature  was  the 
Latin  version  of  that  text  of  the  Epistles  of  St  Ignatius  which  is  now 
accepted  as  presenting  them  in  their  most  genuine  form.  This  version, 
too,  is  reckoned  as  due  to  Grosseteste :  but  it  seems  to  have  been  the 
one  which  attracted  least  attention  of  any.  Not  more  than  one  ancient 
copy  of  it  is  known  to  exist,  and  the  only  medieval  writers  who  show 
any  knowledge  of  it  are  Oxford  Franciscans,  members  of  the  House  to 
which  the  Bishop  bequeathed  his  library.  Not  until  the  seventeenth 
century  were  its  merits  and  importance  suspected,  by  Archbishop  Ussher, 

Of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  Latin  versions  were  known  and  widely 
disseminated  long  before  Grosseteste's  day.  It  was  presumably  the 
unsatisfactory  character  of  these  that  led  him  to  undertake  a  new  one  ; 
and  it  is  improbable  that  he  ever  brought  it  to  a  conclusion.  Versions 
of  the  treatise  On  the  Divine  Names^  and  of  the  Letters^  are  very 
definitely  ascribed  to  him ;  and  it  is  also  likely  that  the  detached  Letter 
to  Timothy  on  the  Martyrdoms  of  St  Peter  and  Paul  was  rendered  into 
Latin  by  him  or  by  his  assistants.  Yet,  however  much  of  the  work  he 
may  have  succeeded  in  finishing,  it  is  certain  that  in  the  fifteenth 
century  the  need  for  a  fresh  translation  of  the  whole  was  felt  in  Italy, 
and  that  the  need  was  supplied  by  the  indefatigable  Camaldulite, 
Ambrogio  Traversari. 

The  versions  of  works  by  John  Damascene,  of  which  Bacon  speaks. 


Grossefeste  and  Bacon 


587 


seem  upon  examination  to  resolve  themselves  into  a  commentary  upon  the 
defective  Latin  version  of  the  treatise  De  Fide  orthodoxa^  made  a  century 
before  by  Burgundio  of  Pisa. 

Such  is  the  list  of  Grosseteste's  gifts  to  the  Latin  Church.  If  not 
very  large  in  extent,  it  is  assuredly  very  remarkable  in  quality.  With 
the  exception  of  the  work  of  John  Damascene,  it  consists  entirely  of 
writings  for  which  a  pre-Christian  or  an  apostolic  date  was  claimed.  In 
other  words,  we  see  in  Grosseteste  the  beginnings  of  that  interest  in  the 
origins  of  Christianity  which  is  usually  regarded  as  characteristic  of  a 
later  age.  He  is  a  collector  of  what  claims  to  be  ancient  and  primitive. 
Others  will  follow  to  whom  Chrysostom  and  Basil  will  seem  better  worth 
translating :  and  their  day  will  be  a  long  one. 

We  have  ample  evidence  of  Grosseteste 's  knowledge  of  Greek.  Less 
is  known  of  his  attainments  in  Hebrew:  and  yet  evidence  can  be 
produced  to  show  that  they  were  not  contemptible.  A  Franciscan 
writer  of  the  next  century  —  Henry  of  Costessey  (circa  1336),  to  whom 
reference  will  be  made  hereafter  —  had  before  him,  when  writing  an 
exposition  of  the  Psalter,  a  copy  of  the  text  of  that  book  in  Hebrew 
with  an  interlinear  translation  into  Latin.  This  had  been  the  property, 
if  not  the  work,  of  Grosseteste.  Little  positive  proof  beyond  the 
common  rumour  of  his  contemporaries  can  be  added  to  this  fact ;  but 
even  if  it  stands  by  itself,  it  is  well  worthy  of  note.  It  is  clear  that 
the  Bishop's  chief  interest  centred  in  his  Greek  studies  :  more  than  a 
respectable  working  knowledge  of  the  other  sacred  tongue  is  not  claimed 
for  him  here. 

Thus  much  it  has  seemed  right  to  say  of  the  work  of  the  earlier  of 
the  two  men  who  have  been  commemorated  at  the  outset  of  this  chapter. 
Of  the  other,  Roger  Bacon  to  wit,  we  may  speak  in  shorter  compass. 

Page  after  page  in  his  works  attests  his  clear  perception  of  the  needs 
of  scientific  theology,  of  the  crucial  importance  of  a  knowledge  of  the 
"  original  tongues  "  —  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  "  Chaldean,"  —  of  the  need  for 
a  revision  of  the  Latin  Bible  by  the  help  of  the  oldest  manuscripts,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  of  the  necessity  of  re-introducing  to  the  West  the  works 
of  the  great  Greek  Fathers.  And  perhaps  his  greater  service  to  the 
Church  of  his  age  may  have  lain  in  the  statement  of  these  needs. 
Something,  it  is  true,  he  himself  achieved  towards  supplying  them.  He 
wrote  grammars  of  the  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Arabic  languages.  The 
first  two  of  these  it  appears  that  we  possess,  and  a  single  copy  of  a 
Greek  dictionary  also  survives,  which  there  seems  good  reason  to 
attribute  to  him.  The  third  is  not  known  to  exist.  We  have,  more- 
over, part  of  a  series  of  letters  which  may  with  some  confidence  be 
regarded  as  Bacon's.  In  these  he  deals  at  length  with  points  of  Hebrew 
grammar  for  the  benefit  of  a  friend,  himself  evidently  an  accomplished 
Hebraist,  who  had  sought  his  advice.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the 
fruit  of  these  labours  was  not  great :  yet  we  shall  see  that  it  continued 


588 


Greek  learning  at  St  Denis 


to  be  produced,  if  in  scanty  measure,  up  to  the  day  of  the  fuller 
harvest. 

That  Grosseteste  and  Bacon  had  their  precursors  we  must  expect  to 
find.  Indeed,  it  is  pretty  certain  that  there  was  never  a  time  when  the 
knowledge  of  either  Hebrew  or  Greek  was  altogether  dead  in  the  Latin 
Church.  In  almost  every  generation  we  can  point  to  some  document 
which  bears  witness  to  the  possession  of  such  knowledge  by  scholars 
scattered  here  and  there.  In  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  for 
example,  Johannes  Burgundio  of  Pisa  executed — badly  enough  it  seems 
—  a  whole  series  of  versions  from  the  Greek.  Among  these  were  the 
Homilies  of  Chrysostom  on  Matthew^  the  tract  of  Nemesius — then 
believed  to  be  by  Gregory  of  Nyssa —  On  the  Nature  of  Man,  and,  above 
all,  the  treatise  of  John  of  Damascus  On  the  Orthodox  Faith,  of  which 
mention  has  been  made  already.  Again,  in  the  second  half  of  the  same 
century,  an  English  Odo  —  his  personality  remains  obscure  —  dedicates 
to  Gilbert  Foliot,  Bishop  of  London,  an  Introduction  to  Theology 
in  which  long  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  are  quoted  in  the 
original  Hebrew.  There  were  also  in  the  latter  half  of  this  same 
century  the  makings  of  a  Greek  school  at  the  Abbey  of  St  Denis.  The 
reason  of  this  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  patron  Saint  of  that  great  House 
was  a  Greek,  and,  as  all  men  believed,  the  author  of  a  famous  group  of 
writings.  As  early  as  the  eleventh  century  (in  1022)  a  copy  of  the 
Gospels  in  Greek  had  been  written  for  the  Abbey.  In  the  twelfth 
century  Odo  de  Deuil,  who  succeeded  Sugar  as  Abbot,  sent  one  of  his 
monks,  William  of  Gap,  to  the  East  on  a  literary  mission,  as  it  seems. 
William  brought  Greek  books  back  with  him  from  Constantinople ;  and 
made  a  Latin  version  of  a  life  of  the  philosopher  Secundus,  which  was 
extensively  copied.  To  him  also  we  may  assign  a  Latin  version  of  a  set 
of  Greek  Arguments  to  the  Pauline  Epistles,  This  last  piece  of  work 
he  did  when  Abbot  of  St  Denis,  between  1172  and  1186,  at  the  request 
of  Herbert  de  Bosham,  the  friend  and  biographer  of  St  Thomas  of 
Canterbury.  A  fellow-monk  of  William's,  Johannes  Saracenus,  a  corre- 
spondent of  John  of  Salisbury's,  and  in  after  years  Abbot  at  Vercelli, 
translated  into  Latin  the  greater  part  of  the  Pseudo-Dionysian  writings. 
A  second  William,  monk  of  St  Denis,  did  the  same  for  a  Greek 
panegyric  on  their  reputed  author.  Down  to  a  late  date  part  of 
the  office  on  St  Denis'  Day  was  said  in  Greek  at  the  Abbey  ;  and  the 
Biblioth^que  Nationale  possesses  a  couple  of  twelfth  century  Greek 
manuscripts  which  belonged  to  the  same  House,  and  may  well  have 
been  among  the  spoils  brought  back  by  William  of  Gap. 

Yet  after  all  these  were  isolated  phenomena.  Bacon's  estimate  of 
the  needs  of  his  time  remains  the  true  one.  It  is  amply  confirmed 
by  contemporary  literature,  and  perhaps  the  readiest  and  most  con- 
vincing demonstration  of  it  is  furnished  by  the  catalogues  of  the  great 
libraries  which  come  from  this  period.    The  value  of  these  documents 


Library  of  Christ  Churchy  Cmiterhury  689 


for  purposes  of  literary  history  is  self-evident.  They  provide  us  in  the 
directest  way  imaginable  with  a  view  of  the  resources  of  the  learned 
communities  of  the  time.  It  will  be  worth  while,  therefore,  to  discuss, 
in  a  summary  fashion,  one  typical  example. 

The  passage  of  Bacon  which  stands  at  the  head  of  this  chapter  was 
written  in  or  about  the  year  1271.  The  author  survived  the  year  1292; 
and  we  possess  a  detailed  catalogue  of  one  of  the  largest  libraries  in 
England,  which  was  drawn  up  within  a  very  few  years  after  the  latter 
date.  We  may,  then,  fairly  use  it  as  illustrative  of  the  condition  of 
theological  learning  and  of  the  range  of  theological  literature  at  the 
close  of  Bacon's  life.  The  library  in  question  is  that  of  Christ  Church 
Priory  at  Canterbury.  In  extent  it  rivalled  any  of  its  time,  for  it 
contained  close  upon  two  thousand  volumes  ;  and,  without  entering  into 
details  as  to  the  method  of  its  formation,  we  may  assert  generally  that 
it  is  possible  to  a  large  extent  to  discriminate  the  earlier  from  the  later 
acquisitions,  and  to  arrange  these  latter  in  chronological  order. 

In  that  portion  of  the  library  which  dates  back  to  the  days  of 
Lanfranc  and  Anselm  fragmentary  survivals  are  traceable  of  a  learning 
which  had  no  attraction  for  the  mass  of  clerics  in  Bacon's  day.  The 
best  example  of  these  is  a  copy  of  the  treatise  of  Irenaeus  Against 
heresies  —  in  all  likelihood  the  only  copy  then  in  England.  There  are 
indications  also  of  the  influence  of  John  of  Salisbury  in  the  list  of  the 
books  bequeathed  by  St  Thomas  to  his  Cathedral ;  but,  as  we  should 
expect,  this  influence  is  more  clearly  seen  in  the  presence  of  certain 
classical  Latin  authors  than  in  the  province  of  sacred  literature. 
Coming  nearer  to  the  period  with  which  we  are  chiefly  concerned,  we 
notice  that  Grosseteste  has  left  his  mark  on  the  Canterbury  Library: 
copies  of  most  of  the  texts  which  he  restored  to  the  Latins  are  to  be 
found  in  the  catalogue.  Of  Roger  Bacon,  however,  and  of  his  work 
there  is  no  sign.  Not  a  single  Greek  or  Hebrew  book  is  discoverable. 
All  trace  of  the  learning  of  Theodore  has  disappeared.  The  theologian 
par  excellence  is,  as  always,  Augustine:  and  the  other  three  Latin 
Doctors  are  present  in  great  force.  For  the  rest,  the  Divinity  library 
is  made  up  chiefly  of  glossed  books  of  the  Bible,  of  ''Distinctions^'' 
sermons,  the  books  of  Anselm,  Alexander  Neckam,  Peter  Lombard, 
Richard  of  Pr^aux,  Robert  Cursun,  Peter  Comestor,  and  the  like  ;  while 
among  the  latest  accretions,  are  numbered  the  works  of  the  great 
Schoolmen.  Thus  almost  the  only  aid  to  the  literal  interpretation  of 
the  Biblical  text  which  the  monks  of  this  great  House  possessed  was 
what  they  could  gather  from  the  works  of  Jerome.  Peter  Comestor 
and  Josephus  were  their  teachers  in  Biblical  history ;  and  for  the  history 
of  the  Church  they  had  to  turn  to  Rufinus'  version  of  the  History  of 
Eusebius,  to  the  Tripartite  History^  and  to  the  numerous  lives  of  Saints. 

The  state  of  this  one  great  library  must  be  taken  as  typical  of 
that  of  others  throughout  Europe.    Yet,  if  the  darkness  was  thick,  it 


590  Hebrew  learning  in  England 

was  already  beginning  to  lift.  By  means  of  a  recent  discovery  the 
present  writer  has  ascertained  that  in  this  very  library  a  copy  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  from  Genesis  to  Ruth  in  Greek  existed 
early  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  manuscript,  now  at  Oxford,  is  of 
Grosse teste's  date,  and  was  very  probably  brought  by  him  to  England. 

There  were  younger  contemporaries  of  Grosseteste  and  of  Bacon, 
who  carried  on  the  work  of  the  great  teachers,  and  that  in  no  unworthy 
fashion.  At  Ramsey  Abbey  (where  the  influence  of  the  former  may 
fairly  be  suspected,  for  it  lay  in  his  diocese)  a  small  band  of  scholars 
were  in  possession  of  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew.  They 
had  bought  up  the  libraries  of  the  suppressed  synagogues  at  Huntingdon 
and  Stamford.  One  among  them.  Prior  Gregory,  had  furthermore 
studied  Greek:  a  bilingual  Psalter  remains  to  attest  the  fact.  At  a 
somewhat  later  date  the  stores  of  Hebrew  manuscripts  accumulated  by 
his  predecessors  enabled  Laurence  Holbeach,  a  monk  of  the  same  House, 
to  compile  a  Hebrew  Lexicon. 

Another  great  work  was  set  on  foot  in  the  second  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century, — a  work  whose  existence  is  hardly  suspected  now- 
a-days.  This  was  nothing  less  than  a  literal  translation  from  Hebrew 
into  Latin  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Old  Testament  —  clearly  a  work  of 
English  scholars,  for  all  the  known  manuscripts  which  contain  any  part 
of  it  are  of  English  origin,  and  are  preserved  in  English  libraries.  Of  the 
originators  of  this  enterprise,  and  of  the  character  of  their  work,  we  may 
look  to  learn  more ;  but  even  in  our  present  state  of  knowledge  we  can 
very  confidently  predicate  of  them  that  they  owed  their  inspiration  to  the 
influence  of  one  or  other  of  the  two  great  champions  of  the  "original 
tongues." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  for  England  alone  is  claimed  the 
honour  of  having  attempted  a  scientific  treatment  of  the  Sacred  Text  at 
this  time.  The  principal  impulse  to  study  seems  to  have  been  given  by 
Englishmen,  it  is  true ;  but  work  was  also  being  done  outre  mer. 
Before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  the  Dominicans  of  Paris  had 
attempted  the  task  of  systematically  correcting  the  text  of  the  Latin 
Bible.  The  results,  however,  were  not  happy,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
man  best  qualified  to  judge  of  them.  Bacon  is,  indeed,  unsparing  in  his 
strictures.  The  work  had  been  undertaken  without  adequate  knowledge 
of  the  original  tongues,  and  carried  on  without  reference  being  made  to 
the  oldest  and  best  manuscripts  of  the  Vulgate.  The  consequence  is  that 
the  Paris  "  corruption,"  of  which  there  were  two  editions,  is  "  the  worst 
possible  corruption  and  destruction  of  the  text  of  God."  But  Bacon 
was  not  merely  a  destructive  critic.  It  was  seemingly  a  friend  and 
correspondent  of  his  own,  William  de  Mara,  who  eventually  compiled  a 
Correctorium  based  on  a  sound  knowledge  of  Hebrew.  On  its  com- 
position he  spent  not  less  than  forty  years ;  and  it  is  believed  that  he 
derived  material  assistance  from  Bacon  himself  in  the  course  of  his  work. 


Hebrew  learning.  —  Nicholas  de  Lyra 


591 


The  critical  labours  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  were  chiefly 
concerned  with  the  text  of  the  Old  Testament ;  and  it  is  a  noteworthy 
circumstance  that  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  knowledge  of  Hebrew, 
and  the  application  of  that  knowledge  to  Biblical  studies,  was  far 
commoner  than  the  knowledge  of  Greek.  It  is  not  difficult  to  account 
for  this,  so  far  as  Western  Europe  is  concerned.  Teachers  of  Hebrew 
were,  as  Bacon  tells  us,  very  easily  procurable.  It  is  true  that  he  adds 
that  it  was  equally  easy  to  acquire  Greek ;  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  in  the  case  of  Hebrew,  books  in  which  the  language  could  be 
studied,  and  on  which  critical  and  exegetical  work  could  be  done,  were 
plentiful.  Wherever  a  community  of  Jews  existed,  the  scriptures  in 
Hebrew  could  be  readily  obtained.  Not  so  with  Greek.  The  few  Greek 
manuscripts  imported  into  England  by  Grosseteste,  the  Greek  Gospels 
which  the  Byzantine  Emperor  had  sent  to  St  Louis,  the  two  or  three 
volumes  at  St  Denis,  were  rarities  of  the  first  water.  The  stores  of  Greek 
literature  in  the  Basilian  monasteries  of  Southern  Italy  and  Sicily,  to 
say  nothing  of  Greece  and  of  Byzantium,  were  not  yet  unlocked.  That 
ancient  scholarship  to  which  we  owe  the  Graeco-Latin  manuscripts  of 
Southern  France,  the  Laudian  manuscript  of  the  Acts  that  Baeda  used, 
and  the  famous  codices  of  St  Gall,  had  altogether  died.  The  eyes  of  a 
few  far-sighted  scholars  were  turned  towards  the  Grecian  lands ;  but  as 
yet  they  could  do  no  more  than  look  and  long. 

Still,  the  truths  to  which  Roger  Bacon  had  given  expression  were 
not  forgotten.  Especially  in  the  ranks  of  his  own  —  the  Franciscan  — 
Order,  men  were  found  who  realised  and  acted  upon  them.  Scraps 
of  Hebrew  and  Greek  learning  —  alphabets,  transcripts  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  the  like  —  are  of  not  infrequent  occurrence  in  manuscripts  of 
Franciscan  origin.  These  may  be  only  straws  showing  which  way  the 
wind  sets.  More  significant  is  the  appearance  among  the  Franciscans  of 
the  greatest  exponent  of  the  literal  sense  of  Scripture  whom  the  medieval 
world  can  show.  This  was  Nicholas  de  Lyra,  who  died  in  1340.  It  is 
not  so  much  because  of  his  learning  that  he  is  important,  though  his 
knowledge  of  Hebrew  was  highly  notable  ;  it  is  rather  his  attitude,  his 
desire  to  ascertain  what  the  words  of  the  Sacred  Text  actually  mean,  which 
differentiates  him  from  the  ancient  allegorists.  The  same  tendency  is  seen 
in  the  work  of  a  far  less  famous  Franciscan  of  the  same  generation.  Henry 
of  Costessey  is  the  author  of  a  Commentary  upon  the  Psalms  which  appears 
to  exist  in  but  one  manuscript.  In  this  the  insistence  upon  the  literal 
sense,  the  constant  reference  to  the  original  Hebrew,  and  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  writer's  judgment,  who  is  for  ever  canvassing  and 
contradicting  the  opinions  of  Lyra,  are  such  as  would  have  rejoiced 
Bacon's  heart.  For  a  considerable  time  the  Franciscan  Houses  at  both 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  must  have  kept  alive  the  interest  in  this  "New 
Learning."  We  are  fairly  well  informed  about  the  establishment  at 
Oxford ;  and  concerning  the  Cambridge  House  we  can  at  least  tell  who 


592 


The  Franciscan  Order 


were  its  teachers  of  divinity :  Henry  of  Costessey  was  among  them. 
The  Oxford  Friars  did  not,  it  is  true,  preserve  the  traditions  of 
Grosseteste  and  of  Bacon  into  the  Reformation  period,  for  Leland  has  a 
sorry  tale  to  tell  of  the  neglected  condition  of  their  once  noble  library. 
Yet  the  tradition  of  learning  lingered  in  the  Order ;  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century  Richard  Brinkley,  Provincial  of  the  Grey  Friars 
in  England,  was  a  student  of  Hebrew  —  he  borrowed  a  Hebrew  Psalter 
from  the  monks  of  Bury  St  Edmunds ;  and  he  was  moreover  the  owner  of 
more  than  one  Greek  Biblical  manuscript :  among  them,  of  the  Leicester 
Codex  of  the  New  Testament,  well  known  to  textual  critics. 

More  is  yet  to  be  said  of  the  Franciscans  in  England,  and  of  their 
services  to  sacred  literature.  They  did  not  confine  their  attention  to 
the  Bible.  There  is  another  great  literary  enterprise,  the  credit  of 
whose  initiation  belongs  to  them,  though  its  subsequent  development 
must  be  assigned  to  a  Benedictine.  Described  shortly,  it  was  an 
attempt  to  discover  and  locate  all  the  works  of  the  principal  known 
authors,  both  sacred  and  secular,  which  existed  in  England.  At  some 
time  in  the  fourteenth  century  circulars  were  issued,  or  visits  paid,  to 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  monasteries.  A  list  of  some  ninety  authors 
was  drawn  up,  and  the  writings  of  each  enumerated.  The  list  of  libraries 
and  that  of  books  were  then  fused  together  in  such  a  way  that  from  the 
completed  work  it  is  possible  to  ascertain  what  books  by  each  writer  were 
to  be  found  in  England,  and  in  what  libraries  each  book  existed.  The 
name  given  to  this  compilation  is  the  Catalogus  or  Registrum  Lihrorum 
Angliae,  and  the  indications  that  in  this  first  form  it  is  the  work  of  a 
member  or  members  of  the  Franciscan  Order  are  hardly  to  be  mistaken. 
Early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  the  work  received  a  most  important 
expansion  at  the  hands  of  a  monk  of  Bury,  John  Boston  by  name.  He 
added  a  score  of  names  to  the  list  of  libraries,  and  raised  to  nearly  seven 
hundred  the  number  of  authors  whose  works  were  enumerated.  He  gave, 
moreover,  a  short  biographical  sketch  of  each  writer  drawn  from  the  best 
sources  at  his  disposal :  so  that  the  book  in  its  completed  form  might 
claim  to  be  called  a  Dictionary  of  Literature.  If  this  Catalogue  of 
Boston's  did  not  serve  as  a  model  to  Trithemius  and  his  successors  (and 
there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  did),  it  was  at  least  the  legitimate 
ancestor  of  the  later  Bihliothecae.  What  is  more  to  the  point  at  present, 
it  furnishes  a  key  to  the  literary  possessions  and  perhaps  still  more  to 
the  literary  needs  of  England  about  the  year  1400,  the  importance 
of  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  return  to  the  consideration  of  England's 
share  in  the  movement;  but  we  must  now  proceed  to  extend  the 
range  of  our  outlook.  We  have  to  ask  whether,  in  the  home  of  the 
Classical  Revival,  any  consciousness  existed  of  the  needs  of  the  Church 
corresponding  to  the  feeling  that  we  have  seen  stirring  in  the  minds  of 
Grosseteste  and  of  Bacon.    As  far  as  we  can  judge,  this  question  must 


Sacred  learning  in  Italy 


be  answered  in  the  negative.  Exceptional  opportunities  for  the  further- 
ing of  Christian  scholarship  lay  ready  to  the  hands  of  the  Italians  in 
the  fourteenth  century ;  yet  there  is  strikingly  little  to  show  that  advan- 
tage was  taken  of  them.  It  has  already  been  hinted  that  in  Italy  the 
knowledge  of  Greek  as  a  spoken  language  was  far  from  uncommon. 
Large  portions  of  the  South  were,  as  Bacon  says,  "  purely  Greek  " ;  on 
the  Adriatic  coast  Greek  was  widely  known.  The  Court  of  Rome  had 
its  relations  with  the  Eastern  patriarchates.  The  points  at  issue  between 
the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  were  productive  of  a  long  series  of  con- 
troversial writings  on  both  sides.  There  was,  in  fact,  no  good  reason 
why  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek  Bible  and  of  the  great  Greek  Fathers 
should  not  have  continued  to  exist  at  the  papal  Court,  and  have  been 
diffused  from  thence  over  the  West.  Yet  we  do  not  find  that  such 
knowledge  existed  in  any  appreciable  degree.  The  thought  of  applying 
the  knowledge  of  Greek  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  seems  hardly  to  have 
occurred  to  the  Italian  scholars  of  the  fourteenth  century.  There  are, 
it  is  true,  examples  dating  from  this  period  of  Gospel-books  and  other 
parts  of  the  Bible  written  in  Greek  and  Latin,  and  emanating  from 
Venice  and  Florence.  It  is  commonly  said,  too,  that  an  English  Bishop 
—  Adam  Easton,  Bishop  of  Norwich  and  Cardinal  of  St  Cecilia  —  made 
a  fresh  version  of  the  whole  Bible  from  the  original  while  in  Italy.  But 
this  last  assertion  stands  in  need  of  corroboration  ;  and  at  best  it  would 
indicate,  not  an  activity  of  Italians  in  sacred  studies,  but  the  existence 
in  Italy  of  materials  by  the  aid  of  which  such  studies  could  be  prose- 
cuted. The  difficulty  of  discovering  any  symptom  of  consciousness 
that  the  field  of  theological  study  needed  widening  is  of  more  weight 
than  are  the  isolated  examples  of  a  wider  learning  which  have  been 
cited. 

Before  the  fifteenth  century  has  fairly  opened  we  find  nothing  that 
can  be  called  a  decided  current  setting  in  the  direction  of  wider  learn- 
ing or  true  sacred  scholarship.  It  was  not  immediately  that  the  rush 
of  new  discoveries  involved  those  whose  prime  interest  lay  in  things 
sacred.  But  when  we  hear  of  a  Queen  of  Cyprus  presenting  a  copy 
of  the  Gospels  in  Greek  to  a  Pope,  of  a  Greek  prelate  on  his  way  to 
the  Council  of  Florence  giving  another  copy  to  a  church  at  Verona,  of 
a  Cardinal  (Cusanus)  in  the  same  year  buying  a  third  at  Constantinople, 
and,  within  four  years  more,  of  copies  being  written  in  Italy  itself,  we 
feel  sure  that  the  movement  is  well  in  train. 

Once  begun,  its  development  can  be  followed  up  along  many  lines. 
Three  in  particular  suggest  themselves  as  fruitful  in  indications  not 
likely  to  be  fallacious.  First,  we  may  take  stock  of  what  was  done  in 
the  way  of  collecting  ancient  texts  and  forming  libraries  in  which  to 
preserve  them.  Secondly,  we  may  review  the  work  of  the  translators 
and  copyists  who  made  the  new  material  accessible  to  their  public ;  and, 
in  the  third  place,  we  may  trace  the  beginnings  of  criticism  as  applied  to 


594 


The  age  of  collection 


the  documents  which  were  already  known,  and  to  those  which  began 
now  to  be  known  for  the  first  time. 

Much  has  been  written  upon  the  first  of  these  topics,  but  chiefly 
from  the  point  of  view  of  men  interested  in  the  Classical  Revival.  There 
is  not  a  great  deal  that  can  suitably  be  added  in  this  place  to  the  story 
of  the  rediscovery  of  ancient  literature.  The  work  done  by  the  collec- 
tors of  Greek  books  was  a  wholly  new  work ;  we  shall  see  the  results  of 
it  most  clearly  in  the  course  of  our  examination  of  the  libraries.  With 
the  early  literature  of  the  Latin  Church  the  case  was  different.  There 
were  but  few  Christian  writers  among  those  whom  Poggio  and  his 
fellows  rescued  from  an  age-long  obscurity ;  and  the  welcome  accorded 
to  these  by  the  humanists  was  theirs  as  Latinists  rather  than  as  theo- 
logians. Tertullian  and  Lactantius  are  the  leading  names  of  this  class. 
The  first  copy  of  the  works  of  the  former  was  found  at  Basel  by  Tom- 
maso  Parentucelli  (afterwards  Nicholas  V).  Lactantius,  never  a  fre- 
quent author  in  medieval  libraries,  had  hardly  found  a  single  copyist 
between  the  eleventh  and  the  fourteenth  century.  A  library  at  Bologna 
had  preserved  the  earliest  and  best  manuscript  of  his  Institutions^  and 
other  tracts  were  yielded  up  by  St  Gall  and  the  German  abbeys.  The 
most  important  Latin  books  apart  from  these  were  some  of  the  early 
versions  of  Greek  patristic  works,  such  as  that  of  Origen's  Homilies  on 
Luke^  the  finding  of  which,  at  St  Cecilia's  in  Rome,  gladdened  the  heart 
of  Ambrogio  Traversari.  However,  it  must  be  allowed  that,  upon  the 
whole,  the  Latin  finds  of  the  earlier  period  were  inconsiderable.  The 
work  of  Irenseus,  though  known  to  exist,  attracted  very  little  attention 
—  chiefly,  we  may  conjecture,  because  of  its  barbarous  style  ;  the  Latin 
version  of  Hermas  was  hardly  read ;  and  the  writings  of  Arnobius  and 
Minucius  Felix,  which  are  of  the  kind  that  would  have  proved  most  pleas- 
ing to  the  humanists,  were  reserved  for  the  explorers  of  the  next  century. 

The  libraries  which  received  and  preserved  the  stock  of  new  material 
claim  to  be  discussed  at  greater  length.  The  natural  centre  for  the 
formation  of  a  great  Christian  library  was  the  papal  Court.  Private 
amateurs  like  Niccolo  Niccoli  might,  and  actually  did,  accomplish  much 
in  the  way  of  rescuing  and  bringing  together  books  of  all  kinds ;  but  it 
is  a  clear  and  familiar  fact  that  what  they  prized  most  were  the  master- 
pieces of  the  pagan  literature.  It  is  the  clergy,  and  above  all  the  Pope, 
whom  we  expect  to  find  caring  for  the  archives  of  Christian  antiquity. 
Fortunately,  we  are  in  a  position  to  estimate  very  accurately,  by  the  help 
of  library  catalogues,  the  measure  of  what  was  done  in  this  line.  The 
greatest  of  the  early  papal  bibliophiles  was  Nicholas  V  (1447-55).  It 
is  not  necessary  to  spend  words  here  upon  describing  his  activity  as  a 
collector  or  his  munificence  as  a  patron  of  letters.  We  shall  run  less 
risk  of  exaggeration  if  we  draw  from  so  unemotional  a  document  as  the 
inventory  of  his  books,  made  at  his  decease.  A  short  survey  of  the 
collection,  if  dry,  will  at  least  alford  some  basis  of  solid  fact. 


The  Vatican  Library 


595 


In  1455,  then,  the  library  of  Nicholas  V  consisted  of  824  Latin  and  352 
Greek  manuscripts.  We  must  not  expect  to  find  in  the  Latin  library  any 
sign  that  the  learning  of  the  schools  is  losing  its  interest.  The  theology 
and  the  Canon  Law  of  the  later  centuries  are  as  fully  represented  here  as 
in  any  Abbey  library  of  them  all.  What  we  have  to  note  as  significant  is 
the  presence  —  partly  in  old  copies  newly  brought  to  light,  partly  in  new 
versions  or  in  manuscripts  written  to  order — of  a  number  of  writings  whose 
existence  or  whose  importance  was  but  just  beginning  to  be  realised. 
Of  these  the  most  striking  may  be  instanced  here.  The  new  version 
of  Chrysostom's  Homilies  on  Matthew^  by  Ambrogio  Traversari,  side 
by  side  with  the  old  and  faulty  one  of  Burgundio  of  Pisa;  Cyril  of 
Alexandria  upon  John,  translated  by  George  of  Trebizond;  several 
copies  of  Origen  upon  Luke,  to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made ; 
then  —  a  noteworthy  item  —  a  Latin  version  of  Maimonides  on  the  sense 
of  the  Scriptures.  Later,  and  after  masses  of  volumes  of  Augustine, 
Jerome,  and  Thomas  Aquinas,  appear,  first,  a  translation  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Ephesine  Council^  and  then,  disguised  as  "Nicenus  Episcopus 
Lugdunensis,"  the  work  of  Irenseus  Against  Heresies.  Worthy  of 
mention  also  are  the  following  :  the  Acts  of  the  Five  G-reat  Councils  ;  the 
Praeparatio  Evangelica  of  Eusebius  in  George  of  Trebizond's  version ; 
TertuUian,  Victor  Vitensis,  the  Chronicon  of  Eusebius,  Josephus  Against 
Apion^  and  a  version  of  Philo  Judaeus  by  Lilio  of  Citta  di  Castello. 

Cyprian  and  Lactantius,  and  versions,  either  old  or  new,  of  works  of 
Ephrem  the  Syrian,  Athanasius,  and  Basil,  are  the  remaining  indications 
of  the  new  movement  which  occur  in  the  catalogue  of  Nicholas  V's 
Latin  library. 

The  inventory  of  his  Greek  books  is,  of  course,  in  one  sense,  from 
end  to  end  a  list  of  novelties ;  and  yet  it  is  rather  disappointing.  The 
volumes  are  shortly  and  meagrely  described.  Their  contents,  if  new  to 
the  scholars  of  that  day,  are  just  those  which  are  most  familiar  to 
us.  It  is  in  part  consoling  to  find  that  Nicholas  possessed  no  great 
treasure  that  has  since  perished ;  but  still  the  absence  of  any  such  entry 
robs  the  catalogue  of  an  element  of  excitement.  It  is,  in  truth,  some- 
what commonplace.  Chrysostom  heads  the  list  with  forty  volumes,  and 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  Basil,  Athanasius,  and  Simeon  the  Metaphrast,  are 
largely  represented.  There  is  but  one  volume  of  Origen  ;  there  are  two 
of  Philo,  and  two  copies  of  what  may  be  the  Clementine  Homilies.  The 
Bible  is  represented  by  some  scattered  portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  a 
fair  number  of  Gospel-books  QEvangelistaria)  and  a  few  copies  of  the 
Acts  and  Epistles.  No  such  thing  as  a  complete  Greek  Bible  occurs, 
though  we  know  that  at  this  date  the  famous  Vatican  Codex  (B)  was 
already  in  the  Pope's  possession. 

The  character  of  the  collection  did  not  alter  materially  during  the 
remainder  of  the  fifteenth  century.  At  the  death  of  Sixtus  IV  in  1484 
it  had  grown  considerably  in  bulk.    Instead  of  350  Greek  manuscripts 


596 


Other  Italian  libraries 


there  were  now  about  a  thousand.  Still,  we  note  no  specially  striking 
additions  to  the  list  of  early  Church  writers.  Origen,  for  example,  is  just 
as  poorly  represented  as  he  was  under  Nicholas  V.  One  important  section, 
however,  shows  a  marked  growth.  The  Bibles,  or  parts  of  Bibles,  have 
swelled  to  the  goodly  number  of  fifty-eight. 

The  examination  of  this,  the  most  important  library  of  the  West  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  teaches  us  that  the  main  interest  of  Christian 
scholars  was  centred  not  on  the  literature  of  the  first  ages,  but  upon  the 
works  of  the  great  doctors  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  —  upon  the 
definers  and  expositors  of  developed  dogma.  This  was  the  natural 
outcome,  perhaps,  of  the  long  period  spent  under  the  influence  of 
Scholastic  Theology.  But  it  was  also  the  inevitable  result  of  the  con- 
dition of  things  in  the  headquarters  of  Greek  learning.  The  Eastern 
Church  had  herself  forgotten  Justin,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and 
Irenaeus,  and  regarded  Origen  with  suspicion.  We  know  now  that  as  late 
as  the  sixteenth  century  a  Greek  Irenaeus,  and  a  copy  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
Memoirs  of  Hegesippus  were  lurking  in  a  Greek  island.  There  they 
were  destined  to  remain  and  to  perish.  Yet,  had  their  existence  been 
known  in  the  time  of  Nicholas  V,  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  and  his 
contemporaries  would  have  been  much  excited  by  the  announcement. 
A  couple  of  generations  later  the  case  would  have  been  widely  different. 

The  literary  treasures  of  Italy  were  by  no  means  confined  to  the 
Vatican ;  and,  though  it  would  be  dreary  work  to  investigate  in  detail 
the  inventories  of  all  the  great  collectors,  a  word  must  still  be  said  about 
those  of  Venice  and  Florence.  At  the  first-named  place  Bessarion's  great 
library  was  deposited,  among  whose  treasures  was  at  least  one  volume  of 
extraordinary  value  for  the  history  of  Christian  beliefs,  —  our  best  copy 
of  the  treatise  of  Epiphanius  Against  Heresies.  Florence  was  enriched, 
not  only  with  the  beginnings  of  the  Medicean  collection,  but  with  the 
earlier  and  hardly  less  precious  library  of  Niccolo  Niccoli  (d.  1437),  which 
passed  to  the  Convent  of  San  Marco.  In  the  list  of  the  one  hundred 
and  eighty  Greek  manuscripts  which  that  community  owned  in  the  last 
years  of  the  century  we  note  a  few  names,  and  only  a  few,  that  we 
did  not  meet  at  Rome,  particularly  that  of  Justin  Martyr.  From  this 
Florence  copy  Pico  della  Mirandola  must  in  all  probability  have  made 
his  translation  of  the  Cohortatio  ad  Crentes. 

In  the  Latin  collection  we  find  such  items  as  three  volumes  of 
Tertullian,  all  of  them  copies  on  paper  made  from  the  ancient  manuscript 
which  had  come  into  the  hands  of  Cardinal  Orsini.  Cyprian,  Lactantius, 
and  Ignatius  too,  are  there,  with  of  course  many  of  the  freshly  made 
versions  of  Greek  books.  That  of  the  Letter  of  Aristeas,  so  called, 
from  the  pen  of  Matteo  Palmieri,  is  a  welcome  variation  from  the 
everlasting  Chrysostoms  and  Basils.  Literature  owes  much,  indeed,  to 
Niccoli ;  but  Christian  literature  has  specially  to  thank  another  of  its 
friends,  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  for  the  preservation  of  that  inestimable 


Collectors  in  England 


597 


monument,  the  unique  manuscript  of  the  Miscellanies  QStromateis')  of 
Clement  of  Alexandria. 

We  turn  now  from  Italy,  the  centre  of  light,  to  ask  what  was  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  the  outer  darkness  beyond  the  Alps.  In  France 
the  work  of  collecting  Greek  books  had  hardly  begun  in  the  first  half  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  There  were,  as  we  have  seen,  what  may  be  called 
accidental  deposits  in  two  or  three  places,  as  at  St  Denis  and  the  Abbey 
of  Corbie  in  Picardy.  The  papal  library  at  Avignon,  which  owned  more 
than  a  hundred  and  twenty  Hebrew  manuscripts  in  1369,  could  muster 
only  some  half-dozen  in  Greek  —  another  striking  testimony  to  the 
statement  made  above  that  the  former  language  was  far  more  commonly 
known  in  that  age  than  the  latter.  In  1416  one  Greek  book  had  found 
its  way  into  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Berri ;  but  his  cataloguers 
cannot  give  us  any  notion  of  the  character  of  its  contents.  The  famous 
decree  of  the  Council  of  Venice  in  1311  that  the  Hebrew,  Arabic, 
and  Chaldean  tongues  should  be  taught  at  all  the  greater  Universities 
of  Europe  had  remained  absolutely  ineffective. 

With  the  arrival  of  George  Hermonymus  at  Paris  in  1476  the  work 
of  collection  and  diffusion  of  Greek  literature  really  began.  Hermonymus 
himself  worked  as  a  copyist  alike  of  the  Sacred  Text  and  of  secular 
authors.  Still  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  beginning  that  the  fifteenth 
century  witnessed.  The  enormous  accumulations,  which  have  ended  in 
making  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  of  Paris  the  depository  of  more 
Greek  manuscripts  than  any  other  library  outside  Greece  can  show, 
were  the  work  of  the  two  centuries  that  followed. 

Of  England  not  much  more  remains  to  be  said  in  the  present 
connexion ;  and  yet,  as  the  history  of  our  progress  in  this  field  has 
been  but  sparsely  investigated,  more  may  be  said  in  this  place  than  a 
consideration  of  proportion  would  perhaps  seem  to  justify.  We  have 
rather  frequent  accounts  of  the  importations  of  valuable  collections  of 
books  from  Italy.  Adam  Easton,  Bishop  of  Norwich  (who  has  already 
engaged  our  attention),  was  among  the  earliest  of  those  who  collected 
in  this  way.  He  died  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
Thomas  Walden  gave  many  foreign  manuscripts,  notable  for  age  and 
rarity,  to  the  Carmelites  of  London.  John  Gunthorpe,  Dean  of  Wells, 
deposited  a  precious  collection  formed  in  Italy  at  Jesus  College  in 
Cambridge.  It  is  still  possible  to  trace  the  greater  part  of  the  gifts  made 
by  William  Gray,  Bishop  of  Ely,  to  Balliol  College.  Another  Oxford 
College  —  Lincoln  —  possesses  a  manuscript  of  the  Acts  and  Catholic 
Epistles  in  Greek  which  was  given  to  it  in  1483  by  Robert  Flemmyng, 
Dean  of  Lincoln.  Flemmyng  was  another  of  those  who  had  travelled  in 
Italy  :  and  he  is  credited  with  having  compiled  a  Greek  dictionary.  At 
Lincoln  College  is  also  a  copy  of  the  Gospels  in  Greek  which  was  the 
gift  of  Edmund  Audley,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  in  1502. 

Gone,  alas !  are  the  collections,  amounting  in  all  to  nearly  six  hundred 


598 


Duke  Humphrey  and  William  Selling 


volumes,  which  Duke  Humphrey  of  Gloucester  gave  at  different  times  to 
the  University  of  Oxford.  Gone,  too,  for  the  most  part  is  that  imported 
by  William  Tilley  of  Selling,  Prior  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury, 
the  friend  of  Politian  and  the  patron  of  Linacre.  During  the  two  long 
visits  that  he  paid  to  Italy,  Selling  had  brought  together  a  number  of 
books.  We  have  no  list  of  them ;  but  his  contemporaries  evidently 
accounted  them  very  choice  and  precious.  The  tradition  was  even  current 
(though  we  must  gravely  question  its  correctness)  that  among  them  was  a 
copy  of  the  De  Mepublica  of  Cicero.  They  were  deposited  in  the  Prior's 
lodging  on  his  return  and,  unfortunately,  were  never  transferred  to  the 
main  library  of  the  monastery.  On  the  eve  of  the  Dissolution,  a  royal 
commissioner  —  Leighton  —  and  his  train  were  lodged  in  the  building 
which  contained  the  books:  an  accidental  fire,  the  responsibility  for 
which  is  laid  by  the  monks  upon  Leighton's  drunken  servants,  burst  out, 
and  the  treasured  library  of  Selling  was  consumed.  A  few  survivors 
are  enumerated  by  Leland  —  notably  a  copy  of  Basil's  Commentary/  on 
Isaiah  in  Greek :  a  few  which  he  does  not  name  can  be  traced  in  our 
libraries  now.  Among  them  must  in  all  probability  be  reckoned  the  first 
copy  of  Homer  whose  presence  can  be  definitely  traced  in  England  since 
the  days  of  Theodore  of  Tarsus. 

That  copies  of  the  newly-recovered  writings  of  the  Latin  Fathers  and 
of  the  new  translations  from  the  Greek  made  their  way  to  England 
among  these  various  collections  is  not  surprising.  Both  among  Selling's 
books,  and  among  those  which  Bishop  Gray  gave  to  Balliol  College,  we 
find  translations  by  Aretinus  and  by  Traversari.  In  Gray's  list  Lactantius 
and  Tertullian  are  also  represented.  His  copy  of  the  Apology  of  the 
latter  suggests  a  curious  question.  It  is  enriched  with  marginal  notes, 
which  in  the  opinion  of  the  antiquaries  of  an  older  day  were  due  to 
the  pen  of  a  twelfth  century  critic,  —  no  less  a  person  indeed  than 
William  of  Malmesbury.  But  the  manuscript  which  contains  them  is  of 
the  fifteenth  century  and  is  the  work  of  a  foreign  scribe  ;  and  the  notes 
themselves  afford  no  clue  to  their  author. 

The  library  of  St  Augustine's  Abbey  at  Canterbury,  again,  possessed 
the  Apology  of  Tertullian ;  but  we  can  only  guess  at  the  date  of  the 
manuscript;  and  a  wide  range  is  open  to  us,  since  the  catalogue  in  which 
it  is  entered  was  drawn  up  in  the  last  years  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is 
to  be  feared  that  this  country  did  not  contribute  in  any  important  degree 
to  the  stock  of  new  material  which  was  being  made  available  for  the 
world's  use.  Poggio's  visit  to  England  was  a  failure  in  this  as  in  other 
respects.  Had  he  been  able  to  explore  the  libraries  of  the  great 
monasteries  of  the  West  or  of  the  North  —  Glastonbury,  Worcester,  and 
the  scenes  of  Baeda's  activity — he  would  not  have  returned  empty-handed. 
Many  books  lay  in  hiding  there  which  he  would  have  been  glad  to  secure. 
In  after  years  we  find  the  English  scholars  actively  playing  their  part 
in  the  matter  of  accumulating  books.     At  present  we  must  leave  them, 


Greek  books  at  Basel:  the  library  of  Cues  599 


in  order  to  enquire,  rather  more  briefly,  into  the  records  of  the  movement 
in  Germany  and  Switzerland. 

The  Council  of  Basel  (1431)  had  in  one  respect  a  remarkable  and 
far-reaching  influence  on  literature.  A  Dominican,  John  of  Ragusa, 
afterwards  Cardinal,  who  figured  there,  left  in  the  Dominican  convent  of 
the  city  a  collection  of  books  which  in  later  years  acquired  a  peculiar 
importance.  They  included  three  manuscripts  of  parts  of  the  New 
Testament  in  Greek :  and  others  were  subsequently  added  to  their  number 
by  purchase  by  the  brethren  of  the  House.  These  manuscripts  were  not 
only  the  first  Greek  books  to  which  Johann  Reuchlin  had  access,  but 
were  in  after  years  well-nigh  the  sole  authorities  used  by  Erasmus  for  the 
constitution  of  the  first  published  text  of  the  Greek  Testament.  Few 
cities  outside  Italy  could  at  that  time  have  supplied  even  such  facilities 
as  this  to  an  intending  editor  of  the  Sacred  Text ;  and  we  may  be 
grateful  for  the  accident  on  which  their  presence  at  Basel  depended. 
Another  of  this  Cardinal's  books,  which  since  his  day  has  found  a  home 
at  Eton  College,  is  still  the  only  known  source  of  a  tract  of  some 
celebrity,  current  under  the  name  of  Athanasius. 

It  seems  not  unfair  to  say  that  Germany  —  the  country  which  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  gave  to  the  cause  of  enlightenment  its 
mightiest  weapon,  in  the  shape  of  the  printing  press  —  did  little  more  for 
that  cause,  at  least  of  her  own  initiative,  in  the  course  of  that  century. 
To  the  learning  of  the  next  her  contributions  were  enormous ;  but  for 
the  moment  she  is  conspicuous  not  by  bringing  to  light  her  own 
hidden  treasures  but  by  parting  with  them  to  strangers.  The  number 
of  ancient  texts,  both  classical  and  patristic,  which  were  exported  from 
German  Abbeys  to  Italy  was  very  large :  and  scarcely  less  remarkable 
was  the  number  and  quality  of  those  which  remained  undiscovered,  until 
native  scholars  of  a  later  generation  scented  them  out.  Yet  there  were 
German  book -collectors  before  1450 :  and  to  one  of  them  it  may  be  well 
to  devote  a  few  words.  In  the  letters  of  Poggio  and  his  contemporaries 
there  is  not  unfrequent  mention  of  one  Nicholas  of  Trier  as  a  successful 
collector  and  discoverer.  It  is  a  probability,  and  indeed  it  has  been 
accounted  nearer  a  certainty,  that  he  is  identical  with  Nicholas  of 
Cusa,  afterwards  Cardinal,  who  became  famous  as  a  politician,  as  a 
mathematician  and  reformer  of  the  Calendar,  and  as  a  writer  against 
Islam.  Cusanus  died  in  1464,  and  bequeathed  to  a  hospital  he  had 
founded  at  Cues  on  the  Mosel,  his  native  town,  the  books  brought 
together  by  him  during  his  residence  in  Italy  and  his  journeys  to  the 
Greek  lands.  At  Cues  a  good  many  of  them  still  remain.  The  collection 
has,  to  some  extent,  suffered  from  an  exchange  of  old  lamps  for  new, 
which  was  effected  in  the  last  century  to  the  advantage  of  the  Harleian 
Library :  but  the  books  which  are  now  at  the  Hospital  of  St  Nicholas 
at  Cues  are  both  individually  and  collectively  worthy  of  notice. 

Two  Graeco-Latin  Psalters,  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries,  three 


600 


The  age  of  the  translators 


other  Greek  manuscripts  (one  being  an  early  and  famous  Catena  on  St 
John's  Gospel),  and  two  copies  of  most  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew 
are  the  striking  features  among  the  Biblical  books.  In  the  patristic  section 
is  a  volume  transcribed  for  the  Cardinal  which  contains  certain  works 
then  of  very  rare  occurrence  :  Optatus  of  Milevis  Against  the  DonatistSy 
Origen  De  Principiis^  Tertullian's  Apology^  and  The  Shepherd  of 
Hermas.  There  are  moreover  two  early  Cyprians,  and  copies  of  the 
Latin  versions,  old  or  recent,  of  works  of  Athanasius,  of  Eusebius* 
Praeparatio  Uvangelica,  of  Cyril,  of  Philo,  of  Aristeas,  and  of  Dionysius. 
In  addition  to  these,  the  presence  of  the  earlier  polemics  against  the 
Mohammadans,  of  works  of  Raymond  Lull  in  great  profusion,  and  of 
the  new  versions  of  Plato  and  Aristotle,  gives  a  special  character  to  this 
forgotten  storehouse.  In  spite  of  the  losses  it  has  suffered,  the  library 
of  Cues  is  to  be  reckoned  among  the  most  perfect  and  unadulterated 
examples  that  have  survived  of  the  collection  of  a  single  scholar  of  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

So  much  as  to  the  formation  of  libraries  in  various  parts  of  Europe, 
and  of  its  relation  to  the  Christian  Renaissance.  We  have  designedly 
devoted  a  considerable  space  to  this  side  of  our  subject,  inasmuch  as 
it  has  not  as  yet  been  adequately  appreciated  by  the  generality. 
To  most  men  the  study  of  inventories  and  catalogues  seems  dry  work ; 
but  the  evidence  derivable  from  it  is  of  a  kind  not  easily  to  be  upset. 
It  must  be  remembered,  besides,  that  the  existence  of  these  libraries 
did  not  affect  their  possessors  only.  Most  of  them  were  thrown  open 
to  students  of  all  classes ;  so  that  they  were  centres  not  only  for  the 
preservation  of  literature,  but  for  a  wide  and  rapid  diffusion  of 
knowledge.  We  may  have  occasion  to  recur  shortly  to  the  topic  of 
book-preservation.  At  present  two  other  subjects  intimately  connected 
with  the  development  of  learning  in  the  fifteenth  century  appear  to 
require  comment. 

The  first  is  the  work  of  those  who  made  translations  of  the  newly 
imported  Greek  literature.  The  fact  that  very  many  of  those  who 
welcomed  the  fresh  materials  for  study  were  unable  to  use  them  in 
their  original  forms  needs  little  explanation.  Petrarch  himself  never 
mastered  Greek.  But,  whichever  of  several  readily  intelligible  causes 
it  was  that  gave  rise  to  the  demand  for  translations,  it  is  certain  that 
they  were  actually  made  in  great  numbers.  There  was,  as  we  have 
noted,  a  considerable  stock  of  them,  of  older  date,  already  in  circulation. 
Works  of  Origen,  Athanasius,  Basil,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  Chrysostom 
were  all  available.  Many  of  these,  and  particularly  those  by  Burgundio 
of  Pisa,  were,  or  were  accounted,  obscure  and  barbarous :  many  other 
works  of  the  same  authors  had  never  been  current  in  Latin  at  all. 
There  was  thus  room  for  a  fresh  translation  of  the  whole  literature. 
We  have  already  encountered  by  the  way  the  names  of  some  of  those 
who  put  their  hands  to  the  work.    Probably  the   most  important 


Amhrogio  Traversari 


601 


labourer  in  this  field  was  Ambrogio  Traversari,  General  of  the  Camal- 
dulite  Order,  who  died  in  1438.  To  him  the  Church  owed  an  improved 
version  of  the  Homilies  of  Chrysostom  on  the  Pauline  Epistles^  of  other 
tracts  by  the  same  Father,  of  the  Greek  Vitae  Patrum^  of  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite,  of  Aeneas  of  Gaza,  and  not  a  few  other  books.  His  joy  in 
his  labour  of  translating,  which  was  the  great  object  of  his  life,  appears 
over  and  over  again  in  the  hundreds  of  letters  we  possess  from  his  pen. 
The  interruptions  in  his  work,  which  his  appointment  to  the  Generalship 
of  his  Order  occasioned,  were  a  constant  grievance.  Bitter  were  his 
regrets  when  he  had  yielded  to  the  persuasions  of  Cosmo  de'  Medici,  and 
undertaken  to  make  a  Latin  version  of  Diogenes  Laertius ;  not  solely 
because  the  task  distracted  his  attention  from  the  holy  Doctors,  but 
because  the  lives  of  the  pagan  philosophers  were  not  a  subject  upon 
which  a  Christian  monk  should  spend  his  time.  Of  all  the  prominent 
translators,  Traversari  is  perhaps  the  one  who  has  most  clearly  before  him 
the  thought  that  it  is  a  worthy  task  to  reopen  to  the  Latins  the  mines  of 
Greek  theology.  We  see  of  course  in  him  the  same  rather  disappointing 
want  of  interest  in  the  writers  of  the  very  earliest  Christian  period  that 
we  have  noticed  in  studying  the  library  catalogues  —  disappointing, 
because  the  conviction  can  hardly  be  resisted  that,  had  the  scholars  of 
the  fifteenth  century  made  special  and  definite  enquiries,  they  would 
have  been  in  time  to  recover  writings  which  have  since  perished. 

It  is  impracticable  to  discuss  at  any  length  the  productions  of  tha 
multitude  of  translators  contemporary  with  or  subsequent  to  Traversari. 
We  may  mention  but  one  of  the  most  notable  among  them.  Next  to 
the  Stromateis  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  no  patristic  treatise  is  more 
remarkable  for  the  number  and  value  of  the  ancient  authorities  whom 
it  quotes  than  the  Praeparatio  Evangelica  of  Eusebius.  It  therefore 
naturally  attracted  the  attention  of  the  lover  of  pagan  antiquity  as 
well  as  of  the  smaller  band  who  desired  to  learn  more  of  the  origins  of 
Christianity  ;  and  to  the  men  of  the  Middle  Ages  it  had  been  absolutely 
unknown.  The  Latin  version  of  it,  by  George  of  Trebizond,  was  on& 
of  the  most  important  additions  to  learning  which  that  age  could  have 
seen.  It  opened  up  a  whole  realm  of  forgotten  history.  From  it  men 
first  learned  the  names  of  such  writers  as  Sanchoniathon,  Manetho, 
and  Berosus ;  indeed,  the  publication  of  the  book  may  very  probably 
have  paved  the  way  for  the  once  famous  forgeries  of  Annius  of  Viterbo. 
Translations  of  some  part  of  Philo's  works,  and  of  the  venerable 
Hellenistic  forgery  known  as  the  Letter  of  Aristeas,  were  also  produced 
before  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Much,  then,  had  been  done  towards  re-opening  the  ancient  store- 
houses before  the  date  at  which  it  was  long  fashionable  to  say  that 
the  revival  of  Greek  learning  began  —  the  taking  of  Constantinople  in 
1453 ;  much,  too,  before  the  printing  press  had  been  set  up.  Great 
libraries  had  been  formed,  and  translators  had  been  at  work,  and  to  suck 


602  The  beginnings  of  criticism 


good  purpose  that  a  very  representative  collection  of  Greek  theology  was 
readily  accessible  to  any  studious  Western. 

The  next  development  that  we  look  for  is  the  rise  of  the  critical 
instinct.  The  fifteenth  century  produced  one  critic  who  died  before  its 
close,  Lorenzo  Valla.  He,  though  uninspired  by  any  interest  in  the 
Christian  religion,  did  a  considerable  service  to  the  cause  of  truth  by 
pointing  out  the  falsity  of  certain  documents  which  had  long  taken  high 
rank  among  the  archives  of  the  Church. 

One  of  these  was  the  "  Donation  of  Constantine,"  a  forgery  easy  to 
detect  when  attention  was  once  drawn  to  it,  but  yet  a  monument  whose 
apparent  importance  was  so  great  that  the  fate  of  Uzzah  might  have 
seemed  likely  to  await  the  man  who  first  laid  hands  upon  it.  The  other 
was  the  group  of  works  which  passed  under  the  name  of  Dionysius  the 
Areopagite.  We  have  seen  something  of  the  popularity  of  these  books, 
as  attested  by  the  multiplicity  of  versions  in  which  they  were  current ; 
and  indeed  so  important  are  they  in  themselves  as  a  meeting-ground  of 
Christian  theology  and  Greek  philosophy  that  they  may  be  considered 
not  unworthy  of  the  pains  lavished  upon  them  by  Erigena,  Saracenus, 
Grosseteste,  and  Traversari.  The  last  word  has  not  yet  been  said  as  to 
their  origin  and  history ;  but  it  is  clear  enough  that  the  first  word  was 
spoken  by  Lorenzo  Valla.  No  one  before  him  had  questioned  the  claim 
of  these  writings  to  be  regarded  as  works  of  the  Apostolic  age.  Hardly 
any  one  since  his  time  has  had  a  word  to  say  in  defence  of  that  claim. 
The  story  of  Grocyn's  relation  to  them,  of  the  high  value  he  set  upon 
them  at  first,  and  of  his  later  conviction  that  Valla's  estimate  of  them 
was  the  true  one,  — a  conviction  which,  with  characteristic  honesty,  he 
hastened  to  make  public,  —  forms  as  good  an  illustration  as  any  that 
could  be  found  of  the  spirit  that  was  abroad.  New  estimates  of  the 
old  documents  were  being  formed,  as  a  direct  result  of  the  accession  of 
new  materials  for  study. 

One  question  of  the  highest  importance  to  our  subject  has  been  left  out 
of  consideration  in  the  preceding  remarks.  What  was  the  condition  of 
things  as  regards  the  text  of  the  Scriptures,  the  fountain-head  of  Christian 
science  ?  Since  1455  the  Church  had  had  in  its  hands  a  printed  Bible 
in  Latin ;  and  more  than  one  vernacular  version  had  seen  the  light. 
The  Old  Testament  also  had  been  printed  in  Hebrew  by  Italian  Jews. 
But  what  was  the  quality  of  these  texts  ?  Had  Roger  Bacon's  aspirations 
for  a  Latin  Bible  corrected  according  to  the  oldest  copies,  and  for  the 
multiplication  and  distribution  among  the  clergy  of  the  Scriptures  in  the 
original  tongues,  been  satisfied  ?  The  question  must  be  answ^ered  in  the 
negative.  Of  the  many  printed  Vulgates  none  offered  a  text  constructed 
on  critical  principles;  and  it  is  probable  that  of  the  earliest  Hebrew 
Bibles,  such  as  that  of  Soncino,  few  copies  made  their  way  into  Christian 
hands.  The  first  important  attempt  to  present  the  world  with  a  complete 
Bible  in  the  original  was  made  in  Spain :  —  a  country  which  in  after 


The  first  Greek  Testament 


603 


years  contributed  less  than  most  to  the  cause  of  Christian  science.  The 
Complutensian  Polyglot  gave  us  the  first  printed  Septuagint,  and  the 
first  printed,  though  not  the  first  published,  New  Testament  in  Greek. 
For  the  formation  of  the  text  of  the  Septuagint  and  of  the  Latin  Vulgate, 
great  pains  were  taken  to  collect  early  manuscript  authorities.  Two 
Septuagint  manuscripts  were  borrowed  from  Rome.  The  Vatican  Bible 
of  the  fourth  century  was  not  among  them,  probably  because  its  age  and 
importance  were  not  known  to  Ximenes  and  his  colleagues.  For  the 
Latin  text  Spain  itself  possessed  authorities  as  early  as  could  readily  be 
found  elsewhere.  The  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament  was  formed 
from  less  good  sources :  and  not  one  of  the  manuscripts  used  can  now 
be  identified  with  certainty.  No  praise  is  too  high  for  the  design  of 
Ximenes ;  and,  as  regards  the  execution,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  best 
scholarship  of  all  Europe,  had  it  been  mustered  at  Alcaic  for  the  work, 
could  have  produced  a  much  better  result.  The  science  of  textual  criti- 
cism was  scarcely  born.  At  this  time,  and  for  years  afterwards,  scholars 
such  as  Erasmus  had  no  hesitation  as  to  printing  a  text  from  a  single 
manuscript,  and  from  sending  that  manuscript  as  "  copy  "  to  the  press. 

Though  printed  in  1514,  the  Complutensian  New  Testament  was 
not  published  for  some  years.  It  seems  indeed  that  copies  of  the  whole 
work  were  not  procurable  earlier  than  1522.  The  story  of  the  preparation 
of  the  Greek  New  Testament  which  was  actually  the  first  in  circulation 
is  well  known.  Neither  in  its  object,  the  anticipation  of  the  Complu- 
tensian text,  nor  in  the  manner  of  its  preparation,  does  it  seem  to  us 
deserving  of  praise.  Hurried  through  the  press  of  Froben  between 
September  and  March,  it  was  formed  on  the  authority  of  six  manuscripts 
at  most,  the  best  of  which  Erasmus  neglected  almost  entirely  to  consult. 
We  have  already  traced  the  history  of  some  of  these  manuscripts  and 
have  seen  them  in  the  hands  of  Johann  Reuchlin.  Four  of  them  are  still 
at  Basel ;  a  fifth,  now  in  the  Oettingen-Wallerstein  Library  at  Mayhingen, 
was  the  one  authority  available  for  the  Apocalypse.  The  last  six  verses 
of  the  last  chapter  are  missing ;  and  Erasmus  was  reduced  to  translating 
them  into  rather  surprising  Greek  from  the  Latin  Vulgate.  The  sixth 
authority  was  not  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament,  but  of  Theophylact*s 
commentary  on  the  Gospels,  apparently  still  at  Basel.  It  is  this 
Theophylact,  Archbishop  of  Bulgaria,  who  is  designated  in  Erasmus' 
preface  by  the  mysterious  name  Vulgarius. 

Faulty  as  was  the  Erasmian  edition,  it  was  a  truly  epoch-making 
book.  It  was  the  ancestor  of  the  textus  reeeptus,  and  the  channel  by 
which  the  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament  was  most  widely  diffused. 
This  was  natural  not  only  because  Erasmus  was  first  in  the  field,  but 
because  his  text,  in  its  many  editions,  was  far  cheaper  and  more  con- 
venient than  the  huge  Polyglot,  of  which  but  six  hundred  copies  in  all 
were  printed. 

To  trace  the  history  of  the  printed  Greek  Testament  through  the 


604  The  Bible  in  Syriac  and  in  Greek 


various  editions  of  Erasmus,  of  Aldus,  of  Simon  de  Colines,  and  of  the 
Estiennes  is  beyond  the  scope  of  this  chapter.  We  must  be  content 
with  noticing  that  in  Robert  Estienne's  third  edition,  that  of  1650, 
known  as  Editio  Regia^  a  considerable  advance  in  textual  criticism  is 
perceptible.  Estienne  employed  not  less  than  fifteen  manuscripts  for  the 
correction  of  his  text.  Most  of  these  have  been  identified :  eleven  are 
at  Paris,  and  two  at  Cambridge. 

Since  the  original  text  of  the  New  Testament  had  been  allowed  to 
remain  so  long  unprinted,  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  older 
oriental  versions  should  be  very  quick  in  making  their  appearance.  In- 
deed it  was  not  until  just  after  the  middle  of  the  century  that  one  of  the 
most  important  —  the  Syriac  —  first  saw  the  light.  In  1555  the  Austrian 
Chancellor  of  Ferdinand  I,  Johann  Albrecht  Widmanstetter,  enabled 
a  native  Syrian  priest,  Moses  of  Mardin,  to  publish  an  edition  of  the 
Peshitta  Version  of  the  New  Testament  at  Vienna.  Widmanstetter  had 
himself  been  interested  in  Syriac  before  this:  a  rather  famous  Syriaa 
monk,  Theseus  Ambrosius,  had  been  his  teacher.  It  is  commonly  said 
that  the  eccentric  and  possibly  insane  Guillaume  Postel  had  a  hand  in 
the  production  of  this  first  Syriac  New  Testament,  of  which  three  hun- 
dred copies  were  sent  to  the  Maronite  patriarch  and  him  of  Antioch. 

It  is  our  task  to  deal  chiefly  with  beginnings :  but  it  is  impossible 
to  pass  entirely  unnoticed  the  Roman  edition  of  the  Septuagint  Version 
which  appeared  in  1587.  Its  text  was  based  mainly  on  the  great  Vatican 
manuscript,  and  the  committee  of  scholars  who  superintended  its  pro- 
duction included  the  Cardinals  Sirleto  and  Caraffa,  as  well  as  Latino 
Latini,  and  Pierre  Morin.  This  was  not  an  editio  princeps^  but  to 
Biblical  scholars  it  was  of  enormous  importance.  The  version  had  been 
already  twice  printed,  first  in  the  Complutensian  Polyglot,  and  next  by 
Aldus  in  1518 ;  but  in  the  Roman  edition  a  manuscript  of  first-class 
value  was  for  the  first  time  utilised.  Until  the  nineteenth  century,  in- 
deed, the  text  of  the  Vatican  manuscript  was  only  known  by  means  of 
this  book.  The  attempts  of  Sixtus  V  and  Clement  VIII  to  supply  the 
Church  with  an  authoritative  text  of  the  Latin  Vulgate,  were,  as  we 
know,  not  brought  to  a  satisfactory  issue ;  but  the  fact  that  the  attempt 
was  made  deserves  at  least  a  passing  notice. 

With  the  translators  and  expounders  of  the  Bible  it  is  simply 
impossible  to  deal.  With  regard  to  the  first,  it  can  only  be  said  broadly 
that  the  sixteenth  century  saw  innumerable  new  versions  of  the  Scriptures; 
many  were  in  Latin  (e.g.  that  of  Sanctius  Pagninus)  and  attempted 
either  fidelity  or  elegance  of  style,  or  both.  Others  were  in  the  vernac- 
ular of  this  or  that  country,  and  these  were  naturally  in  most  cases  the 
offspring  of  the  reforming  movement.  The  high  standard  of  knawledge 
which  was  attainable  can  be  most  readily  indicated  to  Englishmen  by 
reference  to  the  "  Authorized  Version  "  of  1611.  The  scholars  whose 
work  we  see  in  this  were  essentially  men  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


Pico  della  Mirandola  and  Reuclilin  605 


As  to  the  commentators,  it  is  even  more  hopeless  to  attempt  to  enter 
into  detail.  Lefevre  d'Etaples,  Colet,  Sadoleto,  Erasmus,  were  all  of 
them  men  who  advanced  the  cause  of  sacred  learning  by  trying  to 
ascertain  the  actual  meaning  of  the  words  of  Scripture,  instead  of 
presenting  their  readers  with  a  rechauffe  of  the  Grlossa  Ordinaria  or 
fashioning  every  sentence  into  a  weapon  of  controversy.  But  besides 
these  there  were  innumerable  writers  who  contributed  to  the  elucidation 
of  both  Testaments.  They  were  confined  to  no  one  sect  or  country ; 
but  their  names  must  not  be  sought  here. 

Something  must  now  be  said  of  the  growth  of  Hebrew  studies  among 
Christian  scholars.  The  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and  fifteenth  centuries 
had  produced  a  number  of  men  who  for  the  purpose  either  of  Biblical 
study  or  of  controversy  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  ;  and  from 
time  to  time  the  Church  had  attempted  to  encourage  and  foster  such 
students.  The  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  saw  a  new  development  in 
this  as  in  other  branches  of  sacred  learning.  The  brilliant  young  noble 
and  scholar,  Pico  della  Mirandola,  may  not  unfairly  be  singled  out  as 
the  beginner  of  the  movement.  His  training  in  classical  philosophy, 
coupled  with  his  deep  interest  in  theological  study,  made  him  eagerly 
seek  and  warmly  welcome  a  system  of  learning  which  professed  to  be  the 
fountain-head  of  both  subjects.  This  system  was  the  Jewish  Cabbala. 
Ostensibly  as  old  as  the  patriarch  Abraham,  its  principal  documents  are 
now  known  to  be  productions  of  the  thirteenth  century  ;  and  intrinsically 
they  are  wholly  unworthy  of  the  reverence  which  has  been  paid  to  them 
by  many  great  minds.  The  influence  they  exercised  may  be  compared 
with  that  of  the  pseudo-Dionysian  writings,  though  it  was  less  widely 
felt,  and  less  enduring.  Pico  saw  no  reason  to  doubt  the  claim  of  the 
Cabbalistic  books  to  a  reverend  antiquity ;  and  he  did  his  best  to 
impart  to  the  world  the  treasure  he  thought  he  had  found.  His  work 
is  mainly  important  because  of  the  effect  it  had  upon  Johann  Reuchlin. 

We  have  had  occasion  already  to  mention  Reuchlin  as  a  student  of 
Greek ;  but  in  popularising  the  study  of  that  language  and  literature  he 
did  little  as  compared  with  Erasmus  and  many  others.  In  Hebrew, 
however,  he  was  the  teacher  of  the  modern  world.  By  personal  instruction 
and  by  the  compiling  of  grammars,  reading-books,  and  a  rudimentary 
lexicon,  he  became  unconsciously  the  first  who  carried  into  efi'ect  the 
aspirations  of  Roger  Bacon.  And  it  is  unquestionable  that  he  owed  the 
interest  he  felt  in  the  sacred  tongue  in  a  large  measure  to  the  work  of 
Pico  della  Mirandola.  By  this  he  was  attracted  to  the  study  of  the 
Cabbala ;  and  in  praise  of  the  Cabbala  his  most  voluminous  works  were 
written.  Nor  can  his  famous  defence  of  the  Rabbinic  books  be  wholly 
dissociated  from  the  consequences  of  Pico's  influence,  though  in  this 
respect  the  debt  he  owed  to  his  Jewish  instructors  must  evidently  be 
taken  into  account. 

Reuchlin,  it  should  be  further  noted,  was  well-nigh  the  first  German 


606 


Erasmus 


Hebraist.  Though  in  England,  France,  and  Italy  it  has  been  easy  to 
name  scholars  throughout  the  medieval  period  who  had  more  or  less 
knowledge  of  the  language,  such  has  not  been  the  case  as  regards 
Germany.  Yet  this  slowness  to  receive  the  New  Learning  was  more  than 
compensated  by  the  ardour  and  thoroughness  with  which  it  was  utilised 
when  once  its  value  had  been  recognised. 

If  the  beginnings  of  a  revival  in  Christian  learning  can  be  traced 
to  Bacon  and  Grosseteste  in  the  thirteenth  century,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  central  figure  of  the  whole  movement  is  Erasmus.  This 
is  a  commonplace :  and  when  it  has  been  set  down,  the  difficulty  of 
deciding  how  much  detail  should  be  added  to  the  bare  statement  is 
very  great.  His  personality  cannot  be  adequately  set  forth  within  the 
limits  of  a  single  chapter.  His  career  has  been  shortly  traced  elsewhere 
in  this  volume.  The  most  that  can  be  done  here  is  to  summarise  the 
work  done  by  him  in  re-opening  the  long-closed  pages  of  the  Church's 
early  literature. 

We  have  spoken  already  of  what  is  usually  accounted  his  greatest 
service  in  that  department,  the  publication  of  the  Greek  text  of  the 
New  Testament.  But  we  have  seen  that  his  best  work  was  not  put 
into  this.  It  was  a  hurried  production ;  and  the  task  of  forming  a 
really  good  Greek  text  of  a  set  of  documents,  with  so  long  and  complex 
a  history  as  the  books  which  compose  the  New  Testament,  was  a  task 
beyond  the  powers  of  any  individual.  Many  generations  of  textual 
critics  were  destined  to  collect  materials  and  to  elaborate  theories  before 
the  principles  on  which  the  work  must  be  done  were  formulated ;  and 
even  in  our  own  day  perfection  has  not  been  attained. 

Erasmus  was  far  more  at  home,  and  far  more  successful,  in  dealing 
with  patristic  texts.  His  hero  among  Christian  scholars  was  St  Jerome. 
Before  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  we  find  him  giving  expression 
to  his  desire  that  he  might  be  enabled  to  improve  the  text  of  this 
Father's  works,  and,  in  particular,  that  of  his  Epistles.  In  these,  as 
is  well  known,  there  is  a  multitude  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  quotations. 
Any  one  who  has  looked  at,  say,  a  twelfth  century  manuscript  of  the 
Letters  will  remember  what  a  scene  of  confusion  is  certain  to  take 
place  when  the  scribe  is  confronted  with  one  of  these  passages.  The 
best  that  one  can  hope  for  is  an  unintelligent  imitation  of  the  Greek 
uncial  characters,  upon  which  conjecture  more  or  less  scientific  may 
be  founded.  Too  often  the  copyist's  courage  deserts  him,  and  a  blank 
is  left.  The  earlier  editions  of  J erome  were  no  better  than  the  manu- 
scripts. Erasmus  is  never  tired  of  saying  that  before  his  time  Jerome 
could  not  be  read.  Johann  Amerbach  the  printer  had  set  on  foot  the 
enterprise  of  a  new  issue  of  Jerome's  writings,  and  had  engaged  the 
services  of  Reuchlin  and  others  to  emend  the  text.  Reuchlin's  work  — 
which  had  to  do  more  especially  with  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  quotations 
just  mentioned  —  was,  it  seems,  done  more  by  conjecture  than  upon 


His  work  on  the  Fathers 


607 


the  authority  of  manuscripts.  More  successful  was  Johann  Cono,  a 
Dominican,  of  Niirnberg,  who  made  use  of  such  ancient  copies  as  he 
could  find.  At  Amerbach's  death  the  edition  was  incomplete.  It  was 
continued  by  his  two  sons  in  conjunction  with  Johann  Froben;  and 
at  this  point  Erasmus'  services  were  called  in.  In  1516  the  work 
was  published,  and  dedicated  by  Erasmus  to  Warham,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  The  prefaces  to  this  and  to  the  other  editions  of  patristic 
texts  which  Erasmus  superintended  contain  perhaps  the  most  instructive 
expressions  of  his  attitude  as  a  Christian  scholar  which  can  readily  be 
found.  Irenaeus,  Origen,  Athanasius,  Basil,  Chrysostom  among  the 
Greeks,  Cyprian,  Hilary,  Augustine,  and  Arnobius  On  the  Psalms^  among 
the  Latins,  all  benefited  by  his  critical  care!  He  is  the  first,  perhaps,  who 
had  a  glimpse  of  the  true  greatness  of  Origen.  One  page  of  Origen,  he 
says,  is  preferable  to  ten  of  Augustine :  and  yet  such  all-important  books 
as  the  Commentary  upon  John  and  the  tract  On  Prayer  were  unknown 
to  him.  Nothing  is  more  conspicuous  in  him  than  the  acuteness  of 
his  critical  sense.  In  his  preface  to  Hilary  he  dwells  at  some  length 
upon  the  corruptions  and  interpolations  of  his  manuscript  authorities. 
His  conjectural  emendations  are  most  noteworthy:  one,  the  substi- 
tution of  auxesin  faciens  for  aures  infaciens  in  the  pseudo- Arnobius, 
is  worthy  of  a  Bentley.  His  sense  of  style  is  wonderfully  keen :  over 
and  over  again  he  detects  and  rejects  tracts  wrongly  fathered  on  one 
or  other  of  his  authors.  Not  that  he  is  free  from  error  in  these 
matters.  He  is  not  sure  whether  Irenaeus  wrote  in  Greek  or  Latin: 
he  identifies  Arnobius,  the  author  of  a  Commentary  on  the  Psalms^  with 
Arnobius  the  Apologist;  and  he  is  inclined  to  repudiate  Chrysostom's 
Homilies  on  the  Aets^  a  genuine,  though  poor  work  of  that  Father's. 
En  revanche^  he  rightly  pronounces  the  Opus  imperfectum  in  Matthaeum 
to  be  the  production  of  an  Arian ;  yet  this  work,  by  the  irony  of  fate, 
had  during  the  Middle  Ages  been  far  more  widely  disseminated  under 
Chrysostom's  name  among  the  Latins  than  anything  that  Chrysostom 
really  wrote. 

In  the  preface  to  Hilary  is  a  passage  which  sums  up  the  position 
of  Erasmus  towards  the  ancient  and  the  scholastic  learning  far  better 
than  we  could  do  it  for  ourselves.  "  We  have  no  right  to  despise 
the  discoveries  or  improvements  which  have  originated  in  the  minds 
of  our  contemporaries  ;  yet  it  is  an  unscrupulous  intellect  that  does 
not  pay  to  antiquity  its  due  reverence,  and  an  ungrateful  one  that 
rejects  those  to  whose  industry  the  Christian  world  owes  so  much. 
What  would  sacred  learning  be  without  the  labours  of  Origen, 
Tertullian,  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  Hilary,  and  Augustine?  I  do  not 
hold  that  even  the  works  of  Thomas  (Aquinas)  or  Scotus  should  be  en- 
tirely set  aside.  They  wrote  for  their  age,  and  delivered  to  us  much  that 
they  drew  from  the  writings  of  the  ancients  and  expounded  most  acutely. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  cannot  approve  the  churlishness  of  those  who 


608  Ecclesiastical  history 

set  so  much  store  by  authors  of  this  class,  that  they  think  it  necessary 
to  protest  against  the  providential  revival  of  good  literature  all  over 
the  world.  There  are  many  kinds  of  genius :  each  age  has  its  different 
gifts.  Let  every  man  contribute  what  he  can,  and  let  none  envy  another 
who  does  his  best  to  make  some  useful  addition  to  the  common  stock 
of  knowledge." 

"  To  the  ancients  reverence  is  due,  and  in  particular  to  those  who 
are  commended  by  holiness  of  life  as  well  as  by  learning  and  elo- 
quence ;  yet  they  are  to  be  read  with  discretion.  The  moderns  have 
a  right  to  fair  play.  Read  them  without  prejudice,  but  not  without 
discrimination.  In  any  case  let  us  avoid  heated  contention,  the  bane 
of  peace  and  concord." 

Such  was  the  spirit  in  which  Erasmus  strove  to  work:  and  some 
words  of  his  good  friend  and  fellow-worker,  Beatus  Rhenanus,  tell  us 
something  of  the  effect  of  his  work  on  his  own  age.  "  He  was  suffi- 
ciently outspoken  on  the  subject  of  sacred  learning :  for,  to  use  his 
own  words  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  he  saw  that  more  than  enough  was 
made  of  scholastic  theology,  and  that  the  ancient  learning  was  quite 
set  at  nought.  Theologians  were  so  much  occupied  with  the  subtle- 
ties of  Scotus  that  the  fountain-head  of  Divine  wisdom  was  never 
reached  by  them.  .  .  .  We  begin,  God  be  thanked,  to  see  the  fruit  of 
these  warnings.  Instead  of  Hales  and  Holcot,  the  pages  of  Cyprian, 
Augustine,  Ambrose,  and  Jerome  are  studied  by  our  divines  in  their 
due  season." 

Only  the  briefest  allusion  has  so  far  been  made  to  the  develop- 
ment of  one  great  department  of  Christian  learning  —  ecclesiastical 
history.  The  men  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  had  in 
their  hands  not  a  few  of  the  authorities  which  we  account  as  of 
capital  importance.  They  had  the  History  of  Eusebius  in  a  Latin 
version  :  they  had  the  Tripartite  History^  embodying  Socrates,  Sozomen, 
and  Evagrius :  they  had  Baeda,  Gregory  of  Tours,  and  the  Speculum 
Historiale  of  Vincent ;  and  they  had  innumerable  biographies  of  Saints. 
In  spite  of  this,  it  will  not  be  contended  that  a  true  and  discriminating 
view  of  Church  history,  based  on  the  best  sources,  was  a  possession  of 
the  Middle  Ages.  It  is  clear  that  highly  incorrect  views  were  current 
as  to  the  development  of  doctrine,  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  litur- 
gical usage.  This  could  not  fail  to  be  the  case  when  such  documents 
as  the  False  Decretals  and  the  Donation  of  Constantine  passed  as 
genuine.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  when  their  spuriousness  became 
an  accepted  fact,  a  reaction  was  inevitable.  We  have  seen  that  the 
first  attacks  on  them  did  not  come  from  men  who  had  broken  with 
the  Roman  Church.  It  was  Lorenzo  Valla  who  exposed  the  Donation 
of  Constantine;  and  Roman  Catholics  did  not  scruple  to  impugn  the 
Decretals.    Cusanus  rejects  the  Epistles  of  Clement  and  Anacletus: 


The  Centuriators  and  Baronius 


609 


Erasmus  points  out  (in  a  Preface  to  Athanasius)  the  way  in  which 
a  letter  of  Anteros  was  made  up.  Naturally,  however,  the  attitude  of 
the  "  Evangelical "  critics  towards  the  credentials  of  the  Latin  Church 
was  a  far  more  radical  one.  Everything,  in  their  eyes,  was  corrupt. 
A  return  to  primitive  simplicity  was  essential :  and  the  width  of  the 
chasm  which  separated  the  Roman  usages  of  their  day  from  those 
of  the  Apostolic  age  could  easily  be  demonstrated  by  a  categorical 
setting  forth  of  the  history  and  development  of  those  usages  from 
the  beginning.  With  such  an  object  the  great  compilation  of  the 
"  Magdeburg  Centuriators  "  was  begun ;  and  it  has  some  claim  to  be 
looked  upon  as  the  first  Church  History  compiled  on  critical  principles. 
It  was  of  course  a  Tendenzschrift ;  nothing  else  was  possible ;  never- 
theless, it  brought  together  and  laid  before  the  world  for  the  first  time 
an  enormous  amount  of  information  either  dispersed  or  unknown  before. 
A  committee,  whose  composition  varied  from  time  to  time,  was  respon- 
sible for  the  work.  The  period  dealt  with  was  divided  into  centuries, 
and  the  events,  literature,  doctrine,  and  other  characteristics  of  each 
century  were  separately  treated  according  to  a  regular  plan.  The 
twelfth  century  was  the  last  that  was  reached.  The  moving  spirit  of 
the  committee  was  Matthias  Flacius  Illyricus,  who  had  already  made 
himself  a  name  as  a  controversialist  on  the  Protestant  side.  His  Olavis 
Sacrae  Scripturae  sums  up  the  exegetical  knowledge  of  his  day.  His 
book  on  the  testimony  of  earlier  ages  against  the  papacy  (Catalogus 
Testium  Yeritatis)  gives  proof  of  an  enormous  range  of  reading;  and 
among  our  smaller  debts  to  him  may  be  reckoned  the  fact  that  he 
collected  and  printed  as  a  supplement  to  that  work  a  large  mass 
of  medieval  Latin  poetry,  largely  from  a  manuscript  of  English 
origin. 

Whatever  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  Magdeburg  History  may 
have  been,  it  speedily  became  a  famous  and  influential  book ;  so  famous 
and  so  influential,  indeed,  that  those  whose  position  it  attacked  were 
compelled  to  issue  a  counterblast.  A  worthy  champion  was  found  in 
Cesare  Baronio,  Cardinal  of  the  title  of  SS.  Nereus  and  Achilleus.  The 
twelve  volumes  of  his  Annales  Ecclesiastici^  published  between  1588  and 
1607,  cover  the  same  period  as  the  work  of  the  Centuriators.  The 
stores  of  the  Vatican,  of  which  after  1596  he  was  librarian,  furnished 
an  unrivalled  stock  of  material,  and  his  own  previous  studies,  of 
which  some  fruit  had  already  been  seen  in  his  edition  of  the  Roman 
Martyrology,  enabled  him  to  use  this  material  to  advantage.  That 
Baronius,  like  the  Centuriators,  was  a  partisan  needs  hardly  to  be 
said;  his  accuracy  and  critical  instinct,  moreover,  leave  much  to  be 
desired.  Still,  his  erudition  was  enormous,  his  services  to  learning 
great,  and  his  love  of  antiquity  genuine  and  fervent.  An  eloquent 
witness  of  this  love  is  the  appeal  to  posterity  inscribed  in  the  Cardinal's 
own  titular  church,  whose  ancient  arrangements  he  had  himself  restored, 

C.  M.  H.  I.  39 


610    Christian  archaeology,  —  The  Lives  of  the  Saints 


preserving  with  a  reverence  uncommon  in  his  day  all  that  he  could  find 
of  its  original  furniture. 

A  brief  parenthesis  may  be  allowed  at  this  point  on  the  application 
of  the  science  of  archaeology  to  things  Christian.  For  more  than  a 
century  had  the  remains  of  classical  art  and  architecture  been  studied 
and  treasured  before  it  occurred  to  scholars  that  the  Church  possessed 
antiquities  which  merited  consideration.  Probably  the  first  book 
entirely  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  Christian  monuments  was 
that  of  Onofrio  Panvinio  on  the  older  Roman  basilicas,  published  in 
1554.  Rome  was  thus  the  parent  of  Christian  as  of  classical  archae- 
ology. In  1578  the  reopening  of  the  Catacombs  began,  and  the 
discoveries  of  ancient  paintings  and  inscriptions  excited  a  keen  interest, 
though  it  was  not  until  1632  that  the  first  great  work  on  "  Roma 
sotterranea  "  —  that  of  Bosio  —  saw  the  light.  The  study  was  carried  on 
and  developed  during  the  seventeenth  century  chiefly  by  Italians  ;  it  is 
probably  fair  to  say  that  no  work  of  real  importance  in  this  department 
was  done  outside  Italy  before  1700. 

To  return  to  the  wider  field  of  Church  history.  In  this,  the 
Centuriators  and  Baronius  may  be  regarded  as  pioneers.  Theirs  were, 
of  course,  not  the  only  works  of  the  kind  that  appeared,  but  they 
deserve  special  prominence  in  view  of  their  large  design  and  the  extent 
of  the  new  ground  they  broke. 

We  ought  to  glance  briefly  at  the  progress  made  in  two  subdivisions 
of  this  great  subject.  One  is  the  study  of  the  lives  of  the  Saints. 
Most  people  have  some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  popular  medieval 
collections  of  such  Lives.  The  Legenda  Aurea  of  Jacobus  de  Voragine 
was,  of  all,  the  most  widely  diffused  both  in  manuscript  and  print,  and 
it  was  one  which  made  no  pretensions  either  to  completeness  or  critical 
selection.  The  later  collections,  that  of  Mombritius,  for  example,  or 
the  Oatalogus  Sanctorum,  were  of  the  same  character,  though  of  larger 
compass.  Criticism  of  these  ancient  documents  other  than  stricture 
could  not  well  be  expected  from  the  Protestant  side ;  save  perhaps  in 
the  case  of  the  Acts  of  some  of  the  earliest  martyrs.  The  first  man 
who  attempted  seriously  the  task  of  collecting  the  best  accessible  texts 
of  the  Lives  of  the  Saints  was  probably  Aloysius  Lippomannus,  who 
was  assisted  by  such  scholars  as  Gentianus  Hervetus  and  Cardinal 
Sirleto.  His  copious  employment  of  Greek  authorities  is  a  principal 
mark  of  his  superiority  to  his  predecessors.  His  collection  filled  eight 
volumes,  and  was  a  worthy  beginning  of  the  work  which  in  later  cen- 
turies was  continued  by  Bolland,  Papebroch,  Surius,  Ruinart,  and  a 
host  of  others. 

The  other  department  of  Church  history  of  which  it  was  our  in- 
tention to  speak  was  the  bibliography  of  Christian  literature.  Jerome 
had  set  the  fashion  of  compiling  notices  of  Christian  writers  and  their 
works.    Gennadius  had  supplemented  his  book,  and  the  tracts  of  both 


Christian  bibliography 


611 


had  been  widely  read.  The  Middle  Ages  had,  as  we  have  seen,  done 
something  towards  continuing  the  tradition  in  such  works  as  the 
Catalogus  Scriptorum  of  John  Boston.  It  was  natural  that  it  should 
occur  to  the  men  of  the  Renaissance  period  to  take  stock  of  the  mass 
of  writings  newly  brought  to  light ;  and  very  useful  work  was  done  by 
several  in  classifying  and  cataloguing  the  writers  of  all  ages  up  to  their 
own.  Johann  Trithemius  (Trittenheim),  Abbot  of  Sponheim,  wrote  a 
catalogue  of  Church  writers  about  1492.  In  1545  Conrad  Gesner  printed 
his  Bibliotheca,  a  far  larger  book,  not  confined  to  ecclesiastical  authors. 
The  Bihliotheca  Sancta  of  Sixtus  of  Siena  (1586)  is  rather  an  ency- 
clopaedia of  literature  connected  with  the  Bible.  All  three  books  are 
interesting  and  remarkable  achievements.  That  of  Trithemius  is  a 
guide — not  always  a  safe  one  —  to  the  literary  possessions  of  dying 
medievalism.  He  knows  less  accurately  than  Gesner  what  books  actually 
exist  and  are  accessible ;  but  he  is  invaluable  as  marking  a  stage  in  the 
period  of  rediscovery  and  revival.  It  is  most  interesting  to  compare 
his  list  of  authors  with  that  derivable  from  the  more  scientific  Gesner. 
Sixtus  of  Siena's  book,  lastly,  is  still  valuable,  not  only  because  it 
presents  us  with  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  standard  of  Biblical 
and  patristic  knowledge  at  a  certain  period,  but  because  the  author 
apparently  had  access  to  documents  of  early  date  which  have  since 
disappeared. 

The  greatest  man  who  continued  the  work  of  Trithemius  during 
the  sixteenth  century  was  no  doubt  Cardinal  Bellarmin.  His  book 
on  ecclesiastical  writers,  produced  during  his  early  years,  gives  evidence 
of  his  great  power,  and  in  particular  of  his  critical  ability ;  but  though 
it  may  be  intrinsically  better  than  the  works  of  Trithemius  or  Gesner, 
it  does  not  occupy  so  important  a  place  in  the  history  of  this  special 
form  of  literature.  Of  more  enduring  value  were  the  bibliographies 
devoted  to  particular  countries,  notably  that  of  Bale,  in  which  are 
embodied  his  own  collections  and  those  of  Leland.  It  gives  a  really 
amazing  conspectus  of  the  literary  history  of  medieval  England. 

The  progress  of  the  formation  of  libraries,  which  we  traced  roughly 
during  the  period  preceding  the  invention  of  printing  demands  our 
attention  again  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  There  is 
no  need  to  dwell  at  length  upon  the  obvious  fact,  that  the  possession 
of  a  library  of  reasonable  extent  was  now  within  the  power  of  nearly 
all  students.  In  the  fourteenth  century  a  man  might  be  proud  of  own- 
ing thirty  manuscripts ;  he  could  now  for  the  same  money  purchase 
one  or  two  hundred  printed  books. 

Most  prominent  scholars  possessed  in  addition  a  certain  number  of 
manuscripts ;  but  these  were  in  most  cases  late  in  date,  and,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  critical  sense  was  developed,  the  productions  of  the 
fifteenth  century  scribes  lost  their  value  as  compared  with  the  correct 
and  beautiful  texts  issued  by  Aldo  or  Froben,  and  supervised  by 


612 


Libraries  of  the  sixteenth  century 


Erasmus  or  Beatus  Rhenanus.  Still,  a  long  time  must  needs  elapse 
before  complete  editions  of  the  greater  Greek  Fathers  —  Chrysostom, 
say,  or  Basil  —  could  be  produced;  and  for  the  purposes  of  studying 
these  unprinted  texts,  manuscripts  were  still  indispensable  :  nay,  they 
continued  to  be  multiplied.  This  was  especially  the  case  with  Greek 
texts.  Numberless  are  the  sixteenth  century  manuscripts  of  Greek 
authors,  pagan  and  Christian  alike.  The  relics  of  Grocyn's  library  at 
Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford,  afford  a  ready  instance,  or  the  books 
given  by  Cardinal  Pole  to  New  College.  A  glance  at  the  Catalogue 
of  the  Greek  manuscripts  at  Paris  is  yet  more  instructive  in  this  respect. 
Vergecius,  Darmarius,  Valeriano  of  Forli,  and  a  score  of  others  were 
gaining  great  names  as  copyists  in  the  service  of  princes,  secular  and 
ecclesiastical.  Every  noble  and  every  prelate  was  in  honour  bound  to 
be  the  owner  of  as  brilliant  a  collection  as  he  could.  In  these  libraries 
the  Greek  classics  were  doubtless  more  prominent  and  more  valued 
than  the  Greek  Fathers ;  yet  these  latter  held  their  place  also,  especially 
on  the  shelves  of  the  princes  of  the  Church.  In  England,  for  example, 
Warham,  Pole,  and  Cranmer  had  no  inconsiderable  stores  of  such 
books ;  and  there  is  no  lack  of  similar  instances  on  the  Continent. 
Representative  examples  of  the  libraries  of  individual  scholars  of 
humbler  position  can  also  be  cited.  We  have  the  catalogue  of  the 
books  possessed  by  Grocyn  at  his  death;  and  the  library  of  Beatus 
Rhenanus  forms  the  nucleus  of  the  town  library  of  Schlettstadt, 

We  have  spoken  incidentally  of  the  work  done  by  such  men  as 
Erasmus  in  the  publication  of  patristic  texts.  Before  we  close  this 
imperfect  survey  of  the  movement  which  we  have  called  the  Christian 
Renaissance,  it  will  be  right  to  ask  what  progress  was  made  during 
the  sixteenth  century  in  the  task  of  bringing  together  the  literature 
of  the  early  Christian  centuries  and  making  it  accessible  in  print. 
It  appears  to  us  that  the  most  effective  way  of  answering  this  ques- 
tion will  be  to  review  the  actual  work  done  in  certain  selected  instances ; 
and  we  shall  not  shrink  from  entering  upon  bibliographical  detail  to 
a  somewhat  larger  extent  than  we  have  hitherto  done.  Our  survey 
will  naturally  not  be  complete  ;  its  aim  will  be  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
activity  of  those  engaged,  and  to  show  in  what  quarters  this  activity 
was  specially  noticeable.  It  will  be  convenient  to  adopt  an  order  mainly 
depending  on  the  dates,  supposed  or  real,  of  the  writings  concerned. 
A  place  apart  may  be  assigned  to  the  two  great  Jewish  writers  of  the 
first  century,  whose  works  have  had  so  potent  an  influence  on  Christian 
learning,  to  wit,  Philo  and  Josephus. 

A  tract  by  Philo  in  a  Latin  version  was  first  printed  at  Paris 
in  1520  by  Agostino  Giustiniani.  A  further  instalment,  likewise  in 
Latin,  appeared  at  Basel  in  1527.  One  of  the  Philonian  writings  in 
this  volume  —  a  fabulous  chronicle  of  Biblical  events  from  Adam  to 
Saul  —  is  a  spurious  book.    In  spite  of  its  remarkably  sensational  con- 


Philo  ;  Josephus ;  Apocryphal  literature  613 


tents,  and  of  the  fact  that  it  was  reprinted  at  least  thrice  during  the 
century,  this  early  apocryphon  suffered  the  singular  fate  of  being 
absolutely  forgotten  until  a  year  or  two  ago,  when  attention  was 
called  to  it  once  more. 

Not  until  1552  did  any  of  Philo's  works  appear  in  Greek.  It 
was  Adrien  Turnebe  who  produced  the  first  collection.  John 
Christopherson,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chichester,  Sigismund  Gelenius, 
Frederic  Morel,  and  David  Hoeschel  were  the  scholars  who  contri- 
buted most  to  the  publication  and  elucidation  of  this  author  during 
the  second  half  of  the  century ;  but  no  great  collective  edition  of  his 
works  was  brought  out  before  the  seventeenth  century. 

Josephus,  as  we  have  seen,  was  known  during  the  medieval  period 
through  the  medium  of  ancient  Latin  versions.  As  late  as  the  year 
1524,  indeed,  doubts  were  expressed  by  scholars  as  to  whether  the 
Greek  originals  of  his  writings  were  still  in  existence.  Many  editions 
in  Latin  were  produced  from  about  1470  until  1544.  One  of  these 
(that  of  Basel,  1537)  had  been  superintended  by  Erasmus.  In  1544 
the  first  Greek  Josephus  appeared  —  also  at  Basel,  and  from  Froben's 
press.  The  text  was  supplied  mainly  by  a  manuscript,  then  the 
property  of  Diego  Hurtado  Mendoza,  which,  with  other  of  his  books, 
found  a  home  in  the  Escurial.  An  Orleans  edition,  printed  in  1591 
by  de  la  Rovi^re,  also  gave  the  Greek  text.  Exactly  a  century  later 
Thomas  Ittig  superintended  a  Leipzig  edition,  and  Edward  Bernard 
issued  a  portion  of  one  at  Oxford. 

We  may  next  say  something  of  the  apocryphal  literature ;  and  in 
so  doing  we  will  confine  ourselves  to  that  connected  with  the  New 
Testament.  The  Old  Testament  pseudepigrapTia^  other  than  those 
which  were  circulated  with  the  Vulgate  or  the  Septuagint  —  the  Fourth 
Book  of  Esdras,  for  example,  or  the  Prayer  of  Manasses  —  were  almost 
wholly  unknown  during  our  period ;  of  the  one  really  important  ex- 
ception, the  Testaments  of  the  Twelve  Patriarchs,  we  have  already 
spoken.  On  the  other  hand  there  were  spurious  Gospels,  Epistles, 
and  Acts  of  Apostles  which  continued  to  influence  popular  imagina- 
tion and  sacred  art  both  in  East  and  West.  The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus, 
so  called,  the  letters  of  Paul  and  Seneca,  the  correspondence  of  our 
Lord  with  Abgarus  of  Edessa,  had  never  been  forgotten.  Narratives 
of  the  Infancy  of  the  Virgin  and  of  Christ  enjoyed  a  certain  repute ; 
and  the  fabulous  Passions  of  the  Apostles  were  taken  seriously  by  the 
mass  of  readers. 

The  first  document  of  this  class  which  had  been  previously  unknown 
to  the  West  was  the  important  so-called  Protevangelium.  This  had 
been  brought  from  the  East  by  Guillaume  Postel,  who  insisted  that  it 
was  a  genuine  work  of  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,  and  contained 
authentic  history;  for  these  assertions  he  was  soundly  castigated  by 
Henri  Estienne,  who  seems  to  have  suspected,  wrongly,  that  Postel 


614 


The  Apostolic  Fathers 


himself  was  the  author.  The  book  was  printed  in  Latin  in  1552, 
and  in  Greek  in  1563  by  Michael  Neander  in  the  first  collection  ever 
made  of  Christian  Apocrypha.  Grynaeus'  Orthodoxographa^  of  1569, 
and  Glaser's  Apocrypha  of  1614  are  the  only  subsequent  collections 
of  texts  which  deserve  mention  before  1703.  In  that  year  appeared 
the  Codex  Apocryphus  of  John  Albert  Fabricius,  eclipsing  all  previous 
attempts,  and  still  an  indispensable  authority  on  the  subject  of  the 
spurious  Christian  literature. 

The  next  group  of  writings  to  be  considered  are  those  conventionally 
classed  as  the  Apostolic  Fathers;  that  is,  the  epistles  of  Barnabas, 
Clement,  Ignatius,  and  Polycarp,  and  The  Shepherd  of  Hermas.  Occu- 
pying a  place  midway  between  them  and  the  Apocryphal  literature 
are  the  pseudo-Clementine  Recognitions  and  Homilies,  the  Apostolic 
Constitutions,  and  the  Liturgies  current  under  the  names  of  various 
Apostles.    We  will  notice  them  in  order. 

It  was  long  before  the  two  first-named  authors  made  their  appear- 
ance at  all :  Barnabas,  at  Paris  in  1645,  in  a  posthumous  publication 
of  Hugues  Menard  superintended  by  Dachery;  Clement,  in  1633  at 
Oxford,  edited  by  Patrick  Young. 

The  letters  of  Ignatius  —  extant,  as  is  well  known,  in  two  recen- 
sions, one  copiously  interpolated  —  were  known  in  Latin  versions  in 
medieval  times :  and  the  Letter  of  Polycarp  was  preserved  with  them. 
The  longer  Latin  version  was  first  printed  at  Paris  in  1498  along 
with  the  pseudo-Dionysian  works.  The  editor  was  Jacques  Lef^vre 
d'Etaples.  They  did  not  appear  in  Greek  until  1557,  when  Valentine 
Frid  (Paceus)  edited  them  at  Dillingen.  About  a  century  later  (in 
1644)  the  first  great  critical  exposition  of  the  vexed  Ignatian  question 
was  made  by  Archbishop  Ussher. 

The  bulky  allegory  called  The  Shepherd  of  Hermas  was  current,  like 
the  last-named  documents,  in  Latin  versions.  The  Greek  original, 
indeed,  was  only  discovered  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  Latin  appeared  first  in  1513  at  Paris.  Lefevre  d'Etaples  was  in 
this  instance  again  the  editor.  He  rather  obscured  the  true  character 
of  his  text  by  discarding  its  old  name  of  Pastor^  and  substituting  one 
apparently  of  his  own  devising :  Liber  trium  virorum  et  trium  spiritu- 
alium  virginum. 

Last  come  the  important  pseudonymous  works  associated  with  the 
name  of  Clement  of  Rome  :  the  two  romances,  called  the  Recognitions^ 
and  the  Homilies  of  Clement:  and  the  manual  of  ecclesiastical  usages 
known  as  the  Apostolic  Constitutions.  The  first  of  these  had  been  early 
popularised  in  the  Latin  version^of  Rufinus,  in  which  form  alone  it  has 
survived  complete.  Lefevre  d'Etaples  printed  it  first  at  Paris  in  1504: 
the  Homilies^  which  we  only  have  in  Greek,  were  not  given  to  the  world 
until  1672.  Bovius  and  Turrianus  in  1563  produced  editions  of  the 
Constitutions^  the  former  in  Latin,  the  latter  in  the  original  Gr.eek. 


The  Greek  Apologists 


615 


The  whole  series  of  documents  which  we  have  been  describing  was 
brought  together  and  edited  in  a  masterly  manner  by  J.  B.  Cotelier 
of  Paris  in  1672. 

The  Greek  Apologists  form  a  convenient  class,  and  we  may  survey 
their  destinies  next.  The  only  one  who  was  introduced  to  the  West 
in  the  fifteenth  century  was  one  of  the  obscurest,  Athenagoras.  Large 
portions  of  his  book  On  the  Resurrection  were  rendered  into  Latin  by 
Ficino  and  also  by  G.  Valla,  and  printed  in  1488.  The  Greek  appeared 
in  1541,  The  Apology  was  edited  by  Gesner  at  Zurich  and  by  Robert 
Estienne  at  Paris  in  1557. 

The  first  portion  of  Justin  Martyr's  works  that  saw  the  light  was 
the  Address  to  the  Q-reeks^  printed  in  the  Latin  version  of  Pico  della 
Mirandola  in  1507.  In  1551  Robert  Estienne  brought  out  a  corpus 
of  this  writer's  works,  genuine  and  spurious,  which  for  most  of  them  — 
notably  the  two  Apologies  and  the  Dialogue  with  Trypho  —  was  the 
editio  princeps. 

Tatian  and  Theophilus  first  appeared  at  Zurich  in  1546 :  the  unim- 
portant tract  of  Hermias  in  1553  at  Basel.  The  editor  of  the  first  two 
was  Gesner,  of  the  third  Raphael  Seller. 

All  the  extant  works  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  with  a  few  unim- 
portant exceptions,  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  scholars  together,  in 
the  Florentine  edition  of  1550,  superintended  by  Pietro  Victorio.  But 
the  best  work  done  on  the  text  of  this  Father  was  that  of  Friedrich 
Sylburg,  who  brought  out  his  writings  at  Heidelberg  in  1592.  The 
printer  was  Commelin. 

The  first  nine  editions  of  Irenaeus,  ranging  in  date  from  1526  to 
1567,  all  give  a  text  constructed  by  Erasmus,  and  improved  to  a  certain 
extent  by  him  in  those  which  were  published  during  his  lifetime.  The 
Erasmian  text,  however,  never  attained  a  very  high  pitch  of  excellence. 
A  step  forward  was  taken  by  Gallasius,  who  brought  out  an  Irenaeus 
at  Geneva  in  1570,  and  more  decided  progress  by  Feuardent  of  Paris, 
whose  best  edition  was  printed  at  Cologne  in  1596.  Nothing  of  any 
great  importance  was  done  for  the  elucidation  of  this  writer  before 
the  publication  of  Grabe's  great  work  at  Oxford  in  1702. 

The  works  of  Origen,  largely  preserved  in  old  Latin  versions,  were 
never  wholly  unrepresented  in  Western  libraries.  It  is  a  curious  fact 
that,  in  spite  of  the  deep  interest  which  this  great  thinker  excited  in 
the  minds  of  men  like  Erasmus,  no  portion  of  his  writings  appeared 
in  the  original  Greek  during  the  sixteenth  century.  As  early  as  1475 
some  Homilies  were  printed  in  Latin,  and  the  books  Against  Celsus, 
also  in  Latin,  in  1481.  A  collective  edition  in  the  same  language  was 
brought  out  by  Merlin  at  Paris  in  1512.  Erasmus  was  engaged  on 
another  when  he  died  in  1536,  and  Beatus  Rhenanus  completed  it  in 
that  year.  Genebrard,  Archbishop  of  Aix,  produced  a  third  in  1574. 
The  first  attempt  at  a  complete  edition  in  Greek  and  Latin  was  that 


616        Origen ;  Eusehius ;   The  Latin  Fathers 


of  Peter  Daniel  Huet  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Avranches),  which  appeared 
at  Rouen  in  1668.  It  included  only  the  exegetical  works,  and  was 
never  completed.  Herbert  Thorndike,  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
had  made  large  preparations  about  the  same  period  as  Huet  for  a  col- 
lective edition,  no  part  of  which  was  printed.  His  manuscripts,  among 
which  is  the  unique  copy  of  the  important  treatise  On  Prayer^  are 
preserved  in  the  Library  of  his  College.  The  first  editor  of  one  of 
the  longer  treatises  in  Greek  was  David  Hoeschel,  who  published  the 
books  Against  Celsus  in  1605. 

We  have  no  right  to  inflict  a  complete  patristic  bibliography  on  our 
readers.  One  more  Greek  Father  only  shall  be  mentioned,  namely, 
Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  His  Praeparatio  Evangelica  has  been  men- 
tioned more  than  once  in  the  body  of  this  chapter.  George  of 
Trebizond's  Latin  version  of  it  —  faulty  as  it  was  —  was  printed  again 
and  again  before  1500.  The  Greek  text  appeared  at  Paris  in  1544 
from  the  press  of  Robert  Estienne.  The  same  indefatigable  worker 
brought  out  in  the  same  year  the  History  of  Eusebius  in  Greek  for 
the  first  time,  along  with  the  later  Greek  ecclesiastical  historians.  In 
Latin  the  history  had  long  been  current,  and  the  sixteenth  century  had 
seen  at  least  two  fresh  Latin  versions,  made  by  Wolfgang  Musculus 
and  by  Christopherson.  It  was  reserved  for  Yalesius  (Valois),  in  1659, 
to  produce  the  first  really  great  illustrative  edition  of  this  priceless 
record  of  Christian  origins. 

The  Latin  Fathers  demand  a  briefer  treatment  than  those  of  the 
Greek  Church.  A  good  deal  has  been  said  already  as  to  the  reappear- 
ance of  those  authors  who  had  been  forgotten,  and  as  to  the  labours 
of  scholars  upon  the  text  of  some  w^ho  had  always  been  studied.  We 
may,  therefore,  in  this  place  confine  ourselves  to  a  select  few  of  the 
earlier  Latin  writers.  The  Apology  of  Tertullian  was  printed  in  1483 ; 
but  the  first  edition  of  any  considerable  part  of  his  works  was  super- 
vised by  Beatus  Rhenanus  in  1521.  Gagnaeus  of  Paris  added  some 
eleven  tracts  to  those  previously  known,  in  1545;  and  Sigismund 
Gelenius  improved  the  text.  By  1625  the  whole  of  the  writings  we 
possess  had  appeared  in  print,  and  the  editions  were  numerous.  Those 
of  Rigault,  of  which  the  first  appeared  in  1633,  did  most  for  the  text 
of  this  earliest  of  the  great  Christian  Latiuists.  Rigault  had  access  to 
all  the  principal  manuscripts,  whether  preserved  in  France,  as  those  of 
Pithou  and  Dupuy,  with  the  famous  "  Agobardian  "  Codex,  in  Germany, 
as  that  of  Fulda,  or  in  Italy,  as  that  of  Fulvio  Orsini. 

Cyprian,  in  a  gravely  interpolated  text,  was  read  throughout  the 
medieval  period,  and  five  editions  of  his  works  appeared  between  1471 
and  1500.  He  was  one  of  the  host  of  writers  who  profited  by  the 
scholarship  of  Erasmus ;  the  first  Basel  edition  came  out  in  1520,  and 
was  often  reprinted.  Latino  Latini  undertook  to  edit  the  works,  but 
was  prevented  from  completing  them ;  the  results  of  his  labours,  taken 


The  Latin  Apologists 


617 


up  by  others,  saw  the  light  in  1563  at  Rome.  The  same  decade  wit- 
nessed the  appearance  of  Morel's  Paris  edition  (1564),  and  of  that  of 
J.  de  Pam^le  (Antwerp,  1568) ;  the  former  is  said  to  have  improved 
the  text,  the  latter  to  have  corrupted  it  by  the  use  of  interpolated 
manuscripts.  An  "  epoch-making  "  edition  was  that  of  Nicholas  Rigault 
in  1648. 

The  Latin  Apologists  alone  remain  to  be  discussed.  Lactantius,  first 
printed  in  1465,  was  one  of  those  writers  who  appealed  most  strongly 
to  the  humanists ;  and  the  number  of  reprints  of  his  works,  belonging 
to  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  is  correspondingly  great.  The 
first  critical  edition  worth  mentioning  is  probably  that  of  Basel  (1563) 
with  the  commentary  of  Xystus  Betuleius. 

Arnobius  and  Minucius  Felix  go  together.  The  only  two  manu- 
scripts of  their  writings  which  we  possess  have  handed  down  the 
Octavius  of  the  latter  as  if  it  were  part  of  the  Bisputationes  of  the 
former;  and  two  editions  appeared  before  the  mistake  was  detected. 
The  first  was  that  of  Faustus  Sabaeus  of  Brescia  (Rome,  1543), 
librarian  of  the  Vatican,  to  whom  our  oldest  manuscript  (now  at  Paris) 
belonged.  The  second  was  by  Sigismund  Gelenius,  three  years  later, 
at  Basel. 

Of  the  great  post-Nicene  Fathers,  Eastern  or  Western,  we  have 
decided  not  to  speak  in  this  place.  It  has  already  been  said  that 
they  had  attracted  attention  from  the  first  moment  of  revival ;  and, 
though  much  notable  work  was  done  in  collecting  and  publishing  their 
writings  during  the  sixteenth  century,  a  review  of  that  work  would  swell 
the  present  chapter  to  an  undue  size. 

We  prefer  to  notice  the  rise  of  those  great  collections  of  the  minor 
Christian  writings  which  are  generically  known  as  the  Bihliothecae 
Patrum.  It  was  the  chief  merit  of  these  that  they  brought  together, 
and  put  into  the  hands  of  a  large  circle,  a  number  of  brief  tracts  of 
the  most  diverse  ages,  which  ran  the  risk  either  of  passing  unnoticed 
or  dropping  out  of  existence  altogether.  That  the  texts  of  the  works 
thus  published  were  uniformly  good  we  neither  expect  nor  find;  but 
of  their  extreme  value  to  the  men  of  their  time  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  Even  now  they  are  the  best  available  authorities  for  a  good 
many  writings. 

The  series  is  headed  by  a  publication  of  Sichard  of  Basel  (1528), 
called  Antidotum  contra  diversas . . .  haereses.  It  contains  treatises  by 
twenty  authors,  the  earliest  of  whom  is  J ustin  Martyr. 

The  Mieropreshytieon  of  1550,  also  a  Basel  book,  numbers  thirty-two 
writers.  Aristeas,  the  fabulous  Chronicle  of  "  Philo,"  and  the  Letters 
of  Ignatius  and  Polycarp,  are  among  its  contents.  Five  years  later 
appeared  the  Orthodoxographa,  edited  by  Herold,  with  seventy-six 
headings.  The  collection  of  Grynaeus,  issued  with  the  same  title  in 
1569,  includes  eighty-five.    The  printer  of  these  four  was  Henricus  Petri. 


618 


The  Bibliothecae  Patrum 


Basel,  then,  began  the  work  with  credit.  Zurich  produced  somewhat 
similar  publications,  between  1546  and  1572,  under  the  auspices  of 
Conrad  Gesner  and  Simler.  But  the  productions  of  the  two  Swiss 
cities  were  surpassed,  if  not  superseded,  by  the  issue  in  1575  of  the 
first  edition  of  the  Paris  Bihliotheca  Veterum  Patrum,  Its  editor 
was  Marguerin  de  la  Bigne,  and  the  collection  appeared  in  eight  sec- 
tions or  classes  arranged  according  to  the  character  of  the  writings 
in  each.  In  the  first,  for  example,  were  Epistles,  in  the  sixth  Com- 
mentaries, and  so  forth.  A  supplementary  volume  was  issued  in  1579. 
Something  over  220  writers  of  all  ages,  from  the  first  to  the  sixteenth 
century,  are  represented  altogether ;  and  the  whole  work  is  in  Latin. 
It  was  dedicated  to  Gregory  XIII.  In  1589  came  a  second  edition, 
in  nine  volumes,  increased  by  the  addition  of  a  good  many  treatises, 
but  marked  also  by  the  omission  of  several  which  had  called  forth  the 
censure  of  the  authorities.  Among  these  were  the  works  of  Nicholas 
de  Clemanges,  whose  animadversions  on  ecclesiastical  matters  had  seemed 
to  surpass  the  bounds  of  fair  criticism.  So  dangerous,  indeed,  did  the 
collection  appear  to  some  minds  that  the  Jesuit  Possevin  declares  that 
it  is  impossible,  salva  conscientia,  to  keep  either  of  the  first  two  editions 
of  the  Bihliotheca  on  one's  shelves,  and  more  than  one  detailed  censure 
of  the  book  was  issued.  In  the  editions  of  1610  and  later,  efforts  were 
made  to  remedy  the  faults  that  had  been  noted ;  and  in  1624  appeared 
the  first  of  a  series  of  publications  in  which  the  Greek  texts  of  some 
of  the  authors  hitherto  only  published  in  Latin  were  given.  This  first 
auctarium  was  edited  by  the  Jesuit  Fronton  le  Due  (Ducaeus).  The 
final  and  largest  form  of  de  la  Bigne's  Bihliotheca  was  issued  in  1644, 
in  seventeen  volumes.  It  contained  writings  of  about  two  hundred 
additional  authors. 

A  rival  to  the  Paris  Bihliotheca  soon  appeared,  in  the  shape  of  the 
Magna  Bihliotheca  of  Cologne.    The  first  fourteen  tomes,  with  preface 
by  Alard  Wyel,  were  published  in  1618 ;  a  fifteenth  by  Andreas  Schott 
in  1622.    Their  appearance  provoked  the  publication  of  an  auctarium 
to  the  Paris  collection  by  Gilles  Morel  at  Paris  in  1639.    A  notice- 
able point  about  the   Cologne  Bihliotheca   is  that  its  contents  are 
digested  in  chronological  order,  each  volume  comprising  the  writers 
of  a  century.    Similar  arrangements   were  adopted  in  most  of  the 
subsequent  Bihliothecae.    Cologne  did  not  continue  the  rivalry ;  and 
the  last  great  work  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  this  department  was 
again  the  product  of  a  French  press.    It  was  the  Maxima  Bihliotheca^ 
issued  at  Lyons  in  1677,  in  twenty-seven  parts.    The  next  century  wit-  | 
nessed  the  appearance  of  a  still  more  comprehensive  corpus  of  patristic  j 
literature  in  the  shape  of  Gallandi's  Bihliotheca  (Venice,  1766) ;  but  j 
the  publication  of  Migne's  enormous  Patrology — never  likely  to  be  : 
surpassed  in  extent  —  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  largely  I 
superseded  the  earlier  collections  which  we  have  been  reviewing.  j 


Conclusion 


619 


Let  us  attempt,  in  a  few  closing  paragraphs,  to  sum  up  the 
results  of  an  investigation  which  has  covered,  however  incompletely, 
a  wide  range  both  in  space  and  in  time.  We  have  seen  reason  to 
place  the  first  symptoms  of  a  revival  of  Christian  learning  as  far 
iback  as  the  thirteenth  century,  and  to  connect  the  beginnings  of 
the  movement  with  England.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  scene 
of  activity  is  shifted  to  Italy,  where  the  impulse  given  to  classical 
studies  reacts  upon  theology.  Not  until  late  in  the  fifteenth  century 
are  the  effects  of  this  awakening  visible  to  much  purpose  in  France  or 
in  Germany,  in  the  Low  Countries  or  in  Switzerland;  but  throughout 
the  succeeding  centuries  these  countries  continue  to  produce  indefati- 
gable workers  and  noble  monuments  of  learning,  while  Italy,  and  more 
evidently  Spain,  gradually  lose  the  predominance  they  had  once  held. 
The  rapidity  with  which  the  light  spread  in  Germany  has  been  the 
subject  of  comment  already:  France's  achievements  are  not  less  note- 
worthy. Lefevre  d'Etaples,  Michel  Vatable  the  Hebraist,  Gentien 
Hervet  the  translator,  the  Estiennes,  who  cover  the  whole  field  of 
Greek  and  Latin  literature,  de  la  Eigne,  Rigault,  Dachery,  Fronton 
le  Due,  Combefis  —  all  strenuous  workers  in  the  patristic  and  medieval 
departments  —  these  form  an  imposing  list,  and  one  that  might  be  largely 
increased  without  difficulty.  Nor  does  the  succession  of  scholars  cease 
with  them :  it  continues  throughout  the  seventeenth  centur}^,  and  culmi- 
nates in  the  noble  erudition  of  the  Congregation  of  St  Maur. 

It  is  dangerous  to  attempt  to  characterise  the  work  of  whole  centuries 
in  single  phrases;  but  there  are  cases,  and  this  seems  to  be  one  of 
them,  where  the  progress  of  a  movement  can  be  marked  out  with 
approximate  accuracy,  and  its  stages  defined,  in  such  a  way.  The 
three  centuries,  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  seventeenth,  with  which  we 
have  been  principally  occupied,  had  each  its  special  form  of  contribu- 
tion to  the  movement  which  we  have  called  the  Christian  Renaissance. 
The  fifteenth  century  was  the  age  of  collection :  the  documents  were 
brought  together,  and  the  great  libraries  formed.  The  sixteenth  century 
was  the  age  of  publication.  What  had  been  recovered  was  given  to  the 
world  by  the  great  scholar-printers.  And  the  seventeenth  century  was 
the  age  of  criticism  :  with  the  documents  now  before  them,  men  settled 
themselves  down  to  the  improvement  of  texts  and  the  elucidation 
of  subject-matter,  to  an  extent  which  had  been  impossible  for  their 
predecessors. 

The  names  of  Niccoli  and  Poggio,  of  Erasmus  and  de  la  Eigne, 
of  Ussher  and  Valois,  give  a  fair  indication  of  the  several  activities 
which  seem  to  us  to  have  characterised  the  periods  we  have  passed 
under  review. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

CATHOLIC  EUROPE 

So  far  back  as  the  Council  of  Vienne  in  1311,  William  Durandus, 
nephew  of  the  "  Resolute  Doctor,"  when  commissioned  by  Clement  V 
to  advise  him  on  the  method  of  holding  that  assembly,  had  answered 
in  a  volume  which  we  may  still  consult  that  "the  Church  ought  to 
be  reformed  in  head  and  members."  The  phrase  was  caught  up,  was 
echoed  during  the  Great  Schism  at  Pisa  (1409),  in  the  stormy  sessions 
of  Constance  (1414-18),  at  Basel  (1431-49),  and  to  the  very  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  became  a  watchword,  not  only  in  the 
manifestos  of  French  or  German  princes  at  issue  with  the  Apostolic  See, 
but  on  the  lips  of  Popes  themselves  and  in  official  documents.  But 
though  searching  and  sweeping,  the  formula  had  its  limits.  Refor- 
mation was  conceivable  of  persons,  institutions,  and  laws ;  it  could  not, 
on  Catholic  principles,  be  admitted  within  the  sphere  of  dogma,  or 
identified  with  Revelation;  it  must  leave  untouched  the  root-idea  of 
medieval  Christendom  that  the  priesthood  possessed  a  divine  power 
in  the  Mass  and  in  the  Sacraments,  conferred  by  the  episcopal  laying-on 
of  hands.  It  affected  nothing  beyond  discipline  or  practice ;  and  only 
that  portion  of  the  Canon  Law  might  be  revised  which  was  not  im- 
plicitly contained  in  the  Bible  or  in  the  unanimous  teaching  of  the 
Fathers  as  expounded  by  the  Church.  Foxe  of  Winchester,  writing  to 
Wolsey  in  1520,  well  defined  the  scope  of  amendment ;  he  had  found, 
he  says,  that  everything  belonging  to  the  primitive  integrity  of  the 
clergy,  and  especially  to  the  monastic  state,  was  perverted  either  by 
dispensations  or  corruptions,  or  else  had  become  obsolete  from  age  or 
depraved  by  the  iniquity  of  the  times.  Thus  even  Alexander  VI, 
startled  into  momentary  penitence  by  the  murder  of  his  son,  the  Duke 
of  Gandia,  appointed  a  committee  of  Cardinals,  in  1497,  to  draw  up 
a  scheme  for  the  reformation  of  morals,  which,  he  declared,  must  begin 
with  the  Roman  Curia.  The  mere  summary  of  abuses  to  be  corrected, 
or  of  better  dispositions  to  be  taken,  in  the  government  of  the  Church, 
extends  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  heads,  as  set  forth  in  the 
papal  Letters  beginning,  "in  apostolicae  sedis  specula.''^    Julius  IT, 

620 


Reform  within  the  Church  621 


addressing  the  Fifth  Lateran  Council  (1512),  reckons  among  its  chief 
objects  ecclesiastical  reform ;  before  its  opening  he  had  named  a  com- 
mission which  was  to  set  in  order  the  officials  of  his  Court.  Leo  X, 
in  1513,  accepted  the  rules  which  had  been  laid  down  by  these  Cardinals 
with  a  view  to  redressing  the  grievances  of  which  complaint  was  made, 
and  published  them  during  the  eighth  session  of  Lateran  as  his  own. 
Nevertheless,  not  until  the  Fathers  at  Trent  had  brought  their  labours 
(1545-64)  to  an  end  did  the  new  discipline,  promulgated  by  them  in 
twenty-five  sessions  and  explicitly  termed  a  reformation,  take  effect 
in  the  Roman  Church.  By  that  time  the  Northern  peoples  had  fallen 
away ;  Christendom  was  rent  into  many  pieces,  and  the  hierarchy,  the 
religious  Orders,  and  the  Mass,  had  been  abolished  wherever  Lutherans 
or  Calvinists  prevailed. 

It  does  not  enter  into  the  scope  of  the  present  chapter  to  enlarge 
upon  a  subject  treated  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  —  the  causes  which 
led  up  to  the  Protestant  Reformation.  But,  as  was  made  clear  by 
the  rise  of  the  Jesuits,  the  decrees  of  Trent,  the  acts  and  virtues  of 
a  multitude  of  Saints,  the  renewed  austerity  of  the  papal  Court,  and  the 
successful  resistance  to  a  further  advance  on  the  part  of  Lutheranism 
in  Germany,  and  of  Calvinism  in  France  and  the  Belgic  Provinces,  there 
also  existed  a  Catholic  Reformation,  within  the  Church,  not  tinged 
with  heresy,  but  founded  on  a  deeper  apprehension  of  the  dogmas  in 
dispute,  and  on  a  passionate  desire  for  their  triumph.  In  one  sense, 
this  great  movement  might  be  described  as  a  reaction,  since  it  aimed  at 
bringing  back  the  past.  In  another,  it  was  merely  a  development  of 
principles  or  a  more  effectual  realisation  of  them,  whose  beginnings 
are  discernible  long  before  Trent.  Thus  we  may  regard  the  fifteenth 
century  as  above  all  an  era  of  transition.  It  exhibits  violent  contrasts, 
especially  among  the  high  clergy  and  in  religious  associations,  between 
a  piety  which  was  fruitful  in  good  works  and  a  worldliness.  which  has 
never  been  surpassed.  Corruption  on  a  scale  so  wide  as,  in  the  opinion 
of  many,  to  justify  revolt  from  Pope  and  bishops,  was  matched  by 
remarkable  earnestness  in  preaching  necessary  reforms,  by  devotion 
to  learning  in  the  service  of  religion,  by  an  extraordinary  flow  of 
beneficence,  attested  by  the  establishment  of  schools,  hospitals,  brother- 
hoods, gilds,  and  asylums  for  the  destitute,  no  less  than  by  the  magni- 
ficent churches,  unrivalled  paintings,  and  multiplied  festivals,  and  by  the 
new  shrines,  pilgrimages,  miracle-plays,  and  popular  gatherings  for  the 
celebration  of  such  events  as  the  Jubilees  of  1475  and  1500,  which 
fling  over  the  whole  period  an  air  of  gaiety  and  suggest  that  life  in 
the  days  of  the  Renaissance  was  often  a  public  masquerade. 

Catholic  tradition,  in  the  shape  of  an  all-pervading  and  long-established 
Church,  towered  high  above  the  nations.  It  was  embodied  in  a  vast 
edifice  of  laws.  It  kept  its  jurisdiction  intact,  its  clergy  exempt,  and 
held  its  own  Courts  all  over  Christendom.    It  owned  from  a  fifth  to 


622 


Papal  Rome  as  the  world^s  centre 


a  third  of  the  soil  in  mortmain.  It  had  revenues  far  exceeding  the 
resources  of  kings,  to  which  it  was  continually  adding  by  fresh  taxation. 
It  offered  enormous  prizes  to  the  well-born  in  its  bishoprics,  abbacies,  and 
cathedral  Chapters,  which  carried  with  them  feudal  dominion  over  lands, 
serfs,  and  tribute-yielding  cities.  It  opened  a  career  to  clever  ambitious 
lads  of  the  middle  and  lower  class.  Within  its  cloisters  women  might 
study  as  well  as  pray,  and  rule  their  own  estates,  wielding  the  crozier  and 
equalling  prelates  in  dignity  and  power.  The  Church,  too,  maintained 
her  pre-eminence,  though  shaken  once  and  again,  in  the  old  Universities, 
at  Paris,  Oxford,  and  Bologna,  while  founding  new  seats  of  learning 
at  Louvain  (1426)  or  along  the  Rhine ;  as  far  east  as  Ingolstadt  (1472)  or 
even  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  (1506),  and  as  far  south  as  Alcala  (1499). 
Her  authority  was  still  strong  enough  to  put  down  the  Hussites  for  a 
time,  though  not  without  conceding  to  them  points  of  discipline.  It 
showed  no  dismay  at  the  light  which  was  dawning  in  humanism.  And 
it  gave  back  to  ruined  and  desolate  Rome  the  Augustan  glory  of  a 
capital  in  which  letters,  arts,  manners,  attained  to  a  fullness  of  life  and 
splendour  of  expression,  such  as  had  not  been  witnessed  in  Europe  since 
the  fall  of  the  Empire. 

From  the  days  of  Nicholas  V  down  to  those  of  Leo  X,  Rome  was  the 
world's  centre.  The  Popes  held  in  their  hands  the  key  of  religion; 
they  aspired  to  possess  the  key  of  knowledge.  Along  every  line  of 
enterprise  and  from  every  point  of  the  compass,  except  one,  they  were 
visible.  They  would  not  dedicate  themselves  to  the  long-sought  reform- 
ation in  head  and  members,  although  they  allowed  its  necessity  again 
and  again  in  the  most  emphatic  terms.  The  plans  which  were  laid 
before  them  by  ardent  churchmen  like  Cesarini  we  shall  consider  as 
we  proceed.  But  they  declined  to  take  those  measures  without  which 
no  lasting  improvement  of  the  Curia  was  to  be  anticipated.  They  were 
loth  to  summon  a  representative  Council;  they  refused  to  cross  the 
Alps  and  meet  the  German  people,  or  to  listen  when  it  drew  up  its 
grievances  in  formal  array.  Had  the  Fifth  of  Lateran  fulfilled  its  task, 
instead  of  leaving  it  to  the  Council  of  Trent  half  a  century  later,  the 
Diet  of  Worms  might  have  never  met,  and  Luther  would  perhaps  have 
lingered  out  his  years  in  a  cell  at  Wittenberg. 

Two  series  of  considerations  may  explain  why  the  papacy  shrank  from 
calling  a  fresh  parliament  of  Western  prelates  and  sovereigns,  and  why 
it  relegated  these  questions  of  discipline  to  a  secondary  place.  One  was 
that  the  Holy  See  felt  itself  engaged  in  the  necessary  and  therefore  just 
enterprise  of  recovering  its  temporal  independence,  shattered  since  the 
migration  to  Avignon.  That  plea  has  been  urged  on  behalf  of  Sixtus  IV, 
and  still  more  of  Julius  II.  The  other  was  that  it  had  not  long  emerged 
from  a  period  of  revolution.  In  Rome  the  Church  had  been  constantly 
regarded  as  a  monarchy  with  the  Pope  at  its  head ;  he  was  the  supreme 
judge  of  spiritual  causes,  from  whom  there  could  be  no  appeal.    But  in 


Failure  of  the  Council  of  Basel 


623 


the  fourth  and  fifth  sessions  of  Constance  (1415)  another  view  had 
prevailed,  —  a  view  unknown  to  earlier  ages  and  impossible  to  carry  out  in 
practice,  —  that  of  the  superiority  to  the  Pope  of  the  Church  in  Council 
assembled.  This  doctrine,  put  forward  by  Cardinal  d'Ailly,  by  Gerson, 
and  by  the  followers  of  William  Occam,  might  be  welcome  to  lawyers ; 
but  it  had  no  roots  among  the  people  ;  it  had  never  flourished  in 
the  schools  deemed  orthodox ;  and  it  irritated  as  much  as  it  alarmed 
the  Pontiff.  At  Basel  it  led  to  repeated  and  flagrant  violations  of  the 
ancient  canons.  During  the  eighteen  years  of  its  existence  (1431-49) 
this  convention  had  deposed  one  Pope,  Eugenius  IV,  elected  by  lawful 
scrutiny  ;  it  had  chosen  another,  Felix  V,  Duke  of  Savoy,  who  was  hardly 
recognized  beyond  the  valley  of  the  Rhone.  It  had  compelled  bishops  to 
sit  and  vote,  not  only  with  simple  priests  but  with  laymen,  on  questions 
which  concerned  the  Catholic  faith.  It  had  submitted  to  the  feeble 
Emperor  Sigismund;  its  president  was  D'Allemand,  the  Cardinal  of 
Avignon  —  an  ominous  title ;  and  for  ten  years  it  sat  in  permanent 
schism.  Professing  to  do  away  with  abuses,  it  enacted  them  once  more 
in  the  shape  of  commendam,  annates,  and  pluralities.  When  the  large- 
minded  reformers.  Cardinal  Julian  Cesarini  and  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  forsook 
its  tumultuous  sittings ;  when  Aeneas  Sylvius,  that  politic  man  of  letters, 
looked  round  for  a  wealthier  patron  and  joined  himself  to  Eugenius ;  and 
when  the  German  prelates  could  no  longer  hold  it  up  as  a  shield  against 
the  strokes  of  the  Curia,  the  Council  came  to  an  end,  and  with  it  all 
hopes  of  reform  on  the  parliamentary  system.  Felix  V,  last  of  the 
anti-Popes,  laid  down  the  keys  and  the  tiara  (April,  1449)  in  the  house 
called  La  Grotte  at  Lausanne,  under  the  roof  of  which  Gibbon  was 
afterwards  to  complete  his  History  of  The  Decline  and  Fall.  Hence- 
forth it  was  evident  that  the  spiritual  restoration  of  Christendom  would 
come,  if  ever  it  came,  from  the  zeal  of  individuals.  For  the  Council 
had  failed ;  no  Pope  would  risk  his  supreme  authority  by  a  repetition 
of  Basel ;  and  the  rules  of  the  Roman  Chancery  which  Martin  V  had 
confirmed  were,  as  a  matter  of  course,  approved  by  his  successors. 

Private  effort  could  do  much,  so  long  as  it  refrained  from  calling 
dogma  in  question  or  resisting  the  legal  claims  of  Pope  and  bishops. 
But  the  creed  was  not  in  danger.  So  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  local 
Councils  and  the  literature  of  the  years  before  us,  in  no  part  of  Europe 
did  men  at  this  time  cast  away  their  inherited  beliefs,  with  the  exception 
of  a  humanist  here  and  there,  like  Pomponazzo  at  Rome — and  even  these 
kept  their  denials  to  themselves  or  acquiesced  in  the  common  practices 
I  of  religion.  In  1466  groups  of  the  Fraticelli  were  discovered  and  put 
down  by  Pius  II  at  Poll  near  Palestrina.  In  the  same  year  a  German 
sect,  of  which  the  chiefs  were  Brothers  Janko  and  Livin  von  Wirsberg, 
was  denounced  to  Henry,  Bishop  of  Ratisbon,  by  the  papal  Legate. 
The  Fraticelli  appeared  again  in  1471  on  the  coast  of  Tuscany ;  and 
notices  are  extant  of  heretics  in  the  diocese  of  Reims  and  at  Bologna. 


624 


Liberty  of  discussion  at  Rome 


The  Maranos,  or  crypto-Jews,  in  Spain  deserve  separate  consideration. 
Nor  did  the  Waldensians  ever  cease  to  exist  in  Italy.  But  obstinate 
unbelief  was  rare :  even  a  reprobate  like  Sigismondo  Malatesta,  the 
monstrous  tyrant  of  Rimini,  would  not  die  without  the  last  Sacraments. 
Machiavelli,  who  writes  as  if  the  Christian  faith  were  an  exploded 
superstition,  had  a  priest  with  him  when  he  expired.  Of  Caterina 
Sforza,  whose  crimes  and  profligacies  were  notorious,  it  is  on  record 
that,  while  she  sinned,  she  endowed  convents  and  built  churches.  Other 
examples  of  repentant  humanists  are  Giovanni  Pontano  and  Antonio 
Galatea.  Among  Germans  who,  after  quarrelling  with  the  papal 
authorities  or  questioning  articles  of  the  creed,  came  back  to  offer 
their  submission,  may  be  remarked  Gregor  Heimburg  and  in  the 
next  generation  Conrad  Mutianus  of  Erfurt.  It  has  been  stated  else- 
where that  the  famous  Wessel  spent  his  last  days  in  the  cloister  of  the 
Agnetenberg.  Revolt,  followed  by  repentance,  was  a  common  feature 
in  the  Italian  genius.  But  indeed  the  rules  of  the  Inquisition,  which 
allowed  of  easy  retractation,  imply  that  few  heretics  would  persist  in 
their  opinion  after  once  being  called  to  account.  During  the  ninety 
years  with  which  we  are  concerned  no  popular  uprising  against  the 
authorities  of  the  Church  on  purely  dogmatic  grounds  is  recorded  to 
have  taken  place  anywhere  outside  Bohemia. 

Intolerance  was  not  a  characteristic  feature  of  an  age  abounding  in 
hope,  dazzled  with  discoveries  and  inventions,  and  far  from  ascetic  in  its 
habits  of  life,  its  outdoor  spectacles,  its  architecture,  painting,  music, 
and  popular  diversions.  The  later  fifteenth  century  was  eclectic  rather 
than  critical.  At  Rome  itself,  an  "incredible  liberty''  of  discussion  was 
allowed  under  all  the  Popes  of  the  Renaissance.  And  though  Paul  II 
dealt  severely  with  Platina  and  the  Roman  Academicians,  whom  he 
accused  of  unbelief,  his  motives  seem  to  have  been  personal  or  political 
rather  than  religious.  Philosophy,  too,  was  undergoing  a  serious  change. 
Plato  had  supplanted  Aristotle  in  his  influence  over  men's  minds ;  and 
the  high  Doctors  of  the  School  —  Aquinas,  Bonaventura,  and  Scotus  — 
had  lost  no  little  of  their  power  since  Occam  brought  into  repute  his 
logic  of  scepticism,  which  fixed  between  religion  and  metaphysics  an 
impassable  gulf  where  every  human  system  disappeared  in  the  void. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  without  significance  that  the  chief  reformer  of 
the  age.  Cardinal  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  exhibits  in  his  action  and  writings 
not  only  the  pious  enthusiasm  which  he  learned  from  the  Brethren  of 
the  Common  Life,  but  a  passion  for  every  kind  of  knowledge ;  or  that 
his  method  of  apologetics  sought  in  every  form  of  religion  its  affinities 
with  the  Christian,  as  we  learn  from  his  Dialogue  of  Peace,  or  The 
Concord  of  Faith,  His  speculations,  afterwards  used  or  abused  by 
Giordano  Bruno  in  building  up  a  system  of  pantheism,  cannot  be  drawn 
out  here.  Nicholas  Krebs  was  the  son  of  a  fisherman,  born,  probably 
in  1401,  at  Cues  on  the  Mosel.    He  belonged  to  that  Low-Dutch  race, 


A  Kempis ;  Cusanus ;  Erasmus  625 


first  cousins,  so  to  speak,  of  the  English,  which  has  done  such  notable 
things  for  science,  religion,  and  government,  by  its  tenacious  grasp  of 
realities,  its  silent  thought  and  moderation  of  speech,  its  energetic  action 
that  scorns  the  trammels  of  paper  logic.  Dwelling  along  the  rivers  of 
Germany  and  on  the  edge  of  the  North  Sea,  this  trading  people  had 
amassed  riches,  cultivated  a  Fine  Art  of  its  own  which  vies  with  the 
Italian,  created  a  network  of  municipal  liberties,  and  lived  a  deep 
religious  life,  sometimes  haunted  by  visions,  which  might  be  open  to  the 
suspicion  of  unsoundness  when  the  formal  Inquisitor  from  Cologne 
looked  into  it  with  his  spying-glass. 

Yet  no  one  has  ventured  to  brand  with  that  suspicion  Thomas 
Kempis.  From  this  Low-Dutch  people  we  have  received  the  Imita- 
tion of  Christ;  when  a  Catholic  Reformation  is  spoken  of,  that  little 
volume,  all  gold  and  light,  will  furnish  its  leaders  with  a  standard 
not  only  of  spiritual  illumination  but  of  piety  towards  the  Sacrament 
of  the  Altar  which  took  for  granted  the  whole  Catholic  system.  Since 
it  was  finally  given  to  the  world  in  1441  it  has  been  the  recognised 
guide  of  every  generation  in  the  Western  Church.  But  with  its  author 
we  must  associate  Cusanus  and  Erasmus,  both  of  the  same  stock  ; 
these  three  fill  the  spaces  of  transition  between  the  decadent  luxury 
of  Avignon  and  the  stern  reaction  which  followed  hard  upon  Trent. 
By  their  side  appears  Cardinal  Ximenes,  who  attempted  among 
Spaniards  the  same  work  of  renovation  that  Cusanus  set  on  foot 
among  Germans  and  Netherlanders.  To  the  Imitation  corresponds, 
almost  as  an  art  to  its  theory,  the  Spiritual  Exercises  of  St  Ignatius 
Loyola.  And  if  Erasmus  left  no  successor  equal  to  himself,  he  trained 
a  host  of  disciples  or  plagiarists  in  the  Company  of  Jesus,  where  his 
memory  has  always  evoked  a  fierce  antagonism,  and  his  writings  have 
been  put  to  the  ban. 

Spain  and  the  Netherlands  thus  became  rival  centres  in  a  move- 
ment which  was  profoundly  Catholic.  It  sprang  up  in  Northern 
Europe  under  the  influence  of  the  Dominican  Friars ;  south  of  the 
Pyrenees  it  was  due  to  the  Benedictines  and  Franciscans.  A  third 
element,  derived  from  the  writings  of  St  Augustine  and  the  Rule 
called  after  his  name,  is  more  difficult  to  estimate.  St  Augustine  had 
ever  been  the  chief  Western  authority  in  the  Schools  as  in  the  Councils. 
He,  though  no  infallible  teacher,  formed  the  intellect  of  medieval 
Europe.  But  the  Cathari  or  Waldensians  were  fond  of  quoting  him  as 
the  patron  of  their  anti-sacerdotal  principles,  and  in  the  vehement 
polemics  of  Luther  he  is  set  up  against  Aquinas.  From  Deventer,  then, 
we  may  trace  the  origin  of  a  reforming  tendency  which,  passing  by 
Alcala  and  Toledo,  takes  us  on  to  the  Council  of  Trent.  In  that 
assembly  Spanish  divines,  Laynez  or  Salmeron,  vindicated  the  scholastic 
tradition,  while  Popes  under  Spanish  protection  tightened  discipline  and 
recovered,  though  late,  their  lost  moral  dignity.    But  from  Deventer 

C.  M.  H.  I.  40 


626       Spiritual  movements  in  the  Netherlands 


likewise  another  movement  issued  forth,  in  which  John  of  Goch, 
Wesel,  and  Gansfort  led  up  to  Erfurt  and  Wittenberg  —  to  the  new 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone,  and  to  an  independent  type  of 
religion. 

In  these  two  Reformations,  Catholic  and  Protestant,  it  will  be 
observed  that  England,  France,  and  Italy  play  secondary  parts.  To  the 
ideas  which  inspired  Thomas  a  Kempis,  Luther,  or  Loyola  —  creative  or 
revolutionary  as  they  might  be  —  no  English  thinker  except  Occam  con- 
tributed. Nor  did  a  single  French  writer  anticipate  Calvin.  And  the 
Italians,  almost  wholly  given  up  to  art  or  letters,  and  at  no  time 
much  troubled  with  the  problems  which  divided  the  Schools  in  Paris, 
might  seem  to  have  been  incapable  of  grasping  a  spiritual  principle 
in  its  pure  form,  until  they  were  subjugated  by  the  Jesuit  masters 
who  came  in  with  the  Spanish  dominion. 

Yet,  as  in  England  religion  had  no  quarrel  with  learning  but  was 
revived  in  its  train,  so  among  Italians  the  impressive  figure  of  Savonarola 
warns  us  that  prophets  after  the  manner  of  the  Old  Testament  were  not 
wanting,  even  to  the  heyday  of  a  Classical  Renaissance.  True,  the 
English  humanism  did  but  serve  to  usher  in  a  period,  Elizabethan  or 
Jacobean,  which  was  not  Catholic  according  to  the  Roman  style ;  and 
Savonarola  was  burnt.  Yet  on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation  these  more 
spiritual  influences  were  not  extinct  in  the  Church ;  they  might  have 
been  turned  to  a  saving  use;  and  for  a  while  the  orthodox  hoped  it 
would  be  so.  Fra  Girolamo,  Bishop  Fisher,  Sir  Thomas  More,  have 
always  been  regarded  by  those  who  shared  their  faith  as  martyrs  in  the 
cause  of  a  true  Christian  morality  and  as  harbingers  of  a  reform  which 
they  did  not  live  to  see. 

In  the  Low  Countries,  therefore,  from  the  appearance  of  Tanchelin, 
about  1100,  and  after  the  growth  of  Waldensian  opinions,  though  these 
were  by  no  means  peculiar  to  the  Netherlands,  much  had  been  done  by 
authority  to  suppress  or  convert  dissidents.  The  Black  Friars  of  St 
Dominic  were  called  to  Antwerp  as  early  as  1247.  They  acquired  almost 
at  once  a  power  which  was  chiefly  exercised  in  spiritual  direction ;  their 
many  disciples  followed  a  way  of  life  pure,  detached,  and  simple  —  the 
way  of  the  heart  rather  than  the  intellect.  Another  sign  which  accom- 
panied them  was  the  multiplying  of  Third  Orders,  in  which  men  and 
women,  not  bound  by  vow  or  shut  up  within  a  cloister,  strove  to  lead  the 
higher  life.  These  sodalities  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Turlupins, 
Beghards,  or  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit  —  ecstatic,  perhaps  antinomian 
fraternities  —  condemned  by  Pope  John  XXII  and  abhorred  of  all  good 
Catholics.  If  we  would  understand  what  precisely  was  the  Dominican 
training,  a  delightful  instance  has  been  left  in  the  correspondence 
of  Christine  de  Stommelin  (1306).  But  the  finest  example  as  the  most 
celebrated  of  Flemish  masters  in  the  fourteenth  century  is  the  "  admi- 
rable "  Ruysbroek,  an  earlier  Thomas  a  Kempis,  who  adorns  the  period 


TJie  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life 


627 


which  lies  between  1283  and  1381,  and  whose  son  in  the  spirit,  Gerard 
Groot,  gave  a  new  and  lasting  significance  to  the  school  of  De venter. 

That  "flight  of  the  alone  to  the  Alone,"  which  we  call  Christian 
mysticism,  had  found  no  unworthy  expression  in  St  Thomas  Aquinas,  the 
Angel  of  the  Schools,  who  reasons  by  set  syllogism  on  all  things  in  heaven 
and  earth.  He  had  sealed  with  his  authority  the  books,  translated  by 
Scotus  Erigena,  which  were  long  attributed  to  Dionysius  the  Areopagite, 
but  which  are  now  known  to  be  a  production  of  the  fifth  century  and  of 
the  Alexandrian,  or  even  Monophysite,  metaphysics.  With  severe  nega- 
tions, not  wholly  foreign  to  Plotinus,  they  limit,  by  exceeding  them,  the 
affirmations  of  the  School  theology  ;  in  the  paradoxical  phrase  of  Cusanus, 
their  teaching  is  a  "  learned  ignorance  "  ;  but  they  exalt  the  earthly  as  a 
shadow  of  the  heavenly  hierarchy ;  and  they  leave  to  our  adoring  worship 
the  man  Christ  Jesus.  From  the  defilements  of  sense,  the  scandals  of 
history,  the  misuse  of  holy  things,  they  turn  to  an  inward,  upward 
vision  and  celebrate  the  hidden  life.  It  is  well  known  that  Eastern 
hermits  joined  the  work  of  their  hands  to  prayer;  that  cenobites  under 
the  Rule  of  St  Basil  copied  manuscripts,  studied  the  Scriptures,  and 
taught  in  schools,  especially  the  children  of  the  poor.  Brought  from  the 
plains  of  the  Euphrates  to  the  wild  heaths  or  grassy  meadows  of  Rhine 
and  Yssel,  this  secret  doctrine  found  in  Ruysbroek  an  Areopagite,  in 
Gerard  Groot  and  Florentius  Radevynszoon  the  masters  of  its  practice, 
who  combined  meditation  with  handicraft,  and  both  with  sacred  and 
secular  studies. 

Of  these  men  mention  has  already  been  made  in  another  chapter  of 
the  present  volume,  which  deals  with  the  Netherlands.  Groot's  institu- 
tion, closely  resembling  in  idea  the  first  thought  of  St  Francis,  was 
at  Constance  opposed  by  the  Dominican  Grabo,  but  defended  by  Gerson. 
It  may  be  remarked  in  passing,  that  Gerson  —  unfairly  according  to  the  best 
judges  —  criticised  the  language  of  Ruysbroek's  Ornament  of  the  Spiritual 
Marriage  as  tainted  with  pantheism.  In  1431  Eugenius  IV  approved 
the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life.  Pius  II  and  Sixtus  IV  showed  them 
much  kindness.  Florentius,  after  establishing  his  Austin  Canons  at 
Windeshem,  died  in  1400 ;  but  his  scheme  of  education  prospered. 
Gerard  Zerbold  of  Zutphen  governed  and  taught  in  a  similar  spirit. 
The  communities  of  Sisters  fell  off  in  some  measure.  On  the  other  hand, 
Groot's  foundation  at  Zwolle  developed  into  a  house  of  studies  under 
John  Cele,  and  drew  scholars  from  every  side  — from  Brabant,  Westphalia, 
and  even  Saxony.  In  1402  seven  monasteries  looked  up  to  Windeshem 
as  their  mother-house.  The  congregation  spread  into  Germany.  In  1409 
tumults  at  Prague,  with  which  University  Groot's  leading  disciples  had 
been  associated,  drove  out  thence  a  multitude  of  students  who  had  em- 
braced the  system  of  Nominalism.  They  flocked  to  De  venter,  Zwolle, 
and  the  other  Flemish  towns  where  that  system  was  upheld  against  the 
extravagances  of  an  overbearing  Realism.    The  convent  and  library  of 


628 


The  Imitation  of  Christ 


[1441 


le  Rouge  Cloitre,  in  the  Forest  of  Soignies,  became  very  celebrated. 
In  these  retreats  of  contemplatives,  kept  wholesome  by  hard  manual 
labour,  the  Scriptures  were  copied  and  read ;  the  text  of  the  Vulgate 
was  corrected ;  a  treasure  of  devout  wisdom  was  silently  gathered  up, 
whose  most  precious  jewel  is  the  book  written  by  Thomas  a  Kempis, 
though  it  did  not  bear  his  name.  Within  thirty  years  Windeshem  had 
given  rise  to  thirty-eight  convents,  of  which  eight  were  sisterhoods  and 
the  rest  communities  for  men  of  a  strict  yet  not  unreasonable  observance. 
To  the  Austin  Canons  established  by  Florentius  we  may  trace  a  main 
current  in  the  Catholic  Reformation ;  the  Austin  Hermits  ended  in 
Staupitz  and  Luther. 

Education  was  the  daily  work  of  many  among  the  Brethren.  Their 
school  at  Hertogenbosch  is  said  to  have  numbered  twelve  hundred  pupils. 
In  Deventer  they  taught  in  the  grammar-school,  and  "here  in  the 
mother-house  I  learned  to  write,"  says  Thomas  Hemerken,  who  came 
thither  from  Kempen  as  a  lad  of  twelve.  Florentius  gave  him  books, 
paid  his  school  fees,  was  a  father  to  him.  Unlike  Groot,  who  had  taken 
his  degree  at  Paris,  Thomas  attended  no  University.  He  was  taught 
singing ;  he  practised  the  beautiful  hand  in  which  he  copied  out  the 
whole  Bible ;  he  travelled  on  business  for  the  monastery,  but  was  away 
only  three  years  altogether;  at  Mount  St  Agnes  he  spent  just  upon 
seventy  years.  The  key-note  of  his  life  was  tranquillity ;  he  perhaps 
called  his  book  not,  as  we  do,  the  Imitation  of  Christy  but  the  Ucdesi- 
astical  Music.  A  reformer  in  the  deepest  sense,  he  accepted  Church 
and  hierarchy  as  they  existed,  and  never  dreamed  of  resisting  them. 
Everything  that  the  sixteenth  century  called  into  question  is  to  be 
found  in  his  writings.  He  availed  himself  of  an  indulgence  granted  by 
Boniface  IX ;  he  held  the  Lateran  teaching  on  the  Eucharist ;  he  speaks 
without  a  shadow  of  misgiving  of  the  veneration  of  Saints,  of  masses 
for  the  dead,  lay  Communion  in  one  kind,  auricular  confession,  and 
penance.  To  him  the  system  under  which  he  lived  was  divine,  though 
men  were  frail  and  the  world  had  fallen  upon  evil  days.  Those,  there- 
fore, who  seek  in  l^he  Imitation  vestiges  of  Eckhart's  pantheism,  or  pro- 
phesy ings  of  Luther's  justification  by  faith  alone,  fail  to  apprehend  its 
spirit,  nor  have  they  mounted  to  its  origin.  For  Ruysbroek  is  emphatic 
in  asserting  free-will,  the  necessity  of  works  as  fruits  of  virtue,  the  Grace 
which  makes  its  recipient  holy.  Such  is  the  very  kernel  of  Thomas 
d  Kempis,  in  whom  no  enthusiast  for  antinomian  freedom  would  find  an 
argument.  And  in  a  temper  as  active,  though  retiring,  as  dutiful 
though  creative,  the  movement  went  on  which  had  begun  at  Deventer. 
Thomas  records  in  a  series  of  biographical  sketches  how  his  companions 
lived  and  wrought.  When  we  arrive  at  Cusanus,  we  feel  that  there  could 
have  been  no  worthier  preparations  for  measures  of  amendment  in  the 
Church  at  large  than  this  quiet  process  of  self-discipline. 

As  a  pupil  of  Deventer,  Nicholas  Krebs  had  been  brought  up  in 


1431-1520]      Diocesan  and  Provincial  Synods 


629 


a  devout  atmosphere.  The  times  drove  reformers  to  take  sides  with 
a  Council  which  was  certain,  against  a  Pope  who  was  doubtful ;  and 
while  Archdeacon  of  Liittich,  Cusanus  at  Basel  in  1433  repeated  and 
enforced  the  deposing  maxims  which  he  had  learnt  from  Pierre  d'Ailly. 
His  pamphlet  On  Catholic  Concord  gave  the  Fathers  in  that  assembly 
a  text  for  their  high-handed  proceedings.  But  events  opened  his  eyes. 
Though  he  had  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  "  Compact "  by  which 
peace  was  made  with  the  Bohemians,  yet,  like  Cesarini,  this  learned  and 
moderate  man  felt  that  he  could  no  longer  hold  with  a  democratic  party 
pledged  to  everlasting  dissensions.  He  submitted  to  Eugenius  IV.  At 
Mainz  and  Vienna  in  1439  he  appeared  as  an  advocate  of  the  papal 
claims.  Two  years  later  Eugenius  associated  him  with  Carvajal,  of 
whom  more  will  be  said  below,  on  the  like  errand.  Nicholas  V  in  1451 
gave  him  a  legatine  commission  to  Bohemia ;  and  again  he  was  united 
with  a  vehement  Church  reformer,  the  Neapolitan  Capistrano,  who  was 
preaching  to  great  multitudes  in  Vienna  and  Prague. 

This  renowned  progress  of  Cusanus  which,  beginning  in  Austria, 
was  extended  to  Utrecht,  certainly  sheds  lustre  on  the  lowly-born  Pope, 
who  had  invested  him  with  the  Roman  purple,  appointed  him  Bishop 
of  Brixen,  and  bestowed  on  him  the  amplest  powers  to  visit,  reform, 
and  correct  abuses.  Yet  the  Council  of  Basel,  so  anarchical  when  it 
attempted  to  govern  the  Church,  must  share  in  whatever  credit  attaches 
to  the  work  of  the  Legate.  For  the  Conciliar  decree  which  ordered 
Diocesan  Synods  to  be  held  every  year  and  Provincial  every  three  years, 
set  on  foot  a  custom  fraught  in  the  sequel  with  large  and  admirable 
consequences.  We  possess  information  with  regard  to  some  two  hundred 
and  twenty  Synods  which  were  held  in  various  parts  of  Europe  between 
1431  and  1520.  Of  these  Germany  claims  the  larger  number ;  France 
follows  no  long  way  behind ;  but  Italy  reckons  few  in  comparison,  nor 
are  these  so  important  as  the  Councils  which  were  celebrated  beyond  the 
Alps.  At  Florence,  indeed.  East  and  West  for  a  moment  joined  hands. 
But  the  union  of  the  Churches  was  one  of  name  rather  than  of  fact ;  it 
melted  away  before  popular  hatred  in  the  Greek  provinces ;  and  its  gain 
to  Latins  may  be  summed  up  in  the  personality,  the  scholarship,  and 
the  library  of  Bessarion,  who  spent  his  days  on  the  futile  embassies  by 
which  he  hoped  to  bring  about  a  new  crusade.  The  reform  of  discipline, 
which  in  almost  every  diocesan  or  provincial  Synod  became  the  chief 
subject  of  argument  and  legislation,  was  not  undertaken  at  Florence. 

Not  doctrine  but  canon  law  occupied  the  six  local  assemblies  at 
Terguier  between  1431  and  1440 ;  the  two  held  at  Beziers  in  1437  and 
1442 ;  and  that  which  met  at  Nantes  in  1445  and  1446.  Italy  had  its 
Council  of  Ferrara  in  1436 ;  Portugal  in  the  same  year  met  in  Council 
at  Braga  under  Archbishop  Fernando  Guerra.  German  Synods  were 
held  frequently  about  this  period,  at  Bamberg,  Strassburg,  Ratisbon,  and 
Constance.    At  Salzburg  in  1437  a  code  of  reform  was  drawn  up  which 


630 


Conciliar  statutes  against  abuses 


[1440-51 


other  Councils  repeated  and  enforced.  It  dealt  with  Reservations,  — that 
deadly  plague  of  papal  and  episcopal  finance  ;  with  the  moral  disorders 
of  the  clergy ;  and  with  many  abuses  the  effects  of  which  have  been 
strongly  depicted  in  Protestant  satires.  The  Synod  of  Freising  in  1440 
condemned  usury  and  was  loud  in  its  denunciation  of  Jew  money-lenders. 
There  was  a  Synod  of  London  in  1438;  Edinburgh  held  another  in 
1445.  The  numerous  and  well-considered  statutes  of  Soderkoping,  over 
which  the  Archbishop  of  Upsala  presided  in  1441,  and  of  otlier  assemblies 
in  Scandinavia  between  1443  and  1448,  reveal  the  widespread  evils  from 
which  religion  was  suffering ;  they  insist  on  prayers  in  the  vernacular,  on 
frequent  preaching,  on  a  stricter  discipline  among  the  clergy.  A  French 
Synod  at  Rouen  in  1445,  which  enacted  forty-one  canons,  condemned 
in  emphatic  terms  witchcraft  and  magic  and  many  other  popular 
superstitions,  together  with  the  non-residence  of  beneficiaries  and  the 
tax  which  prelates  were  not  ashamed  to  gather  in  from  priests  who  kept 
concubines.  At  Angers  in  1448  a  severe  attack  was  made  upon  the 
traffic  in  spurious  relics  and  false  indulgences.  Many  strokes  might  be 
added  to  this  picture ;  but  there  is  an  inevitable  monotony,  as  in  the 
abuses  painted,  so  in  the  remedies  proposed  for  them,  none  of  which  laid 
the  axe  to  the  root.  Unless  princes  and  nobles  could  be  hindered  from 
masquerading  as  bishops,  though  destitute  of  piety,  learning,  and 
vocation,  the  ancient  evils  must  continue  to  flourish.  The  odious 
charges  laid  on  a  poverty-stricken  clergy,  at  once  too  numerous  and  too 
heavily  burdened,  which  took  from  them  their  first-fruits,  their  tenths, 
their  fifteenths,  were  not  abolished  in  a  single  one  of  these  Councils. 
Nor  was  the  abominable  practice  of  charging  money-dues  on  every  office 
of  religion  abandoned,  until  the  floods  came  and  the  great  rains  fell 
which  threatened  the  house  with  destruction.  The  master-idol  which 
it  was  impossible  to  pull  down  was  Mammon.  Culture  was  ruined 
by  immorality,  and  religion  itself  by  simony ;  while  for  the  sake  of  a 
living  crowds  professed  rules  of  perfection  which  they  made  little  or  no 
attempt  to  observe. 

Yet  Cusanus  showed  them  a  more  excellent  way.  In  February, 
1451,  he  began  to  execute  his  legatine  commission  at  Salzburg,  where 
he  presided  over  a  local  Synod.  He  travelled  in  unpretending  guise, 
preached  wherever  he  came,  and  displayed  zeal  and  even  tact,  which 
was  not  his  special  quality,  in  reconciling  the  parish  clergy  with  the 
Mendicants,  and  in  bringing  back  monastic  discipline  to  its  former 
purity.  At  Vienna,  in  March,  he  appointed  three  visitors  to  the 
Austrian  houses  of  St  Benedict,  then  by  no  means  attached  to  Rome. 
Fifty  convents,  in  due  time,  accepted  the  reform.  Cusanus  took  in 
hand  the  Augustinian  Canons,  held  a  Synod  at  Bamberg,  and  endea- 
voured to  regulate  the  troublesome  question  of  Easter  Confession  to  the 
parish  priest,  on  which  strife  was  constantly  arising  with  the  friars.  At 
Wiirzburg  he  received  the  homage  of  seventy  Benedictine  Abbots,  who 


1451-2]  Reforming  progress  of  Cusanus  631 


promised  obedience  to  his  decrees ;  though  all  did  not  keep  their  engage- 
ment. The  Bursfelde  Congregation,  which  brought  under  strict  observ- 
ance as  many  as  eighty-eight  abbeys  and  several  nunneries,  was  already 
flourishing.  It  had  been  set  up  by  John  Dederoth  of  Minden,  who 
became  Abbot  of  Bursfelde  in  1433,  and  was  closely  allied  with 
another  zealous  reformer,  John  Rode  of  St.  Matthias  at  Trier.  But  the 
original  impulse  appears  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Augustinian 
houses  which  had  adopted  the  rule  of  Windeshem,  and  the  famous  John 
Busch  may  be  named  in  the  present  connexion.  This  indefatigable 
preacher  visited  and  succeeded  in  reforming  a  large  number  of  convents 
in  Thuringia  and  the  adjacent  parts.  Cusanus  examined  and  approved 
the  statutes  of  Bursfelde  in  May,  1451.  He  appointed  visitors  to  the 
convents  of  Thuringia,  and  in  June  opened  the  Synod  of  Magdeburg, 
which  passed  the  usual  decrees  touching  reform  of  the  monasteries, 
concubinary  priests,  and  economic  oppression  as  practised  by  Hebrew 
money-lenders.  But  his  next  proceeding,  an  attempt  to  put  down  the 
pilgrimage  to  the  "  Miraculous  Host "  of  Wilsnack,  was  the  beginning 
of  great  troubles  and  met  with  no  success. 

Archbishop  Frederick  of  Magdeburg,  who  had  supported  the  Car- 
dinal in  this  attempt,  was  however  an  opponent  of  John  Busch,  and  in 
1454  the  latter  returned  to  Windeshem,  so  that  the  decrees  of  Cusanus 
were  not  in  the  end  carried  out.  He,  meanwhile,  continued  his  visita- 
tion at  Hildesheim  and  Minden.  In  August  he  was  at  Deventer,  whither 
much  business  followed  him.  The  Holy  See  extended  his  legatine  powers 
to  Burgundy  and  England;  but  in  what  manner  this  part  of  his  mission 
was  fulfilled  does  not  seem  clear.  That  he  fell  into  a  serious  illness,  from 
which  he  did  not  recover  until  February,  1452,  may  be  ascribed  to  his 
apostolic  labours  and  journeyings.  It  had  been  his  intention  to  preside 
at  the  Synod  of  Mainz,  which  was  opened  in  his  absence  by  Arch- 
bishop Dietrich,  in  March,  1452,  and  which  repeated  the  enactments  of 
Magdeburg  against  usury,  clerical  concubines,  vagrant  collectors  of 
alms,  and  the  holding  of  markets  on  feast-days.  Other  decrees  imply 
that  superstition  was  rife,  and  that  crime  was  not  unknown  in  holy 
places.  The  Cardinal  confirmed  these  statutes,  which  were  published  in 
many  diocesan  Synods.  In  March,  1452,  he  presided  over  a  gathering 
at  Cologne  in  which  twenty-one  decrees  were  published,  all  indicating 
how  deep  and  wide  were  the  wounds  of  religion  in  the  German  Church, 
the  wealthiest  and  the  most  feudalised  in  Christendom,  and  how  little 
prospect  there  was  of  healing  them.  It  is  not  the  way  of  religious 
Councils  to  legislate  for  evils  which  do  not  exist  or  have  attained  only 
slender  proportions;  and  we  must  conclude  from  the  reiterated  acts  of 
authority  that  all  over  the  West  the  bonds  of  discipline  were  loosened ; 
that  clerics  in  various  places  broke  their  vows  with  the  connivance  of 
bishops;  that  into  some  convents  vice  had  found  an  entrance;  and  that 
many  more  had  lapsed  into  ease  and  sloth.    Yet  in  the  largest  houses 


632     Cusanus^  quarrel  with  Sigismund  of  Tyrol  [1452-60 


immorality  was  rare;  nor  did  Lutheranism  receive  its  first  impulse 
from  the  relaxation  of  conventual  rule.  That  the  clergy  as  a  body 
were  throughout  this  period  corrupt  or  immoral,  is  an  assumption  un- 
supported by  definite  evidence. 

When  the  century  was  ending,  Trithemius,  Abbot  of  Sponheim, 
celebrated  Cusanus  as  an  angel  of  light  appearing  to  the  fatherland. 
He  restored,  said  Trithemius,  the  unity  of  the  Church  and  the  dignity 
of  her  Head ;  his  mind  embraced  the  whole  circle  of  knowledge.  The 
Cardinal,  while  not  disdaining  the  tradition  of  the  Schools,  had  busied 
himself  in  Italy  with  Plato  and  Aristotle ;  he  encouraged  the  study  of 
the  classics,  during  his  embassy  to  Constantinople  collected  Greek  manu- 
scripts, and  won  a  reputation  in  astronomy  and  physics  which  entitles 
him  to  be  named  as  a  forerunner  of  Copernicus.  With  George  Peurbach 
and  John  Miiller  of  Konigsberg,  who  died  Bishop  of  Ratisbon,  he  kept 
up  a  correspondence  on  scientific  and  literary  topics.  His  designs  for 
the  exaltation  of  the  imperial  power,  though  somewhat  chimerical,  stamp 
him  as  a  patriot  who  would  have  prevented  by  timely  changes  the  dis- 
orders which  Charles  V,  a  Fleming  or  a  Spaniard  rather  than  a  true 
German  Emperor,  could  not  overcome.  But  he  failed  in  politics,  and 
his  other  reforms  bore  little  fruit.  Of  the  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
abbeys  which  accepted  his  statutes,  not  more  than  seventy  observed 
them  in  1493. 

Cusanus  had  been  appointed  Bishop  of  Brixen  directly  by  the  Pope, 
without  the  local  Chapter  being  consulted.  This  was  a  violation  of  the 
Concordat,  and  the  Chapter  appealed  to  Archduke  Sigismund,  Count 
of  Tyrol.  But  the  Cardinal  was  peacefully  installed ;  and  when  he  came 
back  from  his  legatine  mission  in  1452,  he  set  about  reforming  his 
diocese,  which  stood  greatly  in  need  of  it.  He  began  with  a  visitation 
of  the  convents.  At  Brixen  he  turned  the  unruly  Sisters  out  of  their 
house.  The  Benedictine  nuns  of  Sonnenburg  pleaded  exemption  and, 
like  the  Chapter,  called  upon  Sigismund,  who,  though  notorious  for  his 
profligacies,  took  up  their  defence.  Very  unwisely,  Cusanus,  by  way  of 
answering  the  Duke,  laid  claim  to  a  temporal  jurisdiction  and  enforced 
it  by  anathema  and  interdict,  which  were  little  heeded.  The  Tyrolese 
detested  strangers  and  wanted  no  reform.  In  1457  the  Cardinal  fled 
from  Wilten,  declaring  that  his  life  was  in  danger :  Calixtus  III  inter- 
dicted Sigismund;  and  the  Duke,  prompted  by  Heimburg,  a  lifelong 
enemy  of  the  Holy  See,  appealed  to  the  Pope  better  informed.  This  did 
not  avail  with  Cusanus.  He  proceeded  with  his  censures,  hired  troops 
out  of  Venetia,  and  cut  to  pieces  a  band  of  forty  men  who  were  in  the 
pay  of  the  Sonnenburg  Sisters.  In  1459  Pius  II  undertook  to  mediate. 
He  was  not  successful.  On  the  contrary,  Sigismund,  who  had  pleaded 
his  own  cause  in  Mantua,  went  away  dissatisfied  and  was  preparing  an  ap- 
peal to  a  future  Council,  when  Pius  launched  the  bull  Execrabilis  (Janu- 
ary, 1460),  by  which  all  such  appeals  were  condemned  and  forbidden. 


The  Earlier  Renaissance 


633 


Here,  we  may  remark,  is  evidence  of  the  motives  on  which  the  Popes 
distrusted  Conciliar  action,  because,  if  it  could  be  invoked  at  any  time 
and  for  any  reason  against  them,  their  jurisdiction  was  paralysed. 

A  year  later  the  Duke  made  the  Cardinal  his  prisoner  at  Bruneck, 
and  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  points  in  dispute.  Cusanus  yielded, 
escaped,  fled  to  Pius  at  Siena,  and  cried  aloud  for  satisfaction.  The 
Pope,  after  fruitless  negotiations,  excommunicated  Sigismund,  laid  his 
dominions  under  interdict,  and  brought  Gregor  Heimburg  once  more 
into  the  field,  who  drew  up  a  formal  appeal  to  the  Council.  A  war  of 
pamphlets  followed,  bitter  in  its  personalities  on  all  sides,  but  especially 
damaging  to  Pius  II,  whose  earlier  years  were  little  fitted  to  endure  the 
fierce  light  of  criticism  now  turned  upon  them.  Heimburg's  language, 
though  moderate,  was  unsound  from  the  papal  point  of  view;  it  was 
coloured  also  by  his  personal  dislike  of  Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini, 
with  whom  he  had  a  long-standing  quarrel.  "  Prelates  of  Germany," 
he  exclaimed,  "  insist  on  the  Council  as  the  stronghold  of  your  freedom. 
If  the  Pope  carries  it,  he  will  tax  you  at  his  good  pleasure,  take  your 
money  for  a  Crusade,  and  send  it  to  Ferrante  of  Naples."  The  Bishop 
of  Feltre  replied  on  behalf  of  Pius,  while  the  German  princes  took 
part  with  Sigismund.  No  one  regarded  the  interdict.  Diether  of 
Mainz,  after  being  excommunicated  and  deposed,  took  up  arms  against 
the  Curia,  and  a  miserable  war  laid  waste  Germany.  The  Cardinal's 
death  brought  his  troubles  to  an  end  in  1464.  Heimburg  passed  over 
to  George  Podiebrad  and  the  Bohemians,  only  at  last  to  seek  reconcilia- 
tion with  Rome.  Sigismund  received  absolution.  The  Curia  triumphed 
in  the  conflict  at  Mainz.  An  interval  of  quiet  followed,  during  which 
the  movement  of  learning  went  its  way  prosperously  and  religion  kept 
the  peace  with  humanism. 

This  humanism  or,  as  it  may  be  termed,  the  earlier  Renaissance, 
flourished  at  many  centres.  Realist  and  Nominalist  were  of  one  mind 
in  promoting  classical  studies,  although  Ulrich  von  Hutten  has  per- 
suaded the  world  that  Cologne,  the  head-quarters  of  monasticism  and 
the  Inquisition,  loved  to  dwell  in  Egyptian  darkness.  The  inveterate 
quarrel,  which  is  as  old  as  Plato,  between  poets,  or  men  of  letters, 
and  philosophers  who  seek  wisdom  by  process  of  dialectic,  must  not 
be  overlooked,  when  we  read  the  judgments  of  the  later  humanists  on 
a  scholasticism  that  they  despised  without  always  understanding  it. 
To  them  technical  terms  were  a  jargon,  and  the  subtle  but  exquisite 
distinctions  of  Aquinas  spelt  barbarism.  But  now  printing  with  move- 
able types  had  been  invented.    From  Mainz  it  was  with  incredible 

1  rapidity  carried  over  Europe  to  Rome,  London,  Lisbon,  and  even 
Constantinople.  The  clergy  —  to  quote  the  words  of  Archbishop 
Berthold  of  Mainz  (Henneberg)  —  hailed  it  as  a  divine  art.  They 
endowed  printing-presses,  crowded  the  book-markets,  almost  impover- 

,  ished  themselves  by  the  purchase  of  their  productions  —  if  we  may 


634 


The  Christian  humanists 


believe  Coberger's  unwilling  testimony;  they  composed  as  well  as 
distributed  innumerable  volumes  of  which  the  purport  was  to  teach, 
to  explain,  and  to  enforce  the  duties  of  religion.  The  first  book  printed 
by  Gutenberg  was  the  Latin  Bible.  We  will  pursue  the  story  of  its 
editions  and  translations  in  due  course.  Here  it  is  seasonable  to  record 
that  many  prelates,  like  Dalberg  at  Worms  and  Heidelberg,  were 
munificent  patrons  of  the  new  art;  that  others,  like  Scherenberg  and 
Bibra,  published  indulgences  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  bought  and 
sold  printed  books ;  but  that  if  we  would  measure  the  depth  and  extent 
of  civilisation  as  due  to  the  diffusion  of  literature  through  the  press, 
we  must  look  to  the  wealthy  middle  class  and  the  Free  Cities  of  Germany, 
to  Augsburg,  Niirnberg,  Ratisbon,  and  the  Rhine  bishoprics. 

Once  more  De venter  solicits  our  attention.  Its  occupation  with  the 
copying  of  manuscripts  was  to  be  ruined  by  Gutenberg's  types ;  but  so 
long  as  the  Brethren  lasted  they  did  no  small  service  to  education, 
whether  we  regard  its  matter  or  its  methods.  To  their  school  has  been 
referred  the  illustrious  Rudolf  Agricola.  Alexander  Hegius  presided 
over  it;  and  among  its  disciples  were  Rudolf  von  Langen  and  Desi- 
derius  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam.  Agricola  is  often  called  the  German 
Petrarch  on  the  ground  that  he  laboured  incessantly  during  a  short  life 
(1443-85)  to  spread  classical  learning  north  of  the  Alps.  With  a 
passionate  love  of  the  ancients  he  combined  deep  devotion  to  the  Sacred 
Scriptures ;  his  last  years  were  spent  in  religious  meditation.  Hegius, 
though  an  older  man,  looked  up  to  him  as  a  guide  in  all  learning.  And 
while  it  must  be  admitted  that  Hegius  did  not  understand  Greek,  and 
was  not  an  accomplished  Latin  scholar,  yet,  in  the  thirty-three  years 
(1465-98)  during  which  he  ruled  as  headmaster  at  Deventer,  he  led 
the  way  to  better  things  by  his  improvement  of  the  German  manuals. 
As  is  elsewhere  told,  he  died  poor,  leaving  only  his  books  and  his  clothes. 
Rudolf  von  Langen,  provost  of  the  cathedral  in  Deventer,  new-modelled 
the  schools  of  Westphalia,  drew  crowds  of  students  to  Miinster,  and  sent 
out  teachers  as  far  as  Copenhagen,  in  which  capital  a  University  had 
been  founded  in  1479.  He  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  Rome  in  1486,  where 
his  amazing  knowledge  of  Latin  excited  the  admiration  of  Sixtus  IV. 
Not  only  the  ancient  classics,  but  their  native  antiquities,  poetry,  and 
topography,  engaged  the  attention  of  these  Teutonic  masters;  but 
they  were  zealous  above  all  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  the  Bible  in 
the  vernacular  as  in  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  are  aptly  termed  the 
Christian  Humanists. 

None  among  them  was  more  celebrated  than  Wimpheling.  Born  at 
Schlettstadt  in  1450,  living  down  to  the  tumultuous  period  of  the 
Reformation,  he  is  a  fine  example  of  the  priest,  scholar,  teacher, 
journalist,  and  patriot,  as  Germans  then  conceived  of  such  a  figure. 
Strassburg  was  proud  to  own  him ;  Reuchlin  became  his  pupil ;  with 
equal  heat  and  eloquence  he  denounced  unworthy  friars,  the  greedy 


Career  of  Wimpheling 


635 


Curia,  Jewish  financiers,  and  the  "poets"  or  literary  pagans,  as  he 
deemed  them,  who  were  leading  the  Renaissance  astray  from  orthodox 
paths.  But  education  in  theory  and  practice  was  his  proper  mission. 
Of  his  writings  on  the  subject  forty  thousand  copies,  it  is  estimated,  had 
been  thrown  into  circulation  by  the  year  1500.  His  Isidoneus  G-ermani- 
cus  (Guide  of  the  German  Youth),  dated  1497,  is  accounted  the  first 
methodical  treatise  on  teaching  by  a  German  hand.  It  was  followed 
three  years  later  by  a  second  work  entitled  Adolescentia,  which  marks 
an  era  in  the  science  of  pedagogics.  His  pamphlet  On  the  Art  of  Print- 
ing (1507)  offers  a  lively  sketch  of  German  culture  ;  warns  his  country- 
men against  perils  which  were  then  rapidly  approaching ;  and  contains 
a  hearty  expostulation  with  princes,  nobles,  and  lawyers,  who  were 
unprincipled  enough  to  sacrifice  the  old  freedom  of  their  people  to  the 
Roman  Law,  and  the  national  prosperity  to  their  own  covetousness. 

Wimpheling  offended  many  interests.  As  an  Alsatian,  he  sounded 
the  alarm  against  French  ideas  and  French  invasions.  It  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  he  would  find  favour  in  the  eyes  of  Hebrews  whom  he 
charged  with  usury,  of  Roman  courtiers,  Lutheran  controversialists,  or 
self-indulgent  men  of  letters,  all  of  whom  he  assailed.  Somewhat  narrow 
in  his  views,  and  pedantic  or  harsh  in  expressing  them,  this  vigorous 
partisan  has  suffered  in  the  esteem  of  posterity.  He  may,  nevertheless, 
be  classed  with  Reuchlin  as  an  enthusiastic  student  whose  researches  left 
his  religion  intact.  He  desired  to  see  Germany  free  and  independent, 
neither  enslaved  to  the  King  of  France  nor  burdened  with  the  hundred 
gravamina  due  to  a  bad  ecclesiastical  system  of  taxation,  to  papal 
nepotism,  and  other  enormities,  against  which  he  reiterated  the  strong 
national  protest  of  1457.  Had  such  men  as  Wimpheling  been  admitted 
to  the  confidence  of  the  Roman  Court ;  had  their  knowledge  of  German 
law  and  custom  been  turned  to  good  account  by  Julius  II  or  Leo  X,  a 
peaceful  reformation  might  still  have  been  effected.  They  resisted  the 
encroachments  of  the  new  imperial  legislation  which  was  destroying 
the  liberties  of  their  towns  and  the  comfort  of  their  yeomanry ;  they 
desired  to  protect  the  farmer  from  the  money-lender;  they  abhorred 
paganism,  even  when  it  brought  the  gift  of  culture ;  and  they  taught 
every  rank  to  read,  to  pray,  to  make  fuller  acquaintance  with  the  open 
Bible.  When  the  Church  parted  asunder  and  the  War  of  the  Peasants 
broke  out,  many  must  have  looked  up  to  Wimpheling  as  a  true  prophet. 
But  his  day  was  gone  by. 

Meanwhile,  the  clergy  had  education  in  their  hands.  Scholars 
flocked  wherever  Churchmen  ruled,  along  the  Rhine  as  in  Rome  itself ; 
freedom  to  learn,  to  teach,  to  print,  was  unbounded.  The  greatest  of 
medieval  Universities  had  been  Paris.  Not  to  pursue  its  earlier  and 
informal  beginnings,  it  had  grown  up  on  the  Isle  de  la  Cit^  since  1155, 
when  the  Abbot  of  Ste  Genevieve  appointed  a  Chancellor  whose  duty 
it  was  to  license  teachers  of  schools  in  that  district.    Its  statutes  were 


636 


Paris  and  later  Universities 


compiled  about  1208 ;  its  first  appearance  as  a  corporation  is  traced  to 
Innocent  III  and  the  year  1211.  In  perpetual  conflict  with  Chancellor, 
Bishop,  and  Cathedral-chapter,  the  University  owed  its  triumph  to  the 
Popes,  one  of  whom,  Gregory  IX,  in  his  bull  Parens  Scientiarum  of 
1231,  established  the  right  of  the  several  Faculties  to  regulate  their  own 
constitution.  Down  to  the  Great  Schism  in  1378,  the  Pontiffs  were  on 
amicable  terms  with  Paris  and  did  not  encourage  the  erection  of  chairs 
of  theology  elsewhere,  except  in  Italy,  where  they  were  introduced  at 
Pisa,  Florence,  Bologna,  and  Padua.  But  they  encouraged  the  Faculties 
of  Roman  or  Canon  Law  on  the  pattern  of  Bologna,  as  extending  their 
own  jurisdiction.  With  a  divided  papacy  came  the  rise  of  Gallicanism, 
already  foreshadowed  by  the  writings  of  Occam  and  Marsilius  of  Padua, 
the  Defensor  Pads.  It  was  Paris  that  directed  the  antipapal  measures 
of  Constance  and  Basel.  The  Holy  See  replied  by  showing  favour  to 
other  academies,  such  as  Cologne,  which  from  its  foundation  in  1388  had 
always  been  ultramontane.  Some  four-and-twenty  Universities  were 
established  during  the  period  under  review,  of  which  those  of  Witten- 
berg and  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  were  the  last.  That  their  organisation 
was  not  independent  of  the  Church,  or  opposed  to  its  authority,  is  clear 
on  the  evidence  of  the  diplomas  and  paper  bulls  to  which  they  owe  their 
origin.  Even  Wittenberg,  though  set  up  by  an  imperial  decree,  received 
an  endowment  from  Alexander  VI ;  and  the  Curia  showed  everywhere 
remarkable  zeal  in  helping  forward  the  new  centres  of  learning. 

In  France,  Poitiers  was  founded  by  Charles  VII  in  1431,  by  way  of 
retort  on  Paris  which  had  declared  for  the  English  King.  Caen, 
Bordeaux,  Nantes  disputed  the  monopoly  of  the  French  capital,  which 
was  further  lessened  by  long  and  venomous  wranglings  between  the 
Realist  divines  who  were  conservative  in  temper  as  they  were  Roman  in 
doctrine,  and  the  Nominalists,  or  King-and-Council  men,  determined  at 
all  costs  to  support  the  Crown.  Prague,  also,  which  had  become  the 
Studium  G-enerale  of  Slavonia,  drew  to  itself  students  from  Paris ;  and 
Louvain  exercised  no  small  influence  even  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine.  A 
striking  episode  is  the  journey  of  Wessel  to  Paris  (1452)  in  the  hope  of 
converting  from  their  Nominalist  errors  his  fellow-countrymen,  Henry 
van  Zomeren  and  Nicholas  of  Utrecht.  But  they  converted  him  from 
Realism ;  Wessel  adopted  the  philosophy  of  Plato  and  plunged  into  the 
quarrels  of  the  day  as  to  the  extent  of  the  Pope's  jurisdiction  and  the 
abuses  of  the  Curia.  He  lived  in  his  new  home  sixteen  years.  Among 
his  associates  were  Guillaume  de  Phalis,  John  of  Brussels,  and  Jean 
Haveron  the  Picard,  who  in  1450  became  Rector  of  the  University.  In 
1473  Wessel  after  a  tour  in  Italy  returned  to  Paris.  That  was  the  year 
in  which  Louis  XI  proscribed  the  doctrines  of  Nominalism  as  unedifying 
to  the  Church,  dangerous  to  faith,  and  unfitted  for  the  training  of  youth. 
That  Occam's  principles  ended  in  a  system  sensuous  at  once  and  sceptical, 
it  would  not  be  easy  to  deny  ;  and  this  consideration  furnished  a  sufficient 


Schools  in  Germany 


637 


motive,  though  by  no  means  the  only  one  on  which  its  adversaries  vrent. 
All  professors  were  now  bound  by  oath  to  teach  the  old  scholastic  tradi- 
tion. Jean  Bochard,  Bishop  of  Avranches,  who  had  been  the  adviser  of 
Louis  in  this  proceeding,  still  however  sought  the  aid  of  Wessel ;  it  is 
said  that  the  Flemish  divine  was  appointed  Rector  and  by  judicious 
measures  restored  the  credit  of  the  great  School,  endangered  during  a 
long  intellectual  anarchy.  Peace  was  secured ;  the  edict  which  forbade 
the  teaching  of  Nominalist  views  was  repeated  in  1481.  Reuchlin  studied 
Greek  in  Paris  where  the  first  professor  of  that  language  had  been 
nominated  in  1458 ;  and  in  the  College  Montaigu  Erasmus  underwent 
those  experiences  of  which  he  has  left  us  so  amusing  an  account.  But 
the  Renaissance  can  scarcely  be  described  as  having  made  a  commence- 
ment in  France  until  Charles  VIII  came  back  from  his  Italian  expedition ; 
its  foremost  leader  and  representative,  the  mighty-mouthed  Rabelais, 
belongs  to  a  period  many  years  beyond  the  limits  of  this  chapter. 
Neither  saints  nor  scholars  adorned  an  age  which  wasted  itself  in  political 
strife,  in  contentions  between  the  Crown-lawyers  and  the  champions  of 
Church-privileges,  in  the  abortive  Council  of  Pisa,  in  the  enforcement 
or  the  revocation  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction.  No  serious  thought  of 
reform  occupied  the  public  mind  in  France.  Local  synods  denounced 
abuses  which  they  were  powerless  to  remedy.  But  though  Erasmus 
did  not  conceive  a  high  opinion  of  German  culture  in  his  youth,  the 
new  era  had  dawned  with  Agricola  and  his  contemporaries  across  the 
Rhine. 

An  immense  number  of  schools,  elementary  or  advanced,  are  known 
to  us  from  these  years  as  existing  in  German  regions.  Nine  Universities 
were  opened.  Brandenburg  alone  lagged  behind ;  Berlin  had  no  printing- 
press  until  1539.  Cologne,  which  was  Realist  and  Dominican,  the  first 
among  older  foundations,  still  deserved  its  fame ;  Ortuin  Gratius, 
despite  the  Letters  of  Obscure  Men^  was  not  only  a  good  scholar  but 
in  his  own  way  liberal-minded.  John  von  Dalberg,  appointed  in  1482 
Curator  of  Heidelberg  and  Bishop  of  Worms,  divided  his  time  between 
the  University  and  the  bishopric ;  he  helped  to  establish  the  first  chair 
of  Greek,  and  he  began  the  famous  Palatine  library.  Reuchlin  came  to 
Heidelberg  in  1496;  he  was  made  librarian  and  in  1498  professor  of 
Hebrew.  The  Palatinate  was  likewise  the  head-quarters  of  the  Rhenish 
Literary  Sodality,  set  on  foot  in  1491  by  Conrad  Celtes.  At  Freiburg 
in  the  Breisgau,  Zasius,  an  exceedingly  zealous  Catholic,  taught  juris- 
prudence. Gabriel  Biel,  last  of  the  medieval  Schoolmen  (though  by  no 
means  of  the  scholastic  philosophers),  an  admirable  preacher,  occupied 
for  many  years  the  pulpit  at  Tiibingen  (1495).  At  Basel  resided  John 
Heynlin,  who  persuaded  Gering,  Cranz,  and  Freiburger  to  set  up  a 
printing-press  within  the  walls  of  the  Sorbonne  in  1470,  while  he  was 
Rector  of  Paris  University.  Sebastian  Brant,  author  of  The  Ship  of 
Fools,  an  ardent  defender  of  papal  claims,  dwelt  at  Basel  until  he 


638 


Endowments  of  learning  and  religion 


settled  in  his  native  city  of  Strassburg.  John  Miiller,  otherwise  Regio- 
montanus  (from  his  birthplace  Konigsberg,  in  Thuringia),  lectured  on 
physical  science  in  Vienna  and  Nurnberg,  prepared  the  maps  and 
calendars  of  which  Colombo  made  use  in  crossing  the  Atlantic,  and 
died  Bishop  of  Ratisbon.  He  met  at  Rome  in  1500  Copernicus,  already 
a  member  of  the  Chapter  of  Frauenburg,  and  at  the  time  engaged  in 
mathematical  teaching.  These  names,  to  which  many  might  be  added,  will 
serve  to  indicate  the  union  of  orthodoxy  with  erudition,  and  of  a  devotion 
to  science  with  the  spirit  of  Christian  reform.  In  none  of  these  men 
do  we  perceive  either  dislike  or  opposition  to  the  sacerdotal  S3^stem,  to 
sacraments,  or  to  the  papacy.  Sebastian  Brant,  in  particular,  published 
his  widely-read  and  popular  poem  with  intent  to  counteract  the  party 
of  rebellion  which  was  then  rising.  He  defended  the  doctrine  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  ;  and  in  the  height  of  his  satire  he  is  careful  to 
spare  the  priesthood.  On  the  whole,  it  appears  that  the  German 
Universities  flourished  rather  in  the  years  which  immediately  preceded 
the  Reformation  than  in  those  which  followed  it ;  and  if  we  except 
Wittenberg  and  Erfurt,  they  almost  all  took  sides  with  the  ancient 
religion  and  the  Holy  See.  The  spirit  of  literature,  as  of  science,  is 
however,  in  its  nature,  obviously  distinct  from  the  dogmatic  method 
cultivated  by  all  theologians  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

"  In  papal  times,"  said  Luther  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  "  men 
gave  with  both  hands,  joyfully  and  with  great  devotion.  It  snowed  of 
alms,  foundations,  and  testaments.  Our  forefathers,  lords  and  kings, 
princes  and  other  folk,  gave  richly  and  compassionately,  yea,  to  over- 
flowing, to  churches,  parishes,  schools,  burses,  hospitals. "  Examination 
in  detail  proves  that  this  witness  of  Luther  is  true.  There  never  had 
been  in  Germany,  since  the  days  of  St  Boniface,  such  a  season  of 
beneficence  directed  to  the  fostering  of  scholarship  and  piety.  Churches, 
of  which  a  long  list  remains,  were  built*  in  towns  and  villages,  often  on  a 
splendid  scale.  German  architects,  like  German  printers,  invaded  all 
countries ;  they  were  found  in  Spain  at  Barcelona  and  Burgos  ;  they 
were  called  in  to  complete  the  Duomo  at  Milan.  The  Gothic  style 
in  Italy  was  recognised  to  be  of  German  origin.  But  it  was  especially 
on  works  of  benevolence  or  education  that  gifts  were  lavished.  Endow- 
ments, no  small  portion  of  which  came  from  the  clergy,  provided  for 
universities  and  almshouses,  for  poor  scholars  and  public  preachers, 
for  the  printing  of  works  by  well-known  authors,  such  as  Wimpheling 
and  Brant.  Cloisters  became  the  home  of  the  press ;  friars  themselves 
turned  printers.  Among  other  instances  may  be  citied  Marienthal  (1468), 
St  Ulrich  in  Augsburg  (1472),  the  Benedictines  in  Bamberg  (1474),  the 
Austin  Hermits  in  Nurnberg  (1479),  and  the  Minorites  and  Carthusians 
who  assisted  Amerbach  in  Basel.  Typography  was  introduced  in  1476 
at  Brussels  by  the  Brethren  of  the  Common  Life  and  also  at  Rostock. 
They  were  energetic  in  spreading  the  new  art ;  they  called  themselves 


The  printing  of  the  Bible 


639 


preachers  not  in  word  but  in  type,  non  verbo  sed  scripto  predicantes. 
Their  activity  extended  through  the  dioceses  of  Liibeck,  Schleswig,  and 
Denmark ;  they  gave  out  books  to  be  printed,  which  betokens  a  demand 
that  they  could  scarcely  satisfy ;  and  in  Windeshem  and  other  houses 
lending-libraries  were  opened.  In  the  district  of  Utrecht  alone,  wrote 
John  Busch  the  reformer,  more  than  a  hundred  free  congregations  of 
Sisters  or  Beguines  had  a  multitude  of  German  books  for  their  daily 
reading.    This  was  earlier  than  1479. 

The  demand  fell  into  five  or  six  large  categories.  The  public  wanted 
grammars  and  aids  to  learning.  They  were  eager  to  be  told  about  their 
own  history  and  antiquities.  They  welcomed  every  edition  of  a  Latin 
classic.  But  above  all  they  cried  out  for  books  of  devotion  and  the 
Bible  in  their  mother- tongue.  To  sum  up  with  one  of  the  biographers 
of  Erasmus,  the  early  printed  books  of  Germany  were  in  the  main  of  a 
popular  educational  or  a  religious  character. 

All  that  is  left  from  the  immense  shipwreck  of  libraries  and  literature 
which  happened  during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  bears 
out  this  statement.    It  may  be  convenient  to  introduce  at  this  point  a 
brief  general  survey  of  the  first  Bibles  printed,  whether  in  Latin  or 
the  vernacular,  down  to  the  eve  of  the  Reformation.    As  the  educated 
classes  read  and  corresponded  on  learned  topics  in  the  language  of  Rome, 
and  monasteries  were  great  consumers  of  religious  works  in  Latin,  we 
should  expect  frequent  publication  and  large  editions  of  the  Vulgate 
which  had  been  from  before  St  Jerome's  day  the  authorised  Western 
version.    Accordingly,  Gutenberg  set  it  up  in  type  as  his  first  produc- 
tion.   It  was  finished  by  1456  ;  under  the  name  of  the  Mazarin  Bible, 
it  still  survives  in  several  copies.    The  Mainz  Psalter  is  the  first  printed 
volume  with  a  date,  1457.    The  first  dated  Bible  (fourth  Latin)  came 
out  at  Mainz  from  the  office  of  "Fust  and  Schoeffer"  in  1462.  No 
book  was  more  frequently  republished  than  the  Latin  Vulgate,  of  which 
ninety-eight  distinct  and  full  editions  appeared  prior  to  1500,  besides 
twelve  others  which  contained  the  Cflossa  Ordinaria  or  the  Postils  of 
Lyranus.    From  1475,  when  the  first  Venetian  issue  is  dated,  twenty- 
two  complete  impressions  have  been  found  in  the  city  of  St  Mark  alone. 
Half  a  dozen  folio  editions  came  forth  before  a  single  Latin  classic  had 
been  printed.    This  Latin  text,  constantly  produced  or  translated,  was 
accessible  to  all  scholars ;  it  did  not  undergo  a  critical  recension ;  but 
I  it  might  be  compared  with  the  Hebrew  Psalms  printed  in  1477,  the 
Pentateuch  printed  in  1482 ;  the  Prophets  in  1485 ;  the  Old  Testament 
,  in  1488,  by  Abraham  ben  Chayim  at  Soncino  in  the  duchy  of  Milan. 
(  The  Hebrew  Hagiographa  had  come  out  at  Naples  in  1486.  The 
;  Rabbinic  Bible,  from  the  Bomberg  press  at  Venice,  was  edited  in  four 
parts  by  Felix  Pratensis  and  dedicated  to  Leo  X  in  1517.    The  firm  of 
i  Aldus  in  1518  published  the  Septuagint;  Erasmus  had  brought  out  the 
\  Greek  New  Testament  in  1516.    But  it  was  first  printed  in  1514  in  the 


640 


The  Bible  in  translations 


Polyglot  of  Cardinal  Ximenes  at  Alcala  (Complutum)  which,  however, 
did  not  appear  until  1520. 

The  earliest  Bibles  printed  in  any  modern  language  were  in  German, 
issued  by  Mentelin  and  Eggesteyn  of  Strassburg  not  later  than  1466. 
In  1471  appeared  at  Venice  two  Italian  translations,  the  first  by  Malermi, 
a  Camaldulese  monk  who  died  as  far  back  as  1421,  the  second  by  Nicholas 
Jenson.  Buyer  at  Lyons  is  responsible  for  the  first  French  New  Testa- 
ment in  1477 ;  the  Old  Testament  in  Dutch  came  out  at  Delft  the 
same  year.  In  1480  the  Low-German  Bible  appeared  at  Cologne.  The 
entire  Bible,  done  into  French  paraphrase  by  Guiars  de  Moulin  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  was  committed  to  type  in  1487,  and  went  through 
sixteen  editions.  The  Bohemian  version  belongs  to  1488.  The  Spanish 
had  been  made  about  1405  by  Boniface,  brother  of  St  Vincent  Ferrer ; 
it  was  printed  at  Valencia  in  1478,  and  republished  in  1515,  of  course 
with  the  imprimatur  of  the  Inquisition.  The  standard  French  version  of 
Jacques  Lefevre  (1512  to  1523-7)  was  revised  by  Lou  vain  theologians 
and  passed  through  forty  editions  down  to  the  year  1700.  Fourteen 
translations  of  the  Vulgate  into  German,  and  five  into  Low  Dutch, 
are  known  to  have  existed  before  Luther  undertook  the  task ;  from  a 
collation  of  these  with  his  Bible,  it  is  evident  that  the  reformer  consulted 
previous  recensions,  and  that  his  work  was  not  entirely  original.  Prior 
to  his  first  complete  edition  in  1534  no  fewer  than  thirty  Catholic 
impressions  of  the  entire  Scriptures  or  portions  of  them  had  appeared  in 
the  German  vernacular.  Eleven  full  Italian  editions,  with  permission 
of  the  Holy  Office,  are  counted  before  1567.  The  Polish  Bible  was 
printed  at  Cracow  in  1556  and  many  times  afterwards  with  approbation 
of  the  reigning  Popes. 

Translations  of  the  Psalms  and  Sunday  Gospels  had  long  been  in 
use.  From  the  Council  of  Constance,  or  even  earlier,  provincial  synods 
laid  the  duty  on  priests  of  explaining  these  portions  during  Mass ;  and 
Postils  or  Plenaria  which  comment  upon  them  in  the  vernacular  meet  us 
everywhere.  Metrical  versions,  such  as  that  of  de  Moulins  in  France,  or 
of  Maerlant  in  the  Netherlands  (1225-1300),  were  well  known  among  all 
classes.  But  to  what  an  enormous  extent  the  Bible  was  now  read  the 
above  dates  and  figures  may  indicate,  not  to  mention  the  forms  in  which 
it  was  speedily  issued,  pocket  or  miniature  editions  for  daily  use.  It  is 
not  until  we  come  within  sight  of  the  Lutheran  troubles,  that  preachers 
like  Geiler  of  Kaisersberg  hint  their  doubts  on  the  expediency  of  un- 
restrained Bible-reading  in  the  vernacular.  One  remarkable  fact  would 
seem  to  tell  the  other  way.  In  this  extensive  catalogue  we  have  not 
been  able  to  discover  a  solitary  English  Bible.  How  did  it  happen,  we 
must  ask,  that  before  Tyndale's  New  Testament  of  1526  none  was 
printed  in  our  native  tongue  ? 

A  dense  darkness  hangs  over  the  origin  and  authorship  of  the  trans- 
lation ascribed  to  Wyclif.    It  is  certain  that  Archbishop  Arundel,  at 


The  old  English  Bible 


641 


the  Council  of  Oxford  in  1408,  prohibited  the  making  or  keeping  of 
unauthorised  English  versions,  and  that  he  condemned  "any  book, 
booklet,  or  tract  of  this  kind  made  in  the  time  of  the  said  John  Wyclif 
or  since."  It  is  equally  certain  that  manuscript  copies  of  an  English 
Bible  were  in  possession  of  such  orthodox  Catholics  as  Thomas  of 
Woodstock,  Henry  VI,  Humphrey  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and  the  Brigittine 
nuns  of  Syon.  English  Bibles  were  bequeathed  by  will,  and  given  to 
churches  or  religious  houses.  From  all  this  it  has  been  argued,  on  the 
one  hand,  that  authority  tolerated  the  use  of  a  version  which  was  due 
to  Wycliffite  sources ;  on  the  other,  that  a  Catholic  version  must  have 
existed,  and  that  the  copies  mentioned  above  contain  it.  Sir  Thomas 
More,  disputing  against  Tyndale,  affirms  that  no  translations  executed 
prior  to  the  Lollards  were  forbidden.  "I  myself  have  seen  and  can 
show  you,"  he  says  in  his  Dyalogue^  "  Bibles  fair  and  old,  written  in 
English,  which  have  been  known  and  seen  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese, 
and  left  in  the  hands  of  lay  men  and  women  whom  he  knew  to  be  good 
and  Catholic  people."  More  himself  was  decidedly  in  favour  of  vernacular 
versions ;  but  "  the  New  Testament  newly-forged  by  Tyndale,  altered  and 
changed  in  matters  of  great  weight,"  he  judged  worthy  of  the  fire.  The 
extant  copies  of  an  earlier  Bible,  to  whomsoever  due,  exhibit  no  traces 
of  heretical  doctrine.  Cranmer  and  Foxe  the  martyrologist  both  allude 
to  translations  of  the  whole  body  of  Scripture,  "as  well  before  John 
Wyclif  was  born  as  since,"  says  the  latter.  In  the  destruction  of  libraries 
these  have  perished  and  nothing  of  them  is  now  known. 

To  Latin  readers  the  Bible  would  be  familiar.  Coberger  of  Niirnberg 
had  set  up  in  London  a  warehouse  for  the  sale  of  the  Vulgate  as  early  as 
1480.  To  English  readers  Caxton  offered  the  Golden  Legend  in  1483 ; 
it  contained  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Pentateuch  and  a  large  portion  of 
the  Gospels.  The  Liber  Festivalis  included  Scripture  paraphrases.  But 
it  was  in  Germany  that  the  printer  had  become  the  evangelist.  No 
censorship  interfered  with  the  ordinary  course  of  instruction ;  and  this 
contemplated  the  whole  duty  of  a  Christian  man ;  it  was  a  comment  on 
Holy  Writ  which  all  were  at  liberty  to  keep  in  their  hands.  Fifty-nine 
editions  of  the  Imitation  of  Christ  were  brought  out  in  less  than  fifty 
years.  Prayer-books  in  heartfelt  and  instructive  speech,  the  Gate  of 
Heaven^  the  Path  to  Paradise^  and  a  hundred  more,  were  sold  in  all 
book-markets.  Numerous  as  are  the  specimens  that  survive,  those  who 
have  examined  them  agree  that  on  points  afterwards  violently  disputed,  — 
as  the  doctrine  of  indulgences  and  prayers  to  the  Saints,  —  they  lend  no 
countenance  to  superstition  or  excess.  Were  we  to  form  our  view 
of  German  religion  from  these  prayers,  hymns,  and  popular  manuals,  it 
would  be  eminently  favourable.  In  language  as  in  sentiment  they  have 
never  been  surpassed.  The  Deutsche  Theologie^  named  and  published 
in  part  by  Luther  (1516-18)  is  an  admirable  instance,  perfectly 
orthodox  and  profoundly  spiritual,  by  an  unknown  author,  perhaps  of 

C.  M.  H.  I.  41 


642  Erasmus  in  England 

the  fourteenth  century.  We  must  look  to  other  sources  of  information  — 
among  them  Innocent  VIII's  bull  Summis  desiderantes  affectibus  against 
witchcraft  (1484)  and  the  Malleus  Maleficarum  of  Jacob  Sprenger  and 
Heinrich  Kramer  (Institoris)  (before  1487)  hold  a  conspicuous  place  — 
if  we  would  understand  that  with  much  outward  ceremony  and  not  a  little 
genuine  devotion,  the  phenomena  of  diseased  fancies,  ancient  heathenism 
and  growing  luxury,  were  mingled  in  unequal  proportions.  But  there 
is  no  reason  for  alleging  that  the  Hierarchy  or  the  religious  Orders  in 
general  directly  opposed  themselves  to  the  progress  of  learning.  They 
considered  that  the  Christian  faith  had  much  to  gain  and  nothing  to 
lose  by  the  arts,  inventions,  and  discoveries  which  the  new  inspiration 
called  the  Renaissance  had  carried  to  so  marvellous  a  height.  The 
enemy  was  not  erudition  but  unbelief. 

It  would  be  as  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
monks  were  classical  scholars,  as  that  the  personal  influence  of  the 
prelates  was  for  the  most  part  edifying.  But  bishops  who  lived  in  open 
defiance  of  decency  enacted  excellent  laws  in  synod  ;  and  there  were 
few  monasteries  in  which  a  serious  effort  to  attain  learning  would  be 
absolutely  in  vain.  The  scholastic  philosophy  was  now  overladen  with 
futile  expositions  and  had  sunk  to  unprofitable  wrangling.  But  Erasmus, 
the  glory  of  Deventer,  is  a  witness  beyond  exception  to  the  spirit  which 
prevailed  among  churchmen  of  high  degree,  from  Oxford  to  Basel,  and 
from  Cambray  to  Rome.  In  his  Colloquies^  his  Encomium  Moriae^  and 
throughout  his  correspondence,  he  mocks  or  argues  against  many  super- 
stitions, irregularities,  and  fantastic  opinions,  which  he  had  observed 
in  the  course  of  his  travels.  But  nowhere  does  he  hint,  under  no  provo- 
cation is  he  tempted  to  imagine,  that  authority  frowns  upon  "good 
letters,"  while  he  addresses  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz  and  the  Pope  him- 
self in  favour  of  reform.  On  these  subjects  the  evidence  of  his  residence 
in  England  is  particularly  instructive. 

Erasmus  (1466-1536)  owed  a  little  to  Hegius;  he  had  been  re- 
marked by  Rudolf  Agricola;  his  patron  was  the  Bishop  of  Cambray. 
After  making  trial  in  Paris  of  the  student's  joys  and  sufferings,  since  he 
despaired  of  reaching  Italy,  he  came  in  1499  to  Oxford,  and  tarried 
there  two  or  three  months.  He  won  the  friendship  of  Colet  and  More ; 
he  became  acquainted  with  Grocyn  and  Linacre.  These  were  the  lights 
of  English  learning,  the  chief  guides  in  English  religion,  before  the 
King's  "  great  matter  "  brought  in  a  new  world.  "  Colet's  erudition, 
More's  sweetness,"  to  which  an  Erasmian  letter  alludes,  have  become 
proverbial.  But  the  movement  had  not  begun  with  them.  Out  of  the 
new  impulse,  during  or  after  the  mid-course  of  the  century,  colleges 
at  Oxford  had  sprung  into  existence  or  received  a  fresh  life.  They  were 
rivalling  or  surpassing  the  monastic  hospitia.  In  the  classic  revival 
Oxford  rather  than  Paris  took  the  lead.  Grocyn,  More's  teacher,  was 
not  the  first  Englishman  who  studied  Greek.  He  received  lessons,  indeed, 


The  English  clergy  and  the  Renaissance  6tl:3 


from  the  exile  Chalcondylas  in  1491 ;  but  twenty-five  years  earlier  two 
monks  of  Canterbury,  Hadley  and  Selling,  were  students  at  Padua, 
Bologna,  and  Rome  (1464-7).  According  to  Leland,  Selling  attended 
the  lectures  of  Politian  ;  at  Bologna  the  Greek  masters  appear  to  have 
been  Lionorus  and  Andronicus.  To  Canterbury  the  Benedictine  monk 
brought  Greek  manuscripts  and  converted  his  monastery  into  a  house 
of  studies,  from  which  the  knowledge  of  Hellenic  literature  was  carried 
in  more  than  one  direction. 

His  most  celebrated  pupil  was  Linacre.  Sent  to  Oxford  about  1480, 
Linacre  studied  in  Canterbury  College,  became  Fellow  of  All  Souls',  and 
went  with  Selling  in  1486  on  an  embassy  from  Henry  VII  to  Pope 
Innocent.  At  Florence  he  shared  in  the  lessons  given  by  Politian  to  the 
children  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici.  From  Chalcondylas  he  learned  more 
Greek  than  Selling  had  taught  him.  It  was  when  Linacre  had  passed  a 
year  in  Italy  that  he  persuaded  William  Grocyn,  whom  he  had  known 
in  Oxford,  to  come  out  and  share  his  studies.  Such  was  the  origin 
of  those  famous  lectures  attended  by  Sir  Thomas  More.  Of  the  names 
we  have  mentioned  two,  therefore,  represent  the  Benedictine  cloister  at 
Canterbury ;  Grocyn  was  a  doctor  in  theology,  "  almost  superstitiously 
observant,"  says  Erasmus,  "  of  ecclesiastical  custom " ;  Linacre,  after 
graduating  in  the  medical  schools  at  Padua,  became  physician  to 
Henry  VIII,  and  in  the  decline  of  life  took  priest's  orders.  Selling 
translated  a  sermon  of  Chrysostom's  from  Greek  into  Latin  as  early  as 
1488.  And  the  complete  Homer  as  well  as  the  plays  of  Euripides,  once 
associated  with  the  memory  of  Archbishop  Theodore,  which  are  still 
preserved  in  the  library  of  Corpus  Christi,  Cambridge,  may  have  been 
among  the  manuscripts  which  Selling  brought  from  Italy.  In  like  manner 
the  Livy,  the  Greek  Psalter  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  Hebrew 
and  Latin  Psalms,  in  Trinity  College  Library,  were  Benedictine  treasures. 

With  this  learned  Prior  we  may  reckon  his  friend  Langton,  in  1483 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  from  whose  "  domestic  school "  came  the  still 
more  learned  Robert  Pace,  well  known  as  a  diplomatist  and  man  of 
letters.  Langton  sent  Pace  to  study  at  Padua  and  Rome ;  he  was 
assisted  by  Cuthbert  Tunstal  and  William  Latimer,  and  was  taught  by 
Leonicus.  Few  among  Englishmen,  except  the  clergy,  were,  as  a  Vene- 
tian traveller  observed  in  1500,  at  this  time  addicted  to  literature.  In 
religious  houses,  as  at  Reading,  Ramsey,  and  Glastonbury,  distinct 
evidence  is  forthcoming  of  zeal  in  scholarship.  To  these  examples  may 
be  added  Richard  Charnock,  Prior  of  St  Mary's,  Oxford,  with  whom 
Erasmus  stayed.  The  registers  of  the  University  from  1506  to  1535, 
the  era  of  Dissolution,  prove  that  the  Benedictines  kept  up  a  high 
average  of  graduates.  To  the  same  effect  are  details  gleaned  elsewhere, 
as  at  Gonville  Hall,  Cambridge,  between  1500  and  1523.  Help  was 
constantly  given  to  poor  students  by  monastic  houses ;  hence,  when  these 
were  swept  away,  not  only  did  the  secular  clergy  lack  recruits,  but  the 


644 


Colet^  Dean  of  St  PauVs 


Universities  showed  a  falling  off  in  their  scholars.  It  is  remarked  that 
in  1547  and  1550  not  a  single  degree  was  taken  at  Oxford.  In  1545 
Cambridge  petitioned  the  Crown  for  fresh  privileges  in  apprehension  of 
the  total  decay  of  learning.  Latimer  in  Edward  VI's  time,  and  Edge- 
worth  under  Mary,  contrast  this  lamentable  change  with  former  flour- 
ishing years.  Under  Henry  VIII  the  numbers  fell  off ;  the  spirit  of 
independence  was  broken ;  the  Universities  lay  at  the  King's  mercy. 
True,  the  Reformation  had  allied  itself  with  Humanism  ;  but  these  two 
great  movements  were  not  destined  to  follow  the  same  path.  Erasmus 
had  complained  of  the  harm  which  Luther  was  inflicting  on  letters ; 
Bembo  was  all  astonishment  at  the  piety  of  Melanchthon.  Neither  the 
literary  nor  the  scientific  spirit  was  in  its  essence  Protestant. 

Colet  (1466-1519),  who  strikes  us  as  entirely  English,  downright, 
straightforward,  and  impatient  of  scholastic  subtleties  and  pagan  license, 
had  come  home  from  Italy  in  1498  with  a  contempt  for  its  ungodly 
refinements.  He  lectured  without  stipend  in  Oxford  on  the  Epistles  of 
St  Paul,  after  a  new  method  which  attracted  many,  but  was  a  stone  of 
offence  to  some  of  the  elders.  Colet  preached  a  return  to  primitive 
discipline ;  he  preferred  the  Fathers  before  their  commentators  ;  and  he 
despised  much  of  the  current  usage  as  tending  to  overlay  the  Gospel 
with  human  inventions.  In  1504  Henry  VII  named  him  Dean  of  St 
Paul's.  Here  he  endowed  the  public  school  of  which  he  made  William 
Lilly  headmaster ;  its  governors  were  to  be  married  citizens,  not  monks 
or  clerics.  It  furnished  a  pattern  to  other  foundations,  including  the 
grammar-schools  of  Edward  VI  and  Elizabeth,  but  was  much  decried  by 
teachers  of  the  ancient  stamp.  In  Archbishop  Warham  Colet,  as  after- 
wards Erasmus,  found  an  unfailing  friend  and  benefactor.  By  him  the 
Dean  was  enabled  to  address  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury,  in  1512. 
Colet  inveighed  against  the  worldliness  of  bishops,  the  accumulation  of 
benefices,  the  evils  of  non-residence.  He  attacked  no  dogma.  But  he 
was  at  once  accused  before  the  Primate  as  disparaging  celibacy  and  as 
being  himself  a  heretic.  Warham  dismissed  the  charges.  If  we  consider 
who  Colet's  friends  were  the  accusations  against  him  seem  scarcely  prob- 
able. He  had  been  for  a  number  of  years  More's  spiritual  director  He 
strongly  approved  of  Erasmus  when  he  brought  out  his  Greek  New 
Testament.  But  he  praised  quite  as  strongly  Melton's  Exliortation  to 
Young  Men  entering  on  Orders^  printed  by  Wynkin  de  Worde,  in  which 
it  is  laid  down  that  a  priest  should  say  his  Hours  and  his  Mass  every 
day,  as  well  as  meditate  on  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  and  read  the 
Scriptures.  It  was  not  dogma,  but  the  superfluous  contendings  of 
"  neoteric  divines  "  which  provoked  the  indignation  of  those  moderate 
reformers  with  whom  Colet  thought  and  acted.  As  a  patristic  student 
he  is  termed  by  Erasmus  "  the  assertor  and  champion  of  the  old  theo- 
logy," —  a  phrase  which  defines  his  position,  but  which  does  not  exhibit 
him  as  favouring  the  Reformation.  ^ 


Legatine  commission  of  Wolsey 


645 


Foxe,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  founded  Corpus  Christi,  Oxford,  in 
1516,  with  special  reference  to  the  study  of  Greek.  Three  years  later, 
sermons  and  speeches  were  made  against  this  innovation,  but  More 
and  Pace  engaged  the  King  easily  on  their  own  side,  and  the  "  Trojans  " 
were  laughed  out  of  court.  At  Cambridge,  Fisher,  the  Chancellor, 
recalled  his  protege  Richard  Croke  from  Leipzig  in  1519  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  Erasmus,  who  had  taught  Greek  in  the  university 
between  1511  and  1513.  In  the  great  humanist's  flattering  judgment, 
Cambridge  had  become  equal  to  the  best  academy  abroad  since  it 
had  discarded  the  old  exercises  in  Aristotle  and  put  away  Scotus. 
On  the  appearance  of  his  New  Testament,  Warham  assured  Erasmus 
in  an  all  but  official  letter  that  it  had  been  gladly  received  by  all  the 
bishops  to  whom  he  had  shown  it.  Fisher  and  More  in  1519  helped 
in  the  correction  of  the  second  edition.  Leo  X  accepted  its  dedica- 
tion. The  alarm  which  was  raised  in  some  parts,  as  if  Greek  studies 
were  a  prelude  to  Lutheranism,  found  no  echo  in  England.  Few 
signs  of  an  approaching  catastrophe  in  Church  and  State  can  be  noted 
until  the  fall  of  Wolsey.  The  Lollards  were  extinct.  Benevolence 
still  continued  to  flow  in  ecclesiastical  channels.  As  in  Germany, 
schools,  colleges,  and  gilds  were  multiplied.  The  people,  who  had 
during  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years  rebuilt  so  many  parish  churches, 
now  adorned,  endowed,  and  managed  them.  Printing-presses  were  set 
up  under  clerical  patronage.  Religious  literature  was  in  constant 
demand.  Missals,  manuals,  breviaries,  for  the  use  of  the  clergy  ;  special 
treatises  like  Pars  Oculi,  dealing  with  their  duties;  and  primers,  prayer- 
books,  Dives  et  Pauper,  for  the  laity,  were  printed  in  great  abundance. 
Sermons  were  much  in  request.  Paul's  Cross  attracted  famous  preachers 
and  vast  audiences.    But  there  was  another  side  to  the  picture. 

That  religious  men  in  England  had  somewhat  degenerated  from  their 
ancient  strictness  and  fervour  of  spirit,  is  one  reason  alleged  by  Cresacre 
More  why  Sir  Thomas  did  not  join  the  Carthusians  or  Franciscans. 
Unlike  Erasmus,  who  suffered  from  the  intemperate  zeal  which  thrust 
vows  upon  him  in  his  youth,  More  was  a  devoted  adherent  of  monasticism. 
His  biographer's  judgment,  however,  is  far  too  mild ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  sweeping  inferences  which  have  been  drawn  from  the  indictment 
laid  before  Cardinal  Morton  in  1489  against  the  Abbot  of  St.  Albans, 
cannot  be  accepted  without  proof, 
j  Disorder  and  dilapidation  enough  were  shown  to  justify  Wolsey  in 
taking  out  the  Legatine  commission  in  1518,  which  later  on  was  turned 
against  the  clergy,  whom  it  did  not  amend,  as  bringing  them  into  a 
praemunire.  Wolsey  could  have  reformed  others,  himself  not  at  all, — 
or  not  until  his  dignities  were  stripped  off  and  death  stared  him  in  the 
face.  A  magnificent  pluralist  ill-famed  for  his  unclerical  living,  and  a 
Cardinal  who  did  not  shrink  from  proposing  to  buy  the  papal  tiara,  he 
had  always  been  the  friend  of  learning  since  he  completed  Magdalen 


646 


The  Curia  not  reformed 


Tower  at  Oxford  in  his  bursar's  days.  With  a  revival  of  monastic 
discipline  he  intended  to  combine  large  schemes  of  study  founded  on 
the  classics.  Bishops  as  severe  as  Foxe  of  Winchester  welcomed  his 
clerical  reform,  which  could  not  imply  designs  on  the  Catholic  Faith. 
The  nation  did  not  repulse  an  English  Legate.  Various  Benedictine 
houses  put  into  Wolsey's  hands  the  election  of  their  superiors.  The 
Dominicans  would  not  resist.  But  v^ith.  the  Observantines  there  was 
great  difficulty.  For  his  own  Province  of  York  Wolsey  drew  up  a 
Constitution  (1515  or  1518)  which  has  been  termed  a  model  of  ecclesias- 
tical government ;  how  far  it  was  carried  out  we  have  scanty  means  of 
determining.  His  measures  with  regard  to  education  are  better  known. 
In  1515  the  University  of  Oxford  surrendered  to  him  all  its  powers.  He 
proceeded  to  found  seven  lectureships,  one  of  which  was  held  by  Ludovico 
Vives.  He  planned  the  "  College  of  Secular  Priests  "  for  five  hundred 
students,  which  was  then  styled  Cardinal  College  and  is  now  Christ 
Church.  It  was  to  be  fed  from  a  richly-endowed  school  at  Ipswich, 
where  only  a  gateway  remains  to  tell  of  that  splendid  undertaking. 
Twenty -two  small  convents,  with  less  than  six  inmates  apiece,  were 
suppressed  and  their  revenues  applied  to  defray  these  enterprises.  It 
was  remarked  afterwards  that  Wolsey's  Legatine  autocracy  had  paved 
the  way  for  Henry's  assumption  of  the  Supreme  Headship ;  and  that 
a  precedent  had  been  given  in  dissolving  the  small  monasteries  for  the 
pillage  and  spoliation  that  speedily  followed  by  Act  of  Parliament.  On 
the  other  side,  if  reformation  was  necessary,  Wolsey's  dealing  can  scarcely 
be  judged  inhumane ;  his  hand  would  have  been  lighter  than  Thomas 
Cromwell's  ;  and  while  he  protected  the  ancient  creed  he  was  lenient 
with  such  dissenters  as  fell  under  his  jurisdiction. 

In  truth,  it  was  not  the  Revival  of  Learning  that  shook  Europe 
to  its  base,  but  the  assault  on  a  complicated  and  decaying  system  in 
which  politics,  finance,  and  privileges  were  blended  with  religion.  Of 
the  twelve  Popes  who  sat  in  St.  Peter's  chair  between  1420  and  1520 
not  one  was  a  man  of  transcendent  faculty  or  deep  insight.  Martin  V 
broke  his  solemn  engagement  to  reform  the  Curia.  Eugenius  IV  trifled 
with  the  Council  of  Basel  and  squandered  a  great  opportunity.  Cesarini 
warned  him  in  vain  that  the  German  clergy  were  dissolute,  the  lay 
people  scandalised ;  that  the  Holy  See  had  fallen  from  its  high  estate. 
He  pleaded  for  a  serious  amendment,  if  "the  entire  shame  were  not 
to  be  cast  on  the  Roman  Curia,  as  the  cause  and  author  of  all  these 
evils."  When  the  anarchy  of  Basel  drove  him  from  it  he  did  what 
in  him  lay  at  Florence  (1439)  to  promote  the  short-lived  union  with 
the  Greeks.  And  he  perished  in  Hungary  at  the  battle  of  Varna,  still 
fighting  on  behalf  of  a  united  and  reformed  Christendom.  Nicholas  V, 
though  intent  chiefly  on  restoring  literature,  sent  Cusanus  with  ample 
powers,  as  we  have  seen,  into  the  North.  But  his  own  desire  was  that 
Rome  should  be  a  missionary  of  culture,  when  what  the  world  needed 


Saints  and  preachers  in  Italy 


647 


was  an  economic  and  moral  restoration.  Pius  II,  whose  character  stands 
forth  so  individually  in  the  long  succession,  had  been  a  dissolute  young 
man,  but  as  a  Pontiff  he  was  grave  and  enthusiastic ;  his  zeal  for  the 
Crusade  denoted  some  far-off  touch  of  greatness.  He,  too,  spoke  of 
reform.  The  learned  Venetian,  Domenichi,  drew  up  a  project  which 
was  to  cure  the  ills  of  simony,  to  correct  the  vices  of  churchmen,  and 
"  other  uncleanness  and  indecency."  Cusanus,  on  being  consulted,  took 
a  wider  range  in  his  fourteen  Articles  ;  primitive  discipline  should  be 
restored,  and  three  visitors,  clothed  in  dictatorial  power,  were  to  deal 
with  the  whole  Church,  beginning  from  the  Pope  and  Curia.  At  least, 
he  observed  significantly,  their  state  need  not  be  worse  than  in  the  time 
of  Martin  V.    Of  all  this  nothing  whatever  came. 

Pius  II  began  once  more  the  bad  old  custom  of  nepotism.  He 
advanced  his  kinsfolk  to  high  positions  in  the  Church,  regardless  of  their 
age  or  attainments.  But  he  distinguished  some  good  men,  as  Calandrini, 
the  Grand  Penitentiary  ;  the  two  Capranicas ;  Oliva,  General  of  the 
Augustinians,  known  as  the  Angel  of  Peace ;  and  the  stern  Carvajal,  who 
survived  as  an  example  of  austere  virtue  into  the  shameful  years  which 
tolerated  Cardinals  like  Borgia  and  della  Rovere.  Judged  by  ethical 
standards,  Italy  exhibited  during  the  whole  of  the  fifteenth  century 
a  deeper  decline  than  any  other  country  in  Europe.  Private  depravity 
and  political  debasement  followed  the  most  brilliant  culture  like  a 
shadow ;  violence,  craft,  cruelty,  were  mingled  with  the  administration 
of  holy  things.  Yet  the  descent  was  broken,  though  not  arrested, 
by  religious  revivals,  especially  in  the  north  and  centre,  of  which  the 
credit  is  due  to  the  Observantine  Friars,  the  Austin  Hermits,  and  the 
Benedictines.  A  catalogue  of  eighty  Saints,  men  and  women,  chiefly  in 
these  communities,  has  been  made  out ;  it  covers  the  period  from  1400 
to  1520.  None  are  of  the  first  rank ;  but  Bernardino  of  Siena  (1444) 
and  Giovanni  Capistrano  (1456),  Observantines,  preached  repentance  with 
great  if  not  lasting  effect,  to  multitudes.  Antoninus,  Archbishop  of 
Florence  (1459),  taught  Christian  doctrine  successfully,  denounced  usury, 
and  was  a  welcome  peacemaker.  Lorenzo  Giustiniani,  Patriarch  of 
Venice  (1456),  abounded  in  good  works.  Fra  Angelico  da  Fiesole,  the 
Dominican  (1455),  perhaps  the  most  purely  religious  painter  that  ever 
lived,  was  himself  a  vision  of  innocence  and  joy.  Bernardino  da  Feltre 
(1494),  by  way  of  rescuing  the  poor  from  usurers,  against  whom  he 
waged  an  incessant  warfare,  established  in  Rome  the  first  Monte  di  Pieta, 
with  the  concurrence  of  Innocent  VIII.  The  whole  story  of  his 
benevolent  campaigns  is  replete  with  interest.  A  series  of  preachers  — 
the  most  famous  were  Franciscans  —  from  Roberto  da  Lecce  to  Gabriele 
da  Barletta,  thundered  against  the  vices  of  the  age  and  its  growing 
paganism.  The  Third  Order  of  St  Francis  counted  thousands  of 
members,  especially  in  the  middle  class,  not  so  tainted  as  nobles  or 
clergy.     For,  whatever  may  be  said  in  defence  of  the  priesthood 


648 


Italian  gilds  and  hrotherJioods 


elsewhere,  in  the  Italian  Peninsula  it  had  lost  its  savour.  Documentary 
evidence  from  almost  every  district  and  city  leaves  no  doubt  on  this 
melancholy  subject.  The  clergy  were  despised ;  so  patent  was  their 
misconduct  that  proposals  to  abrogate  the  law  of  celibacy  began  to  be 
put  forward.  Pius  II  may  have  entertained  such  a  thought.  But  he 
contented  himself  with  an  endeavour  to  correct  the  religious  Orders. 
The  Observantines,  who  were  strict,  deserved  and  obtained  his  favour. 
But  continual  strife  for  precedence,  which  meant  disciples  and  influence, 
raged  between  these  and  the  Conventuals,  nor  could  any  Pope  recon- 
cile them.  Santa  Giustina,  the  Benedictine  house  at  Padua  (1412), 
became  an  Italian  Bursfelde ;  its  reform  was  accepted  in  Verona,  Pavia, 
Milan;  Pius  II  brought  under  it  many  monasteries  which  required 
better  discipline.  He  deposed  Auribelle,  the  unworthy  General  of  the 
Dominicans.  He  took  severe  measures  with  the  convents  of  Vallombrosa, 
the  Humiliati  in  Venice,  the  Carmelites  in  Brescia,  the  Religious  in 
Siena  and  Florence.  Other  Popes,  Paul  II,  Sixtus  IV,  even  Alexander 
VI,  did  in  like  manner.  Such  efforts  had  been  stimulated  by  earnest  and 
cultivated  men,  of  whom  the  most  capable  were  Traversari,  General  of 
the  Camaldulese  (1386-1439),  Baptista  Mantuanus  (1448-1516),  and 
Aegidius  of  Viterbo,  Augustinian  and  Cardinal,  whose  decrees  in  the 
synod  of  Santa  Sabina  afforded  a  scheme  of  reformation  to  the  Fifth 
Lateran. 

The  correspondence  of  Alessandra  degli  Strozzi  (1406-71),  the 
biographies  of  Bisticci,  the  note-books  of  Rucellai,  Landucci's  Diary^ 
Domenichi's  work  on  the  government  of  the  household,  reveal  a  sincere 
spirit  of  piety  in  many  families,  and  correct  the  hard  impression  we 
should  otherwise  receive,  especially  of  life  at  Florence  under  the  Medici. 
Vittorino  da  Feltre's  school  at  Mantua  is  estimated  in  another  chapter. 
With  him  as  a  Christian  teacher  may  be  named  Agostini  Dati  of  Siena 
(1479),  and  Maffeo  Vigeo,  the  latter  of  whom  wrote  six  books  on 
education  and  was  a  friend  of  Pius  II,  devout,  cultivated,  and  practical. 
St  Antoninus  published  a  manual  of  confession,  which  is  but  a  specimen  of 
a  very  large  class,  and  which  instructs  all  professions,  from  magistrates 
to  weavers  and  day-labourers,  in  their  several  duties.  Gilds  and  brother- 
hoods were  a  feature  of  the  time.  Their  objects  were  mainly  secular, 
but  religious  and  charitable  foundations  were  almost  invariably  associated 
with  them.  Strict  rules,  enjoining  daily  prayer,  the  use  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, the  observance  of  Sundays  and  holidays,  are  incorporated  in 
their  statutes.  Care  of  the  poor  and  sick  members  was  obligatory; 
every  gild  had  its  physician  ;  pensions  were  often  provided  for  widows 
and  children,  and  dowries  for  maidens.  The  wealthier  brotherhoods 
built  each  their  Scuola^  and  embellished  or  erected  churches.  In  Italy, 
even  more  than  among  Germans,  church-building  was  a  passion  and  an 
art,  lending  itself  sometimes  to  strange  ends,  —  witness  the  Isotta  Chapel 
at  Rimini,  —  but  serving  religion  on  a  grand  scale,  according  as  it  was 


Savonarola 


649 


then  interpreted.  Plague  and  sickness  called  forth  many  confraternities, 
such  as  the  great  Misericordia  dating  from  1244,  revived  at  Florence 
in  1475 ;  San  Rocco  at  Venice  (1415)  ;  the  Good  Men  of  St  Martin 
(1441),  due  to  Archbishop  Antoninus;  and  the  Sodality  of  the  Dolorosa 
yet  existing  in  Rome  (1448).  Torquemada  in  1460  established  in  the 
Minerva  dowries  for  girls,  —  the  Annunziata.  Florence  towards  1500 
had  seventy-three  municipal  associations,  and  at  Rome  there  were  many 
more,  dedicated  to  religious  observances,  but  likewise  to  charity.  Such 
was  the  Brotherhood  in  the  Ripetta  established  in  1499  by  Alexander 
VI,  which  had  its  own  hospital  and  took  charge  of  sailors.  Again,  trade- 
gilds  of  every  description  flourished,  native  and  even  foreign;  and 
these  were  accustomed  to  act  the  miracle-plays  called  divozioni^  which 
had  sprung  up  in  Umbria.  The  great  hospitals,  of  which  there  were 
thirty-five  in  Florence  alone,  are  the  special  honour  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  In  Rome,  the  Popes  Martin,  Eugenius,  and  Sixtus,  the  latter 
of  whom  rebuilt  Santo  Spirito,  showed  them  constant  favour.  Most  of 
the  old  foundations  were  kept  up,  many  new  ones  added.  Over  the 
whole  of  Italy,  in  the  period  between  1400  and  1524,  fresh  hospitals, 
alms-houses,  orphanages,  schools,  and  other  institutions  of  a  charitable 
nature,  have  been  reckoned  up  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and 
twenty-four ;  but  this  calculation  does  not  exhaust  the  list. 

From  these  things  it  is  clear  that  Savonarola  (1452-98),  as  hap- 
pens to  great  men,  did  no  more  than  sum  up  in  his  preaching  a 
world  of  ideas  and  aspirations  with  which  his  audience,  —  the  early 
contemporaries  of  Michelangelo,  —  were  already  familiar.  Converted 
to  the  Order  of  St  Dominic  by  a  sermon  which  he  heard  from  the  lips 
of  an  Austin  hermit  at  Faenza  (1474)  ;  filled  with  a  lofty  Platonism 
learned  from  Aquinas ;  sickened  by  the  public  depravity,  and  prescient 
as  his  poem  De  Ruina  Mmidi  shows  of  coming  disasters,  he  nourished 
himself  on  the  Bible  and  the  Apocalypse ;  fasted,  prayed,  wept,  and 
became  a  visionary.  At  Florence,  to  which  he  was  transferred  in  1484, 
he  saw  the  Brethren  of  San  Marco  losing  themselves  in  the  pedantries  of 
the  old  school,  and  the  upper  classes  of  society  in  the  frivolities  of  the 
new.  His  rudeness  of  speech  and  violence  of  gesture  told  against  him 
in  the  pulpit  at  first.  He  was  always  sighing  for  "  that  peace  which 
reigned  in  the  Church  when  she  was  poor."  Then  at  San  Gemignano 
there  came  to  the  Friar  his  large  prophetic  vision,  "  the  Church  will  be 
scourged  and  renewed,  and  that  in  our  day."  He  made  no  allowance  for 
perspective.  He  came  back,  took  Florence  by  storm,  and  ruled  it  like  a 
king.  His  mind  grew  to  be  a  place  of  dreams.  This  was  not  astonishing 
in  the  countryman  of  Dante  and  Buonarotti.  Italians  saw  their  religion 
painted  and  sculptured ;  for  them  it  lay  outside  books  and  filled  their 
eyes.  But  Florence  was  before  all  things  a  city  of  political  scheming. 
The  papacy  aimed  at  temporal  dominion ;  it  was  capable,  so  Machiavelli 
judged,  of  becoming  the  first  power  in  the  land.    The  pulpit  was  at 


650       Beginnings  of  Catholic  reform  in  Spain 


once  platform  and  newspaper.  Spiritual  censures  were  employed  as 
weapons  of  war;  Sixtus  IV  laid  an  interdict  on  Florence  for  the 
conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi,  with  which  his  remembrance  is  indelibly  bound 
up.  How  should  a  prophet  not  be  a  politician  ?  Savonarola  could  not 
see  his  way  to  an  answer  in  the  negative.  He  foretold  the  coming  of  the 
French  under  Charles  VHI.  He  did  his  utmost  to  keep  Florence  in  a 
line  of  policy  which  Alexander  VI  rejected  with  disdain,  although  he 
accepted  it  two  years  after  Savonarola's  death.  In  this  confusion  of 
ideas  and  interests  the  preacher  of  righteousness  fell  under  excommuni- 
cation ;  he  was  tortured,  degraded,  hanged,  and  burnt,  by  a  coup  cfetat, 

Savonarola  had  invoked  a  General  Council  to  depose  Alexander  VI. 
He  fell  back  upon  Pierre  d'Ailly  and  the  decrees  of  Constance.  For  his 
prophesyings  he  never  claimed  infallible  authority.  His  moral  teaching 
was  taken  from  Aquinas ;  in  expounding  the  Scriptures  he  followed  the 
allegorical  method  ;  on  points  of  dogma  he  was  at  one  with  his  Dominican 
masters.  Like  the  Brethren  of  Deventer  he  was  friendly  to  learning, 
art,  and  science.  Among  his  disciples  were  Pico  della  Mirandola,  Fra 
Bartolommeo,  Michelangelo.  It  would  not  be  impossible  to  demonstrate 
that  the  sublime  and  simple  grandeur  with  which  the  mightiest  of 
Florentines  has  painted  his  Prophets  and  Sibyls  on  the  vault  of  the 
Sistine  chapel  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  melancholy  and  majesty  of 
Savonarola's  teaching.  Nor  in  the  "  Burning  of  the  Vanities  "  are  we  to 
imagine  a  spirit  resembling  that  of  John  Knox.  It  was  an  auto  defe  of 
vicious  or  unseemly  objects,  not  a  judgment  on  Christian  art.  Fr^ 
Girolamo  was,  in  a  word,  the  last  of  the  great  medieval  Friars. 

But  the  restoration  which  he  longed  for  began  in  Spain.  Flushed 
with  her  victory  over  Jews  and  Muslims ;  baptized  a  nation  by  her  unity 
in  the  faith  ;  exalted  in  a  moment  to  the  foremost  place  among  European 
Powers,  Spain  was  destined  to  rule,  and  sometimes  to  tyrannise  over, 
Catholicism.  The  telling  names  here  are  Ferdinand  and  Isabel,  Ximenes 
and  Loyola.  Feudal  rights  went  down  before  the  monarchy  in  Castile ; 
the  Estates  of  Aragon  were  no  match  for  Ferdinand.  The  great  Military 
Knighthoods  were  absorbed  by  the  Sovereign.  From  Barcelona  the 
Inquisition  was  carried  to  Seville  and  Toledo.  By  papal  bull,  yet  in 
despite  of  papal  protests,  it  became  the  Supreme  Court  before  which 
nobles  and  prelates  lost  countenance.  Spiritual,  orthodox,  independent, 
politic,  and  cruel,  it  played  with  lives  and  properties,  but  created  one 
Spain  as  it  upheld  one  Church.  Thus  it  exercised  an  authority  from 
which  there  was  no  escape.  Even  Sixtus  IV  lodged  his  appellate  juris- 
diction in  the  hands  of  the  Archbishop  of  Seville  (1488).  No  Church 
could  be  more  arrogantly  national  than  the  Spanish,  fenced  round  as  it 
was  with  exemptions,  royal,  episcopal,  monastic.  But  none  was  more 
Catholic.  It  bred  neither  heresy  nor  schism.  The  reform  which  it 
needed  came  by  the  hands  of  a  saintly  Queen,  and  of  her  ascetic 
director  —  Cisneros  or  Ximenes  (1436-1517). 


1473-1511] 


Ximenes  and  Loyola 


651 


Other  names  deserve  honourable  mention.  Cardinal  Mendoza, 
Primate  of  Spain,  had  lived  up  to  his  high  duties.  Corillo  his  pre- 
decessor, at  the  Synod  of  Aranda  in  1473,  had  laid  down  twenty-nine 
chapters  of  reformation.  Talavera,  who  held  the  see  of  Granada,  would 
have  converted  the  Moors  by  kindness  and  put  into  their  hands  a 
vernacular  Bible,  for  which  he  fell  under  grave  suspicion  and  was 
censured  by  Ximenes.  Yet  this  ascetic  Franciscan,  who  had  been  a 
secular  priest,  was  himself  a  lover  of  learning,  not  cruel  by  temperament, 
though  severe  with  the  ungodly  as  in  his  own  person.  He  lived  like  a 
hermit  on  the  throne  of  Toledo,  which  he  had  accepted  only  out  of 
obedience  to  the  Pope.  In  1494,  with  the  aid  of  Isabel,  against 
Alexander  VPs  terrified  protestations,  he  corrected  the  Observantines 
with  such  rigour  that  thousands  fled  to  Morocco  sooner  than  obey.  Of 
Arabic  manuscripts  deemed  antichristian  he  made  a  famous  holocaust. 
He  risked  his  life  at  Granada  in  1499 ;  offered  the  Moors  baptism  or 
death ;  and  brought  over  many  thousands.  His  services  to  sacred  and 
secular  erudition  were  perpetuated  in  the  restored  University  of  Alcala 
and  the  Polyglot  Bible,  first  of  its  kind  since  Origen's  Hexapla.  Like 
Wolsey,  the  Spanish  Cardinal  obtained  unlimited  legatine  faculties ;  he 
would  hear  of  no  exemptions  and,  being  Primate,  Grand  Inquisitor,  and 
chief  of  the  government,  he  became  irresistible.  In  two  synods,  of 
Alcala  in  1497  and  Talavera  in  1498,  he  published  his  regulations. 
Spain  had  been  suffering  from  ruffianly  nobles,  undisciplined  monks, 
immoral  and  insolent  clerics.  Bishops  attempted  to  withstand  Queen 
and  Cardinal;  they  were  compelled  to  give  way.  The  result  may  be 
briefly  stated.  The  worst  abuses  were  purged  out  of  the  Iberian  Church ; 
and  while  other  European  clergy  were  accused  of  gross  licentiousness, 
the  Spanish  priests  became  for  the  most  part  virtuous  and  devout. 

As  early  as  1493  the  Benedictine  Abbey  of  Monserrat  accepted 
under  compulsion  the  stricter  rule  of  Valladolid.  Its  new  Abbot, 
Garcias  Cisneros,  nephew  of  the  Cardinal,  composed  a  Book  of  Spiritual 
Exercises^  from  which  Ignatius  of  Loyola  may  have  borrowed  the  title 
for  his  very  different  and  much  more  scientific  treatise,  when  he  retired 
to  this  convent  and  was  guided  by  the  Benedictine  Chanones.  As  is 
well  known,  he  received  his  celebrated  wound  in  fighting  the  French, 
who  were  then  at  war  with  the  Pope,  at  the  siege  of  Pampeluna  in  1512. 
The  pseudo-Council  of  Pisa  was  shortly  to  be  answered  by  the  Fifth 
of  Lateran.  In  1511  King  and  Bishops  at  Burgos  uttered  a  series  of 
demands  which  came  to  this ;  —  that  reformation  must  begin  at  Rome, 
the  reign  of  simony  end,  dispensations  no  longer  make  void  the  law 
of  God ;  that  learning  must  be  encouraged,  Councils  held  at  fixed  times, 
residence  enforced,  pluralities  abolished.  An  unsigned  Spanish  memorial 
of  the  same  date  is  bolder  still.  It  paints  in  darkest  hues  the  evils 
tolerated  by  successive  Pontiffs ;  it  proposes  sweeping  measures  which 
were  at  last  carried  into  execution  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  aided  by 


652  Steps  totvards  the  Council  of  Trent 


the  course  of  events.  For  the  Fifth  of  Lateran  came  to  naught.  Though 
admonished  by  Cajetan  and  Aegidius  of  Viterbo,  dissolute  prelates  could 
not  reform  disorderly  monks ;  Leo  X  cared  only  to  rid  himself  of  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction.  Popes,  Cardinals,  Curia  went  foward  headlong  to 
the  double  catastrophe  of  the  Diet  of  Worms  and  the  sack  of  Rome. 

That  which  revolutionaries  aimed  at, — John  of  Goch,  John  Rucherath 
of  Oberwesel,  Gansfort  of  Groningen,  and  finally,  Luther,  was  the  pulling 
down  of  the  sacerdotal.  Sacramental  system  ;  —  hence  the  abolition  of  the 
Mass  and  the  Hierarchy.  That  which  Catholic  reformers  spent  their 
lives  in  attempting,  was  to  make  the  practice  of  clergy  and  faithful 
harmonise  with  the  ideals  inherited  from  their  past.  Shrines,  festivals, 
pilgrimages,  devotions,  brotherhoods,  new  religious  Orders  like  the 
Minims  of  St  Francis  of  Paola,  and  the  Third  Orders  of  Regulars,  had 
no  other  design  except  to  carry  on  a  tradition  which  came  down  from 
St  Benedict,  St  Augustine,  St  Jerome,  the  Fathers  of  the  Desert,  the 
ancient  Churches.  Justification  by  faith  alone,  the  unprofitableness  of 
Christian  works  and  virtues,  the  right  of  free  enquiry,  with  no  appeal  to 
a  supreme  visible  tribunal,  were  all  ideas  unknown  to  the  Catholic  popula- 
tions, abhorrent  and  anarchic  in  their  eyes.  From  the  general  view  which 
has  been  taken  we  may  conclude  that  no  demand  for  revolution  in  dogma 
was  advanced  save  by  individuals  ;  that  the  daily  offices  and  parochial 
ministrations  were  fulfilled  with  increasing  attention;  that  abuses,  though 
rife,  were  not  endured  without  protest ;  that  the  source  of  mischief  was 
especially  in  the  Roman  Court,  which  encouraged  learning  but  made  no 
strenuous  effort  to  restore  discipline  ;  that  the  true  occasions,  whether 
of  rebellion  or  reform,  were  not  the  discoveries  and  inventions  of  a 
progressive  age,  but  deep-seated  moral  evils,  and  above  all  the  avarice 
and  ambition  of  worldly-minded  prelates,  thrust  upon  the  sees  of 
Chi-istendom  against  the  express  injunctions  of  Canon  Law  ;  that  the 
Bible  was  open,  antiquity  coming  to  be  understood,  an  immense  pro- 
vision of  charity  laid  up  for  the  sick,  the  indigent,  the  industrial  classes, 
for  education  and  old  age;  that  decrees  of  many  Synods  in  every 
country  of  the  West  pointed  out  the  prevailing  diseases  and  their 
various  remedies ;  and  that  if  in  course  of  time  the  Council  of  Trent 
yielded  the  essence  and  the  sum  of  all  these  efforts,  it  is  entitled  to  the 
glory  of  the  Catholic  Reformation. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  EVE  OF  THE  REFORMATION 

As  the  sixteenth  century  opened,  Europe  was  standing  uncon- 
scious on  the  brink  of  a  crater  destined  to  change  profoundly  by  its 
eruption  the  course  of  modern  civilisation.  The  Church  had  acquired 
so  complete  a  control  over  the  souls  of  men,  its  venerable  antiquity  and 
its  majestic  organisation  so  filled  the  imagination,  the  services  it  had 
rendered  seemed  to  call  for  such  reverential  gratitude,  and  its  acknow- 
ledged claim  to  interpret  the  will  of  God  to  man  rendered  obedience 
so  plain  a  duty,  that  the  continuance  of  its  power  appeared  to  be  an 
unchanging  law  of  the  universe,  destined  to  operate  throughout  the  limit- 
less future.  To  understand  the  combination  of  forces  which  rent  the 
domination  of  the  Church  into  fragments,  we  must  investigate  in  detail  its 
relations  with  society  on  the  eve  of  the  disruption,  and  consider  how  it  was 
regarded  by  the  men  of  that  day,  with  their  diverse  grievances,  more  or 
less  justifying  revolt.  We  must  here  omit  from  consideration  the  bene- 
fits which  the  Church  had  conferred,  and  confine  our  attention  to  the 
antagonisms  which  it  provoked  and  to  the  evils  for  which  it  was  held 
responsible.  The  interests  and  the  motives  at  work  were  numerous  and 
complex,  some  of  them  dating  back  for  centuries,  others  comparatively 
recent,  but  all  of  them  growing  in  intensity  with  the  development  of 
political  institutions  and  popular  intelligence.  There  has  been  a  natural 
tendency  to  regard  the  Reformation  as  solely  a  religious  movement ;  but 
this  is  an  error.  In  the  curious  theocracy  which  dominated  the  Middle 
Ages,  secular  and  spiritual  interests  became  so  inextricably  intermingled 
that  it  is  impossible  wholly  to  disentangle  them ;  but  the  motives,  both 
remote  and  proximate,  which  led  to  the  Lutheran  revolt  were  largely 
secular  rather  than  spiritual.  So  far,  indeed,  as  concerns  our  present 
purpose  we  may  dismiss  the  religious  changes  incident  to  the  Reforma- 
tion with  the  remark  that  they  were  not  the  object  sought  but  the  means 
for  attaining  that  object.  The  existing  ecclesiastical  system  was  the 
practical  evolution  of  dogma,  and  the  overthrow  of  dogma  was  the  only 
way  to  obtain  permanent  relief  from  the  intolerable  abuses  of  that 
system. 

653 


654 


The  supremacy  of  the  papacy 


In  primitive  society  the  kingly  and  the  priestly  functions  are  com- 
monly united  ;  the  Church  and  the  State  are  one.  Development  leads  to 
specialisation ;  the  functions  are  divided;  and  the  struggle  for  supremacy, 
like  that  between  the  Brahman  and  Kshatriya  castes,  becomes  inevitable. 
In  medieval  Europe  this  struggle  was  peculiarly  intricate,  for,  in  the 
conversion  of  the  Barbarians,  a  strange  religion  was  imposed  by  the 
conquered  on  the  conquerors ;  and  the  history  of  the  relations  between 
Church  and  State  thenceforth  becomes  a  record  of  the  efforts  of  the 
priestly  class  to  acquire  domination  and  of  the  military  class  to  maintain 
its  independence.  The  former  gradually  won.  It  had  two  enormous 
advantages,  for  it  virtually  monopolised  education  and  culture,  and 
through  its  democratic  organisation,  absorbed  an  undue  share  of  the 
vigour  and  energy  of  successive  generations  by  means  of  the  career  which 
it  alone  offered  to  those  of  lowly  birth  but  lofty  ambition.  When  Charles 
the  Great  fostered  the  Church  as  a  civilising  agency  he  was  careful  to 
preserve  his  mastership  ;  but  the  anarchy  attending  the  dissolution  of  his 
empire  enabled  the  Church  to  assert  its  pretensions,  as  formulated  in  the 
False  Decretals,  and,  when  the  slow  process  of  enlightenment  again  began 
in  the  eleventh  century,  it  had  a  most  advantageous  base  of  operations. 
With  the  development  of  scholastic  theology  in  the  twelfth  century,  its 
claims  on  the  obedience  of  the  faithful  were  reduced  to  a  system  under 
which  the  priest  became  the  arbiter  of  the  eternal  destiny  of  man,  a 
power  readily  transmuted  into  control  of  his  worldly  fortunes  by  the  use 
of  excommunication  and  interdict.  During  this  period,  moreover,  the 
hierarchical  organisation  was  strengthened  and  the  claims  of  the  Pope 
as  the  Vicar  of  Christ  and  as  the  supreme  and  irresponsible  head  of 
the  Church  became  more  firmly  established  through  the  extension  of  its 
jurisdiction,  original  and  appellate.  The  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century  saw  the  power  of  these  agencies  fully  developed,  when  Raymond 
of  Toulouse  was  humbled  with  fleshly  arms,  and  John  of  England  with 
spiritual  weapons,  and  when  the  long  rivalry  of  the  papacy  and  Empire 
was  virtually  ended  with  the  extinction  of  the  House  of  Hohenstaufen. 
The  expression  of  the  supremacy  thus  won  is  to  be  found  in  the  Gloss  of 
Innocent  IV  on  the  Decretals  and  was  proclaimed  to  the  world  by 
Boniface  VIII  in  the  Bull  TJnam  Sanctam. 

This  sovereignty  was  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual.  The  power  of 
the  Pope,  as  the  earthly  representative  of  God,  was  illimitable.  The 
official  theory,  as  expressed  in  the  De  Principum  Regimine^  which  passes 
under  the  name  of  St  Thomas  Aquinas,  declared  the  temporal  juris- 
diction of  kings  to  be  simply  derived  from  the  authority  entrusted  by 
Christ  to  St  Peter  and  his  successors ;  whence  it  followed  that  the 
exercise  of  the  royal  authority  was  subject  to  papal  control.  As 
Matthew  of  Vend6me  had  already  sung — 

Papa  regit  reges,  dominos  dominatur,  acerbis 
Principibus  stabili  jure  jubere  jubet. 


Control  over  temporal  princes 


655 


The  arguments  of  Marsiglio  of  Padua,  intended  to  restore  the  imperial 
system  of  a  church  subordinate  to  the  State,  were  of  some  assistance  to 
Louis  of  Bavaria  in  his  long  struggle  with  the  papacy ;  but  at  his  death 
they  virtually  disappeared  from  view.  The  Councils  of  Constance  and 
Basel  were  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  prelates  and  princes  to  limit  the 
papal  authority,  and  if  they  had  succeeded  they  would  have  rendered 
the  Church  a  constitutional  monarchy  in  place  of  a  despotism ;  but  the 
disastrous  failure  at  Basel  greatly  strengthened  papal  absolutism.  The 
superiority  of  Councils  over  Popes,  though  it  continued  to  be  asserted  by 
France  in  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  1438,  and  from  time  to  time  by 
Germany,  gradually  sank  into  an  academic  question,  and  the  Popes  were 
finally  able  to  treat  it  with  contempt.  In  1459,  at  the  Congress  of 
Mantua,  Pius  II,  in  his  speech  to  the  French  envoys,  took  occasion  to 
assert  his  irresponsible  supremacy,  which  could  not  be  limited  by  general 
councils  and  to  which  all  princes  were  subject.  In  his  extraordinary 
letter  to  Mohammad  II,  then  in  the  full  flush  of  his  conquests,  Pius 
tempted  the  Turk  to  embrace  Christianity  with  the  promise  to  appoint 
him  Emperor  of  Greece  and  of  the  East,  so  that  what  he  had  won  by 
force  he  might  enjoy  with  justice.  If  the  Pope  could  thus  grant  king- 
doms, he  could  also  take  them  away.  George  Podiebrad,  King  of 
Bohemia,  committed  the  offence  of  insisting  on  the  terms  under  which 
the  Hussites  had  been  reconciled  to  the  Church  by  the  Fathers  of  Basel ; 
whereupon  Pius  II  in  1464,  and  Paul  II  in  1465,  summoned  him  to 
Rome  to  stand  his  trial  for  heresy ;  and  the  latter,  without  awaiting  the 
expiration  of  the  term  assigned,  declared  him  deprived  of  the  royal 
power,  released  his  subjects  from  their  allegiance  and  made  over  his 
kingdom  to  Matthias  Corvinus  of  Hungary,  with  the  result  of  a  long 
and  devastating  war.  Julius  II,  in  his  strife  with  France,  gave  the 
finishing  blow  to  the  little  kingdom  of  Navarre  by  excommunicating  in 
1511  those  children  of  perdition  Jean  d'Albret  and  his  wife  Catherine, 
and  empowering  the  first  comer  to  seize  their  dominions  —  an  act  of  piety 
for  which  the  rapacious  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  had  made  all  necessary 
preparations.  In  the  bull  of  excommunication  Julius  formally  asserted 
his  plenary  power,  granted  by  God,  over  all  nations  and  kingdoms ;  and 
this  claim,  amounting  to  a  quasi-divinity,  was  sententiously  expressed  in 
one  of  the  inscriptions  at  the  consecration  of  Alexander  VI  in  1492  — 

Caesare  magna  fuit,  nunc  Roma  est  maxima.  Sextus 
Regnat  Alexander  :  ille  vir,  iste  Deus. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  extreme  exercise  of  papal  authority  in 
making  and  unmaking  Kings  was  exceptional,  still  the  unlimited  juris- 
diction claimed  by  the  Holy  See  was  irksome  in  many  ways  to  the 
sovereigns  of  Europe,  and,  as  time  wore  on  and  the  secular  authority 
became  consolidated,  it  was  endured  with  more  and  more  impatience. 
There  could  be  no  hard  and  fast  line  of  delimitation  between  the 


Universal  rights  of  patronage 


spiritual  and  the  temporal,  for  the  two  were  mutually  interdependent, 
and  the  convenient  phrase,  temporalia  ad  spiritualia  ordinata,  was  devised 
to  define  those  temporal  matters,  over  which,  as  requisite  to  the  due 
enjoyment  of  the  spiritual,  the  Church  claimed  exclusive  control. 
Moreover,  it  assumed  the  right  to  determine  in  doubtful  matters  the 
definition  of  this  elastic  term,  and  the  secular  ruler  constantly  found 
himself  inconveniently  limited  in  the  exercise  of  his  authority.  The 
tension  thence  arising  was  increased  by  the  happy  device  of  legates  and 
nuncios,  by  which  the  Holy  See  established  in  every  country  a  representa- 
tive whose  business  it  was  to  exercise  supreme  spiritual  jurisdiction  and 
to  maintain  the  claims  of  the  Church,  resulting  in  a  divided  sovereignty, 
at  times  exceedingly  galling  and  even  incompatible  with  a  well-ordered 
State.  Rulers  so  orthodox  as  Ferdinand  and  Isabel  asked  the  great 
national  council  of  Seville,  in  1478,  how  they  could  best  prevent  the 
residence  of  legates  and  nuncios  who  not  only  carried  much  gold  out 
of  the  kingdom  but  interfered  seriously  with  the  royal  pre-eminence. 
In  this  they  only  expressed  the  desires  of  the  people  ;  for  the  Estates 
of  Castile,  in  1480,  asked  the  sovereigns  to  make  some  provision 
with  respect  to  the  nuncios  who  were  of  no  benefit  and  only  a  source 
of  evil. 

Another  fruitful  source  of  complaint,  on  the  part  not  only  of  the 
rulers  but  of  the  national  Churches,  was  the  gradual  extension  of  the 
claim  of  the  Holy  See  to  control  all  patronage.    Innocent  III  has  the 
credit  of  first  systematically  asserting  this  claim  and  exploiting  it  for 
the  benefit  of  his  cardinals  and  other  officials.    The  practice  increased, 
and,  in  1319,  Villani  tells  us  that  John  XXII  assumed  to  himself 
the  control  of  all  prebends  in  every  collegiate  church,  from  the  sale 
of  which  he  gathered  immense  sums.    Finally  the  assertion  was  made 
that  the  Holy  See  owned  all  benefices,  and  in  the  rules  of  the  papal 
Chanceries  appear  the  prices  to  be  charged  for  them,  whether  with 
or  without  cure  of  souls,  showing  that  the  traffic  had  become  an 
established  source  of  revenue.    Even  the  rights  of  lay  patrons  and 
founders  were  disregarded  and  in  the  provisions  granted  by  the  popes 
there  was  a  special  clause  derogating  their  claims.    Partly  this  patron- 
age was  used  for  direct  profit,  partly  it  was  employed  for  the  benefit 
of  the  cardinals  and  their  retainers,  on  whom  pluralities  were  heaped 
with  unstinted  hand,  and  the  further  refinement  was  introduced  of  ' 
granting  to  them  pensions  imposed  on  benefices  and  monastic  founda-  [ 
tions.    Abbeys,  also,  were  bestowed  in  commendam  on  titular  abbots  | 
who  collected  the  revenues   through  stewards,  with  little  heed  to  * 
the  maintenance  of  the  inmates  or  the  performance  of  the  offices.  In 
the  eager  desire  to  anticipate  these  profits  of  simony,  vacancies  were 
not  awaited,  and  rights  of  succession,  under  the  name  of  expectatives, 
were  given   or  sold  in   advance.     The   deplorable  results   of  this  I 
spiritual  commerce  were  early  apparent  and  formed  the  subject  of  bitter  i 


Nomination  to  bishoprics 


657 


lamentation  and  complaint,  but  to  no  purpose.  In  the  thirteenth  century- 
Bishop  Grosseteste  and  St  Louis  assailed  it  in  vigorous  terms ;  in  the 
fourteenth,  Bishop  Alvar  Pelayo,  a  penitentiary  of  John  XXII,  was 
equally  fearless  and  unsparing  in  his  denunciation.  In  1385  Charles  V 
of  France  asserted  in  an  ordonnance  that  the  Cardinals  had  absorbed  all 
the  preferment  in  the  kingdom  —  benefices,  abbeys,  orphanages,  hospitals, 
etc.  —  exacting  revenue  to  the  utmost  and  leaving  the  institutions 
disabled  and  the  fabric  to  fall  into  ruin.  At  the  Council  of  Siena,  in 
1423,  the  French  prelates  declared  that  all  the  benefices  in  France  were 
sold  by  the  Curia,  so  that  the  churches  were  reduced  to  desolation.  In 
1475  the  Abbot  of  Abbots  of  the  great  Cistercian  Order  complained 
that  all  the  abbeys  in  France  were  held  in  commendam^  and  consequently 
were  laid  waste.  England  in  self-defence  had  enacted,  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  the  Statutes  of  Provisors  and  Praemunire ;  while  in  1438  France 
protected  herself  with  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  but  other  nations  lacked 
the  strength  or  the  resolution  to  do  likewise,  and  the  resultant  irritation 
continued  to  grow  ominously.  In  Spain,  which  refused  to  throw  off  the 
yoke  as  late  as  1547,  the  Primate  Siliceo  of  Toledo  asserted,  in  a 
memorial  to  Charles  V,  that  there  were  then  in  Rome  five  or  six  thousand 
Spaniards  engaged  in  bargaining  for  benefices,  "  such  being,  for  our  sins, 
the  present  custom";  and  he  added  that  in  every  cathedral  chapter  in  the 
land  the  majority  of  canons  had  been  either  hostlers  in  Rome  or  traders 
in  benefices  who  scarce  knew  grammar  enough  to  read  their  hours. 

In  this  absorption  of  patronage  the  feature  most  provocative  of 
friction  with  the  sovereigns  was  the  claim  gradually  advanced  to 
nominate  bishops ;  for  these  prelates  were  mostly  temporal  lords  of  no 
little  influence,  and  in  the  political  schemes  of  the  papacy  the  character 
of  its  nominees  might  well  create  uneasiness  in  the  State.   Quarrels  over 

.  the  exercise  of  this  power  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  Venice,  for 
instance,  which  was  chronically  in  open  or  concealed  hostility  to  Rome, 
was  very  sensitive  as  to  the  fidelity  of  its  acquisitions  on  the  mainland, 
where  a  bishop  who  was  the  agent  of  an  enemy  might  be  the  source  of 
infinite  mischief.  Thus,  in  1485,  there  was  a  struggle  over  the  vacant 
see  of  Padua,  in  which  Venice  triumphed  by  sequestrating  other  revenues 
of  Cardinal  Michiel,  appointed  by  Innocent  VIII.  Again,  in  1491,  a 
contest  arose  over  the  patriarchate  of  Aquileia,  the  primatial  see  of 
Venetia,  resulting  in  the  exile  of  the  celebrated  humanist  Ermolao 

<|  Barbaro,  on  whom  Innocent  had  bestowed  it,  and  the  see  remained  vacant 
until  Alexander  VI  accepted  Niccolo  Donato,  the  Venetian  nominee.  In 
1505  Julius  II  refused  to  confirm  a  bishop  appointed  by  the  Signoria  to 
the  see  of  Cremona,  as  he  designed  the  place  for  his  favourite  nephew 
Galeotto  della  Rovere ;  he  held  out  for  two  years  and  finally  compro- 
mised for  a  money  payment  to  the  Cardinal.  So,  when  the  latter  died 
in  1508,  Venice  filled  his  see  of  Vicenza  with  Jacopo  Dandolo,  while 
Julius  gave  it  to  another  nephew,  Sisto  Gara  della  Rovere,  and  the 


658 


Resistance  of  kings 


unseemly  contest  over  the  bishopric  lasted  for  years.  Matters  were 
scarce  better  between  the  Holy  See  and  its  crusader  Matthias  Corvinus. 
A  serious  breach  was  occasioned,  in  1465,  by  the  effort  of  Paul  II  to 
enforce  his  claims ;  but  Matthias  took  a  position  so  aggressive  that  finally 
Sixtus  IV  conceded  the  point  and  confirmed  his  appointments.  The 
quarrel  was  renewed  in  1480,  over  the  see  of  Modrus,  which  Sixtus 
wanted  for  a  retainer  of  his  nephew.  Cardinal  Giuliano  della  Rovere. 
The  King  told  Sixtus  that  Hungary,  in  her  customary  spirit,  would  rather, 
for  a  third  time,  cut  herself  loose  from  the  Catholic  Church  and  go  over 
to  the  infidel  than  permit  the  benefices  of  the  land  to  be  appropriated  in 
violation  of  the  royal  right  of  presentation ;  but,  after  holding  out  for 
three  years,  he  submitted.  He  was  more  successful,  in  1485,  when  he 
gave  the  archbishopric  of  Gran  to  Ippolito  d'  Este,  who  was  a  youth 
under  age,  and  when  Innocent  VIII  remonstrated  he  retorted  that  the 
Pope  had  granted  such  favours  to  many  less  worthy  persons ;  any 
person  appointed  by  the  Pope  might  bear  the  title,  but  Ippolito  should 
enjoy  the  revenues.  He  carried  his  point,  and,  in  1487,  Ippolito  took 
possession. 

Spain  was  still  less  patient.  Even  under  so  weak  a  monarch  as 
Henry  IV  Sixtus  failed  to  secure  for  his  worthless  nephew.  Cardinal  Piero 
Riario,  the  archbishopric  of  Seville,  which  fell  vacant  in  1473  through  the 
death  of  Alfonso  de  Fonseca.  Although  he  had  been  regularly  appointed 
the  Spaniards  refused  to  receive  Riario,  and  the  see  was  administered 
by  Pero  Gonzalez  Mendoza,  Bishop  of  Sigiienza,  until  1482,  when  it 
was  filled  by  liiigo  Manrique.  The  stronger  and  abler  Ferdinand  of 
Aragon  was  even  more  recalcitrant.  He  adopted  the  most  arbitrary 
measures  to  secure  the  archbishopric  of  Saragossa  for  his  natural  son 
Alfonso  against  Ausias  Dezpuch,  the  nominee  of  Sixtus  IV.  Still 
more  decisive  was  the  struggle  in  Castile  over  the  see  of  Cuenca,  in 
1482,  to  which  Sixtus  appointed  a  Genoese  cousin.  Ferdinand  and 
Isabel  demanded  that  Spanish  bishoprics  should  be  filled  only  with 
Spaniards  of  their  selection,  to  which  Sixtus  replied  that  all  benefices 
were  in  the  gift  of  the  Pope  and  that  his  power,  derived  from  Christ, 
was  unlimited.  The  sovereigns  answered  by  calling  home  all  their 
subjects  resident  at  the  papal  Court  and  threatening  to  take  steps  for 
the  convocation  of  a  General  Council.  This  brought  Sixtus  to  terms  ;  he 
sent  a  special  nuncio  to  Spain,  but  they  refused  to  receive  him  and  stood 
on  their  dignity  until  Cardinal  Mendoza,  then  Archbishop  of  Toledo, 
intervened,  when,  on  Sixtus  withdrawing  his  pretensions,  they  allowed 
themselves  to  be  reconciled.  Ferdinand  and  his  successor  Charles  V 
displayed  the  same  vigour  in  resisting  the  encroachments  of  the  cardinals 
when  they  seized  upon  vacant  abbacies  which  happened  to  belong  to  the 
patronage  of  the  Crown.  It  marks  the  abasement  to  which  the  Holy 
Roman  Empire  had  fallen  when  we  hear  that  Sixtus  confirmed  to 
Frederick  III  and  his  son  Maximilian  a  privilege  granted  by  Eugenius  IV 


Pluralism  and  nepotism 


659 


to  nominate  to  the  sees  of  Brixen,  Trent,  Gurk,  Triest,  Coire,  Vienna, 
and  Wienerisch-Neustadt,  adding  thereto  the  presentation  to  three 
hundred  benefices. 

These  cases  have  a  double  interest  as  illustrating  the  growing  tension 
between  the  Holy  See  and  secular  potentates  and  the  increasing  dis- 
position to  meet  its  claims  with  scant  measure  of  respect.  It  was  con- 
stantly arrogating  to  itself  enlarged  prerogatives  and  the  sovereigns  were 
less  and  less  inclined  to  submission.  But,  whether  exercised  by  King 
or  Pope,  the  distribution  of  ecclesiastical  patronage  had  become  simple 
jobbery,  to  reward  dependents  or  to  gain  pecuniary  or  political  advan- 
tage, without  regard  to  the  character  of  the  incumbent  or  the  sacred 
duties  of  the  office.  These  evils  were  aggravated  by  habitual  and 
extravagant  pluralism,  of  which  the  Holy  See  set  an  example  eagerly 
imitated  by  the  sovereigns.  Bishoprics  and  benefices  were  showered 
upon  the  Cardinals  and  their  retainers,  and  upon  the  favourites  of  the 
Popes  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  whose  revenues  were  drawn  to  Rome, 
to  the  impoverishment  of  each  locality;  while  the  functions  for 
which  the  revenues  had  been  granted  remained  for  the  most  part 
unperformed,  to  the  irritation  of  the  populations.  Rodrigo  Borgia 
(subsequently  Alexander  VI),  created  Cardinal  in  his  youth  by  his 
uncle  Calixtus  III,  accumulated  benefices  to  the  aggregate  of  70,000 
ducats  a  year.  Giuliano  della  Rovere  (Julius  II)  likewise  owed  his 
cardinalate  to  his  uncle  Sixtus  IV,  who  bestowed  on  him  also  the 
archbishopric  of  Avignon  and  the  bishoprics  of  Bologna,  Lausanne, 
Coutances,  Viviers,  Mende,  Ostia,  and  Velletri,  with  the  abbeys  of  No- 
nan  tola  and  Grottaf errata.  Another  Cardinal  nephew  of  Sixtus  was 
Piero  Riario,  who  held  a  crowd  of  bishoprics  yielding  him  60,000 
ducats  a  year,  which  he  lavished  in  shameless  excesses,  dying  deeply 
in  debt.  But  this  abuse  was  not  confined  to  Rome.  A  notable 
example  is  that  of  Jean,  son  of  Ren^  II,  Duke  of  Lorraine.  Born 
in  1498,  he  was  in  1501  appointed  coadjutor  to  his  uncle  Henri, 
Bishop  of  Metz,  after  whose  death  in  1505  Jean  took  possession 
in  1508,  and  held  the  see  until  1529.  He  then  resigned  it  in 
favour  of  his  nephew  Nicholas,  aged  four,  but  reserved  the  revenues 
and  right  of  resumption  in  case  of  death  or  resignation.  In  1517 
he  became  also  Bishop  of  Toul  and  in  1518  of  T^rouanne,  besides 
obtaining  the  cardinalate.  In  1521  he  added  the  sees  of  Valence  and 
Die,  in  1523  that  of  Verdun.  Then  followed  the  three  archbishoprics 
of  Narbonne,  Reims,  and  Lyons  in  1524,  1533,  and  1537.  In  1536 
he  obtained  the  see  of  Alby,  soon  afterwards  that  of  Macon,  in  1541 
that  of  Agen,  and  in  1542  that  of  Nantes.  In  addition  he  held  the 
abbeys  of  Gorze,  Fecamp,  Cluny,  Marmoutiers,  St  Ouen,  St  Jean  de 
Laon,  St  Germer,  St  M^dard  of  Soissons,  and  St  Mansuy  of  Toul.  The 
see  of  Verdun  he  resigned  to  his  nephew  Nicholas  on  the  same  terms  as 
that*  of  Metz,  and  when  the  latter,  in  1548,  abdicated  in  order  to  marry 


660 


Immunities  of  the  clergy 


Marguerite  d'Egmont,  he  resumed  them  both.  The  archbishopric  of 
Reims  he  resigned  in  1538  in  favour  of  his  nephew  Charles,  and  Lyons 
he  abandoned  in  1539.  In  spite  of  the  enormous  revenues  derived  from 
these  scandalous  pluralities  his  extravagance  kept  him  always  poor,  and 
we  can  imagine  the  condition,  spiritual  and  temporal,  of  the  churches 
and  abbeys  thus  consigned  to  the  negligence  of  a  worldly  prelate  whose 
life  was  spent  in  Courts.  It  was  bad  enough  when  these  pluralists 
employed  coadjutors  to  look  after  their  numerous  prelacies,  but  worse 
when  they  farmed  them  out  to  the  highest  bidder. 

Another  ecclesiastical  abuse  severely  felt  by  all  sovereigns  who  were 
jealous  of  their  jurisdiction  and  earnest  in  enforcing  justice  was  the 
exemption  enjoyed  by  all  ranks  of  the  clergy  from  the  authority  of  the 
secular  tribunals.  They  were  justiciable  only  by  the  spiritual  Courts, 
which  could  pronounce  no  judgments  of  blood,  and  whose  leniency 
towards  clerical  offenders  virtually  assured  to  them  immunity  from 
punishment  —  an  immunity  long  maintained  in  English  jurisprudence 
under  the  well-known  name  of  Benefit  of  Clergy.  So  complete  was  the 
freedom  of  the  priesthood  from  all  responsibility  to  secular  authority 
that  the  ingenuity  of  the  doctors  was  taxed  to  find  excuses  for  the 
banishment  of  Abiathar  by  Solomon.  The  evil  of  this  consisted  not 
only  in  the  temptation  to  crime  which  it  offered  to  those  regularly  bred 
to  the  Church  and  performing  its  functions,  but  it  attracted  to  the 
lower  orders  of  the  clergy,  which  were  not  bound  to  celibacy  or  debarred 
from  worldly  pursuits,  numberless  criminals  and  vagabonds,  who  were  thus 
enabled  to  set  the  officers  of  justice  at  defiance.  The  first  defence  of 
a  thief  or  assassin  when  arrested  was  to  claim  that  he  belonged  to  the 
Church  and  to  display  his  tonsure,  and  the  episcopal  officials  were 
vigilant  in  the  defence  of  these  wretches,  thus  stimulating  crime  and 
grievously  impeding  the  administration  of  justice.  Frequent  efforts 
were  made  by  the  secular  authorities  to  remedy  these  evils;  but  the 
Church  resolutely  maintained  its  prerogatives,  provoking  quarrels  which 
led  to  increased  antagonism  between  the  laity  and  the  clergy.  The 
Gravamina  of  the  German  Nation,  adopted  by  the  Diet  of  Niirnberg, 
in  1522,  stated  no  more  than  the  truth  in  asserting  that  this  clerical 
immunity  was  responsible  for  countless  cases  of  adultery,  robbery, 
coining,  arson,  homicide,  and  false-witness  committed  by  ecclesiastics; 
and  there  was  peculiar  significance  in  the  declaration  that,  unless  the 
clergy  was  subjected  to  the  secular  Courts,  there  was  reason  to  fear  an 
uprising  of  the  people,  for  no  justice  was  to  be  had  against  a  clerical 
offender  in  the  spiritual  tribunals. 

Venice  was  peculiarly  sensitive  as  to  this  interference  with  social 
order,  and  it  is  well  known  how  her  insistence  on  her  right  to  enforce 
the  laws  on  all  offenders  led  to  the  prolonged  rupture  between  the 
Republic  and  Paul  V  in  the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It 
was  a  special  concession  to  her  when,  in  1474,  Sixtus  IV  admitted 


Exorbitant  claims  of  the  Pope 


661 


that,  in  view  of  the  numerous  clerical  counterfeiters  and  State  criminals, 
such  offenders  might  be  tried  by  secular  process,  with  the  assistance, 
however,  of  the  vicar  of  the  Patriarch  of  Aquileia.  The  extent  of  the 
abuse  is  indicated  by  an  order  of  Leo  X,  in  1514,  to  the  governor  of 
Ascoli,  authorising  him,  for  the  sake  of  the  peace  of  the  community,  to 
hand  over  to  the  secular  courts  all  criminal  married  clerks  who  did  not 
wear  vestment  and  tonsure.  What  exasperating  use  could  be  made  of 
this  clerical  privilege  was  shown,  in  1178,  in  the  Florentine  conspiracy 
of  the  Pazzi,  which  was  engineered,  with  the  privity  of  Sixtus  IV,  by  his 
nephew  Girolamo  Riario.  The  assassins  were  two  clerics,  Stefano  da 
Bagnoni  and  Antonio  Maffei ;  they  succeeded  in  killing  Giuliano  de' 
Medici  and  wounding  Lorenzo,  during  the  mass,  thus  adding  sacrilege  to 
murder,  while  Salviati,  Archbishop  of  Pisa,  was  endeavouring  to  seize 
the  palace  of  the  Signoria.  The  enraged  populace  promptly  hanged 
Salviati,  the  two  assassins  were  put  to  death,  and  Cardinal  Raffaelle 
Sansoni  Riario,  another  papal  nephew,  who  was  suspiciously  in  Florence 
as  the  guest  of  the  Pazzi,  was  imprisoned.  Sixtus  had  the  effrontery  to 
complain  loudly  of  the  violation  of  the  liberties  of  the  Church  and  to 
demand  of  Florence  satisfaction,  including  the  banishment  of  Lorenzo. 
The  Cardinal  was  liberated  after  a  few  weeks,  during  which  he  was 
detained  as  a  hostage  for  the  Florentines  who  were  in  Rome,  but  this 
did  not  appease  Sixtus.  He  laid  Florence  under  an  interdict,  which  was 
not  observed,  and  a  local  Council  was  assembled  which  issued  a  manifesto 
denouncing  the  Pope  as  a  servant  of  adulterers  and  a  vicar  of  Satan  and 
praying  God  to  liberate  His  Church  from  a  pastor  who  was  a  ravening 
wolf  in  sheep's  clothing.  The  pretensions  of  the  Church  were  evidentl}^ 
becoming  unendurable  to  the  advancing  intelligence  of  the  age ;  it  was 
forfeiting  human  respect  and  there  was  a  dangerous  tendency  abroad  to 
treat  it  as  a  secular  institution  devoid  of  all  special  claim  to  reverence. 

This  was  not  the  only  manner  in  which  the  papacy  interfered  with 
secular  justice,  for,  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  papal 
jurisdiction  spread  its  aegis  over  the  crimes  of  the  laity  as  well  as  of  the 
clergy.  Since  the  early  thirteenth  century  the  papal  Penitentiary  had 
been  accustomed  to  administer  absolution,  in  the  forum  of  conscience,  to 
all  applicants.  In  the  fourteenth  this  came  to  be  a  source  of  profit  to 
the  Curia  by  reason  of  the  graduated  scale  of  fees  demanded  and  the 
imposition  of  so-called  pecuniary  penance  by  which  the  sinner  purchased 
pardon  of  his  sins.  When  the  Castilian  Inquisition  began  its  operation 
in  1481,  the  New  Christians,  as  the  Jewish  converts  were  called,  hurried 
in  crowds  to  Rome,  where  they  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  from  the 
Penitentiary  absolution  for  whatever  heretical  crimes  they  might  have 
committed ;  and  they  then  claimed  that  this  exempted  them  from  sub- 
sequent inquisitorial  prosecution.  Even  those  who  had  been  condemned 
were  able  to  procure  for  a  consideration  letters  setting  aside  the  sentence 
and  rehabilitating  them.    It  was  no  part  of  the  policy  of  Ferdinand  and 


662 


Indulgences  and  exemptions 


Isabel  to  allow  impunity  to  be  thus  easily  gained  by  the  apostates  or 
to  forego  the  abundant  confiscations  flowing  into  the  royal  treeisury, 
and  therefore  they  refused  to  admit  that  such  papal  briefs  were  valid 
without  the  royal  approval.  Sixtus,  on  his  part,  was  not  content  to  lose 
the  lucrative  business  arising  from  Spanish  intolerance,  and,  in  1484,  by 
the  constitution  Quoniam  nonnulli  he  refuted  the  assertion  that  his  briefs 
were  valid  only  in  the  forum  conscientiae  and  not  in  the  forum  conten- 
tiosum  and  ordered  them  to  be  received  as  absolute  authority  in  all 
Courts,  secular  as  well  as  ecclesiastical.  This  was  asserting  an  appellate 
jurisdiction  over  all  the  criminal  tribunals  of  Christendom,  and,  through 
the  notorious  venality  of  the  Curia,  where  these  letters  of  absolution 
could  always  be  had  for  a  price,  it  was  a  serious  blow  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice  everywhere.  Not  content  with  this,  the  power  was 
delegated  to  the  peripatetic  vendors  of  indulgences,  who  thus  carried 
impunity  for  crime  to  every  man's  door.  The  St  Peter's  indulgences, 
sold  by  Tetzel  and  his  colleagues,  were  of  this  character,  and  not  only 
released  the  purchasers  from  all  spiritual  penalties  but  forbade  all 
secular  or  criminal  prosecution.  These  monstrous  pretensions  were 
reiterated  by  Paul  III  in  1549  and  by  Julius  III  in  1550.  It  was 
impossible  for  secular  rulers  tamely  to  submit  to  this  sale  of  impunity 
for  crime.  In  Spain  the  struggle  against  it  continued  with  equal 
obstinacy  on  each  side,  and  it  was  fortunate  that  the  Reformation  came 
to  prevent  the  Holy  See  from  rendering  all  justice,  human  and  divine, 
a  commodity  to  be  sold  in  open  market. 

There  was  another  of  the  so-called  liberties  of  the  Church  which 
brought  it  into  collision  with  temporal  princes  —  the  exemption  from 
taxation  of  all  ecclesiastical  property,  so  vigorously  proclaimed  by 
Boniface  VIII  in  the  bull  Clericis  laicos.  Although,  under  pressure 
from  Philip  the  Fair,  this  declaration  was  annulled  by  the  Council  of 
Vienna,  the  principle  remained  unaffected.  The  piety  of  successive 
generations  had  brought  so  large  a  portion  of  the  wealth  of  Europe  — 
estimated  at  fully  one-third  —  into  the  hands  of  the  Church,  that  the 
secular  power  was  becoming  more  and  more  disinclined  to  exempt 
it  from  the  burdens  of  the  State.  Under  Paul  II  (1464-71)  the 
endeavours  of  Venice  and  of  Florence  to  subject  such  property  to  taxa- 
tion were  the  cause  of  serious  and  prolonged  difficulties  with  Rome. 
In  fact,  the  relations  between  the  papacy  and  the  sovereigns  of  Europe 
were  becoming  more  and  more  strained  in  every  way,  as  the  transforma- 
tion took  place  from  the  feudal  institutions  of  the  Middle  Ages  to  the 
monarchical  absolutism  of  the  modern  era.  The  nationalities  were 
becoming  organised,  save  in  Germany,  with  a  consciousness  of  unity 
that  they  had  never  before  possessed  and  with  new  aims  and  aspirations 
necessitating  settled  lines  of  policy.  Less  and  less  they  felt  themselves 
mere  portions  of  the  great  Christian  commonwealth  under  the  supreme 
guidance  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  and  less  and  less  were  they  inclined  to 


Secularisation  of  the  papacy 


663 


submit  to  his  commands  or  to  permit  his  interference  with  their  affairs. 
In  1464  Louis  XI  forbade  the  publication  of  papal  bulls  until  they 
should  be  submitted  to  him  and  receive  the  royal  exequatur.  Spain 
followed  his  example  and  this  became  the  settled  policy  of  all  sovereigns 
able  to  assert  their  independence. 

The  incompatibility  between  the  papal  pretensions  and  the  royal 
prerogative  was  intensified  not  only  by  the  development  of  the  mon- 
archies but  by  the  increasing  secularisation  of  the  Holy  See.  It  had 
long  been  weighted  down  by  its  territorial  possessions  which  led  it  to 
subordinate  its  spiritual  duties  to  its  acquisitive  ambition.  When, 
about  1280,  Nicholas  III  offered  the  cardinalate  to  the  Blessed  John  of 
Parma,  he  refused  it,  saying  that  he  could  give  good  counsel  if  there  was 
any  one  to  listen  to  him ;  but  that  in  Rome  salvation  of  souls  was  of  small 
account  in  comparison  with  wars  and  intrigues.  So  it  had  been  and  so 
it  continued  to  be.  The  fatal  necessity  of  defending  the  Patrimony  of 
St  Peter  against  the  assaults  of  unscrupulous  neighbours  and  the  even 
more  fatal  eagerness  to  extend  its  boundaries  governed  the  papal  policy 
to  the  virtual  exclusion  of  loftier  aims.  Even  the  transfer  to  Avignon 
did  not  serve  to  release  the  Holy  See  from  these  chains  which  bound  it 
to  the  earth,  as  was  seen  in  the  atrocious  war  waged  by  Clement  V  to 
gain  Ferrara,  in  the  long  contest  of  John  XXII  with  the  Visconti, 
and  in  the  bloody  subjugation  of  revolted  communities  by  Cardinal 
Albornoz  as  legate  of  Urban  V.  The  earlier  half  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury was  occupied  with  the  Great  Schism  and  the  struggle  between  the 
papacy  and  the  General  Councils ;  but,  on  the  final  and  triumphant 
assertion  of  papal  absolutism,  the  Popes  became  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses mere  secular  princes,  to  whom  religion  was  purely  an  instrument 
for  supplementing  territorial  weakness  in  the  attainment  of  worldly 
ends.  Religion  was,  in  fact,  a  source  of  no  little  strength,  increasing 
the  value  of  the  papacy  as  an  ally  and  its  power  as  an  enemy.  Among 
the  transalpine  nations,  at  least,  there  was  still  enough  reverence  felt 
for  the  Vicar  of  Christ  to  render  open  rupture  undesirable.  Then  there 
remained  the  sentence  of  excommunication  and  interdict,  a  force  in 
reserve  always  to  be  borne  in  mind  by  hostile  States.  There  was  also 
the  supreme  authority  to  bind  and  to  loose,  whereby  a  Pope  could  always 
release  himself  from  inconvenient  agreements  and  was  absolved  from 
observing  any  compacts,  while,  if  the  conscience  of  an  ally  chanced  to  be 
tender,  it  could  be  relieved  in  the  same  manner.  Still  more  important 
was  the  inexhaustible  source  of  revenue  derived  from  the  headship  of 
the  Church  and  the  power  of  the  keys  —  the  levying  of  annates  and 
tithes  and  the  sale  of  dispensations,  absolutions,  and  indulgences.  These 
were  exploited  in  every  way  that  ingenuity  could  suggest,  draining 
Europe  of  its  substance  for  the  maintenance  of  papal  armies  and  fleets 
and  of  a  Court  unrivalled  in  its  sumptuous  magnificence,  until  the 


664 


Distrust  of  the  Popes 


Holy  See  was  everywhere  regarded  with  detestation.  It  was  this 
temporal  sovereignty  which  rendered  possible  the  existence  of  such  a 
succession  of  pontiffs  as  disgraced  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  commence- 
ment of  the  sixteenth  century  —  such  careers  as  those  of  Alexander  VI 
and  Cesare  Borgia,  such  a  catastrophe  as  the  sack  of  Rome  in  1527. 
Even  before  these  evils  had  grown  to  such  appalling  magnitude,  Dante 
had  expressed  the  opinion  of  all  thoughtful  men  in  deploring  the  results 
which  had  followed  the  so-called  Donation  of  Constantine.  By  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  Lorenzo  Valla,  in  his  demonstration  of 
the  fraud,  assumed  that  the  corruption  of  the  Church  and  the  wars 
which  desolated  Italy  were  its  direct  consequence,  and  few  more  elo- 
quent and  powerful  indictments  of  the  papacy  are  to  be  found  than  the 
bold  utterances  in  which  he  warned  the  Holy  See  that  princes  and 
peoples  could  not  much  longer  endure  its  tyranny  and  wickedness. 
Remonstrances  and  warnings  were  in  vain  ;  the  papacy  became  more 
and  more  secularised,  and,  as  the  pressure  grew  more  inexorable,  me 
asked  themselves  why,  if  the  headship  of  St  Peter  were  founded  o 
Christ's  injunction  to  feed  His  sheep,  St  Peter's  successor  employe 
that  headship  rather  to  shear  and  slaughter. 

Papal  history,  in  fact,  as  soon  as  the  Holy  See  had  vindicated  i 
supremacy  over  general  councils,  becomes  purely  a  political  history  o 
diplomatic  intrigues,  of  alliances  made  and  broken,  of  military  enter 
prises.    In  following  it  no  one  would  conclude,  from  internal  evidence 
that  the  papacy  represented  interests  higher  than  those  of  any  othe 
petty  Italian  prince,  or  that  it  claimed  to  be  the  incarnation  of  a  fait 
divinely  revealed  to  insure  peace  on  earth  and  goodwill  to  man  —  sav 
when,  occasionally  in  a  papal  letter,  an  unctuous  expression  is  employe 
to  shroud  some  peculiarly  objectionable  design.    The  result  of  this,  eve 
in  the  hands  of  a  man  like  Pius  II,  not  wholly  without  loftier  impulses 
is  seen  in  his  complaint,  March  12,  1462,  to  the  Milanese  envoy.  Al 
the  States  of  Italy,  he  said,  were  hostile,  save  Naples  and  Milan,  in  hot 
of  which  the  existing  governments  were  precarious ;  his  own  subject 
were  always  on  the  brink  of  revolt,  and  many  of  his  Cardinals  were  o 
the  side  of  France,  which  was  threatening  him  with  a  Council  and  w~ 
ready  to  provoke  a  schism  unless  he  would  abandon  Ferdinand  of  Naple 
for  Ren^  of  Anjou.    France,  moreover,  dragged  Spain  and  Burgund 
with  her,  while  Germany  was  equally  unfriendly.    The  powerful  Arch 
bishop  of  Mainz  was  hostile  and  was  supported  by  most  of  the  prince 
who  were  offended  at  the  papal  relations  with  the  powerless  Frederick  H 
and  he,  again,  was  at  war  with  the  King  of  Hungary,  while  the  Kin 
of  Bohemia  was  half  a  heretic.    The  position  was  no  better  under  hi 
successor,  Paul  II,  who,  at  his  death  in  1471,  left  the  Holy  See  withou 
a  friend  in  Italy  ;  everywhere  it  was  regarded  with  hatred  and  distrus' 
Under  Sixtus  IV  there  was  no  improvement ;  and  in  1490  Innocent  VII 
threatened  to  leave  Italy  and  find  a  refuge  elsewhere.     He  had  not 


Selfish  policy  of  the  Popes 


665 


friend  or  an  ally;  the  treasury  was  exhausted;  the  barons  of  the 
Patrimony  were  rebellious ;  and  Ferdinand  of  Naples  openly  talked  of 
entering  Rome,  lance  in  rest,  to  teach  the  Pope  to  do  justice.  The 
Church  had  conquered  heresy,  it  had  overcome  schism,  there  was  no 
question  of  faith  to  distract  men's  minds,  yet  this  was  the  antagonistic 
position  which  the  Head  of  Christendom  had  forced  upon  the  nations 
whose  allegiance  it  claimed. 

During  the  half-century  preceding  the  Reformation  there  was  con- 
stant shifting  of  scene  ;  enemies  were  converted  into  allies  and  allies  into 
enemies,  but  the  spirit  of  the  papacy  remained  the  same,  and,  what- 
ever might  be  the  political  combination  of  the  moment,  the  Christian 
nations  at  large  regarded  it  as  a  possible  enemy,  whose  friendship  was 
not  to  be  trusted,  for  it  was  always  fighting  for  its  own  hand  —  or 
rather,  as  the  increasing  nepotism  of  successive  pontiffs  ruled  its  policy, 
for  the  aggrandisement  of  worthless  scions  of  the  papal  stock,  such  as 
Girolamo  Riario  or  Franceschetto  Cibo  or  Cesare  Borgia.  Julius  II,  it 
is  true,  was  less  addicted  to  nepotism,  and  made  and  broke  treaties  and 
waged  war  for  the  enlargement  of  the  papal  territories,  producing  on 
the  awakening  intelligence  of  Europe  the  impression  which  Erasmus 
condenses  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  how  threatening  was  the  spirit  evoked 
by  the  secularisation  of  the  Holy  See.  In  the  Encomium  Mortae,  written 
in  1510,  he  describes  the  spiritual  and  material  weapons  employed  by 
the  Popes,  against  those  who,  at  the  instigation  of  the  devil,  seek  to 
nibble  at  the  Patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  fighting  not  only  with  bulls  of 
excommunication  but  with  fire  and  sword,  to  the  shedding  of  much 
Christian  blood,  and  believing  themselves  to  be  defending  the  Church 
against  her  enemies,  —  as  if  she  could  have  any  worse  enemies  than  impi- 
ous pontiffs.  Leo  X  followed  with  a  pale  imitation  of  the  policy  of 
Alexander  VI,  his  object  being  the  advancement  of  the  Medici  family 
and  the  preservation  of  the  papal  dominions  in  the  fierce  strife  between 
France  and  Spain.  To  him  the  papacy  was  a  personal  possession  out  of 
which  the  possessor  was  expected  to  make  the  most,  religion  being  an 
entirely  subordinate  affair.  His  conception  of  his  duties  is  condensed  in 
the  burst  of  exultation  attributed  to  him  on  his  election,  —  Let  us  enjoy 
the  papacy  since  God  has  given  it  to  us ! 

Under  the  circumstances  the  Holy  See  could  inspire  neither  respect 
nor  confidence.  Universal  distrust  was  the  rule  between  the  States,  and 
the  papacy  was  merely  a  State  whose  pretensions  to  care  for  the  general 
welfare  of  Christendom  were  recognised  as  diplomatic  hypocrisy.  When, 
in  1462,  Pius  II  took  the  desperate  step  of  resolving  to  lead  in  person  the 
proposed  Crusade,  he  explained  that  this  was  the  only  way  to  convince 
Europe  of  his  sincerity.  When  he  levied  a  tithe,  he  said,  for  the  war 
with  the  infidel,  appeal  was  made  to  a  future  Council ;  when  he  issued 
indulgences  he  was  accused  of  greed ;  whatever  was  done  was  attributed 
to  the  desire  to  raise  money,  and  no  one  trusted  the  papal  word ;  like 


666 


The  uses  made  of  papal  wealth 


Si,  bankrupt  trader,  he  was  without  credit.  This  distrust  of  the  papacy 
with  regard  to  its  financial  devices  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  with 
the  Turk  was  universally  entertained,  and  it  lent  a  sharper  edge  to  the 
dissatisfaction  of  those  called  upon  to  contribute.  At  the  Diet  of 
Frankfort  in  1464  and  at  the  Congress  of  Mantua  in  1459,  the  over- 
whelming danger  to  Europe  from  the  Turkish  advance  failed  to  stimulate 
the  princes  to  action ;  for  they  asserted  that  the  papal  purpose  was  to  get 
their  money,  and  not  to  fight  the  infidel.  In  this  some  injustice  was  done 
to  Calixtus  III  and  Pius  II,  who  at  heart  were  earnest  in  the  crusading 
spirit,  but  it  was  justified  in  the  case  of  their  successors.  Men  saw  large 
sums  raised  ostensibly  for  that  object  by  tithes  on  ecclesiastical  revenues, 
and  by  the  innumerable  crusading  indulgences  which  were  preached 
wherever  the  secular  authorities  would  permit,  while  no  effective 
measures  were  adopted  to  oppose  the  Turk.  It  is  true  that  in  1480 
the  capture  of  Otranto  caused  a  panic  throughout  Italy  which  forced 
the  Italian  States  to  unite  for  its  recovery ;  but  scarce  was  this  accom- 
plished, in  1481,  when  Sixtus  IV,  in  alliance  with  Venice,  plunged  into 
a  war  with  Naples,  and,  after  he  had  been  forced  to  make  peace,  turned 
his  arms  against  his  ally  and  gave  50,000  ducats  to  equip  a  fleet  against 
the  Republic  —  ducats  probably  supplied  by  the  crusading  indulgence 
which  he  had  just  published. 

Such  had  in  fact  been  the  papal  practice,  since  in  the  thirteenth  cen-j 
tury  Gregory  IX  had  proclaimed  that  the  home  interests  of  the  Holy] 
See  were  more  important  than  the  defence  of  the  Holy  Land  and  that] 
crusading  money  could  be  more  advantageously  expended  in  Italy  than! 
in  Palestine.    There  was  no  scruple  about  applying  to  the  needs  of  the 
moment  money  derived  from  any  source  whatever,  and,  in  spite  of  the] 
large  amounts  raised  under  the  pretext  of  crusades  which  never  started,  th( 
extravagance  of  the  papal  Court  and  its  military  enterprises  left  it  almost] 
always  poor.   Popes  and  Cardinals  rivalled  each  other  in  the  sumptuous-j 
ness  of  their  buildings.    Never  were  religious  solemnities  and  public] 
functions  performed  with  such  profuse  magnificence,  nor  was  greater] 
liberality  exercised  in  the  encouragement  of  art  and  literature.    Paul  II 
had  a  sedia  gestatoria  built  for  the  Christmas  ceremonies  of  1466  which] 
was  an  artistic  wonder,  costing,  according  to  popular  report,  more  than 
palace.  Yet  this  Pope  so  managed  his  finances  that  on  his  death,  in  1471,1 
he  left  behind  him  an  enormous  treasure  in  money  and  jewels  and  costly] 
works  of  antique  art ;  we  hear  of  pearls  inventoried  at  300,000  ducats, 
the  gold  and  jewels  of  two  tiaras  appraised  at  300,000  more,  and  other] 
precious  stones  and  ornaments  at  1,000,000.    All  this  was  wasted  b] 
Sixtus  IV  on  his  worthless  kindred  and  on  the  wars  in  which  he  wasj 
involved  for  their  benefit ;  and  he  left  the  treasury  deeply  in  debt.  His] 
successor.  Innocent  VIII,  was  equally  reckless  and  was  always  in  straits] 
for  money,  though  his  son,  Franceschetto  Cibo,  could  coolly  lose  in 
single  night  14,000  ducats  to  Cardinal  Riario,  and  in  another  8000  t( 


Pecuniary  exactions 


667 


Cardinal  Balue.  The  pontificate  of  Alexander  VI  was  notorious  for  the 
splendour  of  its  banquets  and  public  solemnities,  as  well  as  for  the 
enormous  sums  consumed  in  the  ambitious  enterprises  of  Cesare  Borgia. 
Julius  II  lavished  money  without  stint  on  his  wars  as  well  as  on  archi- 
tecture and  art ;  yet  he  left  200,000  ducats  in  the  treasury  besides  jewels 
and  regalia  to  a  large  amount.  The  careless  magnificence  of  Leo  X,  his 
schemes  for  the  aggrandisement  of  his  family,  and  his  patronage  of  art 
and  letters,  soon  exhausted  this  reserve  as  well  as  all  available  sources 
of  revenue;  he  was  always  in  need  of  money  and  employed  ruinous 
expedients  to  raise  it ;  when  he  died  he  left  nothing  but  debts,  through 
which  his  nearest  friends  were  ruined,  and  a  treasury  so  empty  that  at 
his  funeral  the  candles  used  were  those  which  had  already  seen  service  at 
the  obsequies  of  Cardinal  Riario.  When  we  consider  that  this  lavish 
and  unceasing  expenditure,  incurred  to  gratify  the  ambition  and  vanity 
of  successive  Vicars  of  Christ,  was  ultimately  drawn  from  the  toil  of  the 
peasantry  of  Europe,  and  that  probably  the  larger  part  of  the  sums  thus 
exacted  disappeared  in  the  handling  before  the  residue  reached  Rome, 
we  can  understand  the  incessant  complaints  of  the  oppressed  populations, 
and  the  hatred  which  was  silently  stored  up  to  await  the  time  of  explosion. 
Thus,  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that  in  its  essence  the  Reformation 
was  due  more  largely  to  financial  than  to  religious  considerations.  The 
terrible  indictment  of  the  papacy  which  Ulrich  von  Hutten  addressed  to 
Leo  X,  December  1,  1517,  contains  not  a  word  about  faith  or  doctrine  ; 
the  whole  gravamen  consists  in  the  abuse  of  power  —  the  spoliations,  the 
exactions,  the  oppression,  the  sale  of  dispensations  and  pardons,  the 
fraudulent  devices  whereby  the  wealth  of  Germany  was  cunningly 
transferred  to  Rome,  and  the  stirring  up  of  strife  among  Christians  in 
order  to  defend  or  to  extend  the  Patrimony  of  St  Peter. 

In  every  way  the  revenues  thus  enjoyed  and  squandered  by  the  Curia 
were  scandalous  and  oppressive.  To  begin  with,  the  cost  of  their  collec- 
tion was  enormous.  The  accounts  of  the  papal  agent  for  first-fruits  in 
Hungary,  for  the  year  1320,  showed  that  of  1913  florins  collected  only 
732  reached  the  papal  treasury.  With  a  more  thorough  organisation  in 
later  periods  the  returns  were  better  ;  but  when  the  device  was  adopted  of 
employing  bankers  to  collect  the  proceeds  of  annates  and  indulgences, 
the  share  allotted  to  those  who  conducted  the  business  and  made 
advances  was  ruinously  large.  In  the  contract  for  the  fateful  St  Peter's 
indulgence  with  the  Fuggers  of  Augsburg,  their  portion  of  the  receipts 
was  to  be  fifty  per  cent.  Even  worse  was  it  when  these  revenues  were 
farmed  out,  for  the  banker  who  depended  for  his  profits  on  the  extent  of 
his  sales  or  collections  was  not  likely  to  be  overnice  in  his  methods,  nor 
to  exercise  much  restraint  over  his  agents.  Europe  was  overrun  with 
pardon-sellers  who  had  purchased  letters  empowering  them  to  sell 
indulgences,  whether  of  a  general  character  or  for  some  church  or 
hospital ;  and  for  centuries  their  lies,  their  frauds,  their  exactions,  and 


668 


Annates  and  tenths 


their  filthy  living  were  the  cause  of  the  bitterest  and  most  indignant 
complaints. 

Even  more  demoralising  were  the  revenues  derived  from  the  sale  of 
countless  dispensations  for  marriage  within  the  prohibited  degrees,  for 
the  holding  of  pluralities,  for  the  numerous  kinds  of  "  irregularities  " 
and  other  breaches  of  the  canon  law ;  so  that  its  prescriptions  might 
almost  seem  to  have  been  framed  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  Holy 
See  to  profit  by  their  violation.  Not  less  destructive  to  morals  were 
the  absolutions,  which  amounted  to  a  sale  of  pardons  for  sin  of  every 
description,  as  though  the  Decalogue  had  been  enacted  for  this  very- 
purpose.  There  was  also  a  thriving  business  done  in  the  composition 
for  unjust  gains,  whereby  fraudulent  traders,  usurers,  robbers,  and  other 
malefactors,  on  paying  to  the  Church  a  portion  of  their  illegal  acqui- 
sitions, were  released  from  the  obligation  of  making  restitution.  In 
every  way  the  power  of  the  keys  and  the  treasure  of  the  merits  of  Christ 
were  exploited,  without  any  regard  for  moral  consequences. 

Deplorable  as  was  this  elfacement  of  the  standards  of  right  and 
wrong,  all  these  were  at  least  voluntary  payments  which  perhaps  rather 
predisposed  the  thoughtless  in  favour  of  the  Church  who  so  benignantly 
exercised  her  powers  to  relieve  the  weakness  of  human  nature.  It  was 
otherwise  however  with  the  traffic  in  benefices  and  expectatives  which 
filled  the  parishes  and  chapters  with  unworthy  incumbents,  not  only 
neglectful  of  their  sacred  duties  but  seeking  to  recoup  themselves  for  their 
expenditure  by  exactions  from  their  subjects.  A  standing  grievance  was 
the  exaction  of  the  annates,  which,  since  their  regulation  by  Boniface  IX 
and  the  fruitless  effort  of  the  Council  of  Basel  to  abolish  them,  continued 
to  be  the  source  of  bitter  complaint.  They  consisted  of  a  portion,  usually 
computed  at  one-half,  of  the  estimated  revenue  of  a  benefice,  worth  twenty- 
five  florins  or  more,  collected  on  every  change  of  incumbents.  Thus  the 
archbishopric  of  Rouen  was  taxed  at  12,000  florins  and  the  little  see  of 
Grenoble  at  300 ;  the  great  abbacy  at  St  Denis  of  6000  and  the  little 
St  Ciprian  of  Poitiers  at  33,  while  all  parish  cures  in  France  were  rated 
uniformly  at  24  ducats,  equivalent  to  about  30  florins.  As  though 
these  burdens  were  not  enough,  pensions  on  benefices  and  religious 
houses  were  lavishly  granted  to  the  favourites  of  Popes  and  Cardinals  ;  for 
the  Pope  was  master  of  all  Church  property  and  was  limited  in  its  dis- 
tribution by  nothing  but  his  own  discretion.  Thus  the  people  on  whom 
these  burdens  ultimately  fell  were  taught  to  hate  the  clergy  as  the  clergy 
hated  the  Holy  See.  Of  all  its  oppressions,  however,  that  which  excited 
the  fiercest  clerical  antagonism  was  the  power  which  it  exercised  of 
demanding  a  tithe  of  all  ecclesiastical  revenues  whenever  money  was 
needed,  under  the  pretext,  generally,  of  carrying  on  the  war  with  the 
infidel.  As  early  as  1240,  Gregory  IX  called  for  a  twentieth  to  aid  him 
in  his  struggle  with  Frederick  II,  and  his  Legate  at  the  Council  of  Senlis 
forced  the  French  Bishops  to  give  their  assent ;  but  St  Louis  interposed 


Op2^osition  to  papal  levies 


669 


and  forbade  it.  Nevertheless,  Franciscan  emissaries  were  sent  to  collect 
it  under  threats  of  excommunication,  causing,  as  St  Louis  declared,  so 
great  a  hatred  of  the  Holy  See  that  only  the  strenuous  exercise  of  the 
royal  power  kept  the  Galilean  Church  in  the  Roman  obedience.  He 
subsequently  took  measures  to  protect  it  from  these  exactions  without 
the  royal  assent,  but  German}^  was  defenceless  and  the  papal  demands 
were  here  the  source  of  bitter  exasperation  and  resistance.  When  in  1354 
his  Italian  wars  caused  Innocent  VI  to  impose  a  tithe  on  the  German 
clergy,  the  whole  Church  of  the  Empire  rose  in  indignation,  and  was 
ready  to  resort  to  any  extremity  of  opposition.  Frederick,  Bishop  of 
Ratisbon,  seized  the  papal  collector,  and  confined  him  in  a  castle, 
while  the  papal  Nuncio,  the  Bishop  of  Cavaillon,  with  his  assistant, 
narrowly  escaped  an  ambush  set  for  his  life.  A  similar  storm  was 
aroused  when,  in  1372,  Gregory  XI  repeated  the  levy;  the  clergy  of 
Mainz  bound  themselves  by  a  solemn  mutual  agreement  not  to  pay  it, 
while  Frederick,  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  pledged  his  assistance  to  his 
clergy  in  their  refusal  to  submit.  Despite  this  resistance,  the  papacy 
prevailed,  but,  with  the  decline  of  respect  for  the  Holy  See  in  the  second 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was  not  always  able  to  enforce  its 
demands.  When  at  the  Congress  of  Mantua,  in  1459,  Pius  II  levied  a 
tithe  for  his  crusade,  the  German  princes  refused  to  allow  it  to  be  col- 
lected and  he  prudently  shrank  from  the  issue.  In  1487,  Innocent  VIII 
repeated  the  attempt,  but  the  German  clergy  protested  so  energetically 
that  he  was  forced  to  abandon  his  intention.  When,  in  1500,  Alex- 
ander VI  adopted  the  same  expedient,  Henry  VII  permitted  the 
collection  in  England ;  but  the  French  clergy  refused  to  pay.  They  were 
consequently  excommunicated;  whereupon  they  asked  the  University 
of  Paris  whether  the  excommunication  was  valid,  and,  on  receiving  a 
negative  answer,  quietly  continued  to  perform  their  sacred  functions. 
The  University,  in  fact,  had  long  paid  little  respect  to  papal  utter- 
ances. When  Eugenius  IV  and  Nicholas  V  ordered  the  prosecution 
as  heretics  of  those  who  taught  the  doctrines  of  John  of  Poilly  re- 
specting the  validity  of  confessions  to  Mendicant  Friars,  the  Univer- 
sity denounced  the  bulls  as  surreptitious  and  not  to  be  obeyed ;  and 
this  position  it  held  persistently  until  the  Holy  See  was  obliged 
to  give  way.  There  evidently  were  ample  causes  of  dissension  in  the 
Church  between  its  head  and  its  members  and  the  tension  continued 
to  increase. 

An  even  more  potent,  because  more  constant,  source  of  antagonism 
was  the  venality  of  the  Curia  and  its  pitiless  exactions  from  the 
multitudes  who  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  it.  This  had  always 
been  the  case  since  the  Holy  See  had  succeeded  in  concentrating  in  itself 
the  supreme  jurisdiction,  original  and  appellate,  so  that  all  questions  con- 
cerning the  spirituality  could  be  brought  before  it.  At  the  Council  of 
St  Baseul,  in  992,  Arnoul  of  Orleans  unhesitatingly  denounced  Rome 


670  Venality  of  offi^ces  and  officials 


as  a  place  where  justice  was  put  up  to  auction  for  the  highest  bidder ;  and 
similar  complaints  continue  through  the  Middle  Ages  with  ever-increasing 
vehemence,  as  its  sphere  of  operations  widened  and  its  system  became 
more  intricate  and  more  perfect.  As  Dietrich  of  Nieheim  says,  it  was  a 
gulf  which  swallowed  everything,  a  sea  into  which  all  rivers  poured  without 
its  overflowing,  and  happy  was  he  who  could  escape  its  clutches  without 
being  stripped.  Even  Aeneas  Sylvius,  before  he  attained  the  papacy,  had 
no  scruple  in  asserting  that  everything  was  for  sale  in  Rome  and  that 
nothing  was  to  be  had  there  without  money.  The  enormous  business 
concentrated  in  the  holy  city  from  every  corner  of  Christendom  required 
a  vast  army  of  officials  who  were  supported  by  fees  and  whose  numbers 
were  multiplied  oppressively,  especially  after  Boniface  IX  had  introduced 
the  sale  of  offices  as  a  financial  expedient.  Thus,  in  1487,  when  Sixtus  IV 
desired  to  redeem  his  tiara  and  jewels,  pledged  for  a  loan  of  100,000 
ducats,  he  increased  his  secretaries  from  six  to  twenty-four  and  required 
each  to  pay  2600  florins  for  the  office.  In  1503,  to  raise  funds  for 
Cesare  Borgia,  Alexander  VI  created  eighty  new  offices  and  sold  them 
for  760  ducats  apiece.  Julius  II  formed  a  "college  "  of  a  hundred  and 
one  scriveners  of  papal  briefs,  in  return  for  which  they  paid  him  74,000 
ducats.  Leo  X  appointed  sixty  chamberlains  and  a  hundred  and  forty 
squires,  with  certain  perquisites  for  which  the  former  paid  him  90,000 
ducats  and  the  latter  112,000.  Places  thus  paid  for  were  personal 
property,  transferable  by  sale  ;  and  Leo  X  levied  a  commission  of  five 
per  cent,  on  such  transactions,  and  then  made  over  the  proceeds  to 
Cardinal  Tarlato,  a  retainer  of  the  Medici  family.  Burchard  tells  us 
that  in  1483  he  bought  the  mastership  of  ceremonies  from  his  prede- 
cessor Patrizzi  for  450  ducats,  which  covered  all  expenses,  and  that  in 
1505  he  vainly  offered  Julius  II  2000  for  a  vacant  scrivenership ;  but 
soon  afterwards  he  bought  the  succession  to  an  abbreviatorship  for  2040. 
As  Burchard  was  still  master  of  ceremonies  and  Bishop  of  Orta  it  is 
evident  that  this  was  simply  an  investment  for  the  fees  of  an  office  which 
carried  with  it  no  duties. 

The  whole  machinery  was  thus  manifestly  devised  for  the  purpose  of 
levying  as  large  a  tax  as  possible  on  the  multitudes  whose  necessities 
brought  them  to  the  Curia,  and  its  rapacity  was  proverbial.  The  hands 
through  which  every  document  passed  were  multiplied  to  an  incredible 
degree  and  each  one  levied  his  share  upon  it.  Besides,  there  were  heavy- 
charges  which  do  not  appear  in  the  rules  of  the  Chancery  and  which 
doubtless  enured  to  the  benefit  of  the  papal  Camera,  so  that  the  official  tax- 
tables  bear  but  a  slender  proportion  to  the  actual  cost  of  briefs  to  suitors. 
Thus  certain  briefs  obtained  for  the  city  of  Cologne,  in  1393,  of  which 
the  charge,  according  to  the  tables,  was  eleven  and  a  half  florins,  cost 
when  delivered  266,  and,  in  1423,  some  similar  privileges  for  the  abbey 
of  St  Albans  were  paid  for  at  forty  times  the  amount  provided  in  the 
tables.    Thus  the  army  of  officials  constituting  the  Curia  not  only  cost 


Simony 


671 


nothing  to  the  Holy  See,  but  brought  in  revenue ;  and  its  exactions 
rendered  it  an  object  of  execration  throughout  Christendom. 

The  administration  of  justice  was  provocative  of  even  greater 
detestation.  The  business  flowing  in  from  every  part  of  Europe  was 
necessarily  enormous,  and  the  effort  seems  to  have  been  not  to  expedite, 
but  to  prolong  it,  and  to  render  it  as  costly  as  possible  to  the  pleader. 
We  hear  incidentally  of  a  suit  between  the  Teutonic  Order  and  the  clergy 
of  Kiga,  concerning  the  somewhat  trivial  question  whether  the  latter 
were  privileged  to  wear  the  vestments  of  the  Order,  in  the  course  of 
which,  in  1430,  the  agent  of  the  Order  writes  from  Rome  that  he  had 
already  expended  on  it  14,000  ducats,  and  that  6000  more  would  be 
required  to  bring  it  to  a  conclusion.  The  sale  of  benefices  and  expec- 
tatives  was  in  itself  a  most  lucrative  source  of  profit  to  the  Roman 
Courts ;  for,  in  the  magnitude  and  complexity  of  the  business,  mistakes, 
accidental  or  otherwise,  were  frequent,  leading  to  conflicting  claims 
which  could  be  adjudicated  only  in  Rome.  The  Galilean  Church, 
assembled  at  the  Council  of  Bourges,  in  1438,  declared  that  this  was  the 
cause  of  innumerable  suits  and  contentions  between  the  servants  of  God  ; 
that  quarrels  and  hatreds  were  excited,  the  greed  of  pluralities  was 
stimulated,  the  money  of  the  kingdom  was  exhausted  ;  pleaders,  forced 
to  have  recourse  to  the  Roman  Courts,  were  reduced  to  poverty,  and 
rightful  claims  were  set  aside  in  favour  of  those  whose  greater  cunning  or 
larger  means  enabled  them  to  profit  through  the  frauds  rendered  possible 
by  the  complexities  of  the  papal  graces.  France  protected  herself  by  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction,  until  its  final  abrogation,  in  1516,  by  the  Concordat 
between  Francis  I  and  Leo  X  excited  intense  -dissatisfaction  and  was 
one  of  the  causes  which  favoured  the  rapid  spread  of  the  Lutheran  heresy 
there.  Germany  had  not  been  so  fortunate,  and  among  the  grievances 
presented,  in  1510,  to  the  Emperor  Maximilian  was  enumerated  the 
granting  of  expectatives  without  number,  and  often  the  same  to  several 
persons,  as  giving  rise  to  daily  law-suits ;  so  that  the  money  laid  out  in 
the  purchase  and  that  expended  in  the  suit  were  alike  lost,  and  it  became 
a  proverb  that  whoever  obtained  an  expectative  from  Rome  ought  to  lay 
aside  with  it  one  or  two  hundred  gold  pieces  to  be  expended  in  render- 
ing it  effective.  Another  of  the  grievances  was  that  cases,  which  ought 
to  have  been  decided  at  home  where  there  were  good  and  upright 
judges,  were  carried  without  distinction  to  Rome.  There  was,  in  fact, 
no  confidence  felt  in  the  notoriously  venal  Roman  Courts,  and  their  very 
name  was  an  abomination  in  Germany. 

The  pressing  necessities  of  the  papacy  had  found  another  source  of 
relief  which  did  not  bear  so  directly  on  the  nations  but  was  an  expedient 
fatally  degrading  to  the  dignity  and  character  of  the  Holy  See.  This 
was  the  sale  of  the  highest  office  in  the  Church  next  to  the  papacy  itself 
—  the  red  hat  of  the  cardinalate.  The  reputation  of  the  Sacred  College 
was  already  rapidly  deteriorating  through  the  nepotism  of  the  Pontiffs, 


672  Comiption  of  the  papal  Court 


who  thrust  their  kinsmen  into  it  irrespective  of  fitness,  or  yielded  to  the 
pressure  of  monarchs  and  appointed  their  unworthy  favourites  in  order 
to  secure  some  temporary  political  advantage.  Thus  its  decadence  and 
secularisation  were  rapid  through  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century ;  but  a  lower  depth  was  reached  when,  in  1500,  Alexander  VI 
created  twelve  Cardinals  from  whose  appointment  Cesare  Borgia  secured 
the  sum  of  120,000  ducats,  and  whose  character  may  readily  be  surmised. 
In  1503,  with  the  same  object,  nine  more  were  appointed  and  again 
Cesare  obtained  between  120,000  and  130,000  ducats.  Even  Julius  II, 
in  his  creation  of  Cardinals  in  April,  1511,  did  not  scruple  to  make  some 
of  them  pay  heavily  for  the  promotion,  and  in  this  he  was  imitated  by 
Leo  X  in  1517,  on  the  notorious  occasion  of  the  swamping  of  the 
Sacred  College.  It  was  only  a  step  from  this  to  the  purchase  of  the 
papacy  itself,  and  both  Alexander  VI  and  Julius  II  obtained  the  pon- 
tificate by  bribery.  So  commonly  known,  indeed,  was  the  venality  of  the 
Sacred  College  that,  at  the  death  of  Innocent  VIII,  in  1492,  Charles  VIII 
was  currently  reported  to  have  deposited  200,000  ducats  and  Genoa 
100,000  in  a  Roman  bank  in  order  to  secure  the  election  of  Giuliano 
della  Rovere  ;  but  Rodrigo  Borgia  carried  off  the  prize.  Under  a  similar 
conviction,  when,  in  1511,  Julius  II  was  thought  to  be  on  his  death-bed, 
and  the  Emperor  Maximilian  conceived  the  idea  of  securing  his  own 
election  to  the  expected  vacancy,  his  first  step  was  to  try  to  obtain 
a  loan  of  200,000  or  300,000  ducats  from  the  Fuggers'  bank  on  the 
security  of  his  jewels  and  insignia.  That  Maximilian  should  have 
entertained  such  a  project  is  a  significant  illustration  of  the  complete 
secularisation  of  the  Holy  See. 

Under  such  influences  it  is  no  wonder  that  Rome  had  become  a  centre 
of  corruption  whence  infection  was  radiated  throughout  Christendom. 
In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  Petrarch  exhausts  his  rhetoric 
in  describing  the  abominations  of  the  papal  city  of  Avignon,  where 
everything  was  vile  ;  and  the  return  of  the  Curia  to  Rome  transferred  to 
that  city  the  supremacy  in  wickedness.  In  1499  the  Venetian  ambas- 
sador describes  it  as  the  sewer  of  the  world,  and  Machiavelli  asserts  that 
through  its  example  all  devotion  and  all  religion  had  perished  in  Italy. 
In  1490  it  numbered  6000  public  women  —  an  enormous  proportion  for  a 
population  not  exceeding  100,000.  The  story  is  well  known, how  Cardinal 
Borgia  who,  as  Vice-Chancellor,  openly  sold  pardons  for  crime,  when 
reproved  for  this,  replied,  that  God  desires  not  the  death  of  sinners  but 
that  they  should  pay  and  live.  If  the  Diary  of  Infessura  is  suspect  on 
account  of  his  partisanship,  that  of  Burchard  is  unimpeachable,  and  his 
placid  recital  of  the  events  passing  under  his  eyes  presents  to  us  a  society 
too  depraved  to  take  shame  at  its  own  wickedness.  The  public  marriage, 
he  says,  of  the  daughters  of  Innocent  VIII  and  Alexander  VI  set  the 
fashion  for  the  clergy  to  have  children,  and  they  diligently  followed  it; 
for  all,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  kept  concubines,  while  the 


Divorce  of  religion  and  morality 


673 


monasteries  were  brothels.  The  official  conscience  was  illustrated  in  the 
Hospital  of  San  Giovanni  in  Laterano  where  the  confessor,  when  he  found 
that  a  patient  had  money,  would  notify  the  physician,  who  thereupon 
would  administer  a  deadly  dose  and  the  two  would  seize  and  divide  the 
spoils.  Had  the  physician  contented  himself  with  this  industry,  he 
might  have  escaped  detection ;  but  he  varied  it  by  going  into  the  streets 
every  morning  and  shooting  with  a  cross-bow  people  whose  pockets  he 
then  emptied,  for  which  he  was  duly  hanged  (May  27,  1500).  The 
foulness  of  the  debaucheries  in  which  Alexander  YI  emulated  the  worst 
excesses  of  the  pagan  empire  was  possible  only  in  a  social  condition  of 
utter  corruption ;  and,  as  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  filtered  through  the 
consciousness  of  Europe,  contempt  was  added  to  the  detestation  so 
generally  entertained  for  the  Holy  See.  This  was  ominously  expressed, 
in  1501,  in  a  letter  to  Alexander  VI  from  a  knight  and  two  men-at- 
arms  who  had  despoiled  the  convent  of  Weissenburg  and  had  disregarded 
the  consequent  excommunication.  Under  the  canon  law  this  rendered 
them  suspect  of  heresy,  for  which  they  were  summoned  to  Rome  to 
answer  for  their  faith.  They  replied  in  a  tone  of  unconcealed  irony ; 
the  journey,  they  say,  is  too  long,  so  they  send  a  profession  of  faith, 
including  a  promise  of  obedience  to  a  Pope  honestly  elected  who  has 
not  sullied  the  Holy  See  with  immoralities  and  scandals. 

In  fact,  one  of  the  most  urgent  symptoms  of  the  necessity  of  a  new 
order  of  things  was  the  complete  divorce  between  religion  and  morality. 
There  was  abundant  zeal  in  debating  minute  points  of  faith,  but 
little  in  evoking  from  it  an  exemplary  standard  of  life  —  as  Pius  II  said 
of  the  Conventual  Franciscans:  they  were  generally  excellent  theo- 
logians but  gave  themselves  little  trouble  about  virtue.  The  sacerdotal 
system,  developed  by  the  dialectics  of  the  Schoolmen,  had  constructed 
a  routine  of  external  observances  through  which  salvation  was  to  be 
gained  not  so  much  by  abstinence  from  sin  as  by  its  pardon  through  the 
intervention  of  the  priest,  whose  supernatural  powers  were  in  no  way 
impaired  by  the  scandals  of  his  daily  life.  Except  within  the  pale  of 
the  pagan  Renaissance,  never  was  there  a  livelier  dread  of  future 
punishment,  but  this  punishment  was  to  be  escaped,  not  by  amendment 
but  by  confession,  absolution,  and  indulgences.  This  frame  of  mind  is 
exemplified  by  the  condottiere  Vitelozzo  Vitelli,  who,  when  after  a  life 
steeped  in  crime  he  was  suddenly  strangled  by  Cesare  Borgia  in  1502,  felt 
no  more  poignant  regret  than  that  he  could  not  obtain  absolution  from 
the  Pope  —  and  that  Pope  was  Alexander  VI.  Society  was  thoroughly 
corrupt  —  perhaps  less  so  in  the  lower  than  in  the  higher  classes  —  but  no 
one  can  read  the  Lenten  sermons  of  the  preachers  of  the  time,  even  with 
full  allowance  for  rhetorical  exaggeration,  without  recognizing  that  the 
world  has  rarely  seen  a  more  debased  standard  of  morality  than  that  which 
prevailed  in  Italy  in  the  closing  years  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Yet  at  the 
same  time  never  were  there  greater  outward  manifestations  of  devotional 

C.  M.  H.  I.  43 


674 


Morals  of  the  clergy 


zeal.  A  man  like  San  Giovanni  Capistrano  could  scarce  walk  the  streets 
of  a  city  without  an  armed  guard  to  preserve  his  life  from  the  surging 
crowds  eager  to  secure  a  rag  of  his  garments  as  a  relic  or  to  carry  away 
some  odour  of  his  holiness  by  touching  him  with  a  stick.  Venice,  which 
cared  little  for  an  interdict,  offered  in  vain  ten  thousand  ducats,  in  1455, 
for  a  seamless  coat  of  Christ.  Siena  and  Perugia  went  to  war  over  the 
wedding-ring  of  the  Virgin.  At  no  period  was  there  greater  faith  in  the 
thaumaturgic  virtue  of  images  and  saintly  relics ;  never  were  religious 
solemnities  so  gorgeously  celebrated  ;  never  were  processions  so  magnifi- 
cent or  so  numerously  attended ;  never  were  fashionable  shrines  so  largely 
thronged  by  pilgrims.  In  his  Encheiridion  Militis  Christiani,  written 
in  1502  and  approved  by  Adrian  VI,  then  head  of  the  University  of 
Louvain,  Erasmus  had  the  boldness  to  protest  against  this  new  kind  of 
Judaism  which  placed  its  reliance  on  observances,  like  magic  rites,  which 
drew  men  away  from  Christ ;  and  again,  in  1519,  in  a  letter  to  Cardinal 
Albrecht  of  Mainz,  he  declared  that  religion  was  degenerating  into  a 
more  than  Judaic  formalism  of  ceremonies,  and  that  there  must  be  a 
change. 

A  priesthood  trained  in  this  formalism,  which  had  practically  re- 
placed the  ethical  values  of  Christianity,  secure  that  its  supernatural 
attributes  were  unaffected  by  the  most  flagitious  life,  and  selected  by 
such  methods  as  were  practised  by  the  Curia  and  imitated  by  the 
prelates,  could  not  be  expected  to  rise  above  the  standards  of  the 
community.  Rather,  indeed,  were  the  influences  to  which  the  clergy 
were  exposed  adapted  to  depress  them  below  the  average.  They  were 
clothed  with  virtually  irresponsible  power  over  their  subjects,  they  were 
free  from  the  restraints  of  secular  law,  and  they  were  condemned  to 
celibacy  in  times  when  no  man  was  expected  to  be  continent.  For- 
three  hundred  years  it  had  been  the  constant  complaint  that  the  people 
were  contaminated  by  their  pastors,  and  the  complaint  continued.  After 
the  death  of  Calixtus  III,  in  1458,  the  Cardinals  about  to  enter  the 
Conclave  were  told  in  the  address  made  to  them  by  Domenico  de' 
Domenichi,  Bishop  of  Torcello,  "  The  morals  of  the  clergy  are  corrupt, 
they  have  become  an  offence  to  the  laity,  all  discipline  is  lost.  From 
day  to  day  the  respect  for  the  Church  diminishes ;  the  power  of  her 
censures  is  almost  gone."  In  1519,  Brigonnet,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  in  his 
diocesan  synod,  did  not  shrink  from  describing  the  Church  as  a  strong- 
hold of  vice,  a  city  of  refuge  from  transgression,  where  one  could  live  in 
safety,  free  from  all  fear  of  punishment.  The  antagonism  towards  the 
priesthood,  thus  aroused  among  the  people,  was  indicated  in  the  career 
of  Hans  Boheim,  a  wandering  musician,  who  settled  in  Niklashausen, 
where  he  announced  revelations  from  the  Virgin.  She  instructed  him  to 
proclaim  to  her  people  that  she  could  no  longer  endure  the  pride,  the 
avarice,  and  the  lust  of  the  priesthood,  and  that  the  world  would  be 


Popular  attacks  on  the  priests 


675 


destroyed  because  of  their  wickedness  unless  they  should  speedily  amend 
their  ways.  Tithes  and  tribute  should  be  purely  voluntary ;  tolls  and 
customs  dues  and  game-preserving  should  be  abolished  ;  Rome  had  no 
claim  to  the  primacy  of  the  Church ;  purgatory  was  a  figment,  and  he 
had  power  to  rescue  souls  from  hell.  The  fame  of  the  inspired  preacher 
spread  far  and  wide  between  the  Rhineland  and  Meissen ;  crowds  from 
all  quarters  flocked  to  hear  him,  and  he  frequently  addressed  assemblages 
rated  at  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  souls,  who  brought  him  rich  offerings. 
In  1476  Rudolf,  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg,  put  an  end  to  this  dangerous 
propaganda  by  seizing  and  burning  the  prophet,  but  belief  in  him  con- 
tinued until  Diether  of  Mainz  placed  an  interdict  on  the  church  of 
Niklashausen  in  order  to  check  the  concourse  of  pilgrims  who  persisted 
in  visiting  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  complete  and  instructive  presentation  which  we 
have  of  the  opinions  and  aspirations  of  the  medieval  populations  is 
embodied  in  the  ample  series  of  the  Spanish  Cortes  published  by  the 
Real  Aeademia  de  la  HistoHa.  In  the  petitions  or  cahiers  of  these 
representative  bodies  we  find  an  uninterrupted  expression  of  hostility 
towards  the  Church,  unrelieved  by  any  recognition  of  services,  whether 
as  the  guardian  of  religous  truth  or  as  the  mediator  between  God  and 
man.  To  the  Castilian  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  it  was 
simply  an  engine  of  oppression,  an  instrument  through  which  rapacious 
men  could  satisfy  their  greed  and  inflict  misery  on  the  people  by  its 
exactions  and  its  constantly  encroaching  jurisdiction,  enforced  through 
unrestricted  power  of  excommunication.  Bitter  were  the  reiterated 
complaints  of  the  immunity  which  it  afforded  to  criminals,  and  there  was 
constant  irritation  at  clerical  exemption  from  public  duties  and  burdens. 
In  short,  it  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  a  public  enemy,  and  the 
slight  respect  in  which  it  was  held  is  amply  evidenced  in  the  repeated 
complaints  of  the  spoliation  of  churches,  which  were  robbed  of  their 
sacred  vessels,  apparently  without  compunction. 
I  The  popular  literature  of  the  period  similarly  reflects  this  mingled 
contempt  and  hatred  for  the  priesthood.  The  Franciscan  Thomas 
Murner,  who  subsequently  was  one  of  the  most  savage  opponents  of 
Luther,  in  the  curious  rhymed  sermons  which,  in  1512,  he  preached 
:  in  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  and  which,  under  the  names  of  the  Schel- 
menznnft  and  the  Narrenheschveerung^  had  a  wide  popularity,  is  never 
tired  of  dwelling  on  the  scandals  of  all  classes  of  the  clergy,  from  bishops 
to  monks  and  nuns.  All  are  worldly,  rapacious,  and  sensual.  When  the 
lay  lord  has  shorn  the  sheep,  the  priest  comes  and  fairly  disembowels  it, 
the  begging  friar  follows  and  gets  what  he  can  and  then  the  pardoner. 
I;  If  a  bishop  is  in  want  of  money  he  sends  around  his  fiscal  among  the 
j  parish  priests  to  extort  payment  for  the  privilege  of  keeping  their 
I  concubines.  In  the  nunneries  the  sister  who  has  the  most  children  is 
I  made  the  abbess.    If  Christ  were  on  earth  to-day  He  would  be  betrayed. 


676 


Attacks  by  popular  preachers 


and  Judas  would  be  reckoned  an  honest  man.  The  devil  is  really  the 
ruler  of  the  Church,  whose  prelates  perform  his  works ;  they  are  too 
ignorant  to  discharge  their  duties  and  require  coadjutors  —  it  would  be 
well  for  them  could  they  likewise  have  substitutes  in  hell.  The  wolf 
preached  and  sang  mass  so  as  to  gather  the  geese  around  him,  and  then 
seized  and  ate  them  ;  so  it  is  with  prelate  and  priest  who  promise  all 
things  and  pretend  to  care  for  souls  until  they  get  their  benefices,  when 
they  devour  their  flocks.  The  immense  applause  with  which  these  attacks 
on  the  abuses  of  the  Church  were  everywhere  received,  and  others  of  a 
similar  character  in  Eulenspiegel,  Sebastian  Brant's  Narrenschiff^  Johann 
Faber's  Traetatus  de  Ruine  Ecclesie  Planctu,  and  the  Encomium  Moriae 
of  Erasmus,  their  translation  into  many  languages  and  wide  circulation 
throughout  Europe,  show  how  thoroughly  they  responded  to  the  popular 
feeling,  how  dangerously  the  Church  had  forfeited  the  respect  of  the 
masses,  and  how  deeply  rooted  was  the  aversion  which  it  had  inspired. 
The  priests  hated  Rome  for  her  ceaseless  exactions  and  the  people  hated 
the  priests  with  perhaps  even  better  reason.  So  bitter  was  this  dislike 
that,  in  1502,  Erasmus  tells  us  that  among  laymen  to  call  a  man  a  cleric 
or  a  priest  or  a  monk  was  an  unpardonable  insult. 

This  antagonism  was  fostered  by  the  pulpit,  which,  until  the  inven- 
tion of  printing  and  the  diffusion  of  education,  was  the  only  channel  of 
access  to  the  masses.  Neglected  by  the  bishops,  involved  in  worldly 
cares  and  indulgence,  and  by  the  parish  priests,  too  ignorant  and  too 
indolent  to  employ  it,  the  duty  of  preaching  fell,  for  the  most  part,  to 
volunteers  who,  like  Thomas  Murner,  were  usually  Mendicant  Friars  and 
consequently  hostile  to  the  secular  clergy.  Their  influence  on  public 
opinion  was  great.  With  coarse  and  vigorous  eloquence  they  attacked 
abuses  of  all  kinds,  whether  in  Church  or  State,  and  with  an  almost 
incredible  hardihood  they  aroused  the  people  to  a  sense  of  their  wrongs. 
A  favourite  topic  was  the  contrast  between  the  misery  of  the  lower  classes 
and  the  luxury  of  the  prelates  —  their  hawks  and  hounds,  their  splendid 
retinues,  and  the  lavish  adornment  of  their  female  companions.  The 
licentiousness  of  the  clergy  was  not  spared  —  according  to  one  of  them 
the  wealth  of  the  Church  only  serves  as  a  pair  of  bellows  to  kindle  the 
fires  of  lust.  The  earliest  of  these  bold  demagogues  of  whom  we  have 
authentic  details  was  Foulques  de  Neuilly,  who,  in  the  closing  years  of 
the  twelfth  century,  traversed  France,  calling  the  people  to  repentance 
and  listened  to  by  immense  crowds.  He  was  especially  severe  on  the 
vices  of  the  clergy,  and  it  is  related  of  him  that  at  Lisieux,  to  silence 
him,  they  threw  him  into  prison  and  loaded  him  with  chains ;  but  his 
saintliness  had  won  for  him  thaumaturgic  power,  and  he  walked  forth 
unharmed.  Thomas  Connecte,  a  Carmelite  of  Britanny,  was  another 
wandering  preacher  who  produced  an  immense  impression  wherever  he 
went,  and  we  are  told  that  his  invectives  against  the  priesthood  won  him 
especial  applause ;  but  when,  in  1432,  he  went  to  Rome  to  lash  the  vices 


The  Councils,  Julius  II,  and  reform 


677 


of  the  Curia  he  was  speedily  found  to  be  heretic  and  he  perished  at  the 
stake.  Although  St  Bonaventura  deprecated,  on  account  of  the  scandals 
and  quarrels  which  it  provoked,  the  Mendicant  preachers'  habit  of 
attacking  the  corruption  of  the  priesthood,  it  was  ever  a  favourite 
topic ;  and  the  preaching  of  such  men  as  Olivier  Maillard,  Geiler  von 
Kaisersberg,  Guillaume  Pepin,  Jean  Cleree,  Michel  Menot,  and  a  host  of 
others,  unquestionably  contributed  largely  to  stimulate  the  irresistible 
impulse  which  finally  insisted  on  reform.  With  the  invention  of 
printing  their  eloquence  reached  larger  audiences  ;  for  their  sermons 
were  collected  and  printed  and  received  a  wide  circulation. 

That  a  reform  of  the  Church  in  its  head  and  its  members  was 
necessary  had  long  been  generally  conceded.  For  more  than  a  century 
Europe  had  been  clamouring  for  it.  For  this  it  had  gathered  its 
learning  and  piety  at  Constance,  1414-18;  the  Curia  had  skilfully 
eluded  the  demand  and  the  assembly  delegated  the  task  to  future 
Councils,  which,  by  the  decree  Frequens^  it  decreed  should  be  convoked 
at  regular  intervals  of  seven  years.  In  obedience  to  this  decree  a  Coun- 
cil met  at  Pavia  and  Siena  in  1423-4,  where  the  effort  was  again  made 
and  again  frustrated.  When  the  term  came  around  in  1431  and  the 
Church,  assembled  at  Basel,  determined  not  to  be  balked  again,  the  reso- 
lute energy  of  the  reformers  speedily  caused  a  rupture  with  the  papacy, 
and  the  Basilian  canons,  aimed  at  some  of  the  more  crying  abuses,  were 
steadfastly  ignored.  The  responsibility  thus  devolved  upon  the  papacy, 
which  had  rendered  abortive  the  eiforts  of  the  Councils,  and,  after  its 
bitter  experience  at  Basel,  had  successfully  resisted  the  constantly 
recurring  demands  for  the  enforcement  of  the  decree  Frequens.  To 
meet  this  responsibility  successive  Popes,  from  Martin  V  to  Leo  X, 
issued  reformatory  decrees,  the  promulgation  and  non-observance  of 
which  only  served  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  evil  and  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  its  correction. 

At  length,  in  1511,  the  schismatic  Council  of  Pisa,  held  by  the 
disaffected  Cardinals  under  the  auspices  of  Louis  XII,  forced  the  hand 
of  Julius  II,  and  to  checkmate  it  he  issued  a  summons  for  a  General 
Council  to  assemble  in  Rome,  April  19,  1512,  to  resist  the  schism,  to 
reform  the  morals  of  laity  and  clergy,  to  bring  about  peace  between 
Christian  princes,  and  to  prosecute  the  War  with  the  Turk.  Not  much 
was  to  be  hoped  of  a  Council  held  in  Rome  under  papal  presidency ;  but 
Europe  took  the  project  seriously.  The  instructions  of  the  Spanish 
delegates  ordered  them  to  labor  especially  for  the  reformation  of  the 
Curia ;  for  the  chief  objection  of  the  infidels  to  Christianity  arose  from 
the  public  and  execrable  wickedness  of  Rome,  for  which  the  Pope  was 
accountable.  It  was  apparently  to  forestall  action  that,  in  March,  1512, 
Julius  appointed  a  commission  of  eight  Cardinals  to  reform  the  Curia 
and  its  officials,  and,  on  March  30,  he  issued  a  bull  reducing  the  heavy 


678 


Leo  X  and  reform 


burden  of  fees  and  other  exactions.  The  Fifth  Council  of  the  Lateran 
assembled  a  little  later  than  the  time  appointed,  and  its  earlier  sessions 
were  devoted  to  obliterating  the  traces  of  the  schism  and  attacking  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  of  France.  Julius  died  February  21,  1513,  and  to 
his  successor,  Leo  X,  was  transferred  the  management  of  the  Council. 
To  him  Gianfrancesco  Pico  addressed  a  memorial  recapitulating  the 
evils  to  be  redressed.  The  worship  of  God,  he  said,  was  neglected;  the 
churches  were  held  by  pimps  and  catamites ;  the  nunneries  were  dens 
of  prostitution  ;  justice  was  a  matter  of  hatred  or  favour ;  piety  was  lost 
in  superstition ;  the  priesthood  was  bought  and  sold ;  the  revenues  of 
the  Church  ministered  only  to  the  vilest  excesses,  and  the  people  were 
repelled  from  religion  by  the  example  of  their  pastors.  The  Council 
made  at  least  a  show  of  attacking  these  evils.  On  May  3,  1514,  it 
approved  a  papal  decree  which,  if  enforced,  would  have  cured  a  small 
portion  of  the  abuses ;  but  all  subsequent  efforts  were  blocked  by  quarrels 
between  the  different  classes  to  be  reformed.  The  Council  sat  until 
March,  1517,  and  the  disappointment  arising  from  its  dissolution  with- 
out accomplishing  anything  of  the  long-desired  reform,  may  well  have 
contributed  to  the  eagerness  with  w^hich  the  Lutheran  revolt  was  soon 
afterwards  hailed ;  for  thoughtful  men  everywhere  must  have  been  con- 
vinced that  nothing  short  of  revolution  could  put  an  end  to  corruption  so 
inexpugnably  established.  It  was  the  emphatic  testimony  of  interested 
observers  that  the  Roman  Curia,  in  its  immovable  adherence  to  its  evil 
ways,  was  the  real  cause  of  the  uprising.  The  papal  nuncio  Aleander, 
writing  from  the  Diet  of  Worms  in  1521,  says  that  the  priests  are  fore- 
most in  the  revolt,  not  for  Luther's  sake  but  because  through  him  they 
can  gratify  their  long-cherished  hatred  of  Rome ;  nine  Germans  out  of 
ten  are  for  Luther,  and  the  tenth  man  longs  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Roman  Curia.  Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Mainz,  about  the  same  time,  wrote 
to  Pope  Leo  that  it  was  rare  to  find  a  man  who  favoured  the  clergy,  while 
a  large  portion  of  the  priests  were  for  Luther,  and  the  majority  were  afraid 
to  stand  forth  in  support  of  the  Roman  Church,  —  so  deep  was  the  hatred 
felt  for  the  Curia  and  the  papal  decrees.  When  Dr  Eck  found  that  his 
disputatious  zeal  was  a  failure,  he  told  Paul  III  that  the  heresy  had 
arisen  from  the  abuses  of  the  Curia,  that  it  had  spread  in  consequence  of 
the  immorality  of  the  clergy,  and  that  it  could  only  be  checked  by  reform. 
Adrian  VI,  in  his  instructions  to  his  legate  at  the  Diet  of  Niirnberg  in 
1522,  admitted  the  abominations  habitual  to  the  Holy  See  and  promised 
their  removal,  but  added  that  it  would  be  a  work  of  time ;  for  the  evil 
was  too  complex  and  too  deeply  rooted  for  a  speedy  cure.  Meanwhile 
he  demanded  the  execution  of  the  papal  sentence  against  Luther  without 
awaiting  the  promised  reform ;  but  the  German  princes  replied  that  this 
would  simply  cause  rebellion,  for  the  people  would  then  despair  of 
amendment. 

While  thus  the  primary  cause  of  the  Reformation  is  to  be  sought  in 


Influence  of  the  New  Learning 


679 


the  all-pervading  corruption  of  the  Church  and  its  oppressive  exercise  of 
its  supernatural  prerogatives,  there  were  other  factors  conducing  to  the 
explosion.  Sufficient  provocation  had  long  existed,  and  since  the  failure 
at  Basel  no  reasonable  man  could  continue  to  anticipate  relief  from 
conciliar  action.  The  shackles  which  for  centuries  had  bound  the 
human  intellect  had  to  be  loosened,  before  there  could  be  a  popular 
movement  of  volume  sufficient  to  break  with  the  traditions  of  the  past 
and  boldly  tempt  the  dangers  of  a  new  and  untried  career  for  humanity. 
The  old  reverence  for  authority  had  to  be  weakened,  the  sense  of  intel- 
lectual independence  had  to  be  awakened,  and  the  spirit  of  enquiry  and 
of  more  or  less  scientific  investigation  had  to  be  created,  before  pious 
and  devout  men  could  reach  the  root  of  the  abuses  which  caused  so 
much  indignation,  and  could  deny  the  authenticity  of  the  apostolical 
deposit  on  which  had  been  erected  the  venerable  and  imposing  structure 
of  Scholastic  Theology  and  papal  autocracy. 

It  was  the  New  Learning  and  the  humanistic  movement  which 
supplied  the  impulse  necessary  for  this,  and  they  found  conditions 
singularly  favourable  for  their  work.  The  Church  had  triumphed  so 
completely  over  her  enemies  that  the  engines  of  repression  had  been 
neglected  and  had  grown  rusty,  while  the  Popes  were  so  engrossed  in 
their  secular  schemes  and  ambition  that  they  had  little  thought  to 
waste  on  the  possible  tendencies  of  the  fashionable  learning  which  they 
patronised.  Thus  there  came  an  atmosphere  of  free  thought,  strangely 
at  variance  with  the  rigid  dogmatism  of  the  theologians,  and  even  in 
theology  there  was  a  certain  latitude  of  discussion  permissible,  for  the 
Tridentine  decrees  had  not  yet  formulated  into  articles  of  faith  the 
results  of  the  debates  of  the  Schoolmen  since  the  twelfth  century.  It 
is  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  prevailing  laxity  that  Nicholas  V  com- 
missioned Gianozzo  Manetti  to  make  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible 
from  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek,  thus  showing  that  the  Vulgate  was 
regarded  as  insufficient  and  that  it  enjoyed  no  such  authority  as  that 
attributed  to  it  at  Trent.  In  view  of  this  laxity  it  is  not  surprising  that 
in  Italy  the  New  Learning  assumed  various  fantastic  shapes  of  belief  — 
the  cult  of  the  Genius  of  Rome  by  Pomponio  Leto  and  his  Academy, 
the  Platonism  of  Marsiglio  Ficino,  the  practical  denial  of  immortality  by 
Pomponazzi,  and  the  modified  Averrhoism  of  Agostino  Nifo.  So  long  as 
the  profits  of  the  Curia  or  the  authority  of  the  Pope  remained  undisputed 
there  was  little  disposition  to  trouble  the  dreamers  and  speculators. 
Savonarola  declares,  with  some  rhetorical  exaggeration,  that  culture  had 
supplanted  religion  in  the  minds  of  those  to  whom  the  destinies  of 
Christianity  were  confided,  until  they  lost  belief  in  God,  celebrated  feasts 
of  the  devil,  and  made  a  jest  of  the  sacred  mysteries.  In  the  polite  Court 
circles  of  Leo  X,  we  are  told,  a  man  was  scarce  accounted  as  cultured 
and  well-bred  unless  he  cherished  a  certain  amount  of  heretical  opinion  ; 
and  after  Luther's  doctrines  had  become  rigidly  defined  Melanchthon  is 


680 


Heretical  teachers 


said  to  have  looked  back  with  a  sigh  to  the  days  before  the  Reformation 
as  to  a  time  when  there  was  freedom  of  thought.  It  is  true  that  there 
was  occasional  spasmodic  repression.  Pico  della  Mirandola,  because  of 
thirteen  heretical  propositions  among  the  nine  hundred  which  he  offered 
to  defend  in  1487,  was  obliged  to  fly  to  Spain  and  to  make  his  peace  by 
submission ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  humanists  were  allowed  to  air  their  fancies 
in  peace.  When  the  disputations  of  the  schools  on  the  question  of  the 
future  life  became  overbold  and  created  scandal,  the  Lateran  Council,  in 
1513,  forbade  the  teaching  of  Averrhoism  and  of  the  mortality  of  the 
soul ;  but  it  did  so  in  terms  which  placed  little  restraint  on  philosophers 
who  shielded  themselves  behind  a  perfunctory  declaration  of  submission 
to  the  judgment  of  the  Church. 

In  the  intellectual  ferment  at  work  throughout  Europe,  it  was, 
however,  impossible  that  many  devout  Christians  should  not  be  led 
to  question  details  in  the  theology  on  which  the  Schoolmen  had 
erected  the  structure  of  sacerdotal  supremacy.  Gregor  Heimburg 
was  a  layman  who  devoted  his  life  to  asserting  the  superiority 
of  the  secular  power  to  the  ecclesiastical,  lending  the  aid  of  his 
learning  and  eloquence  to  the  anti-papal  side  of  all  the  controversies 
which  raged  from  the  time  of  the  Council  of  Basel  until  he  died 
in  1472,  absolved  at  last  from  the  excommunication  which  he  had 
richly  earned.  In  1479  the  errors  of  Pedro  de  Osma,  a  professor  of 
Salamanca,  were  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Alcala;  they  consisted 
in  denying  the  efficacy  of  indulgences,  the  divine  origin  and  necessity 
of  confession,  and  the  infallibility  and  irresponsible  autocracy  of  the 
papacy.  The  same  year  witnessed  the  trial  at  Mainz,  by  the  Cologne 
inquisitor,  of  Johann  Rucherath  of  Wesel,  a  professor  in  the  University 
of  Erfurt  and  one  of  the  most  distinguished  theologians  of  Germany. 
Erfurt  was  noted  for  its  humanism  and  for  its  adherence  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  superiority  of  councils  over  popes,  and  Johann  Rucherath  had 
been  uttering  his  heretical  opinions  for  many  years  without  opposition. 
He  would  probably  have  been  allowed  to  continue  in  peace  until  the  end 
but  for  the  mortal  quarrel  between  the  Realists  and  the  Nominalists  and 
the  desire  of  the  Dominican  Thomists  to  silence  a  Nominalist  leader. 
He  rejected  the  authority  of  tradition  and  of  the  Fathers ;  he  carried 
predestination  to  a  point  which  stripped  the  Church  of  its  power  over 
salvation,  and  he  even  struck  the  word  Filioque  from  the  Creed.  He  was 
of  course  condemned  and  forced  to  recant ;  but  the  contemporary  re- 
porter of  the  trial  apparently  considers  that  his  only  serious  error  was 
the  one  concerning  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  he  cites 
various  men  of  learning  who  held  that  most  of  the  condemned  articles 
could  be  maintained.  More  fortunate  was  Johann  Wessel  of  Groningen, 
a  prominent  theological  teacher  who  entertained  heretical  notions  as 
to  confession,  absolution,  and  purgatory,  and  denied  that  the  Pope 
could  grant  indulgences,  for  God  deals  directly  with  man  —  doctrines  as 


Laillier.  —  Vitrier.  — Lefevre 


681 


revolutionary  as  those  of  Luther  —  yet  he  was  allowed  to  die  peacefully 
in  1489,  held  in  great  honour  by  the  community.  Still  more  significant 
of  the  spiritual  unrest  of  the  period  was  a  Sorhonnique^  or  thesis  for  the 
doctorate,  presented  to  the  University  of  Paris,  in  1485,  by  a  priest 
named  Jean  Laillier,  whose  audacity  reduced  the  hierarchy,  including 
the  pope,  to  simple  priesthood,  and  rejected  confession,  absolution, 
indulgences,  fasting,  the  obligation  of  celibacy,  and  the  authority  of 
tradition.  The  extreme  difficulty  encountered  in  procuring  the  con- 
demnation of  these  dangerous  heresies,  which  finally  required  the  inter- 
vention of  Innocent  VIII,  is  a  noteworthy  symptom  of  the  time,  and 
equally  so  is  the  fact  that  the  Bishop  of  Meaux,  selected  by  Innocent  as 
one  of  the  judges  in  the  case,  was  at  that  moment  under  censure  by  the 
University  for  reviving  the  condemned  doctrine  of  the  insufficiency  of 
the  sacraments  in  polluted  hands.  In  1498  an  Observantine  Friar  named 
Jean  Vitrier,  in  sermons  at  Tournay,  went  even  further  and  taught  that 
it  was  a  mortal  sin  to  listen  to  the  mass  of  a  concubinary  priest.  He 
also  rejected  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  asserted  that  pardons  and 
indulgences  were  the  offspring  of  hell  and  the  money  paid  for  them 
was  employed  in  the  maintenance  of  brothels.  The  Tournay  authorities 
were  apparently  powerless,  and  referred  these  utterances  to  the  University 
of  Paris,  which  extracted  from  them  sixteen  heretical  propositions ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  the  audacious  preacher  was  punished.  It  was 
still  more  ominous  of  the  future  when  men  were  found  ready  to  endure 
martyrdom  in  denial  of  the  highest  mysteries  of  the  faith,  as  when,  in 
1491,  Jean  Langlois,  priest  of  St  Crispin  in  Paris,  while  celebrating 
mass,  cast  the  consecrated  elements  on  the  floor  and  trampled  on  them, 
giving  as  a  reason  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  not  in  them, 
and  persisting  in  his  error  to  the  stake.  Similar  was  the  obstinacy  of 
Aymon  Picard  in  1503,  who  at  the  feast  of  St  Louis  in  the  Sainte 
Chapelle  snatched  the  host  from  the  celebrant  and  dashed  it  on  the 
floor,  for  he  too  refused  to  recant  and  was  burnt. 

To  what  extent  humanism  was  responsible  for  these  heresies  it  would 
not  be  easy  now  to  determine,  save  in  so  far  as  it  had  stimulated  the 
spirit  of  enquiry  and  destroyed  the  reverence  for  authority.  These  influ- 
ences are  plainly  observable  in  the  career  of  Jacques  Lefevre  d'Etaples, 
the  precursor  of  the  Reformation  in  France,  who  commenced  as  a 
student  of  philosophy,  and  in  1492  visited  Italy  to  sit  at  the  feet  of 
Marsiglio  Ficino,  Hermolao  Barbaro,  Pico  della  Mirandola,  and  Angelo 
Poliziano,  but  who,  when  he  turned  to  the  study  of  Scripture,  expressed 
the  pious  wish  that  the  profane  classical  writings  should  be  burnt  rather 
than  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  youth.  His  Commentary  on  the  Pauline 
Epistles^  printed  in  1512,  was  the  first  example  of  casting  aside  the 
scholastic  exegesis  for  a  treatment  in  which  tradition  was  rejected  and 
the  freedom  of  individual  judgment  was  exercised  as  a  matter  of  right. 
This  led  him  to  a  number  of  conclusions  which  Luther  only  reached 


682 


Erasmus.  —  Staupitz 


gradually  in  the  disputations  forced  upon  him  in  defence  of  his  first 
step;  but  this  protest  against  the  established  sacerdotalism  brought 
no  persecution  on  Lefevre  until  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  in 
Germany  aroused  the  authorities  to  the  danger  lurking  in  such  utter- 
ances, when  the  Sorbonne,  in  1521,  had  no  difficulty  in  defining 
twenty-five  heretical  propositions  in  the  Commentaries.  Proceedings 
were  commenced  against  him,  but  he  was  saved  by  the  favour  of 
Francis  I  and  Marguerite  of  Navarre. 

There  were  other  humanists,  less  spiritual  than  Lefevre,  who 
exercised  enormous  influence  in  breaking  down  reverence  for  tradition 
and  authority  and  asserting  the  right  of  private  judgment,  without 
giving  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Reformation.  They  had  a  narrow  and 
a  perilous  path  to  tread.  Wilibald  Pirckheimer  was  no  Lutheran,  but 
his  name  stood  first  on  the  list  of  those  selected  for  excommunication 
by  Eck  when  he  returned  from  Rome  as  the  bearer  of  the  portentous 
bull  Exsurge  JDomine.  More  fortunate  was  the  foremost  humanist, 
Erasmus,  whose  unrivalled  intellect  rendered  him  a  power  to  be  courted 
by  Popes  and  princes,  though  he  was  secretly  held  responsible  as  the 
primary  cause  of  the  revolt.  In  1522  Adrian  VI  adjured  him  to  come 
to  the  rescue  of  the  bark  of  the  Church,  struggling  in  the  tempest  sent 
by  God  in  consequence  mainly  of  the  sins  of  the  clergy,  and  assured 
him  that  this  was  a  province  reserved  to  him  by  God.  Yet,  in  1527, 
Edward  Lee,  then  English  ambassador  to  Spain  and  subsequently 
Archbishop  of  York,  drew  up  a  list  of  twenty-one  heresies  extracted 
from  the  writings  of  Erasmus,  ranging  from  Arianism  to  the  repudia- 
tion of  indulgences,  the  veneration  of  saints,  pilgrimages,  and  relics. 
At  this  very  moment,  however,  Erasmus,  frightened  at  the  violence  of 
the  reformers,  was  writing  to  Pirckheimer  that  he  held  the  authority  of 
the  Church  so  high  that  at  her  bidding  he  would  accept  Arianism  and 
Pelagianism,  for  the  words  of  Christ  were  not  of  themselves  sufficient 
for  him. 

Luther  himself  had  in  some  sort  a  humanistic  pedigree.  The 
Franciscan  Paul  Scriptoris,  professor  at  Tiibingen,  learned  in  Greek 
and  mathematics,  used  confidentially  to  predict  that  a  reformation 
was  at  hand  in  which  the  Church  would  be  forced  to  reject  the 
scholastic  theology  and  return  to  the  simplicity  of  primitive  belief,  but 
when  he  permitted  these  views  to  find  expression  in  his  sermons  the 
chapter  of  his  Order  took  steps  to  discipline  him,  and  he  fled,  in  1502, 
to  Italy,  where  he  died.  He  was  the  teacher  of  Johann  von  Staupitz, 
Conrad  Pellican,  and  others  subsequently  prominent  in  the  movement; 
Staupitz  became  the  Vicar  of  Luther's  Augustinian  Order  and  was 
warmly  esteemed  by  the  Elector  Frederick  of  Saxony  ;  so  that  he  was 
enabled  to  afford  to  Luther  efficient  protection  during  the  earlier  years 
of  the  revolt.  He  was  a  humanist,  strongly  imbued  with  the  views  of 
the  German  mystics  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  all  mysticism  is,  in 


The  Narrenscliiff 


683 


its  essence,  incompatible  with  sacerdotalism.  In  his  Naclifolgung  des 
Sterbens  Jem  Christie  printed  in  1515,  he  denied,  like  Erasmus,  the 
efficacy  of  external  observances,  condemning  the  doctrine  as  a  kind  of 
Judaism.  In  1516,  at  Niirnberg,  he  preached  a  series  of  sermons  warn- 
ing against  reliance  on  confession,  for  justification  comes  alone  from  the 
grace  of  God.  These  were  greeted  with  immense  applause ;  they  were 
printed  in  both  Latin  and  German  and  a  Sodalitas  Staupitiana  was 
organised,  embracing  many  of  the  leading  citizens,  among  whom 
Albrecht  Diirer  was  numbered.  The  next  year  at  Munich  he  inculcated 
the  same  doctrines  with  equal  success,  and  he  embodied  his  views  in 
the  work  Von  der  Liehe  Crottes^  dedicated  to  the  Duchess  Kunigunda 
of  Bavaria,  of  which  four  editions  were  speedily  exhausted,  showing  the 
receptivity  of  the  popular  mind  for  anti-sacerdotal  teachings.  It  was 
some  time  before  Luther  advanced  as  far  as  Staupitz  had  already  done, 
and  then  it  was  largely  through  the  study  of  the  fourteenth  century 
mystics  and  Staupitz's  work  On  the  love  of  God, 

There  was  no  product  of  humanistic  literature,  however,  which  so 
aided  in  paving  the  way  for  the  Reformation  as  the  Narrenscliiff,,  or  Ship 
of  Fools,,  the  work  of  a  layman,  Sebastian  Brant,  chancellor  (city  clerk) 
of  Strassburg.  Countless  editions  and  numerous  translations  of  this  work, 
first  printed  at  Basel  in  1494,  showed  how  exactly  it  responded  to  the 
popular  tendencies,  and  how  wide  and  lasting  was  its  influence.  One  of 
the  foremost  preachers  of  the  day,  Geiler  von  Kaisersberg,  used  its  several 
chapters  or  sections  as  texts  for  a  series  of  sermons  at  Strassburg,  in 
1498,  and  the  opinions  of  the  poet  lost  none  of  their  significance  in  the 
expositions  of  the  preacher.  The  work  forms  a  singularly  instructive 
document  for  the  intellectual  and  moral  history  of  the  period.  Brant 
satirises  all  the  follies  and  weaknesses  of  man  ;  those  of  the  clergy  are  of 
course  included,  and,  though  no  special  attention  is  devoted  to  them,  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  handled  shows  how  completely  the  priesthood 
had  forfeited  popular  respect.  But  the  important  feature  of  the  work  is 
the  deep  moral  earnestness  which  pervades  its  jest  and  satire;  man 
is  exhorted  never  to  lose  sight  of  his  salvation  and  the  future  life  is 
represented  as  the  goal  to  which  his  efforts  are  to  be  directed.  With  all 
this,  the  Church  is  never  referred  to  as  the  means  through  which  the 
pardon  of  sin  and  the  grace  of  God  are  to  be  attained ;  confession  is 
alluded  to  in  passing  once  or  twice,  but  not  the  intercession  of  the 
Virgin  and  saints,  and  there  is  no  intimation  that  the  offices  of  the 
Church  are  essential.  The  lesson  is  taught  that  man  deals  directly  with 
God  and  is  responsible  to  Him  alone.  Most  significant  is  the  remark 
that  many  a  mass  is  celebrated  which  had  better  have  been  left  unsung, 
for  God  does  not  accept  a  sacrifice  sinfully  offered  in  sin.  Wisdom  is 
the  one  thing  for  which  man  should  strive,  —  wisdom  being  obedience  to 
God  and  a  virtuous  life,  while  the  examples  cited  are  almost  exclusively 
drawn  from  classic  paganism  —  Hercules,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Plato, 


684 


Influence  of  printing 


Penelope,  Virgil  —  though  the  references  to  Scripture  show  adequate 
acquaintance  with  Holy  Writ.  As  the  embodiment  of  humanistic 
teaching  through  which  Germany,  unlike  Italy,  aspired  to  moral 
elevation  as  well  as  to  classical  training,  the  Narrenschiff  holds  the 
highest  place  alike  for  comprehensiveness  and  effectiveness. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  these  influences  were  allowed  to  develop 
without  protest  or  opposition.  The  battle  between  humanism  and 
obscurantism  had  been  fought  out  in  Italy,  in  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  in  the  strife  between  Lorenzo  Valla  and  the  Mendicant 
Friars  backed  by  the  Inquisition.  In  Germany  the  struggle  took  place, 
in  the  second  decade  of  the  sixteenth  century,  over  Reuchlin,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  protesting  against  Pfefferkorn's  measures  for  the  de- 
struction of  objectionable  Hebrew  books.  It  arrayed  the  opposing 
forces  in  internecine  conflict,  and  all  the  culture  of  Europe  was  ranged 
on  the  side  of  the  scholar  who  was  threatened  with  prosecution  by  the 
Inquisition.  The  New  Learning  recognised  the  danger  to  which  it  was 
exposed  and  its  disciples  found  themselves  unconsciously  organising  for 
self-defence  and  for  attack.  Religious  dogma  was  not  really  involved; 
but  the  authority  of  the  Schools  was  at  stake,  and  the  power  to  silence  by 
persecution  an  adversary  who  could  not  be  overcome  in  argument.  The 
bitterness  on  both  sides  was  intense  and  victory  seemed  to  perch  alter- 
nately on  the  opposing  banners  ;  but  the  quarrel  virtually  sank  out  of 
sight  in  the  larger  issues  raised  by  the  opening  years  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Technically  the  obscurantists  triumphed,  but  it  was  a  Pyrrhic 
victory ;  for  the  discussion  had  done  its  work  and  incidentally  it  had 
given  occasion  for  blighting  ridicule  of  the  trivialities  of  the  Schools  and 
the  stupid  ignorance  of  the  Schoolmen  in  the  Upistolae  Obscurorum 
Virorum^  1514,  a  production  that  largely  contributed  to  the  popular 
contempt  in  which  the  ancient  system  was  beginning  to  be  held. 

The  whole  of  this  movement  had  been  rendered  possible  by  the 
invention  of  printing,  which  facilitated  so  enormously  the  diffusion  of 
intelligence,  which  enabled  public  opinion  to  form  and  express  itself,  and 
which,  by  bringing  into  communication  minds  of  similar  ways  of  thinking, 
afforded  opportunity  for  combined  action.  When  we  are  told  that  bibli- 
ographers enumerate  thirteen  German  versions  of  the  Bible  anterior  to 
Luther's  and  that  repeated  editions  of  these  were  called  for,  we  can 
measure  not  only  the  religious  earnestness  of  the  people  but  the  degree 
in  which  it  was  stimulated  by  the  process  which  brought  the  Scriptures 
within  reach  of  the  multitude.  Cochlaeus  complains  that  when  Luther's 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  appeared,  in  1522,  every  one  sought 
it  without  distinction  of  age  or  station,  and  they  speedily  acquired  such 
familiarity  with  it  that  they  audaciously  disputed  with  doctors  of 
theology  and  regarded  it  as  the  fountain  of  all  truth.  Tradition  and 
scholastic  dogma  had  under  such  circumstances  small  chance  of  reverence. 
When  therefore,  on  October  31,  1517,  Luther's  fateful  theses  were  hung 


Heretical  propaganda 


685 


on  the  church-door  at  Wittenberg,  they  were,  as  he  tells  us,  known  in 
a  fortnight  throughout  Germany;  and  in  a  month  they  had  reached 
Rome  and  were  being  read  in  every  school  and  convent  in  Europe  —  a 
result  manifestly  impossible  without  the  aid  of  the  printing-press.  The 
reformers  took  full  advantage  of  the  opportunities  which  it  afforded, 
and,  for  the  most  part,  they  had  the  sympathies  of  the  printers  them- 
selves.   The  assertion  of  the  Epistolae  Obseurorum  Virorum 

Sed  in  domo  Frobenii 
Sunt  multi  pravi  haeretici 

is  doubtless  true  of  all  the  great  printing  offices.  It  was  a  standing 
grievance  with  the  papalists  that  the  printers  eagerly  printed  and 
circulated  everything  on  the  Lutheran  side,  while  the  Catholics  had 
difficulty  in  bringing  their  works  before  the  public,  and  had  to  defray 
the  cost  themselves ;  but  this  is  doubtless  rather  attributable  to  the  fact 
that  there  was  a  steady  demand  for  the  one  and  not  for  the  other. 

It  had  not  taken  the  Church  long  to  recognise  the  potential  dangers 
of  the  printing-press.  In  1479  Sixtus  IV  empowered  the  University  of 
Cologne  to  proceed  with  censures  against  the  printers,  purchasers,  and 
readers  of  heretical  books.  In  1486  Berthold,  Archbishop  of  Mainz, 
endeavoured  to  establish  a  crude  censorship  over  translations  into  the 
vernacular.  Alexander  VI,  in  1601,  took  a  more  comprehensive  step, 
reciting  that  many  books  and  tracts  were  printed  containing  various 
errors  and  perverted  doctrines,  wherefore  in  future  no  book  was  to  be 
printed  without  preliminary  examination  and  license,  while  all  existing 
books  were  to  be  inspected  and  those  not  approved  were  to  be  sur- 
rendered. The  Fifth  Lateran  Council  adopted,  with  but  one  dissenting 
voice,  a  decree  laid  before  it  by  Leo  X  constituting  the  Bishop  and 
Inquisitor  of  each  diocese  a  board  of  censors  of  all  books :  printers 
disregarding  their  commands  were  visited  with  excommunication,  sus- 
pension from  business,  and  a  fine  of  a  hundred  ducats  applicable  to  the 
fabric  of  St  Peter's.  In  obedience  to  this.  Cardinal  Albrecht  of  Mainz,  in 
1517,  appointed  his  vicar,  Paul,  Bishop  of  Ascalon,  and  Dr  Jodocus 
Trutvetter  as  Inquisitors  and  Censors  of  the  Press.  These  measures, 
which  were  the  precursors  of  the  Index,  were  in  vain.  When,  in  1521, 
Charles  V,  in  the  Edict  of  Worms,  ordered  all  Luther's  books  to  be 
surrendered  and  burnt,  Cochlaeus  tells  us  that  they  were  only  the  more 
eagerly  sought  for  and  brought  better  prices. 

The  dissemination  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  propagation  of  the 
anti-sacerdotal  views  of  the  humanists  naturally  led  to  questioning 
the  conclusions  of  scholastic  theology  and  to  increased  impatience  of 
the  papal  autocracy,  these  being  regarded  as  the  source  of  the  evils  so 
generally  and  so  grievously  felt.  The  new  teachings  found  a  wide  and 
receptive  audience,  fully  prepared  to  carry  them  to  their  ultimate 


686  Germany  and  the  Reformation 


conclusions,  in  the  numberless  associations,  partly  literary  and  artistic, 
partly  religious,  which  existed  throughout  the  Teutonic  lands.  In  the 
Netherlands  there  were  everywhere  to  be  found  "  Chambers  of  Rhetoric," 
exercising  a  powerful  influence  on  public  opinion,  and  these  had  long 
been  hostile  to  the  clergy  whose  vices  were  a  favourite  subject  of  their 
ballads  and  rondels,  their  moralities  and  farces.  Less  popular,  but  still 
dangerously  influential,  were  the  so-called  Academies  which  sprang  up 
all  over  Germany  with  the  Revival  of  Learning,  and  which  cherished 
tendencies  adverse  to  the  dogmas  of  the  Church  and  to  her  practical  use 
of  those  dogmas.  In  1520  Aleander  includes  among  the  worst  enemies 
of  the  papacy  the  grumbling  race  of  grammarians  and  poets  which 
swarmed  everywhere  throughout  the  land.  There  were  also  numerous 
more  or  less  secret  societies  and  associations,  entertaining  various  opinions, 
but  all  heretical  to  a  greater  or  less  degree.  These  were  partly  the 
representatives  of  mysticism,  which,  since  the  days  of  Master  Eckart 
and  Tauler,  had  never  ceased  to  flourish  in  Germany  ;  partly  they  were 
the  survivors  of  Waldensianism,  so  pitilessly  persecuted  yet  never  sup- 
pressed. Zwingli,  Oecolampadius,  Bucer,  and  other  leaders  of  the  reform 
had  received  their  early  impressions  in  these  associations,  and  the  sudden 
outburst  of  Anabaptism  shows  how  nuperous  were  the  dissidents  from 
Rome  who  were  not  prepared  to  accept  the  limitations  of  the  Lutheran 
creed.  The  Anabaptists,  moreover,  were  but  a  portion  of  these  Evan- 
gelicals, as  they  styled  themselves ;  for  adult  baptism  was  not  a  feature  of 
their  original  tenets,  and  when  it  was  adopted  as  a  doctrine  it  led  to  a 
division  in  their  ranks.  The  influence  of  art  as  well  as  of  literature  in 
stimulating  opposition  to  Rome  is  seen  in  the  number  of  artists  belong- 
ing to  the  Evangelical  bodies.  When,  in  1524,  the  Lutherans,  under 
the  lead  of  Osiander,  obtained  control  in  Niirnberg,  the  heretics  whom 
they  arrested  included  Georg  Pencz,  Barthel  and  Sebald  Behem,  Ludwig 
Krug,  and  others.  By  Luther  as  well  as  by  Rome  Albrecht  Diirer  was 
accounted  a  heretic. 

The  combination  of  all  these  factors  rendered  an  explosion  inevitable, 
and  Germany  was  predestined  to  be  its  scene.  The  ground  was  better 
prepared  for  it  there  than  elsewhere,  by  the  deeper  moral  and  religious 
earnestness  of  the  people  and  by  the  tendencies  of  the  academies  and 
associations  with  which  society  was  honeycombed.  In  obedience  to 
these  influences  the  humanistic  movement  had  not  been  pagan  and 
aesthetic  as  in  Italy,  but  had  addressed  itself  to  the  higher  emotions 
and  had  sought  to  train  the  conscience  of  the  individual  to  recognise 
his  direct  responsibility  to  God  and  to  his  fellows.  But  more  potent 
than  all  this  were  the  forces  arising  from  the  political  system  of 
Germany  and  its  relations  with  the  Holy  See.  The  Teutonic  spirit  of 
independence  had  early  found  expression  in  the  Sachsenspiegel  and 
JScichsische  Weichbild  —  the  laws  and  customs  of  Northern  Germany — • 


The  papacy  and  Germany 


687 


which  were  resolutely  maintained  in  spite  of  repeated  papal  condemna- 
tion. Thus  not  only  did  the  Church  inspire  there  less  awe  than  else- 
where in  Europe,  but  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  there  had  been 
special  causes  of  antagonism  actively  at  work. 

If  Italy  had  suffered  bitterly  from  the  TedescJii^  Germany  had  no 
less  reason  to  hate  the  papacy.  The  fatal  curse  of  the  so-called  Holy 
Roman  Empire  hung  over  both  lands.  It  gave  the  Emperor  a  valid 
right  to  the  suzerainty  of  the  peninsula ;  it  gave  the  papacy  a  tra- 
ditional claim  to  confirm  at  its  discretion  the  election  of  an  Emperor. 
Conflicting  and  incompatible  pretensions  rendered  impossible  a  perma- 
nent truce  between  the  representatives  of  Charlemagne  and  St  Peter. 
Since  the  age  of  Gregory  VII  the  consistent  policy  of  Rome  had 
been  to  cripple  the  Empire  by  fomenting  internal  dissension  and  ren- 
dering impossible  the  evolution  of  a  strong  and  centralized  govern- 
ment, such  as  elsewhere  in  Europe  was  gradually  overcoming  the 
centrifugal  forces  of  feudalism.  This  policy  had  been  successful  and 
Germany  had  become  a  mere  geographical  expression  —  a  congeries  of 
sovereign  princes,  petty  and  great,  owning  allegiance  to  an  Emperor 
whose  dignity  was  scarce  more  than  a  primacy  of  honour  and  whose  act- 
ual power  was  to  be  measured  by  that  of  his  ancestral  territories.  The 
result  of  this  was  that  Germany  lay  exposed  defenceless  to  the  rapacity 
and  oppression  of  the  Roman  Curia.  Its  multitudinous  sovereigns  had 
vindicated  their  independence  at  the  cost  of  depriving  themselves  of 
the  strength  to  be  derived  from  centralized  union.  Germany  was  the 
ordinary  resource  of  a  Pope  in  financial  straits,  through  the  exaction 
of  a  tithe,  the  raising  of  the  annates,  or  the  issue  in  unstinted  volume  of 
the  treasure  of  the  merits  of  Christ  in  the  form  of  an  unremitting  stream 
of  indulgences  which  sucked  up  as  with  a  sponge  the  savings  of  the 
people.  Nor  could  any  steady  opposition  be  offered  to  the  absorption 
of  the  ecclesiastical  patronage  by  the  Curia,  through  which  benefices 
were  sold  or  bestowed  on  the  cardinals  or  their  creatures,  and  no  limits 
could  be  set  on  appeals  to  the  Holy  See  which  enlarged  its  jurisdiction 
and  impoverished  pleaders  by  involving  them  in  interminable  and 
ruinous  litigation  in  the  venal  Roman  Courts. 

It  was  in  vain  that  in  1438  the  Roman  King  Albert  II  endeavoured 
to  emulate  Charles  VII  of  France  by  proclaiming  a  Pragmatic  Sanction 
defining  the  limits  of  papal  authority.  He  died  the  next  year  and  was 
followed  by  the  feeble  Frederick  III,  during  whose  long  reign  of  fifty- 
three  years  the  imperial  authority  was  reduced  to  a  shadow.  It  was 
probably  to  procure  a  promise  of  papal  coronation  that,  in  1448,  he 
agreed  to  a  Concordat  under  which  the  reservation  of  benefices  to  the 
Pope,  as  made  by  John  XXII  and  Benedict  XII,  was  assured;  the 
election  of  bishops  was  subjected  to  papal  confirmation  with  the  privi- 
lege of  substituting  a  better  candidate  by  advice  of  the  Sacred  College  ; 
canonries  and  other  benefices  falling  vacant  during  the  six  uneven 


688 


The  annates  of  Mainz 


months  were  conceded  to  the  Pope,  and  a  promise  was  made  that  the 
annates  should  be  moderate  and  be  payable  in  instalments  during  two 
years.  This  was  a  triumph  of  Italian  diplomacy,  for  the  leaven  of  Basel 
was  still  working  in  Germany,  and  the  Basilian  anti-Pope,  Felix  V,  was 
endeavouring  to  secure  recognition.  But  Aeneas  Sylvius  notified  Nicho- 
las V  that  this  was  only  a  truce,  not  a  permanent  peace,  and  that  the 
utmost  skill  would  be  required  to  avert  a  rupture,  for  there  were  dan- 
gerous times  ahead  and  currents  under  the  surface  that  would  call  for 
careful  piloting. 

Advantageous  as  the  Concordat  was  to  Rome,  the  Curia  could  not 
be  restrained  to  its  observance,  and,  in  1455,  the  three  Spiritual  Elec- 
tors of  Mainz,  Trier,  and  Cologne,  united  in  complaint  of  its  violation. 
With  other  bishops  and  princes  of  the  Empire  they  bound  themselves 
to  resist  a  tithe  demanded  by  Calixtus  III  and  to  send  his  pardoners 
back  across  the  Alps  with  empty  purses ;  they  agitated  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  canons  of  Constance  and  Basel  and  urged  Frederick  III  to 
proclaim  a  Pragmatic  Sanction.  Various  assemblies  were  held  during 
the  next  two  years  to  promote  these  objects,  and,  in  1457,  Dr  Martin 
Meyer,  Chancellor  of  the  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  in  a  letter  to  Aeneas 
Sylvius,  bitterly  complained  of  the  papal  exactions,  whereby  Germany 
was  drained  of  its  gold  and  that  nation  which,  by  its  valour,  had  won  the 
Roman  Empire  and  had  been  the  mistress  of  the  world  was  reduced  to 
want  and  servitude,  to  grief  and  squalor.  Calixtus  met  the  German 
complaints  with  a  serene  consciousness  of  the  weakness  of  his  adver- 
saries. To  the  prelates  he  wrote  threatening  them  with  punishment, 
spiritual  and  temporal.  To  Frederick  he  admitted  that  mistakes  might 
have  been  made  in  the  pressure  of  business,  but  there  had  been  no 
intentional  violation  of  the  Concordat.  It  was  true  that  the  Holy  See 
was  supreme  and  was  not  to  be  fettered  by  the  terms  of  any  agreement ; 
but  still,  out  of  liberality  and  love  of  peace  and  affection  for  the  person 
of  the  Emperor,  the  compact  should  be  observed.  No  one  must  dare  to 
oppose  the  Roman  Church ;  if  Germany  thought  it  had  reason  to  com- 
plain it  could  appeal  to  him.  The  result  corresponded  to  the  expecta- 
tions of  Calixtus ;  the  confederates  suspected  their  leader.  Archbishop 
Dietrich  of  Mainz,  of  desiring  to  sell  them;  and  after  some  further 
agitation  in  1458  the  movement  fell  to  pieces. 

It  was  promptly  followed  by  another  of  even  more  dangerous  aspect. 
Dietrich  of  Mainz  died.  May  6,  1459,  and  was  succeeded  by  Diether 
von  Isenburg.  Pius  II,  then  Aeneas  Sylvius,  had  negotiated  the  Con- 
cordat of  1448  which  stipulated  that  annates  should  be  moderate  and  be 
payable  by  instalments,  yet  he  refused  to  confirm  Diether  except  on 
condition  that  he  would  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  Camera  for  his 
annates.  Diether's  envoys  agreed,  and  the  cost  of  the  confirmation  was 
fixed  at  20,550  gulden^  to  be  advanced  on  the  spot  by  Roman  bankers. 
These  accordingly  paid  the  shares  of  the  Pope,  the  Cardinals,  and  the 


1459-79] 


Grievances  of  the  German  clergy 


689 


lower  officials,  taking  from  them  receipts  which  bore  that  they  would 
refund  the  money  in  case  Diether  failed  to  meet  the  obligations  given 
by  his  agents.  He  claimed  that  the  amount  was  largely  in  excess  of  all 
precedent,  repudiated  the  agreement,  and  disregarded  the  consequent 
excommunication.  The  result  of  this  scandalous  transaction  was  a  series 
of  disturbances  which  kept  Germany  in  turmoil  for  three  years.  Leagues 
were  formed  to  replace  Frederick  III  by  George  Podiebrad,  and  to 
adopt  as  the  laws  of  the  land  the  Basilian  canons,  one  of  which  ab- 
rogated the  annates.  Gregor  Heimburg  was  sent  to  France  to  arrange 
for  common  action  against  the  Holy  See,  and  there  seemed  to  be  a 
prospect  that  Germany  at  last  might  assert  its  independence  of  the 
Curia.  But  the  papal  agents  with  profuse  promises  detached  one  member 
of  the  alliance  after  another,  and  finally  Diether  was  left  alone.  He 
offered  submission,  but  Pius  secretly  sent  to  Adolf  of  Nassau,  one  of  the 
Canons  of  Mainz,  a  brief  appointing  him  Archbishop  and  removing 
Diether.  This  led  to  a  bloody  war  between  the  rivals  until,  in  October, 
1463,  they  reached  a  compromise,  Adolf  retaining  the  title  and  conceding 
to  Diether  a  portion  of  the  territory.  Thus  the  papacy  triumphed 
through  its  habitual  policy  of  dividing  and  conquering.  There  could  be 
no  successful  resistance  to  oppression  by  alliances  in  which  every  member 
felt  that  he  might  at  any  moment  be  abandoned  by  his  allies.  Yet  this 
fruitless  contest  has  special  interest  in  the  fact  that  Diether  issued. 
May  30,  1462,  a  manifesto  calling  upon  all  German  princes  to  take  to 
heart  the  example  of  injustice  and  oppression  of  which  they  might  be 
the  next  victims,  and  this  manifesto,  we  are  told,  was  printed  by 
Gutenberg  —  an  omen  of  the  aid  which  the  new  art  was  to  render  in 
the  struggle  with  Rome. 

Even  more  bitter  was  the  conflict,  lasting  from  1457  to  1464,  between 
Sigismund,  Duke  of  Tyrol,  and  Cardinal  Nicholas  of  Cusa  as  Bishop  of 
Brixen,  arising  from  his  praiseworthy  attempt  to  reform  his  clergy.  In 
this  struggle  Sigismund  had  the  support  of  both  clergy  and  people 
and  was  able  to  disregard  the  interdicts  freely  launched  upon  the  land, 
as  well  as  to  resist  the  Swiss  whom  Pius  II  induced  to  take  up  arms 
against  him.  He  held  out  bravely,  and  the  matter  was  finally  settled 
by  an  agreement  in  which  he  asked  for  pardon  and  absolution,  thus 
saving  the  honour  of  the  Holy  See. 

If  this  was  a  drawn  battle  between  the  secular  power  and  the  Church, 
it  did  not  lessen  the  effect  of  the  triumphs  which  the  Curia  had  won 
in  the  contests  with  the  great  Archbishops  of  Mainz.  Unsuccessful 
resistance  leads  to  fresh  aggression  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that 
Rome  failed  to  make  the  most  of  her  victories  over  the  German  Church. 
At  the  great  assembly  of  the  clergy  at  Coblenz,  in  1479,  there  were 
countless  complaints  of  the  Holy  See,  chiefly  directed  against  its  viola- 
tions of  the  Concordat,  its  unlawful  taxation,  the  privileges  granted  to 
the  Mendicant  Orders,  and  the  numerous  exemptions.  It  was  doubtless 


690 


The  Gravamina  of  1510 


this  demonstration  that  led,  in  1480,  to  the  negotiation  of  an  agreement 
between  Sixtus  IV  and  the  Emperor  Frederick,  in  which  the  hitter  was 
pledged  to  keep  Germany  obedient  to  the  Pope,  while  the  Pope  was  to 
sustain  the  Emperor  with  the  free  use  of  censures.  This  meant  encour- 
agement to  fresh  aggressions ;  and  the  indignation  of  the  clergy  found 
expression  in  the  grievances  presented,  in  1510,  to  the  Emperor-Elect 
Maximilian.  They  asserted  with  scant  ceremony  that  the  papacy  could 
be  restrained  by  no  agreements  or  conventions,  seeing  that  it  granted, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  vilest  persons,  dispensations,  suspensions,  revo- 
cations, and  other  devices  for  nullifying  its  promises  and  evading  its 
wholesome  regulations ;  the  elections  of  prelates  were  set  aside ;  the 
right  of  choosing  provosts,  which  many  chapters  had  purchased  with 
heavy  payments,  was  disregarded ;  the  greater  benefices  and  dignities 
were  bestowed  on  the  Cardinals  and  Prothonotaries  of  the  Curia ;  expec- 
tatives  were  granted  without  number,  giving  rise  to  ruinous  litigation ; 
annates  were  exacted  promptly  and  mercilessly  and  sometimes  more  was 
extorted  than  was  due ;  the  cure  of  souls  was  committed  by  Rome  to 
those  fitted  rather  to  take  charge  of  mules  than  of  men;  in  order  to 
raise  money,  new  indulgences  were  issued,  with  suspension  of  the  old,  the 
laity  being  thus  made  to  murmur  against  the  clergy  ;  tithes  were  exacted 
under  the  pretext  of  war  against  the  Turks,  yet  no  expeditions  were  sent 
forth ;  and  cases  which  should  be  tried  at  home  were  carried  without 
distinction  to  Rome.  Maximilian  was  seriously  considering  a  plan  for 
releasing  Germany  from  the  yoke  of  the  Curia,  and  for  preventing  the 
transfer  to  Rome  of  the  large  sums  which  Julius  II  was  employing  to  his 
special  detriment ;  he  thought  of  the  withdrawal  of  the  annates  and  of 
the  appointment  of  a  permanent  legate,  who  should  be  a  German  and 
exercise  a  general  jurisdiction.  But  Jacob  Wimpheling,  who  was  con- 
sulted by  the  Emperor-Elect,  while  expressing  himself  vigorously  as  to  the 
suffering  of  Germany  from  the  Curia,  thought  it  wiser  to  endure  in  the 
hope  of  amendment  than  to  risk  a  schism.  Amendment,  however,  in 
obedience  to  any  internal  impulse  was  out  of  the  question.  The  Lateran 
Council  met,  deliberated,  and  dissolved  without  offering  to  the  most 
sanguine  the  slightest  rational  expectation  of  relief.  The  only  resource 
lay  in  revolution,  and  Germany  was  ready  for  the  signal.  In  1521  the 
Nuncio  Aleander  writes  that,  five  years  before  he  had  mentioned  to 
Pope  Leo  his  dread  of  a  German  uprising,  he  had  heard  from  many 
Germans  that  they  were  only  waiting  for  some  fool  to  open  his  mouth 
against  Rome. 

If  Germany  was  thus  the  predestined  scene  of  the  outbreak,  it  was 
also  the  land  in  which  the  chances  of  success  were  the  greatest.  The 
very  political  condition  which  baffled  all  attempts  at  self -protection  like- 
wise barred  the  way  to  the  suppression  of  the  movement.  A  single 
prince,  like  the  Elector  Frederick  of  Saxony,  could  protect  it  in  its 
infancy.     As  the  revolt  made  progress  other  princes  could  join  it, 


The  Reformation  and  its  results 


691 


whether  moved  by  religious  considerations,  or  by  way  of  maintaining 
the  allegiance  of  their  subjects,  or  in  order  to  seize  the  temporalities  and 
pious  foundations,  or,  like  Albrecht  of  Brandenburg,  to  found  a  prin- 
cipality and  a  dynasty.  We  need  not  here  enquire  too  closely  into 
the  motives  of  which  the  League  of  Schmalkalden  was  the  outcome,  and 
may  content  ourselves  with  pointing  to  the  fact  that  even  Charles  V 
was,  in  spite  of  the  victory  of  Miihlberg,  powerless  to  restore  the 
imperial  supremacy  or  to  impose  his  will  on  the  Protestant  States. 

The  progress  of  the  Reformation,  and  still  more  so  that  of  the 
Counter-Reformation,  lie  outside  the  limits  of  the  present  chapter  ;  but 
it  may  be  concluded  by  a  few  words  suggesting  why  the  abuses  which, 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  could  only  be  cured  by  rending  the  Church  in 
twain,  have  to  so  large  an  extent  disappeared  since  the  Reformation, 
leading  many  enthusiasts  to  feel  regret  that  the  venerable  ecclesiastical 
structure  was  not  purified  from  within  —  that  reform  was  not  adopted 
in  place  of  schism. 

The  abuses  under  which  Christendom  groaned  were  too  inveterate, 
too  firmly  intrenched,  and  too  profitable  to  be  removed  by  any  but  the 
sternest  and  sharpest  remedies.  The  task  was  too  great  even  for  papal 
omnipotence.  The  attempt  of  Adrian  VI  had  broken  down.  In  1555, 
the  future  Cardinal  Seripando,  in  announcing  to  the  Bishop  of  Fiesole 
the  death  of  Marcellus  II,  who,  in  his  short  pontificate  of  twenty-two 
days  had  manifested  a  resolute  determination  to  correct  abuses,  says 
that  perhaps  God,  in  thus  bringing  reform  so  near  and  then  destroy- 
ing all  hope  of  it,  has  wished  to  show  that  it  is  not  to  be  the  work 
of  human  hands  and  is  not  to  come  in  the  way  expected  by  us,  but  in 
some  way  that  we  have  not  been  able  to  conjecture.  In  truth  the 
slow  operation  was  required  of  causes  for  the  most  part  external.  So 
long  as  the  Roman  Church  held  the  monopoly  of  salvation  it  inevi- 
tably followed  the  practice  of  all  monopolies  in  exacting  all  that  the 
market  would  yield  —  in  obtaining  the  maximum  of  power  and  wealth. 
When  Northern  Europe  had  definitely  seceded,  and  a  large  proportion 
of  the  rest  of  the  Continent  was  trembling  in  the  balance,  —  when  what 
was  lost  could  not  be  regained  and  a  strenuous  effort  was  required  to 
save  the  remainder,  —  the  Church  at  length  recognised  that  she  stood 
face  to  face  with  a  permanent  competitor,  whose  rivalry  could  only  be 
met  by  her  casting  off  the  burdens  that  impeded  her  in  the  struggle. 
To  this  the  Council  of  Trent  contributed  something,  and  the  stern 
purpose  of  Pius  V,  followed  at  intervals  by  other  pontiffs,  still  more. 
The  permanent  supremacy  of  Spain  in  Italy  checked  the  aspirations  of 
the  Holy  See  towards  enlarging  its  temporal  dominions.  The  chief 
source  of  cause  of  advance,  however,  is  the  action  of  the  secular  princes 
who  sustained  the  cause  of  the  Church  during  a  century  of  religious 
wars.    The  Reformation  had  emancipated  their  power  as  well  as  the 


692  The  compensations  of  the  Church 

spirit  of  Protestantism.  If  the  Church  required  their  support  she  must 
yield  to  their  exigencies  ;  she  could  no  longer  claim  to  decide  peremp- 
torily and  without  appeal  as  to  the  boundary-line  between  the  spiritual 
and  the  temporal  authority  in  the  dominions  of  each  of  them ;  and  she 
could  no  longer  shield  her  criminals  from  their  justice.  Together  with 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  a  phase  of  absolute  monarchy  had 
developed  itself  though  which  the  European  nations  passed,  and  the 
enforcement  of  the  regalia  put  an  end  to  a  large  part  of  the  grievances 
which  had  caused  the  Church  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  be  so  fiercely 
hated.  Whether  or  not  the  populations  were  benefited  by  the  change 
of  masters,  the  Church  was  no  longer  responsible ;  and  for  the  loss  of 
her  temporal  authority  and  the  final  secularisation  of  her  temporalities 
she  has  found  recompense  tenfold  in  the  renewed  vigour  of  her  spiritual 
vitality. 


BIBLIOGEAPHIES 


CHAPTERS  I  AND  II 


THE  AGE  OE  DISCOYEEY  AND  THE  NEW  WORLD 


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694     The  Age  of  Discovery  and  the  New  World 


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Kingsborough,  Viscount,  and  Aglio,  A.    Antiquities  of  Mexico.   London.  1831-48. 

Mexico,  Anales  del  Museo  Nacional  de.    Mexico.  1877-97. 

Mexico,  Junta  Colombina  de.  Antiguedades  Mexicanas.  Mexico.  Ed.  A.  Chavero. 
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Navarrete,  M.  F.  de,  and  others.    Coleccion  de  Documentos  Ineditos  para  la  Historia  de 

Espana.    Madrid.  1842,  etc. 
  Coleccion  de  Viajes  y  Descubrimientos.    Madrid.  1825-37. 

Cardenas,  J.  F.  Pacheco  do,  Mendoza,  Torres  de,  and  others.  Documentos  Ineditos 
relativos  al  Descubrimiento,  Conquista  y  Colonizacion  de  las  Posesiones  Espanolas. 
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Peabody  Museum  (Cambridge,  Massachusetts),  Reports  of.    1868,  etc. 

Penafiel,  A.    Codice  Fernandez-Leal.    Mexico.  1895. 

Ramusio,  G.  B.    Navigationi  et  Viaggi.    Venice.  1554-65. 

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Smith,  B.   Documentos  para  la  Historia  de  la  Florida.  1857. 

Smithsonian  Institution.  Reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology.  Washington,  Columbia. 
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Ternaux-Compans,  H.    Voyages,  Relations,  et  M^moires  Originaux  pour  servir  h,  I'His- 

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II.    EARLIER  HISTORIES,  MEMOIRS,  AND  TREATISES 

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Argensola,  B.  L.  de.  Conquista  de  las  Islas  Molucas.  Madrid.  1609. 
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Bandini,  A.  M.    Vita  e  Lettere  di  A.  Vespucci.    Florence.  1745. 

Barcia,  A.  G.    (Cardenas  y  Cano,  G.  de.)    Ensayo  Cronologico  para  la  Historia  de  la 
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Barros,  J.  de,  y  Couto,  D.  de.    Decadas  da  Asia.    Lisbon.  1552-1636. 
Benzoni,  G.    La  Historia  del  Mondo  Nuevo.    Venice.  1565. 
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  History  of  America.   London.  1777-96. 

Santarem,  M.  F.,  Viscc»nde  de.    Essai  sur  I'Histoire  dela  Cosmographle.    Paris.  1849-52. 

  Recherches  sur  Vespuce  et  ses  Voyages.    Paris.  1842. 

Sapper,  C.    Das  Nordliche  Mittel-Amerika.    Brunswick.  1897. 
Scherer,  H.    Allgemeine  Geschichte  des  Welthandels.    Leipzig.  1852. 
Schoolcraft,  H.  R.    Archives  of  Aboriginal  Knowledge.    Philadelphia.  1860. 
Shaler,  N.  S.    Nature  and  Man  in  America.    Cambridge,  Mass.  1892. 
Southey,  R.    History  of  Brazil.    London.  1810. 
Souza  Holstein,  Marquez  de.    A  Escola  de  Sagres.    Lisbon.  1877. 
Squier,  E.  G.    Peru  :  Incidents  of  Travel  and  Exploration.    London.  1877. 
Squier,  E.  G.,  and  Davis,  E.  H.   Ancient  Monuments  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  New 
York.  1848. 

Steffen,  M.    Die  Landwirthschaft  bei  den  Altamerikanischen  Kulturvolkem.  Leipzig. 
1883. 

Stephens,  H.  M.   The  Story  of  Portugal.    Story  of  the  Nations  Series.  1891. 
St  Martin,  Vivien  de.    Histoire  de  la  Geographic.    Paris.  1873. 

Tschudi,  J.  J.  von.    Organismus  der  Khetschua-Sprache.   Leipzig.    1884.    (And  other 
works.) 

Tylor,  E.  B.    Anahuac.   London.    1861.    (And  other  works.) 
Uzielli,  G.    La  Vita  e  i  Tempi  di  P.  dal  P.  Toscanelli.    Rome.  1894. 
Varnhagen,  F.  A.  de.    Historia  General  do  Brazil.    Madrid.  1854-7. 
  Amerigo  Vespucci.    Lima.  1865. 

Winsor,  J.   Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America.   8  vols.   London  and  Cambridge, 
Mass.  1886-9. 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  OTTOMAN  CONQUEST 


I.  DOCUMENTS 
(Original  Authorities  of  all  kinds) 

Alberi,  E.    Eelazioni  degli  Stati  Ottoraani.    Vol.  i.    1840.    Vol.  iil    Florence.  1855. 
Albinus.    De  gestis  regum  Neapolitanorum  ab  Aragonia  (1495).    Naples.  1588. 
Angiolello,  G.  M.    Breve  narration!  della  Vita  et  Eatti  del  Signor  Ussuncassano.  Iil 

Ramusio's  Viaggi.    Vol.  ii.    Venice.  1574. 
Annius  [Nanni  de  Viterbo].    De  futuris  Christianorum  triumphis  in  Turcos  et  Saracenos. 

Niirnberg.  1480. 

[Anonymus  Albanensis,  used  by]  Biemmi,  Istoria  di  Giorgio  Castriota.    Brescia.  1742. 
[Aubusson,  P.  d'.]    Epistola  ad  Papam  de  Obsidione  insulae  Rhodus  [sic]  a  Turcis. 

[1480.]    In  Lude wig's  Reliquiae  Manuscriptorum.    v.    Frankfort,  etc.  1723. 
Behem,  M.    Chronik.    In  Quellen  und  Forschungen  zur  vaterlandischen  Geschichte,  Lit- 

teratur  und  Kunst.  1849. 
Bembo,  P.  (Card.).    Lettere.    4  vols.    Venice.  1552-75. 
Bogdan,  I.    Cronice  inedite  atting.  de  istoria  Rominilor.    Bucharest.  1895. 

  Vechile  cronice  moldovenesci  pana  la  Urecliia.    Bucharest.  1891. 

Bosio,  G.    Istoria  della  Sacra  Religione  et  Militia  di  San  Giovanni  Gierosolimitano.  Vol. 

II.    Rome.  1594. 

Breviarium  rerum  gestarum  Turcarum  et  Sophi  Persarum  imperatoris  de  anno  1514.  1514. 
Caoursin  and  Khodgia  Afendy.    The  History  of  the  Turkish  War  with  the  Rhodians, 

Venetians,  Egyptians,  Persians  and  other  nations.  1683. 
Cepione,  C.  (Cippicus).    De  Petri  Mocenici  imperatoris  gestis.    1544.    (Italian  version 

in  Sathas,  Documents,  vol.  vii.  pp.  262  sqq.) 
Chalcocondylas,  L.    Historia  de  rebus  Turcicis.    Ed.  I.  Bekker.    Bks.  viii. — x.  In 

Byzantin.  Hist.  Scriptores.    Bonn.  1843. 
Charriere,  E.    Negotiations  de  la  France  dans  le  Levant.   In  Collection  des  documents 

in^dits.    Ser.  i.    Vol.  i.    Paris.  1850. 
[Costin.]    Une  Histoire  inedite  de  la  Moldavie  (described  by  Hase).    In  Notices  et 

extraits  des  manuscrits  de  la  Biblioth^que  du  Roi.    xi.  1827. 
[Damaskenos  Studites.]    Historia  Politica  Constantinopoleos.     In  M.  Crusius,  Turco- 

Graecia,  pp.  1  sqq.    Basel.  1584. 
[Damaskenos  Studites,  not  Manuel  Malaxas.]    Patriarchica  Constantinopoleos  Historia- 

In  Crusius,  ib.  pp.  107  sqq. 

700 


Bibliography 


701 


Ducas.     Historia  Byzantina.    Chaps.  42 — 45.    In  Byzantin.  Hist.  Script.     Vol.  xxi. 
Bonn.  1834. 

Ekthesis  Chronike.    In  Sathas,  Bibl.  Graeca  medii  aevi.    vii.  pp.  557  sqq.  Venice. 
1894. 

Esarcu,  C.    Stefann  cellu  Mare.    Bucharest.  1874. 
Filelfus,  F.    Epistolare.    s.l.  1495. 

G6vay,  A.    Urkunden  und  Actenstiicke  zur  Geschichte  der  Verhaltnisse  zwischen  Oster- 

reich-Ungarn  und  der  Pforte.    Vol,  i.    Vienna.  1838. 
Gobellinus,  J.    Pii  Secundi  Commentarii.  1614. 

Hadji-Khalifa.    History  of  the  Maritime  Wars  of  the  Turks,  tr.  by  J.  Mitchell.  London. 
1831. 

Katona,  I.    Historia  critica  Eegum  Hungariae  stirpis  mixtae.  Vols.  vii. — xii.  Buda-Pest, 
etc.  1792-3. 

  Historia  critica  Regum  Hungariae  stirpis  Austriacae.    Vol.  i.    (Vols.  xiii. — xx.  of 

the  collective  work. )    Buda-Pest,  etc.  1792-3. 
Kemal  Pasha.    History  of  the  Campaign  of  Mohacs  ;  («)  Turkish,  with  French  transl.  by 

Pavet  de  Courteille,  Paris,  1859  ;  (&)  in  Thiiry's  Torok  tort^netirdk,  in  Hungarian 

transl.,  vol.  i.  Pest. 

Konstantinovic.     History  (ili  Ijetopisi  turski).    In  Glasnik  srp.  uC.  druzhtva.  xviii. 
(pp.  1—188).  1865. 

Koronaios,  T.      ' Av^payadrjixara   MepKovplov   MTroiJa.      In   Sathas,    'EWrjviKd.  dviKdora. 

I.  pp.  4  sqq.    Venice.  1867. 
Kritobulos.    History.    In  Mueller's  Fragmenta  Historicorum  Graecorum.   Vol.  v.,  Part  2. 

Paris.  1870. 

Lamansky,  V.  I.    Secrets  d'etat  de  Venise.    St  Petersburg.  1884. 

Lanz,  K.    Correspondenz  des  Kaisers  Karl  V.    Vol.  i.    Leipzig.  1844. 

Leunclavius  [and  Spiegel].    Aunales  Sultanorum  Othmanidarum.    Frankfort.  1596. 

Lonicerus,  P.    Chronica  Turcica.    3  vols.    Frankfort  a.  M.  1578. 

Magyar  diplomacziai  eml^kek  Matyas  kiraly  korabol,  1458-90.    i. — iv.  1875-8. 

Magyar  tort^nelmi  okmanytar.    Vols.  i.  and  v.    1857  and  9. 

Makushev,  V.     Monum.  histor.  Slavorum  meridionalium.     i.  ii.     Warsaw.  1874, 
1885. 

Malipiero,  D.    Annali  Veneti  dell'  anno  1457  al  1500.    In  Archivio  storico  Italiano.  vii. 
1843-4. 

Manfredo  Repeta.    Extracts  from  Chronicle  of  (1464-89).    By  D.  Bortolani.  Vicenza. 
1887. 

Matthias  Corvinus.   Letters  (ed.  Fraknoi).  In  Monumenta  Vaticana  Hungariae  historiam 

illustrantia.    Series  i.    Vol.  vi.    Pest.  1891. 
Miklosich,  F.    Monumenta  Serbica.    Vienna.  1858. 

Miklosich,  F.  and  Miiller,  J.    Acta  et  diplomata  Graeca  medii  aevi.    3  vols.    1860,  etc. 
Miiller.    Documenti  suUe  Relazioni  delle  cittk  Toscane  coll'  Oriente  Cristiano  e  coi  Turchi. 
1879. 

Novakovic,  S.    Odlomak  Srpskoga  Ljetopisa.    In  Starine  of  the  South  Slavonic  Academy. 

VI.  pp.  19  sqq.    Agram.  1874. 
Paoli,  S.    Codice  diplom.  del  sacro  militare  ordine  Gerosolimitano.    Lucca.  1737. 
Phrantzes,  G.    Chronicle.    Bk.  iv.    Bonn.  1838. 

Piccolomineus,  Jacobus  (Cardinalis  Papiensis).    Commentarii  et  epistolae.    Appended  to 

Gobellinus,  pp.  348  sqq.  1614. 
(Pius  II.)    Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini.    Epistolae.    Opera,  pp.  500  sqq.  1571. 
  Opera  inedita.    Ed.  Cugnoni.    In  Atti  della  R.  Accademia  dei  Lincei.    Series  iii. 

Vol.  VIII.  pp.  319-686.  1883. 
Racki,  F.    Dubrovacki  Spomenici.    In  Starine  of  the  South  Slavonic  Academy,  ri. 

pp.  1  sqq.    Agram.  1874. 
Raynaldus,  O.   Annales  Ecclesiastici.   Vols,  xviii.  xix.  xx.    Cologne.    1694,  etc. 


702 


The  Ottoman  Conquest 


Relazione  della  presa  di  Otranto.    In  Archivio  storico  per  le  provincie  Napolitane.  vi. 

fasc.  1,  pp.  74—162  and  169—176.    Naples.  1880. 
Rizzardo,  J.    La  presa  di  Negroponte.    Ed.  Cicogna.    Venice.  1844. 
Sad  ad- Din : 

(1)  Chronica,  Ital.  transl.  by  Bratutti.    Vol.  i.  Vienna,  1649.    Vol.  ii.  Madrid. 

1652; 

(2)  Annali  Ottomanici,  Part  i.  (to  death  of  Selim),  translated  by  Podesta: 

{a)  German,  with  Turkish  text  facing.  Niirnberg.  1671.  (6)  Italian 
and  Latin.    Vienna  and  Niirnberg.    1672  ; 

(3)  [Parts  relating  to  Hungarian  history]  in  Hungarian  transl.  by  Thiiry.  See 

below. 

Sacy,  Baron  S.  de.    Pieces  diplomatiques  (from  Archives  of  Genoa).    In  Notices  et 

extraits  des  manuscrits  de  la  Biblioth^que  du  Roi.    xi.  1827. 
Sanuto,  Marino  (1)1  diarii.    Vols.  i.  etc.    1879-80,  etc.    (2)  Parts  relating  to  Hungary, 

to  end  of  Bk.  42  (1526).    In  the  Magyar  tort^nelmi  Tar.    Vols.  xiv.  xxiv.  xxv. 

Pest.    1869,  1877-8. 
Sathas,  C.  N.    Documents  in^dits.    Vols.  i.  iv.  vi.  vii.  ix.    1880,  etc. 
Schaf  arik.    Acta  Archivi  Veneti  spectantia  ad  historiam  Serborum  et  reliquorum  Slavorum 

meridionalium.    ii.  1862. 
Schwandtner,  J.  G.    Scriptores  rerum  Hungaricarum.    3  vols.    Vienna.  1746-8. 
Servian  Annals,    (a)  Ed.  Jagic.    In  Archiv  fiir  slavische  Philologie.    ii.    Berlin.  1880. 

(&)  Ed.  Bogdan.    lb.    xiii.  1891. 
Sincai,  G.    Chronica  Romanilor.    Bucharest.  1886. 

Spandugino  Cantacusino.    Della  Origine  dei  principi  Turchi.    In  Sansovino's  Historia 

Universale.    1564.    And  in  Sathas,  Documents.    Vol.  ix. 
Sulayman,  Sultan.    Diary  of  his  Hungarian  campaigns ;  translated  in  (a)  Hammer's 

Histoire  de  I'empire  ottoman,  notes  to  vol.  v. ;  (6)  Thury's  Torok  tort^netirok,  vol.  i. 

(as  above). 

Teleki,  Count  J.    Hunyadiak  kora  Magyarorszagon.     Vol.  x.    1853.    Vol.  xi.  Pest. 
1855. 

Theiner,  A.    Vetera  monumenta  Slavorum  meridionalium  Historiam  illustrantia.  i.  Rome. 

1863.    II.    Agram.  1875. 
Torok  tort^netirdk.    Hungarian  translations  by  J.  Thury.    In  Torok  magyarkori  tort^- 

nelmi  eml^kek  (of  the  Magyar  Academy).    Series  ii.    Vols.  i.  and  ii.    Pest.  1893, 

1896. 

Tractatus  quidam  de  Turcis  prout  ad  presens  Ecclesia  Sancta  ab  eis  affligatur.  1481. 
Urechi,  G.    Chronique  de  Moldavie  (with  Fr.  tr.  by  Picot).    Paris.  1878. 
  Documente  istorice.  1878. 

Zinkeisen,  J.  W.    Drei  Denkschriften  liber  die  orientalische  Prage  .von  Pabst  Leo  X, 
Konig  Franz  I,  und  Kaiser  Maximilian  I  (1517).    Gotha.  1854. 

It  should  be  noted  that  Hammer  has  used  a  large  number  of  oriental  sources  which 
have  never  been  printed,  A  French  translation  of  Sa'd  ad-Din's  history  by  A.  Galland 
lies  in  manuscript  in  the  Biblioth^que  Nationale,  and  has  been  consulted  by  several  French 
writers.  Feridun's  collection  of  Turkish  state  papers  has  been  printed  at  Constantinople 
in  two  volumes  (1848-9) ,  but  is  not  in  the  British  Museum.  Angiolello's  Historia  turchesca 
(from  1429  to  1513)  lies  unpublished  in  the  Biblioth^que  Nationale  (fonds  ital.  no.  1238). 
Only  extracts  have  been  published  from  Percichi's  Le  quattro  incursioni  dei  Turchi  nel 
Friuli,  which  must  be  consulted  at  Padua. 

The  publication  of  the  rich  stores  of  the  archives  of  Ragusa,  well  begun  by  RaCki,  has 
been  less  well  continued  by  Gelcich  (Monumenta  Ragusina,  vols.  iii.  iv.  1895-6)  ;  but 
vol.  IV.  comes  down  only  to  1396.    Thus  it  will  be  some  time  before  our  period  is  reached. 


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n.    GENERAL  HISTORIES 

A.    Of  the  Ottomans 

Cantemir,  T).    History  of  the  Growth  and  Decay  of  the  Ottoman  empire  [tr.  by  N.  Tin- 
dal].  1734. 

Esprinchard,  J.    Histoire  des  Ottomans.    Paris.  1609. 

Hammer-Purgstall,  Baron  J.  von.    Geschichte  des  osmanischen  Reiches.    i.  ii.  Pest. 
1834. 

Knolles,  R.    The  generall  Historie  of  the  Turkes.    London,  1603. 
La  Jonqui^re,  Vicomte  A.  de.    Histoire  de  I'Empire  ottoman.  1881. 
Leunclavius,  J.    Historia  Musulmana  Turcorum.    Erankfort.  1591. 
Mignot,  V.    Histoire  de  I'empire  Ottoman,    i.    Paris.  1771. 
Poole,  S.  Lane.    Turkey.    London.  1886. 

Sagredo,  G.    History  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  [French  tr.  by  M.  Laurent],    i.  ii.  Paris. 
1732. 

Sansovino,  F.    Historia  Universale  dell'  Origine  et  Imperio  de'  Turchi.    Venice.  1560. 
Zinkeisen,  J.  W.    Geschichte  des  osmanischen  Reiches  in  Europa.    i.  ii.  iii.    Gesch.  d. 
europ.  Staaten.    Gotha.  1854-5. 


B.    Op  other  Lands 

Andric,  A.    Geschichte  des  Eiirstentums  Montenegro.    Vienna,  1853. 
Coquelle,  P.    Histoire  du  Mont^n^gro  et  de  la  Bosnie.    Paris.  1895. 
Engel,  J.  C.  von.    Geschichte  von  Serwien  und  Bosnien.    Halle.  1801. 

  Geschichte  des  Ereystaats  Ragusa.    Vienna.  1809. 

Eallmerayer,  J.  P.    Geschichte  des  Kaisertums  Trapezunt.    Munich.  1829. 

  Geschichte  der  Halbinsel  Morea.    2  vols.    Stuttgart.  1830-6. 

Einlay,  G.    History  of  Greece.    Ed.  H.  E.  Tozer.    v.    Oxford.  1877. 
Gopcevi(3,  S.    Montenegro  und  die  Montenegriner.    Leipzig.  1877. 
Gregorovius,  E.    Geschichte  der  Stadt  Athen  in  Mittelalter.    ii.    Stuttgart.  1889. 
Hopf,  K.  H.    Geschichte  Griechenlands.    In  Ersch  und  Gruber's  Encyklopadie.  Vol. 
Lxxxvi.  1868. 

Horvath,  M.    Geschichte  der  Ungarn  (tr.  from  Hungarian),    i.    Pest.  1851. 
Klaic,  V.    Geschichte  Bosniens.    Leipzig.  1885. 

Lebedev,  A.  P.  Istoriya  greko-vostochnoi  tserkvi  pod  vlastiyu  turok  ot  padeniya  Kon- 
stantinopolya  do  nastoyashchago  vremeni.    i.    Moscow.  1896. 

Malcolm,  Sir  J.    History  of  Persia,    ii.    London.  1815. 

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,  C.    Geschichte  Griechenlands.    i.    Leipzig.  1870. 

Nakko,  A.  K.    Histoire  de  la  Bessarabie.    2  vols.  1876. 

Romanin,  S.    Storia  documentata  di  Venezia.    vi.    Venice.  1858. 

Szalay,  L.    Geschichte  Ungarns  (tr.  from  Hungarian),    i.    Pest  and  Vienna.  1866. 

Vertot,  Abbe  de.  Histoire  des  Chevaliers  Hospitaliers  de  St  Jean  de  Jerusalem,  ii.  and 
III.    Paris.    1726.    [English  translation,  1728.] 

X^nopol,  A.  D.    Histoire  des  Roumains.    Translated,    i.    Paris.  1896. 


704 


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III.  AUXILIARY  WORKS 
On  Ottoman  Institutions,  etc. 

Baudier,  M.    Histoire  generale  du  Serrail  et  de  la  Cour  de  I'Empereur  des  Turcs.    2  vols. 

Paris.    1624.    Eng.  tr.  by  Grimeston.  1735. 
Belin,  F.  A.    Du  Regime  des  Fiefs  militaires  dans  I'lslamisme  et  particuliferement  en  Tur- 

quie.    Paris.  1870. 

  Histoire  de  la  Latinite  de  Constantinople.    2nd  ed.    Paris.  1894. 

Djevad-Bey  ( Ahmad- Jawad).    ^^tat  militaire  ottoman  (Fr.  tr.  by  G.  Macrides).  Paris. 

1882. 

Gycaud.  De  la  gen^alogie  du  Grand-Turc  et  la  dignite  des  officiers  et  ordre  de  sa  Cour... 
1570. 

Hammer-Purgstall,  Baron  J.  von.  Staatsverwaltung  des  osmanischen  Reiches.  2  vols. 
Vienna.  1815. 

Lacroix,  de.  ifetat  general  de  1' Empire  ottoman,  par  un  solitaire  Turc.  (French  tr.) 
3  vols.    Paris.  1695. 

Libellus  de  moribus  conditionibus  et  nequitia  Turcorum  [by  a  Christian  captive]  (ap- 
pended to  Ricoldus  de  Monte  Crucis,  Contra  sectam  mahumeticam  libellus...). 
1511. 

Marsigli,  L.  F.  L'6tat  militaire  de  P Empire  Ottoman,  (in  French  and  Italian).  The 
Hague.  1732. 

Ohsson,  I.  de.    Tableau  g^n^ral  de  I'Empire  Ottoman.    3  vols.    Paris.  1787-1820. 
Postel,  G.    De  la  republique  des  Turcs  et  des  moeurs  et  loys  de  tons  Muhademistes. 
Poitiers.  1560. 

Ranke,  L.  von.    Die  Osmanen  etc.  im  16ten  und  17ten  Jahrhundert.    4th  ed.    Vol.  xxxv. 

of  Sammtliche  Werke.    Leipzig.    1874,  etc. 
Rycaut,  Sir  P.   The  present  state  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  containing  the  maxims  of  the 

Turkish  politic. . .    London.  1668. 
Saint-Maurice.   La  cour  othomane  ou  I'interpr^te  de  la  Porte.  1673. 

IV.  MONOGRAPHS,  ETC. 

Asb6th,  J.    Official  tour  through  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina.   London.  1890. 
Bain,  R.  N.    Siege  of  Belgrade  by  Muhammad  II.    English  Historical  Review,    vii.  pp. 
235  sqq.  1892. 

Berchet,  G.    La  republica  di  Venezia  e  la  Persia.    Turin.  1863. 

Biancus.    Vita  G.  Castrioti.  1636. 

Bonhours.    Histoire  de  Pierre  d'Aubusson.  1676. 

Cataneo,  T.    Vita  di  S.  Giovanni  da  Capistrano.    Parma.  1691. 

Chassin,  C.  L.  Jean  de  Hunyad.  In  La  Hongrie,  son  genie  et  sa  mission,  pp,  223  sqq. 
Paris.  1856. 

Cornet,  E.    Le  guerre  dei  Veneti  nelP  Asia  (1470-4).    Vienna.  1856. 

[Ferrari,  Antonio  de].    Successi  dell'  Armata  Turchesca  nella  citta  d'  Otranto  dall'  anno 

MCCCLXXX.  1612. 

Fincati,  L.   La  deplorabile  Battaglia  Navale  del  Zonchio  (1490).    Rivista  maritima,  fasc. 

2,  pp.  185  sqq.    1883.    [See  also  appendix  thereto  by  Cecchetti.    Archivio  Veneto. 

XXV.,  fasc.  50,  pp.  415  sqq.] 
Frakn6i,  V.  (Frankl).    Carvajal  bibornok  magyarorszagi  kovetsegei.    Pest.  1889. 
  Mathias  Corvinus.    (German  tiansl.)    Freiburg  i.  B.  1891. 


BihUografhy 


705 


Grigorovic,  V.  I.    O  Serbii  v  eya  obnosheniyach  k  sosyednim  derzavam  v  xiv.  i  xv. 

stolyetiyach.  1859. 
Gu^rard,  P.    S.  Jean  de  Capistran  et  son  temps.    Bourges.  1865. 

Guillet  de  Saint-George,  G.    Histoire  du  R^gne  de  Mahomet  II,  empereur  des  Turcs. 

2  vols.    Paris.  1681. 

Hammer-Purgstall,  Baron  J.  von.    M6moire  sur  les  premieres  relations  diplomatiques 
entre  la  France  et  la  Porte.    In  the  Journal  Asiatique.    Paris.  1825. 

  Wiens  erste  aufgehobene  tiirkische  Belagerung.    Pest.  1829. 

Hermann.    Capistrano  triumphans.  1700. 

Hopf ,  K.  H.    Veneto-byzantinische  Analekten.  1860. 

Kabdebo,  H.    Bibliographie  zur  Geschichte  der  beiden  Tiirkenbelagerungen  Wien's  1629 

und  1683.    Vienna.  1876. 
Kiss,  K.    Hunyadi  Janos  utolsd  hadjarata.    Pest.  1857. 
Kupelwieser,  L.    Die  Kampfe  Ungarns  mit  den  Osmanen.    Vienna.  1895. 
Levee.    Die  Einfalle  der  Tiirken  in  Krain  und  Istrien.  1891. 
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Lepanto.    Livorno.  1897. 
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Meldeman.    Rundansicht  der  Stadt  Wien  wahrend  der  Tiirkenbelagerung  im  Jahre  1529. 
1863. 

Musoni.    Sulle  incursioni  dei  Turchi  in  Friuli.    (3  pamphlets.)  1890-2, 
Paganel,  C.    Histoire  de  Scanderbeg.    Paris.  1855. 
Pisko,  J.    Skanderbeg.    Vienna.  1894. 

Pontanus  z  Praitenberka,  J.  B.    Historia  G.  Castrioti.    Hanover.  1609. 

Racki,  F.   Bogomili  i  Patareni,    Rad  of  the  South  Slavonic  Academy,    vn.  pp.  84 — 

179.    VIII.  pp.  121—87.    X.  pp.  160—263.   Agram.  1869-70. 
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1881. 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


45 


CHAPTER  IV. 
ITALY  AND  HER  INVADERS 

{For  a  bibliography  of  the  historical  literature  dealing  with  this  period^  very  full 
within  its  limits,  see  Pastor,  Geschichte  der  Papste,  vol.  iii.) 

I.    CONTEMPORARY  CHRONICLES,  MEMOIRS,  AND  PRINTED  HISTORICAL 

DOCUMENTS 

(For  further  indications  on  the  contemporary  authorities  for  this  period,  see  Potthast, 
Bibliotheca  Historica  Medii  Aevi,  Berlin,  1895-6. 

See  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  V.  VL  VII.  VIII.  XIL  in  this  Volume.) 

A.  Florence 

Buonaccorsi,  B.   Diario  de'  success!  piu  importanti  seguiti  in  Italia  e...in  Fiorenza,  1498- 

1512.    Florence.  1568. 
Guicciardini,  F.    Opere  inedite.    10  vols.    Florence.  1857-67. 
Landucci,  L.    Diario  Fiorentino,  1450-1516.    lb.  1883. 
Macchiavelli,  N.    Arte  di  guerra.    Vol.  iv.  of  edition  "Italia.  1813." 

  Historic  Florentine  (fragments).    Ed.  Passerini  and  Milanesi.    Vol.  ii. 

  Legazioni  e  Commisarie.    Ed.  Passerini  and  Milanesi.    In  Opere  di  N.  M.  iii.  iv. 

Florence  and  Rome.  1874. 
Nardi,  J.    Istorie  della  Citt^  di  Firenze.    Ed.  Gelli.    2  vols.    Florence.  1858. 
Scala,  B.    Historia  Fiorentina.    In  Graevius,  Antiq.  Ital.  viii.  i. 

Vettori,  F.    Sommario  delP  istoria  d'  Italia,  1511-27.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  App.  vi.  B, 
pp.  261-387. 

B.  France 

See  also  G.  Monod.   Bibliographic  de  I'Histoire  de  France.    Paris.  1888. 

Arcuate,  J.  F.  de.    Memorabilia  in  Adventu  Caroli  VIII  in  Ital.    Rome.  1514. 
Auton,  J.  d'.    Chronique  de  Louis  XII.    Ed.  R.  Maulde  la  Clavi^re.    Soc.  hist.  Fr. 
Paris.    1890  sqq. 

Bayard,  Histoire  du  Chevalier.    Par  le  loyal  serviteur.    Soc.  hist.  Fr.    Paris.  1878. 
Bouchet,  J.    Pan^gyrique  du  Chevalier  sans  reproches  (Louis  de  la  Tr^mouille).  Coll. 

Michaud  et  Poujoulat,  vol,  iv. 
Champier,  S.    Les  grans  Croniques  des. .  .dues  et  princes  de  Savoye  et  Pigment.  Paris. 

1516. 

706 


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Champier,  S.    Les  gestes  ensemble  la  vie  du  Preulx  Chev.  Bayard.    In  Cimber  and 

Danjou,  Archives  Curieuses.    Ser.  i.  vol.  ii. 
Desjardins,  A.    Negotiations  diplomatiques  de  la  France  avec  la  Toscane.  Documents 

in^dits.    XXXVI.    Vols.  i.  and  ii.    Paris.  1859-61. 
Ferronus,  A.    De  rebus  gestis  Gallorum  libri  ix.    Paris.  1550. 
Fleurange,  R.  de.    M^moires  (1501-21).    Collection  Michaud  et  Poujoulat.    Vol.  v. 
Gilles,  N.    Les  tres  Elegantes  et  copieuses  Annales  des  mod^rateurs  des  belliqueuses 

Gaules.    (History  of  Louis  XIL)    Paris.    1534,  etc. 
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C.  Milan 

Ambrogio  da  Paullo,  P.    Cronaca  Milanese,  1476-1515.    Misc.  di  Storia  Ital.  xiii. 
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Burigozzo,  G.  M.    Cronaca  Milanese,  1500-44.    In  Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  iii.  1842. 
Cagnola,  G.  P.    Cronaca  Milanese,  1023-1497.    In  Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  iii.  1842. 
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manni  Thesaurus  Antiquit.  Italic,  ix.  and  D.  Godefroy,  Histoire  de  Charles  VIII, 

p.  216. 

Grumello,  A.    Cronaca  Pavese,  1467-1529.    In  Raccolta  di  cronisti  e  document!  storici 

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Muraltus,  F.  (of  Como).    Annalia,  1492-1519.    Ed.  Dominius.    lb.  1861. 
Odovici,  F.    II  processo  dei  congiurati  Bresciani,  1512.    Published  in  Raccolta  di  cronisti, 

etc.    Lombardi  inediti.    Vol.  ii.    lb.  1857. 
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C.  Cantu.    lb.  1864. 

P^lissier,  L.  G.    Analyse  de  3  r^gistres  de  lettres  ducales  de  Louis  XII  h,  Milan.  Bulletin 

du  Comity  des  travaux  historiques.    Paris.  1892. 
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1892. 

  Trois  relations  sur  la  situation  de  la  France,  1498-9.    (L.  Sforza  to  the  Duke  of 

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Prato,  G.  A.    Cronaca  Milanese,  1499-1519.    In  Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  iii.  1842. 


708 


Italy  and  her  invaders 


D.  Naples 

Albini,  J.    De  gestis  regum  Neapol.  ab  Aragonia... — 1495.. .sive  de  Caroli  VIII.. .expe- 

ditione  in  regnum  Neapolit.    Naples.  1588. 
Caracciolo,  T.    Opuscula  historica.    Muratori,  Script,  xxii. 

Chronicon  anon.    Neap.  1434-1506.    In  Pratilli,  Historia  princip.  Langobard.    iv.  p. 
132. 

Giomali  Napoletani.    Muratori,  Script,  xxi. 

Jovius,  P.    Vitae  illustrium  virorum  ;  Elogia  virorum  illustrium  ;  Historiae  sui  temporis 

(to  the  death  of  Francis  I).    Basel.  1577. 
Notar,  Giacomo.    Cronica  di  Napoli.    Ed.  Garzelli.    Naples.  1845. 
Passero,  G.    Journal  of  Naples.    Naples.  1785. 

Pelliccia,  A.  A.    Kaccolta  di  varie  Chroniche  appartenenti  alia  storia  del  Regno  di  Napoli. 
Vol.  I.  1780. 

Pulgar,  H.  P.  del.    Cr(5nica  del  Gran  Capitan  don  Gonzalo  de  Cordoba.    Sevilla.  1527.. 

Ed.  Martinez  de  la  Rosa.    Madrid.  1834. 
Pulgar,  H.  del.    Cronica  llamada  las  dos  conquistas  dal  reyno  de  Napoles.  Saragossa. 

1559. 

Trinchera,  F.    Codice  Aragonese  ossia  lettere  regie,  ordinamenti  etc.  dei  sovrani  Ara- 

gonesi  in  Napoli.    Naples.  1866. 
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  Collezione  di  opere  inedite  o  rare  di  storia  Neapolitana.    lb.  1859. 


E.  Rome 

Burcardus,  J.    Diarium,  sive  rerum  urbanarum  Commentarii,  1483-1506.    Ed.  Thuasne. 

3  vols.    Paris.  1883-5. 
Fabroni,  A.    Vita  Leonis  X.    Pisa.  1797. 

Giustiniani,  A.  Dispacci  (from  Rome  to  Venice),  1502-5.  Ed.  Villari.  Florence. 
1876. 

Gottlob,  A.   Aus  der  Camera  apostolica  des  xvten  Jahrhunderts.    Innsbruck.  1889. 
Infessura,  L.    Diario  della  Citt^  di  Roma.    Ed.  O.  Tommasini  for  Istituto  Storico 
Italiano.  1890. 

Paris  de  Grassis.  Diary  (during  the  Papacy  of  Leo  X).  Ed.  M.  Armellini.  Rome. 
1884. 

P^lissier,  L.  G.  Alcuni  documenti  relativi  all'  Alleanza  d'  Alessandro  VI  e  Luigi 
XII.  Arch.  Storico  Romano.  Society  Romana  di  stor.  patria,  xvii.  p.  303. 
1894-5. 

Sigismondo  dei  Conti  da  Foligno.  Le  Storie  dei  suoi  tempi  1475-1510.  2  vols.  Rome. 
1883. 

Volaterranus,  R.    Commentariorum  urbanorum  libri  38.    lb.    1506,  etc. 

  Historia  de  vita  quattuor  pontificum  (Sixtus  IV,  Innocent  VIII,  Alexander  VI, 

Pius  III).  1511. 

F.  Venice 

Alberi,  E.  Relazioni  degli  ambasciatori  Veneti  al  Senato.  Series  i.  1,  4,  6.  Series  ii.  3. 
Florence.  1846-62. 

Arluni,  B.    De  bello  Veneto  Libri  vi.    In  Graevius,  Thesaurus  Antiquitatum.    Tom.  v. 


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Bembus,  P.  (Card.).  Historiae  Venetae  libri  xii.  1486-1513.  Venice.  1551.  Milan. 
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Benedetti,  A.    Diarium  de  bello  Carolino,  1495.    Venice,  1496.    In  Eccard  Corp.  hist. 

medii  aevi,  ii.  pp.  1577-1G28. 
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No.  9,  etc.    Istituto  Storico  Italiano. 
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Sanuto,  M.    Diari,  1496-1533.    58  vols.    Venice.    1879,  etc. 


G.  Miscellaneous 

Alfani,  T.    Memorie  Perugine,  1502-27.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  xvi.  2.  1851. 
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Diarium  Ferrariense,  1409-1502.    Muratori,  Script,  xxiv.  pp.  143-408. 

Donatus,  H.    Oratio  ad  Caesarem  pro  re  Christiana.    Venice.  1501. 

Du  Mont,  J.    Corps  universel  diplomatique  du  Droit  des  Gens.    Amsterdam.  1726. 

Foscari,  F.    Dispacci  al  senato  Veneto  presso  V  imperatore  Massimiliano,  1496.  Arch. 

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Guicciardini,  F.    Storia  d'  Italia.    4  vols.    Milan.  1884. 

Le  Glay,  K.    Correspondance  de  I'empereur  Maximilien  et  de  Marguerite  d'Autriche, 

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documents  in^dits.    xliv.    2  vols.    lb.  1845. 
Lettres  de  Charles  VIII,  Louis  XII  et  Francois  I  aux  communes  de  G^nes  et  de  Florence. 

Coll.  des  doc.  in^dits.    viii.    Vol.  i. 


710 


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Matarazzo,  F.    Cronaca  della  Citt^  di  Perugia,  1492-1503.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.    xvi.  2, 
1851. 

Molini,  G.    Documenti  di  Storia  Italiana.    Vol.  i.    Florence.  1836. 
Morone,  G.    Lettere  Miscell.  di  Storia  Ital.  ii. 

Oricellarius,  B.  (Rucellai).    Commentarius  de  Bello  Italico.    London.  1724. 

P(Slissier,  L.  G.   Documents  pour  I'histoire  de  I'^tablissement  de  la  Domination  Fran9aise 

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Perizolo   da   Pisa.    Ricordi   1422-1510,    in   Arch.  Stor.   Ital.  vi.  2.  pp.  387-396. 
1845. 

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Porto  Venere,  G.    Memoriale  come  il  Re  di  Francia  passa  in  Italia  per  aquistare  il  reame 

di  Napoli.    1494-1502.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  vi.  2. 
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Zurita,  G.    Los  annales  de  la  Corona  d'Aragon.    Saragossa,  1610-21,  etc. 


II.    LATER  HISTORICAL  WORKS 


A.  General 

Balan,  P.    Storia  d'  Italia.    Tom.  v.    Modena.  1877. 

Baschet,  A.    La  Diplomatic  Ven^tienne.    Paris.  1862. 

Br^quigny,  O.  F.  de.    Histoire  des  revolutions  de  G^nes.  1752. 

Burckhardt,  J.    Die  Cultur  der  Renaissance  in  Italien.    Basel.  1860. 

Busch,  W.    England  unter  den  Tudors.    Stuttgart.  1892. 

Buser,  B.    Beziehungen  der  Mediceer  zu  Frankreich,  1434-94.    Leipzig.  1879. 

Canale,  M.  G.    Nuova  storia  della  Republica  di  Genova.    Florence.  1886. 

Canestrini,  G.    Delia  Milizia  Italiana  del  Secolo  xiii.  al  xvi.    Florence  ?.  1857. 

Capponi,  G.  A.  G.  G.    Storia  del  Reame  di  Napoli.  1846. 

Cherrier,  C.  de.    Histoire  de  Charles  VIII.    2  vols.    Paris.  1868. 

Cipolla,  C.    Storia  delle  Signorie  Italiane,  1313-1530.    Milan.  1881. 

Costanzo,  A.  di.    Istoria  del  Regno  di  Napoli,    3  vols.    Milan.  1805. 

Dandliker,  C.    Geschichte  der  Schweiz.    Zurich.  1884-7. 

Dierauer,  J.    Geschichte  der  schweiz.  Eidgenossenschaft.    (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten.) 

Vol.  II.    Gotha.  1892. 
Fuchs,  I.    Mailandische  Feldziige  der  Schweizer.    2  vols.    St  Gallen.  1810. 


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CHAPTER  V 


FLORENCE  (I):  SAVONAROLA 

I.    CONTEMPORAKY  WORKS  AND  DOCUMENTS 
A.    Works  of  Savonarola 

It  would  be  impossible  here  to  give  a  bibliography  of  the  numerous  early  editions  of 
Savonarola's  sermons  aud  tracts.  Bibliotheca  Savonaroliana,  the  catalogue  recently 
published  by  L.  S.  Olschki,  of  Florence  and  Venice,  will  be  found  useful.  The  works 
of  Savonarola  mentioned  here  are  those  recently  published  and  generally  accessible. 

Poesie  di  Girolamo  Savonarola :  ed.  by  C.  Capponi  and  C.  Guasti.    Florence.  1862. 
Alcune  lettere  di  Frk  G.  Savonarola  :  ed.  by  C.  Capponi.    Florence.  1858. 
Opere  di  Frk  G.  Savonarola.    Sermons  on  the  First  Epistle  of  St  John  and  on  the  Psalm 
Quam  bonus.  1845. 

Prediche  di  Frk  G.  Savonarola.  The  Sermons  of  1496:  ed.  by  G.  Baccini.  Florence. 
1889. 

Scelta  di  Prediche  e  Scritti  di  Fr^i  G.  Savonarola  con  nuovi  Documenti  intorno  alia  sua 
Vita  (including  the  Epistola  of  Fr^  Placido  Cinozzi  and  the  Cronaca  di  Simone 
Filipepi).    P.  Villari  and  E.  Casanova.    Florence.  1898. 

Trattato  circa  il  Reggimento  e  Governo  della  Citt^i  di  Firenze.  1847. 

CEuvres  Spirituelles  Choisies  de  J6r6me  Savonarola.  3  vols.  E.  C.  Bayonne.  Paris. 
1879. 

Lettere  inedite  di  Fr^i  G.  Savonarola.    V.  Marchese.   Arch.  Stor.  It.   App.  viii.  1850. 
II  Trionfo  della  Croce  (the  Latin  and  Italian  texts)  :  ed.  by  L.  Ferretti.    Siena.  1900. 
L'  ultimo  Scritto  di  Fr^  Girolamo  Savonarola.    II  Salmo  Miserere  mei  Deus,  commen- 

tato  in  carcere.     (Italian  translation  with  Introduction  and  Notes.)    L.  Ferretti. 

Milan.  1901. 


B.    Some  Works  of  Savonarola's  Disciples 

Bertuccio  (Fr^  Benedetto),  Cedrus  Libani.    Edited  by  V.  Marchese.    Arch.  Stor.  It. 
App.  VII.  1849. 

Molti  devotissimi  Trattati.    (Savonarolist  pamphlets.)    Venice.  1535-8. 
Riforma  santa  et  pretiosa.    By  Domenico  Cecchi.    1496.    (Extremely  rare,  but  is  in  the 
British  Museum.) 

714 


Bibliography 


715 


Benivieni,  D.   Dialogo  della  Verity  della  Doctrina,  etc.    1495  (?). 

  Epistola  responsiva,  etc.    1496  (?). 

  Tractato  in  defensione.  1496. 

(These  tracts  are  in  the  British  Museum. ) 
Lauda  per  Frk  Girolamo  Savonarola  scritta  da  uno  del  Piagnoni.  1865. 


C.    Contemporary  Writers  and  Documents 

Acciajoli,  V.    Vita  di  Piero  Capponi ;  with  documents,  including  extracts  from  the  Prio- 

vista  of  A.  and  F.  Gaddi.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    Vol.  iv.  2.  1853. 
Bacci,  P.    Due  Documenti  pistoiesi  sopra  Fr^  G.  Savonarola.  1894. 

Benivieni,  G.    Defence  of  Savonarola  to  Clement  VII.    At  close  of  G.  Milanesi's  ed.  of 

B.  Varchi.   Florence.  1858. 
Bonaini,  F.   Annali  del  Convento  di  Sta  Caterina  di  Pisa.   Arch.  Stor.  It.    vi.  ii. 

1845. 

Bongi,  S.   A  letter  to  the  Government  of  Lucca  on  the  Jews.   Ibid.  iii. 

Burcardus,  J.    Diarium.    Ed.  L.  Thuasne.   3  vols.    Paris.  1883-5. 

Burlamacchi,  P.    Vita  del  P.  F.  Girolamo  Savonarola  (first  published  by  D.  M.  Mansi  in 

Addizioni  alia  Miscellanea  del  Baluzio).    Lucca.  1761. 
Cambi,  G.    Istorie.    In  Delizie  degli  eruditi  Toscani.    xxi. — xxiir.    Florence.  1785 

sqq. 

Cappelli,  A.  Frk  G.  Savonarola  e  Notizie  intorno  il  suo  tempo.  Reprinted  from  Atti  e 
Memorie  della  R.  Deputazione  di  Storia  Patria  per  le  provincie  Modenesi  e  Parmensi. 
Vol.  IV.    Modena.  1869. 

Capponi,  C.  L'  ufficio  proprio  per  Fr^  G.  Savonarola.  Arch.  Stor.  It.  New  Series,  xn. 
1860. 

Commines,  P.  de.    M^moires.    Paris.  1843. 

Conti,  A.    A  narrative  of  the  Ordeal.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    3rd  Series,  xiii.  1871. 
  The  Controversy  with  the  Franciscans.  Ibid. 

Conti,  Sigismondo  de'.    Le  Storie  de'  suoi  tempi  dal  1475  al  1510.    Rome.  1883. 
Desjardins,  A.   N^gociations  diplomatiques  de  la  France  avec  la  Toscane.    Vols.  i.  and  ir. 
Paris.  1859-61. 

Gherardi,  A.  Nuovi  Documenti  e  Studi  intorno  a  Girolamo  Savonarola.  2nd  ed.  Flor- 
ence. 1887.  (An  invaluable  collection  of  documents  critically  examined,  with  a 
bibliography.) 

Giustiniani,  A.    Dispacci.    Ed.  P.  Villari.    3  vols.    Florence.  1876. 

Guasti,  C.   II  Savonarola  ed  i  Lucchesi.    Nuovi  documenti.    1862.    (A  reprint  from 

Giornale  Storico  degli  Archivi  Toscani.  vi.) 
Guicciardini,  F.    Storia  Fiorentina.    Opere  inedite.  iii. 

  Del  Reggimento  di  Firenze.    Opere  inedite.  ii. 

  Various  writings.    Opere  inedite.  x. 

  Storia  d'  Italia,  i. 

Landucci,  L.   Diario  Fiorentino  dal  1460  al  1516.   Florence.  1883. 

Lungo,  I.  del.   Documents  on  the  Excommunication,  and  the  Letters  of  the  Milanese 

envoys  Somenzi  and  Tranchedino.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    New  Series,  xviii.  i.  and  ii. 

1863. 

  Canzona  d'  un  Piagnone  pel  Bruciamento  delle  Vanitk,  etc.    Florence.  1864. 

Lupi,  C.    Pratiche  and  other  documents.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    3rd  Series,  iii.  i.  1866. 
  Pisan  documents.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    3rd  Series,  xiii.  1871. 

Machiavelli,  N.    II  Principe,  ed.  L.  A.  Burd.    Oxford.    1891.    (For  passages  from 

Machiavelli's  works  relating  to  Savonarola,  see  Appendix  i.) 
Nardi,  J.   Istoria  della  Citt^  di  Firenze.   Florence.  1838. 


716 


Florence  L  —  Savonarola 


Nerli,  F.    Commentari.    Augsburg.  1728. 

Passerini,  L.  Reports  of  trials  of  Fr^  Domenico  and  Fr^i  Silvestro  and  Apologia  di  Mar- 
silio  Ficino.  Giornale  Storico  degli  ArcMvi  Toscani.  Vols.  ii.  and  iii.  1858 
and  59. 

Pico  della  Mirandola,  G.  F.    Vita  R.  P.  Fr.  Hieronymi  Savonarolae.    Ed.  by  J.  Qu6tif. 

3  vols.    Paris.    1874.    (Vol.  iii.  contains  Savonarola's  letters.) 
Pitti,  J.    Istoria  Fiorentina  dal  1215  al  1529.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    Vol.  i.  1842. 

  Apologia  de'  Cappucci.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    Vol.  iv.  2.  1853. 

  Vita  di  A.  Giacomini  Tebalducci.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    Vol.  iv.  2.  1853. 

Politianus,  A.   Epistolae  Jacopo  Antiquario.    Book  iv.    May,  1492.    (As  to  Savonarola 

and  the  death  of  L.  de'  Medici.) 
Portioli,  A.   Nuovi  documenti  su  G.  Savonarola.    Arch.  Stor.  Lomb.  i.  iii.  1874. 
Renier,  R.   I  Sonetti  del  Pistoia.    1889.    (A  passage  representing  the  "Temperance'* 

influence  of  Savonarola.) 
Rinuccini,  A.    Ricordi  Storici  dal  1460.    Florence.  1840. 
Rossi,  T.   Ricordanze.    In  Delizie  degli  eruditi  Toscani.   xxiii.    1785,  etc. 
Sanuto,  Marino.    I  Diarii.    Venice.    1879-  . 
  La  Spedizione  di  Carlo  VIII  in  Italia.    Venice.  1883. 

Tizio,  S.  An  extract  from  the  Sienese  Chronicler,  by  G.  Rondoni.  Arch.  Stor.  Ital.  5tli 
Series,  ii.  1888. 

Vaglienti,  P.,  Fr.  G.  Savonarola  giudicato  da.    By  L.  Randi.   Florence.  1893. 
(Extracts  from  the  chronicler  relating  to  Savonarola.) 

Cerretani,  B.    Storia  Fiorentina.    MS.    Bibliotheca  Nazionale,  Florence. 
Parenti,  P.   Storia  Fiorentina.   MS.   Bibliotheca  Nazionale,  Florence. 

(These  two  manuscripts  have  not  been  printed,  but  have  been  much  utilised.  Parenti 
is  of  the  highest  value.) 

For  Documents  see  also  Villari ;  Meier ;  Ranke ;  Cittadella ;  Bayonne ;  Luotto 
{helow). 


II.    LATER  WRITINGS 

{Certain  of  these  are  included  less  for  their  intrinsic  importance  than  as  representing 
different  schools  of  opinion.} 

Ammirato,  S.    Istorie  Fiorentine.   Part  ii.   Florence.  1641. 
Armstrong,  E.    English  Historical  Review,    iv.  1889. 
Athenaeum.    Jan.  19,  1889. 

"  Anon."    The  Irish  Rosary.   June  to  October,  1898. 
Barry,  W.    Saint  Peter's.    June,  1898. 

Bayonne,  E.  C.    ^itude  sur  Jerome  Savonarole  d'apr^s  de  nouveaux  documents.  Paris. 
1879. 

BoUettino  Bimensale  per  le  Onoranze  Cattoliche  del  P.  G.  Savonarola.    Ed.  by  Magri. 

Borgo  S.  Lorenzo.  1898. 
Brosch,  M.   Zur  Savonarola-Kontro verse.   Deutsche  Zeitsch.  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft. 

January,  1898. 

Burckhardt,  J.    Cultur  der  Renaissance  in  Italien.    Vol.  ii.   Leipzig.  1877-8. 

Burr,  G.  L.    American  Historical  Review.  1896. 

Canestrini,  G.    La  Scienza  e  I'Arte  di  Stato.    Florence.  1862. 

Capponi,  G.    Storia  di  Firenze.    Vol.  iii.   Florence.  1875. 

CipoUa,  C.    Fr^  G.  Savonarola  e  la  Costituzione  Veneta.    Arch.  Ven.  1874. 


Bibliography 


71T 


Cittadella,  L.  N.  La  nobile  famiglia  Savonarola  in  Padova  ed  in  Ferrara.  Ferrara. 
1867. 

Civilt^  Cattolica,  La.    November,  1897. 

Comba,  E.    I  nostri  Protestanti  avanti  la  Riforma.    Florence.  1895. 
Cosci,  A.    G.  Savonarola  e  i  nuovi  Documenti.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.    Fourtb  Series,  iv. 
1879. 

Creighton,  M.  (Bishop).    History  of  the  Papacy.    Vol.  iii.    London.  1887. 

Danne,  E.  Jerome  Savonarole  predicateur.  (A  thesis  for  Faculty  of  Protestant  The- 
ology at  Paris.)  1894. 

Delaborde,  H.  F.    L'Exp^dition  de  Charles  VIII  en  Italic.    Paris.  1888. 

Dollinger,  J.  J.  I.  von.  Der  Weissagungsglaube  und  das  Prophetenthum  in  der  christ- 
lichen  .Zeit.  In  Riehrs  Hist.  Taschenbuch.  1871.  Also  in  DoUinger's  Kleinere 
Schriften,  ed.  by  F.  H.  Rensch.    Stuttgart.  1890. 

Ferretti,  L.    Per  la  Causa  di  Fr^  G.  Savonarola  Fatti  e  Testimonianze.    Milan.  1897. 

Frantz,  E.    Sixtus  IV  und  die  Republik  Florenz.    Ratisbon.  1880. 

  Fra  Bartolomeo  della  Porta.    Ratisbon.  1879. 

Galassi,  L.  M.    Girolamo  Savonarola.    Fu  egli  vittima  del  Clericalismo  ?  1898. 
Gaspary,  B.    Geschichte  der  ital.  Literatur.    Vol.  ii.    Berlin.  1888. 
Gebhart,  E.    L' Italic  mystique.    Paris.  1890. 
Giannotti,  D.    Della  Repubblica  Fiorentina  libri  iv.  1722. 

Giorgetti,  A.  and  Baretti,  C.  Savonarola  e  la  critica  tedesca.  (Italian  translation  of 
articles  cited  by  H.  Grauert,  J.  Schnitzer,  M.  Brosch  and  "Spectator":  with 
Preface  by  P.  Villari  and  Introduction  by  F.  Tocco. )    Florence.  1900. 

Glossner,  M.    Savonarola  als  Apologet  und  Philosoph.   Paderborn.  1898. 

Goetz,  W.   Deutsche  Zeitsch.  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft.   April,  1898. 

Grauert,  H.    Wissenschaftliche  Beilage  zur  Germania.    June  3,  1898. 

Gregorovius,  F.    Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom.    Vol.  vn.    Stuttgart.  1894. 

Grisar,  H.  Zeitsch.  fiir  kath.  Theologie.    iv.  1880. 

Gruyer,  A.    Les  illustrations  des  Merits  de  Jerome  Savonarole.    Paris.  1879. 
Guicciardini,  F.  de'.    Profezie  politiche  e  religiose  di  Fr^  H.  Savonarola  ricavate  daUe  sue 

Prediche.    Florence.  1863. 
Hardy,  G.  M^.     Girolamo  Savonarola.    (The  World's  Epoch  Makers.)  Edinburgh. 

1901. 

Hartwig,  O.  Hist.  Zeitschr.    Vol.  lxiv.  1890. 
Hase,  K.    Neue  Propheten.    ii.    Leipzig.  1861. 

Hergenrother,  J.  (Card.)    Conciliengeschichte.    Vol.  viii.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1887. 
Hofler,  C.  von.    Die  romanische  Welt  und  ihr  Verhaltniss  zu  den  Reformideen  des 

Mittelalters.    Vienna.  1878. 
Horsburgh,  E.  L.  S.    Girolamo  Savonarola.    (Little  Biographies.)  London.  1901. 
Lottini,  G.    Fu  veramente  scommunicato  il  Savonarola  ?    Milan.  1898. 
Lucas,  H.    Fra  Girolamo  Savonarola.    London.  1899. 

Luotto,  P.    II  vero  Savonarola  ed  il  Savonarola  di  L.  Pastor.    (Includes  copious  extracts 

from  Savonarola's  sermons.)    Florence.  1897. 
Manen,  G.    Essai  sur  Jerome  Savonarole  d'apr^s  sa  predication.    1897.    (A  thesis  for 

the  Faculty  of  Protestant  Theology  at  Montauban.) 
Marchese,  V.    Storia  del  Convento  di  San  Marco  in  Scritti  varii.    3rd  edition.  Florence. 

1892. 

Meier,  K.    Girolamo  Savonarola.    Berlin.    1836.    (Contains  numerous  documents.) 
Michael,  E.    Zeitschr.  fiir  kath.  Theol.    ii.  1898. 

Monnet,  A.    Jerome  Savonarole  jug6  par  sa  Reforme.    1880.    (A  thesis  for  Faculty  of 

Protestant  Theology  at  Montauban.) 
Miintz,  E.    Revue  bleue.    December,  1896. 

Newman,  J.  H.  (Card.)  On  the  Mission  of  S.  Philip  Neri.  Sermons  preached  on  various 
occasions.  1870. 


718 


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Pagnini.    Delia  Decima.    Vol.  i.    Lisbon  and  Lucca.  1765-6. 

Pastor,  L.  Geschichte  der  Papste.  Vol.  iii.  English  translation.  Vol.  v.  London. 
1898. 

  Zur  Beurtheilung  Savonarola's.    Freiburg  1.  B.    1898.    (An  answer  to  P.  Luotto  ; 

see  above.) 

PSlissier,  L.  G.  Louis  XII  et  Ludovic  Sforza.  1897. 
Pellegrini,  F.   Arch,  della  R.  Soc.  Rom.    xi.  1887. 

  Giorn.  Stor.  della  Letteratura  Ital.   x.  xii. 

Perrens,  F.  T.    Histoire  de  Florence.    Vol.  ii.    Paris.  1888. 

  Jerome  Savonarole,  sa  vie,  ses  predications,  ses  ecrits.   2  vols.    Paris.  1856. 

  R6vue  Historique.  1888. 

Piccolo  Messaggiere,  il,  per  il  49  centenario  di  Fr^i  G.  Savonarola.  No.  6.  May, 
1898. 

Pometti,  F.    Nuova  Antologia.    June,  1898. 

Procter,  J.  The  Dominican  Savonarola  and  the  Reformation.  A  reply  to  Dean  Farrar. 
1895. 

Ranke,  L.  von.  Savonarola  und  die  florentinische  Republik.  In  Historisch-biographische 
Studien.  (Containing  extracts  from  Parenti  and  Cerretani.)  Vols.  xl.  and  xli.  of 
Sammtliche  Werke.    Leipzig.    1874,  etc. 

Reumont,  A.  von.    Lorenzo  de'  Medici.    Eng.  trans.    Vol.  ii.    London.  1876. 

Rohr,  J.  Die  Prophetie  im  letzten  Jahrhundert  vor  der  Reformation.  Hist.  Jahrbuch 
XIX.  1,  3.  1898. 

Rondoni,  G.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.    Ser.  v.  i.  1888. 

Rudelbach,  A.  G.    Hieronymus  Savonarola  und  seine  Zeit.    Hamburg.  1855. 
Saturday  Review.    Jan.  26,  1889. 

Schnitzer,  J.    Savonarola  im  Lichte  der  neuesten  Literatur. 

  Historisch-politische  Blatter  fiir  das  katholische  Deutschland.    Vol.  cxxi.  1898. 

Vol.  cxxv.  1900. 

Sickinger,  C.  Savonarola,  sein  Leben  und  seine  Zeit.  In  Katholische  Studien,  Jahrg.  iii. 
1877. 

"Spectator."    Allgemeine  Zeitung.    Beilage,  November  2,  1898. 
Tocco,  F.    La  Vita  italiana  nel  Rinascimento.    Vol.  ii.    Milan.  1893. 
Tommasini,  O.    La  Vita  e  gli  Scritti  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli.    Turin.  1883. 
Villari,  P.    Arch.  Stor.  It.    Ser.  v.  i.  1899. 

  Girolamo  Savonarola  e  1'  ora  presente  :  a  speech  in  celebration  of  the  centenary. 

Rivista  d'  Italia.    No.  7.    Also  separately  printed. 
  La  Storia  di  G.  Savonarola.    2  vols.    Florence.    1887.    (Contains  a  large  number 

of  rare  or  unpublished  documents.)     Translation,  Linda  Villari.    (Contains  some 

additions,  but  omits  the  documents.)    London.  1890. 

  On  the  early  Biographies.    Rivista  Stor.  Ital.    No.  i.  1884. 

 Reply  to  Pellegrini.    Arch.  Stor.  Ital.    Ser.  v.  i.  1888. 

  Reply  to  Perrens.   R^vue  Historique.  1888.- 

Zardo,  A.    La  Tirannide  secondo  il  Savonarola  e  P  Alfieri.    Rassegna  Nazionale. 

LXXXIII. 

Ziegler,  H.   Savonarola,  ein  Vorlaufer  der  Reformation.    Berlin.  1870. 


CHAPTER  VI 


FLORENCE  (II):  MACHIAVELLI 

A.    COLLECTIVE  EDITIONS  OF  MACHIAVELLI'S  WORKS 

Tutte  le  opere  di  Nicolo  Machiavelli  Cittadino  et  Secretario  Fiorentino,  divise  in  V. 
parti,  et  di  nuovo  con  somma  accuratezza  ristampate.  1550.  The  first  Testina  edition : 
the  imprint  "In  Geneva,  Presso  Pietro  Chouet"  was  added  by  hand  after  the  printing 
of  the  work.  This  is  the  earliest  edition  of  the  collected  works.  It  contains  neither  the 
Legazioni,  nor  the  Lettere  Familiari. 

Opere  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli :  Italia,  1813.  8  vols.  The  least  incomplete  of  all  the 
editions;  it  was  issued  by  Piatti  of  Florence:  the  preparation  of  the  text  was  super- 
intended by  Reginaldo  Tanzini  and  Francesco  Tassi. 

Opere  di  Niccol6  Machiavelli,  per  cura  di  L.  Passerini  e  G.  Milanesi :  Florence. 
1873-7.  6  vols.  The  first  volume  was  prepared  for  publication  by  P.  Fanfani  and 
L.  Passerini ;  the  other  five  by  Passerini  and  Milanesi.  This  ed.  contains  the  Istorie 
Florentine,  Legazioni,  and  some  of  the  minor  works,  but  not  the  Principe,  Discorsi,  or 
Arte  della  Guerra.    The  publication  was  discontinued  in  1877  on  the  death  of  Passerini. 

Scritti  Inediti  di  Niccol6  Machiavelli  risguardanti  la  Storia  e  la  Milizia  (1499-1512),  ed 
illustrati  da  Giuseppe  Canestrini.    Florence.  1857. 


B.    EDITIONES  PBINCIPES  OF  MACHIAVELLI'S  CHIEF  WORKS 

H  Principe  di  Niccholo  Machiavello  al  Magnifico  Lorenzo  di  Piero  de'  Medici.  La 
Vita  di  Castruccio  Castracani  da  Lucca... II  modo  che  tenne  il  Duca  Valentino  per  ammazar 
Vitellozo,  etc.... Antonio  Blado.    Rome.  1532. 

Discorsi... sopra  la  prima  deca  di  Tito  Livio:  Per  A.  Blado  de  Asola.  Rome. 
1531. 

Historic  Florentine.    Florence.  1532. 

Libro  della  Arte  della  Guerra  di  Niccol6  Machiavegli.   Florence.  1621. 


C.    MODERN  BIOGRAPHIES,  CRITICAL  ESSAYS  AND  EDITIONS 

Amico,  G.     La  Vita  di  Niccolb  Machiavelli;  commentari  storico-critici.  Florence. 
1875-6. 

719 


720 


Florence  IL  —  MacMavelli 


Angelini,  A.    Nicol5  Machiavelli  nel  suo  Principe.    Milan.  1869. 

Anon.    Machiavel.    Neue  Monatsschrift  fur  Deutschland,  historisch-politischen  Inhalts. 

Herausg.  von  Friedrich  Buchholz.    Vol.  xii.  pp.  302—40.    Berlin.  1823. 
Artaud  de  Montor,  A.  F.     Machiavel,  son  g^nie  et  ses  erreurs.     2  vols.  Paris. 

1833. 

Barth^lemy-Saint-Hilaire,  J.    Politique  d'Aristote,  traduite  en  frangais.    2  vols.  Paris. 

1837.    (Preface  and  notes.) 
Baudrillart,  H.  J.  L.    J.  Bodin  et  son  temps.    Paris.    1853.    pp.  17—24,  225  sqq. 
Bollmann.    Vertheidigung  des  Machiavellismus.    Quedlinburg.  1858. 
Boullier,  A.    Etudes  de  Politique  et  d'Histoire  ^trang^res.    Paris.    1870.    pp.  249 

—82. 

Buhle,  J.  G.    Geschichte  der  neuern  Philosophie  seit  der  Epoche  der  Wiederherstellung 

der  Wissenschaften.    Gottingen.    1800.    Vol.  ii.  p.  929. 
Burd,  L.  A.    II  Principe  di  N.  Machiavelli,  edited  by  L.  A.  Burd,  with  an  Introduction 

by  Lord  Acton.    Oxford.  1891. 

  Le  Fonti  letterarie  di  Machiavelli  neU'  "  Arte  della  Guerra."    Kome.  1897. 

Capponi,  Gino.    Storia  della  Kepubblica  di  Firenze.    3  vols.    Florence.    1888.    Vol.  ii. 

Bk  VI.  ch.  vii. 

Castelnau,  A.  La  Faune  politique  et  Machiavel.  In  La  Philosophie  Positive.  Kevue 
dirig^e  par  E  Littre  et  G.  Wyrouboff.  Ser.  ii.,  vol.  xix.  Paris.  1877.  pp.  103 
—22,  and  pp.  469—75. 

Cattaneo.    Niccolb  Machiavelli.   Trieste.  1877. 

Cipolla,  C.  Storia  delle  Signorie  Italiane  dal  1313  al  1530.  Milan.  1881.  pp.  929 
—37. 

Deltuf ,  P.   Essai  sur  les  oeuvres  et  la  doctrine  de  Machiavel.    Paris.  1867. 

Ebeling,  F.  W.     Niccolo  d.  B.  dei  Machiavelli's  politisches  System  zum  erstenmal 

dargestellt.    Berlin.  1850. 
Ellinger.   Die  antiken  Quellen  der  Staatslehre  Machiavelli's.    Tubingen.  1888. 
Etienne,  L.   Une  autobiographie  de  Machiavel.   Revue  des  deux  Mondes.   Vol.  cviii. 

pp.  37_60.    lb.  1873. 
Falco,  F.   Nicolo  Machiavelli,  suo  carattere  e  suoi  principj.    Lucca.  1896. 
Fehr,  J.   Ueber  die  Entwickelung  und  den  Einfluss  der  politischen  Theorien.  Innsbruck. 

1855.    pp.  103—44. 
Ferrari,  G.    Machiavel,  juge  des  Revolutions  de  notre  temps.   Paris.  1849. 
Ferri,  L.   Aristote  et  Machiavel.    Revue  des  Cours  Litt^raires  de  la  France  et  de 

l'^:tranger.    Paris.    July  29,  1865.    pp.  572—77. 
Feuerlein,  E.    Zur  Machiavellifrage.    Historische  Zeitschrift.    Vol.  xix.  pp.  1 — 24. 

Munich.  1868. 

Fichte,  J.  G.    tlber  Machiavelli  als  Schriftsteller,  und  Stellen  aus  seinen  Schriften. 

Nachgelassene  Werke.    3  vols.    Bonn.    1834.    Vol.  iii.  p.  403. 
Fleury,  C.   Reflexions  sur  les  oeuvres  de  Machiavel.   Droit  public  de  France;  Ouvrage 

posthume  de  M.  I'Abbg  Fleury,  etc.    Paris.    1769.    Vol.  i.   pp.  35—64. 
Franck,  A.    R^forraateurs  et  Publicistes.    Vol.  i.  pp.  287—335.    Paris.  1864. 
Frapporti,  G.    Sugli  Intendimenti  di  Nicol6  Machiavelli  nello  scrivere  il  Principe. 

Vicenza.  1855. 

Galanti,  G.  M.  Elogio  di  Niccol5  Machiavelli... con  un  discorso  intorno  alia  costituzione 
della  Society  ed  al  governo  politico.  Milan.  1779.  (Part  of  a  projected  edition  of 
Machiavelli's  works.) 

Gamba,  B.    Serie  dei  Testi  di  Lingua,  etc.    Venice.  1839. 

Gaspary,  A.  Die  italienische  Literatur  der  Renaissancezeit.  pp.  341  sqq.  Berlin. 
1888. 

Gebhart,  E.  L'honnetet6  diplomatique  de  Machiavel.  Seances  et  travaux  de  I'Acad^mie 
des  Sciences  morales  et  politiques.  37«  ann6e  \  Nouv.  S6r.  vol.  vii.  Paris.  1877. 
pp.  290—308. 


BMiography 


721 


Gervinus,  G.  G.  Florentinische  Historiographie.  Historisclie  Schriften.  rrankfort. 
1833. 

Giambelli,  C.  Niccolb  Machiavelli :  saggio  critico  e  filosofico.  II  Gerdil,  vol.  ii.  Turin. 
1867.    pp.  294,  etc. 

Ginguene,  P.  L.    Histoire  litteraire  d'ltalie.    Paris.    1819.    Vol.  viii.  pp.  1—184. 
Gioda,  C.   Machiavelli  e  le  sue  opere.    Florence.  1874. 

Hallam,  H.    Literature  of  Europe.    3  vols.    London.    1854.    Vol.  i.  pp.  264 — 302. 
Heidenheimer,  H.    Machiavelli' s  erste  romische  Legation.    Ein  Beitrag  zur  Beleuchtung 

seiner  gesandtschaftlichen  Thatigkeit.    Darmstadt.  1878. 
Helps,  Sir  A.    Friends  in  Council :  A  Series  of  Headings  and  Discourses  thereon.  New 

series.   2  vols.   London.    1859.    Vol.  ii.  ch.  x.  pp.  202 — 72. 
  Thoughts  upon  Government.    London.    1872.    pp.  107  sqq. 

Hinrichs,  H.  F.  W.    Die  Konige.    Entwickelungsgeschichte  des  Konigthums  von  den 

altesten  Zeiten  bis  auf  die  Gegenwart.    Leipzig.    1853.    pp.  227—39. 
Janet,  P.    Histoire  de  la  science  politique  dans  ses  rapports  avec  la  morale.   3rd  ed. 

Paris.    1887.    Vol.  i.  pp.  491—601. 
Kellermann.    Commentatio  de  Mcolai  Machiavelli  Principe.    Leipzig.  1831. 
Knies,  C.  G.  A.    Niccol6  Machiavelli  als  volkswirthschaftlicher  Schriftsteller.  Zeit- 

schrift    fiir  die   gesammte    Staatswissenschaft.     Tiibingen.     1852.    Vol.  viii. 

p.  251. 

Lafayette.  Dante,  Michel-Ange,  Machiavel,  par  Charles  Calemard  de  Lafayette.  Paris. 
1852. 

Lavollee,  K.    La  Morale  dans  1' Histoire.    Paris.    1892.    pp.  74  sqq. 

Leo,  H.  Studien  und  Skizzen  zu  einer  Naturlehre  des  Staates.  Halle.  1833.  pp. 
31—9. 

Lerminier,  J.  L.  E.  Philosophie  du  Droit.  Paris.  1831.  Vol.  ii.  ch.  v.  pp.  93 — 
111. 

Lisio,  G.  II  Principe  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli.  Testo  critico  con  introduzione  e  note,  a 
cura  di  Giuseppe  Lisio.    Florence.  1899. 

Lutoslawski,  W.  Erhaltung  und  Untergang  der  Staatsverfassungen  nach  Plato,  Aristo- 
teles,  und  Machiavelli.    Breslau.  1888. 

Macaulay  (Lord).    Essay  on  Machiavelli.    Edinburgh  Review,  March,  1827. 

Mackintosh,  Sir  J.  On  the  writings  of  Machiavel.  Miscellaneous  Works.  3  vols.  Lon- 
don.   1846.    Vol.  II.  p.  749. 

Macun,  J.  Niccol6  Machiavelli  als  Dichter,  Historiker  und  Staatsmann.  Gratz. 
1875. 

Mancini,  P.  S.    Machiavelli  e  la  sua  dottrina  politica :  pp.  221 — 318  of  vol.  xiv  of  Biblio- 

teca  delle  scienze  giuridiche  e  sociali.    Naples.  1873. 
Matter,  M.  J.    Histoire  des  Doctrines  morales  et  politiques  des  trois  derniers  slides. 

3  vols.    Paris.    1836.    Vol.  i.  pp.  68—88. 
Maulde  la  Claviere,  M.  A.  R.  de.    La  diplomatic  au  temps  de  Machiavel.   3  vols.  Paris. 

1892. 

Maz6res,  F.  De  Machiavel  et  de  I'influence  de  sa  doctrine... pendant  la  Revolution. 
Paris.  1816. 

Meyer,  E.  Machiavelli  and  the  Elizabethan  Drama.  Literarhistorische  Forschungen. 
Berlin.  1897. 

Meyncke.  Machiavelli's  Verhaltniss  zum  griechischen  Alterthum.  Beilage  zur  All- 
gemeinen  Zeitung.  Munich.  No.  188,  July  7,  1878,  and  no.  189,  July  8, 
1878. 

*'  ixLKpbsy  Di  quante  spezie  sono  le  repubbliche  e  di  quale  fu  la  repubblica  romana.  La 
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1855-8.   Vol.  III.  pp.  521—91. 

C.  M.  H.  I.  46 


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Mordenti,  F.    Diario  di  Niccol6  Machiavelli.    Florence.  1880. 

Morellet,  A.    Du  Machiav^lisme.    In  Melanges  de  litterature  et  de  philosophie  du  18^ 

si^cle.    4  vols.    Paris.    1818.    Vol.  iv.  pp.  346-56. 
Morelli,  P.    Sul  Principe  del  Machiavelli.    Cesena.  1879. 
Morley,  J.    Machiavelli.    Romanes  Lecture  (June  2,  1897).    London.  1897. 
Mundt,  T.    Machiavelli  und  der  Gang  der  europaischen  Politik.     2nd  ed.  Leipzig. 

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Nitti,  F.    Machiavelli  nella  vita  e  nelle  dottrine  studiato.    Vol.  i.    Naples.  1876. 
Nourrisson,  J.  F.    Machiavel.    Paris.  1883. 

Numan,  H.    Diatribe  in  Nicolai  Machiavelli  opusculum  del  Principe  inscriptum.  Utrecht. 
1833. 

Owen,  J.    The  Skeptics  of  the  Italian  Renaissance.    London.    1893.    pp.  160 — 78. 
Plato,  H.    Machiavelli's  religiose  und  politische  Gesinnung.    Frankfort  on  the  Main  and 
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Rathmann,  H.    Machiavelli  und  seine  Lehre  im  Verhaltniss  zum  Christenthum  und  zu 

den  Bestrebungen  der  Gegenwart.    Nordhausen,  1862. 
Reumont,  A.  von.    Zur  Charakteristik  Machiavelli's.    Blatter  fiir  literarische  Unter- 

haltung.    Vol.  i.    (Januar  bis  Juni.)    Leipzig.    1850.    p.  234. 
Ricca-Salerno,  G.    Di  alcune  Opinioni  finanziarie  del  Machiavelli  e  del  Guicciardini.  La 

Rassegna  Settimanale  etc.    Florence.    Vol.  vii.  no.  167.    March  13,  1881. 
Ricci,  G.    Sui  Discorsi  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli  sopra  la  prima  deca  di  T.  Livio.  Civitanove- 

Marche.  1876. 

Ridolfi,  A.   Pensieri  intorno  alio  Scopo  di  Nicol6  Machiavelli  nel  libro  II  Principe.  Milan. 
1810. 

Roscoe,  W.    The  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  the  Tenth.    2  vols.   London.    1846.  Vol. 
IT.  p.  291  sqq. 

Sanctis,  F.  de.    Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana.    2  vols.    Naples.    1879.    Vol.  ii.  pp. 
60—122. 

Schirren,  C.    Rede  uber  Machiavelli.    Kiel.  1878. 

Sclopis,  F.    Montesquieu  et  Machiavel.    Revue  historique  du  Droit  fran^ais  et  etranger. 

Vol.  II.  pp.  15—28.    Paris.  1856. 
Settembrini,  L.    Lezioni  di  Letteratura  Italiana.    4th  ed.    3  vols.    Naples.    1897.  Vol. 

II.  pp.  133—48. 

Symonds,  J.  A.    The  Age  of  the  Despots.    London.    1875.    Vol.  i.  pp.  264—302. 
Thudichum,  F.    Promachiavell.    Stuttgart.  1897. 

Tommasini,  O.    La  Vita  e  gli  Scritti  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli  nella  loro  relazione  col 

Machiavellismo.    Vol.  i.    Turin.  1883. 
Tr^verret,  A.  de.    L'ltalie  au  xvi^  sifecle.    l^re  s6rie.    Paris.  1877. 
Triantaphulles,  C.    Nicol6  Machiavelli  e  gli  scrittori  greci.    Venice.  1875. 

  Nuovi  Studii  su  Nicol6  Machiavelli :  il  Principe.    Venice.  1878. 

Twesten,  C.    Machiavelli.    Berlin.  1868. 

Vannucci  and  Contini.    Quarto  Centenario  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli ;  discorso  di  Atto  Van- 

nucci,  e  relazione  di  Efisio  Contini.    Florence.  1869. 
Venedey,  J.    Machiavel,  Montesquieu,  und  Rousseau.    Berlin.  1850. 
Villari,  P.    Niccolo  Machiavelli  e  i  suoi  Tempi  illustrati  con  nuovi  documenti.    2nd  ed. 

3  vols.    Milan.    1895-7.    Translated.    2  vols.    London.  1878. 
Vorlander.    Geschichte  der  philosophischen  Moral,  Rechts-  und  Staats-Lehre.    pp.  88— 

136.    Marburg.  1855. 
Waille,  V.   Machiavel  en  France.   Paris.  1884. 


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Wolff,  F.    Betrachtungen  iiber  den  Fursten  des  Machiavelli.    Berlin.  1828. 
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D.    AUTHORITIES  FOR  CONTEMPORARY  HISTORY 

Buonaccorsi,  B.  Diario  de'  Successi  piu  importanti  seguiti  in  Italia,  e  particolarmente  in 
Fiorenza  dalP  anno  1498  in  sino  all'  anno  1512.  Florence.  Appresso  i  Giunti. 
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Guicciardini,  F.    Storia  d'  Italia.    4  vols.    Milan.  1884. 

  Opere  Inedite.    10  vols.    Florence.  1857-67. 

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Nerli,  F.  de.    Commentarj  de'  Fatti  civili  occorsi  dentro  la  Citt^  di  Firenze  dalP  anno 

Mccxv.  al  MDxxxvii.    Augsburg  (Florence).  1728. 
Pitti,  J.    Istoria  Fiorentina  sino  al  1529.    Arch.  Stor.  It.  vol.  i.    Florence.  1842. 
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Modern  histories  of  Florence : 

Capponi,  G.    Storia  della  Repubblica  di  Firenze.    3  vols.    Florence.  1888. 
Napier,  H.  E.    Florentine  History.    6  vols.    London.  1847. 

Perrens,  F.  T.    Histoire  de  Florence  depuis  la  domination  des  MMicis  jusqu'k  la  chute 

de  la  R^publique  (1434-1531).    3  vols.    Paris.  1888-90. 
Reumont,  A.  von.    Tavole  cronologiche  e  sincrone  della  Storia  Fiorentina.  Florence. 

1841. 

See  also 

Burckhardt,  J.    Die  Cultur  der  Renaissance  in  Italien.    2  vols.    Leipzig.  1885. 
Canestrini,  G.   Documenti  per  servire  alia  Storia  della  Milizia  italiana  dal  xiii.  Secolo 

al  XVI.    Arch.  St.  It.  vol.  xv.    Florence.  1851. 
Ricotti,  E.    Storia  delle  Compagnie  di  Ventura  in  Italia.    4  vols.    Turin.  1845. 

E.    EARLY  CRITICISM  OF  MACHIAVELLI,  HISTORY  OF  MACHIAVELLISM, 
AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  COMMON  OPINION  OF  MACHIAVELLI 

In  chronological  order 

Augustini  Niphi  medices  philosophi  Suessani  de  Regnandi  Peritia  ad  Carolum  V  imper. 

Caesarem  semper  Augustum.    Naples.  1523. 
Buonaccorsi,  B.    Letter  prefixed  to  a  manuscript  copy  of  The  Prince  in  the  Laurentian 

Library  at  Florence :  printed  in  Introduction  to  Machiavelli,  Opere,  Italia  1813. 

Vol.  I,  p.  xlii. 


724 


Florence  11.  —  Machiavelli 


Busini,  G.  B.    Letters  di  Gio.  Batista  Busini  a  Benedetto  Varchi.    Pisa.    1822.    p.  75. 

(Letter  of  Jan.  23,  1549.) 
Guicciardini,  F.    Considerazioni  intorno  ai  Discorsi  del  Machiavelli.    Opere  inedite. 

Vol.  I.  Florence.  1857. 
Varchi,  B.    Storia  Fiorentina.    Milan.    1803.    Vol.  i.  p.  210. 

Introductory  letter  (May  8,  1532)  prefixed  to  the  Giunta  editions  of  The  Prince.  Florence. 
1532,  1540. 

Preface  to  the  Giunta  edition  of  the  Discourses.    Florence.  1543. 

Letter  to  the  Reader,  prefixed  to  the  Palermo  ed.  of  The  Discourses.  "Palermo,"  1584 
(really  printed  in  London). 

Pole,  R.  (Card.).  Epistolarum  Reginaldi  Poll  S.  R.  E.  Cardinalis,  et  aliorum  ad  ipsum 
Pars  I.    Brescia.    1744.    pp.  133  sqq. 

Catharinus,  A.  (Lancelotto  Politi).  Enarrationes  in  quinque  priora  capita  Geneseos,  et 
alii  Tractatus.  Rome.  1552.  (The  part  concerning  Machiavelli  occurred  under 
the  heading  Quam  execrandi  sint  Machiavelli  Discursus  et  Institutio  sui  Principis, 
beginning  in  column  340,  ending  in  column  343.  It  may  be  read  in  extenso  in : 
Lo  spirito  del  Machiavelli,  ossia  Riflessioni  dell'  Abate  D.  Antonio  Eximeno  sopra 
r  elogio  di  Niccolo  Machiavelli  detto  nell'  Accademia  Fiorentina  dal  Sig.  Gio.  Battista 
Baldelli.    Cesena.    1795.    pp.  27  sqq.) 

Muzio,  G.  Lettere  Catholiche  del  Mutio  lustinopolitano.  Venice.  1571.  p.  99.  (Letter 
of  Nov.  11,  1550.) 

"Whitehorne,  P.  The  Arte  of  Warre,  Written  first  in  Italia  by  Nicholas  Machiauell 
and  set  forthe  in  Englishe  by  Peter  Whitehorne,  etc.  1560.  (Dedication  to  Queen 
Elizabeth.) 

Osorius,  J.    De  Nobilitate  Christiana.    Florence.  1552. 
Paolo  Giovio.    Elogia  doctorum  virorum.    Antwerp.  1557. 
Ascham,  Roger.    The  Scholemaster.    London.  1570. 

Gentillet,  I.  Discours  sur  les  moyens  de  bien  gouverner  et  maintenir  en  bonne  paix 
un  Royaume  ou  autre  Principaute  ;  Contre  Nicolas  Machiavel,  Florentin.  Lausanne. 
1576.  (English  translation  by  Simon  Patricke,  1602 :  in  German,  with  title 
"  Antimachiavellus,"  by  Nigrinus,  1624:  in  Latin,  De  regno  adversus  Nic.  Machia- 
vellum.  1647.) 

Giovanni  Matteo  Toscano.    Peplus  Italiae.    Paris.    1578.    Bk.  ii.  p.  52. 
Gentili,  S.    De  Legationibus  libri  tres.    London.    1585.    Bk.  iii.  ch.  9. 
Possevin,  A.    Judicium  de  Nua,  lohan.  Bodino,  Ph.  Morneo,  N.  Machiavello.  Rome. 
1592. 

Bozius,  T.    De  imperio  virtutis.    Cologne.    1594.  —  De  robore  bellico.    lb.    1594. — De 

Italiae  statu.    lb.    1595.  — De  ruinis  gentium  ac  regnorum.    lb.  1598. 
Ribadeneyra,  P.    Tratado  de  la  Religion  y  Virtudes  que  debe  tener  el  Principe  Christiano, 

para  governar  y  conservar  sus  Estados.    Contra  lo  quo  N.  Machiavelo  y  los  Politicos 

deste  tiempo  enseiian.    Madrid.  1595. 
Justus  Lipsius.    Politicorum  sive  Civilis  Doctrinae  libri  sex.    Antwerp.  1605. 
Shakespeare,  Marlowe,  Greene,  Ben  Jonson,  Gabriel  Harvey,  Richard  Harvey,  etc.  See 

Meyer,  E.  (cited  above);  Ward,  A.  W.,  English  Dramatic  Literature  (2nd  ed.), 

vol.  I.  p.  339. 

Bedingfield,  T.    Epistle  Dedicatory  to  English  Translation  of  Machiavelli's  Florentine 

Histories.    London.  1595. 
Hooker,  R.    Laws  of  Ecclesiastical  Polity.    1597.    (See  vol.  iii.  p.  435  of  Clar.  Press  ed., 

viith  ed.,  1888.) 

Bacon's  works  :  passim  (cf.  E.  A.  Abbott's  ed.  of  Bacon's  Essays,  2  vols.,  1876  ;  T.  Fowler, 
Francis  Bacon,  1881,  pp.  40  sqq.;  Abbott's  Appendix  to  his  Francis  Bacon,  1885; 
Fowler,  Preface  to  his  second  ed.  of  the  Novum  Organum) , 

Naunton,  T.    Fragmenta  Regalia.    1641.    (Arber's  English  Reprints,  p.  29.) 

Fitzherbert,  Sir  R.    A  Treatise  concerning  Policy  and  Religion...    Douay.    1606  and 


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1615.  The  ed.  of  1696  has  the  title,  A  Treatise  of  Policy  and  Religion,  Part  ii., 
containing  Instructions  to  a  young  Statist...  London.  1696.  The  same  in  Latin, 
An  sit  utilitas  in  scelere,  vel  de  infelicitate  principis  Machiavellici  contra  Machia- 
vellum  et  politicos  ejus  sectatores.  Rome.  1610. 
Donne,  J.  Conclave  Ignatii.  London.  1611.  (Introduces  Machiavelli  first  as 
an  opponent  of  Loyola,  and  then  as  endeavouring  to  conciliate  him  by 
flattery.) 

Hume,  David  (of  Godscroft).  Le  Contr'  Assassin,  ov  Response  a  I'apologie  des  lesvites, 
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servitevr  de  lesus  Christ,  de  la  compagnie  de  tous  les  vrais  Chrestiens,  D.  H.  —  Im- 
prim6  Pan  m.  dc.xii.    (See  esp.  p.  37.) 

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Principem...  Paris.  1626.  (There  is  a  perfect  copy  of  this  very  rare  book  in  the 
Bodleian  library  ;  the  British  Museum  copy  is  mutilated.) 

Boccalini,  T.    De'  Ragguagli  di  Parnaso.    Milan.    1613.   p.  418. 

Campanella,  T.    Atheismus  Triumphatus,  seu  Reductio  ad  religionem  per  scientiarum 

veritates.    Paris.  1636. 
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London.    1636  and  1640. 
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of  the  justnesse  of  the  Censure  commonly  laid  upon  him.    (Forms  part  of  a  volume 

with  the  title  Politicall  Reflections  upon  the  Government  of  the  Turks.  London. 

1656.) 

Harrington,  J.    The  Commonwealth  of  Oceana.   London.  1656. 

Bancroft,  W.  (Archbishop  of  Canterbury).  Modern  Policies,  Taken  from  Machiavel, 
Borgia,  and  other  choise  Authors,  by  an  Eye- Witness.    London.  1652, 

Sexby,  E.  Killing  No  Murder.  London.  1657.  (Connects  Machiavelli  and  Oliver 
Cromwell.) 

Machiavelli,  N.  De'  Discorsi  Politici,  e  Militari  Libri  Tre,  Scielti  {sic)  fra  gravissimi 
Scrittori,  da  Amadio  Niecollucci,  Toscano,..In  Venetia  mdcxxxxviii.  Presso  Marco 
Ginammi.  Con  Licenza  de'  Superiori  &  Privilegio.  4to.  pp.  346.  (Expurgated 
ed.  of  The  Discourses.  The  order  of  the  chapters  is  re-arranged,  and  things 
offensive  to  the  Church  are  omitted,  and  what  seemed  immoral  is  softened 
down.) 

Nevile,  Henry.  The  Publisher,  or  Translator  of  Nicholas  Machiavel's  Whole  Works  out 
of  Italian,  faithfully  into  English ;  concerning  the  following  letter  of  Nicholas 
Machiavelo... Printed  in  the  year  1688.  (Also  appended  to  Nevile's  anonymous 
translation,  3rd  ed.  1720.) 

Clarendon,  Earl  of.  History  of  the  Rebellion,  etc.  Oxford.  1849.  Vol.  iv.  p.  334 
(Bk.  X.  168). 

Scioppius,  G.  (Caspar  Schoppe).  Paedia  politices,  sive  Suppetiae  logicae  scriptoribus 
politicis  latae  contra  dTraideva-Lav  et  acerbitatem  plebeiorum  quorundam  judi- 
ciorum.  Rome.  1623.  (The  best  account  of  Scioppius'  manuscript  works  on 
Machiavelli  is  given  in  Bandini.  See  Aug.  Mar.  Bandini  Commentariorum 
de  vita  et  scriptis  lohannis  Bapt.  Doni  Patricii  Florentini  olim  sacri  Cardinal. 
Collegii  a  Secretis  Libri  Quinque  Adnotationibus  illustrati,  etc.  Florence. 
1755.) 

aud6,  G.    Science  des  Princes  ou  Considerations  politiques  sur  les  Coups  d'^Jtat» 

Strassburg.    1673.    (First  edition,  1639.) 
onring,  H.    Animadversiones  politicae  in  N.  M.  librum  de  Principe.  Helmstadt' 

1661. 

"atchiavel  Junior,  or  the  Secret  Arts  of  the  Jesuits,  etc.    London.  1683. 
Amelot  de  la  Houssaie,  A.  N.   Le  Prince  de  N.  M.   Traduit  et  commentfi  par 
A.  N.  Amelot,  Sieur  de  la  Houssaie.   Amsterdam.  1685. 


726 


Florence  II,  —  Machiavelli 


L' Estrange,  Sir  R.    Fables  of  ^sop,  and  other  eminent  mythologists :  with  Morals  and 

Reflexions.    London.    1692.    pp.  468,  etc. 
Lucchesini.    Saggio  della  Sciocchezza  di  Nicolo  Machiavelli.    Rome.    1697.  (Reviewed 

in  Acta  Eruditorum  for  1698.) 
Feuerlin,  C.  F.    Missus  Thesium  Machiavellisticarum  de  ipso  Nicolao  Machiavello  eiusque 

scriptis  et  censuris. . .    Schwabach.  1714. 
Reimmann,  J.  F.    Historia  universalis  Atheismi  et  Atheorum  falso  &  merito  suspectorum, 

etc.    Hildesheim.    1725.    pp.  355  sqq. 
William   Nicholls.   The    Religion    of   a   Prince... In   opposition   to   the  Irreligious 

Principles  of  Nicholas  Machiavel,   Hobbs,  etc.    London.    1704. — A  Conference 

with  a  Theist...with  the  addition  of  Two  Conferences;  the  One  with  a  Machia- 

velian,  the  Other  with  an  Atheist.    2  vols.    London.    1723.    Vol.  ii.  pp.  309- 

435. 

Frederick  II  of  Prussia.  Refutation  du  Prince  de  Machiavel.  Preuss,  OEuvres 
de  FrM^ric.  Vol.  viii.  pp.  61-163.  Cf.  Dohm,  C.  W.,  Denkwiirdigkeiten  meiner 
Zeit,  Hanover,  1817.  Vol.  v,  pp.  89-113 ;  and  Trendelenburg,  A.,  Machiavell  und 
Antimachiavell,  in  Monatsberichte  der  K.  Preuss.  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften  zu 
Berlin,  Jan.  25,  1855.    pp.  47—71. 

Brucker,  J.  J.  Historia  critica  Philosophiae  a  tempore  resuscitatarum  in  occidente  lit- 
terarum  ad  nostra  tempora.    Leipzig.    1744.    Vol.  iv.  Part  2,  pp.  784 — 93. 

Robinet,  J.  B.  R.  Dictionnaire  Universel  des  Sciences  Morale,  ^^conomique.  Politique,  ou 
Biblioth^que  de  I'homme-d'^tat  et  du  citoyen.  London.  1777.  —  Discours  pr^limi- 
naire,  pp.  xxxiii.  sqq. 

Hume,  D.  Essays.  Essay  iii :  That  Politics  may  be  reduced  to  a  Science.  Essay  xi : 
Of  Civil  Liberty.  —  See  also.  The  Philosophical  Works  of  David  Hume,  ed.  by 
T.  H.  Green  and  T.  H.  Grose.  London.  1875.  Vol.  iv.  p.  391:  Essay  on  the 
Study  of  History. 

Bolingbroke,  Viscount.  The  Idea  of  a  Patriot  King.  1738.  (The  Miscellaneous 
Works  of  the  Right  Hon.  Henry  St,  John,  Lord  Viscount  Bolingbroke.  Edin- 
burgh. 1768.  Vol.  IV.  p.  207  sqq.  Cf.  vol.  i.  34  sqq.;  vol.  ii.  18,  38  sqq.; 
vol.  III.  278.) 

Stewart,  Dugald.  Supplement  to  the  4th,  5th,  and  6th  editions  of  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica.  Vol.  i.  Dissertation  I.,  exhibiting  a  general  view  of  the  progress  of 
Metaphysical,  Ethical,  and  Political  Philosophy.    Edinburgh.  1824. 

{See  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  IV.  V.  VIL  VIII.) 


CHAPTER  VII 


ROME  AND  THE  TEMPORAL  POWER 


I.    DOCUMENTS  AND  CONTEMPORARY  WORKS 

Anecdota  Litteraria  ex  MSS.  codicibus  eruta.    4  vols.    Rome.  1772-83. 
Archivio  della  Society  Romana  di  Storia  Patria.    Rome.    1878,  etc. 
Archivio  Storico  Italiano.    Florence.    1842,  etc. 
Archivio  Storico  Lombardo.    Milan.    1874,  etc. 
Archivio  Veneto.    Venice.    1870,  etc. 

BuUarium  Romanum,  cura  A.  Tomasetti.    Vol.  v.    Turin.  1860. 

Burcardus,  Joannes.    Diarium  sive  rerum  urbanarum  Commentarii  1483-1506.    Edidit  L. 

Thuasne.    3  vols.    Paris.  1883-5. 
Commines,  Philippe  de.    Memoires.    Vol.  ii.    Paris.  1843. 
Conti,  Sigismondo  de'.    Le  storie  de'  suoi  tempi.    Rome.  1883. 
Giustinian,  A.    Dispacci,  1502-5,  pubblicati  da  P.  Villari.    3  vols.    Florence.  1876. 
Grassis,  Paris  de.    Diarium  [manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  Biblioth^que  Nationale, 

and  elsewhere.    Extracts  in  Dollinger's  Beitrage  and  the  Documenti  e  studii  per  la 

provincia  di  Romagna.    Vol.  i.    Bologna.  1886]. 
Infessura,  S.    Diario  della  Citt^  di  Roma.    In  Tommasini,  Fonti  per  la  Storia  d'  Italia, 

1890. 

MafEeius,  Raphael,  Volaterranus.    Commentariorum  urbanorum  libri  38.    Paris.  1536. 
Muratori,  L.  A.    Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptores.    Vol.  xxiii.    Milan.  1750. 
Rebello  da  Silva,  L.  A.    Corpo  diplomatico  Portuguez.    Vol.  i.    Lisbon.  1862. 
Romische  Quartalschrift  fiir  christliche  Alterthumskunde  und  fiir  Kirchengeschichte. 
Rome.  1887. 

Theiner,  A.   Codex  diplomaticus  dominii  temporalis  s.  sedis.    Vol.  iii.   Rome.  1862. 


II.    LATER  HISTORICAL  WRITINGS 

A.    Principal  Histories 
Alvisi,  E.    Cesare  Borgia  Duca  di  Romagna.    Imola.  1878. 

Brosch,  M.    Papst  Julius  II  und  die  Griindung  des  Kirchenstaates.    Gotha.  1878. 
Creighton,  M.  (Bishop).    History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  period  of  the  Reformation. 

Vols.  III.  IV.   London.  1887. 
Gregorovius,  F.    Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Mittelalter.    Vols.  vii.  viii.  Stuttgart. 

1880. 

Gregorovius,  F.    Lucrezia  Borgia.   3rd  ed.    Stuttgart.  1875. 
Guicciardini,  F.    Storia  d'  Italia.    Vol.  i.    Capolago.  1836. 
Hergenrother,  J.  (Card.).    Conciliengeschichte.    Vol.  viii.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1887. 

727 


728  Rome  and  the  Temporal  Power 


Pastor,  L.    Geschichte  der  Papste  seit  dem  Ausgang  des  Mittelalters.    Vol.  iii.    Eds.  3 

and  4.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1899. 
Reumont,  A.  von.    Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom.    Vols.  ii.  iii.    Berlin.  1867-70. 
Sanuto,  Marino.    Diarii.    Vols,  i.-xv.   Venice.    1879,  etc. 


B.    Auxiliary  Information 

Alberi,  E.    Le  Relazioni  degli  Ambasciatori  Veneti  al  Senato  durante  il  secolo  decimosesto, 

3rd  Series.    Florence.  1839-55. 
Balan,  P.    Gli  Assedii  della  Mirandola.    Mirandola.  1876. 

Bembus,  P.  (Card.).    Historiae  Venetae  libri  xii.    1486-1513.    Venice,  1551,  etc.  Italian 

tr.  :  Istoria  Vineziana.    2  vols.    Venice.  1790. 
Brosch,  J.    Alexander  VI  und  Lucrezia  Borgia.    Historische  Zeitschrift.   Vol.  xxxiii. 

Munich.  1878. 
Cardo,  G.    La  Lega  di  Cambray.    Venice.  1885. 

Delaborde,  H.  P.    L'exp^dition  de  Charles  VIII  en  Italic.    Paris.  1888. 

Dennistoun,  J.    Memoirs  of  the  Dukes  of  Urbino.    3  vols.    London.  1851. 

Dollinger,  J.  J.  1.  von.    Beitrage  zur  politischen,  kirchlichen,  und  Culturgeschichte  der 

letzten  sechs  Jahrhunderte.    Vols.  ii.  iii.    Ratisbon.  1863. 
Dumesnil,  M.  A.  J.    Histoire  de  Jules  II. 

Pabronius,  A.    Laurentii  Medices  Magnifici  vita.    2  vols.    Pisa.  1784. 
Gebhardt,  B.    Adrian  von  Corneto.    Breslau.  1886. 

Gozzadini,  G.    Memorie  per  la  vita  di  Giovanni  II  Bentivoglio.    Bologna.  1839. 
Hofler,  C.  von.    Don  Rodrigo  de  Borja  (Pabst  Alexander  VI)  und  seine  Sohne.  Vienna» 
1889. 

Lamansky,  V.    Secrets  de  I'Etat  de  Venise.    St.  Petersburg.  1884. 

La  Pilorgerie,  J.  de.    Campagnes  et  bulletins  de  la  grande  arm^e  d'ltalie  command^e  par 

Charles  VIII,  1494-5.    Nantes.  1866. 
Leonetti,  A.    Papa  Alessandro  VI.    3  vols.    Bologna.  1880. 
Leopardi,  M.    Vita  di  Niccolo  Bonafede,  Vescovo  di  Chiusi.    Pesaro.  1832. 
L'Epinois,  H.  de.    Le  Pape  Alexandre  VI.    Revue  des  questions  historiques.    Vol.  xxix. 

Paris.  1881. 
Machiavelli,  N.    Opere.    Florence.  1853. 

Maulde  la  Clavi^re,  M.  A.  R.  de.    La  Diplomatic  au  temps  de  Machiavel.    3  vols.  Paris. 
1892-3. 

Pasolini,  P.  D.    Caterina  Sforza.    3  vols.    Rome.  1893. 
Perrens,  F.  F.    Histoire  de  Florence.    Vols.  i.  ii.    Paris.  1877. 

Ranke,  Leopold  von.    Die  romischen  Papste  in  den  letzten  vier  Jahrhunderten.  Vols. 

XXXVII.  and  xxxix.  of  Sammtliche  Werke.    Leipzig.    1874,  etc. 
Reumont,   A.   von.     Lorenzo  de'  Medici  il  Magnifico.    2nd  ed.    2  vols.  Leipzig. 

1883. 

Romanin,  S.    Storia  documentata  di  Venezia.    Vols.  iv.  v.    Venice.  1855. 
Roscoe,  W.    Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.    Vol.  i.    London.  1878. 
Serdonati,  F.    Vita  d'Innocenzo  VIII.    Milan.  1829. 

Sismondi,  J.  S.  de.  Histoire  des  republiques  italiennes.  Vols,  xii.— xiv.  Paris.  1826. 
Thuasne,  L.    Djem-Sultan.    Paris.  1892. 

Vialardi,  F.  M.    Historia  delle  Vite  de'  sommi  pontefici  Innocenzio  VIII,  Bonifazio  IX, 

etc.    Venice.  1613. 
Villari,  P.    Girolamo  Savonarola.    2nd  ed.    2  vols.    Florence.  1887-8. 
Villari,  P.    Niccol6  Machiavelli.    2nd  ed.    2  vols.    Milan.  1895-6. 
Yriarte,  C.    Cesar  Borgia,  sa  vie,  sa  captivity,  sa  mort.    Paris.  1889. 
Yriarte,  C.    Autour  des  Borgia.    Paris.  1891. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


VENICE 


BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

Cicogna,  E.    Saggio  di  Bibliografia  Veneziana.    Venice.  1847. 

Cobham,  C.  D.    An  attempt  at  a  Bibliography  of  Cyprus.    4th  ed.    Nicosia,  1900. 

Sarfatti,  A.    I  Codici  Veneti  nelle  Biblioteche  di  Parigi.    Rome.  1888. 

Soranzo,  G.   Bibliografia  Veneziana.    Venice.  1885. 


I.  MANUSCRIPTS 

The  Reggie  Archivio  di  Stato,  ai  Frari,  Venice,  contains  a  very  large  quantity  of 
unpublished  material  relating  to  all  departments  of  the  Venetian  Republic. 

The  Reggia  Biblioteca  Marciana,  San  Marco,  Venice,  contains  many  unpublished 
Chronicles. 

The  Museo  Civico,  Fondaco  dei  Turchi,  Venice,  contains  some  archives  of  private 
families  and  the  documents  of  several  of  the  Venetian  Guilds,  as  well  as  a  series  of  manu- 
scripts belonging  to  E.  A.  Cicogna. 


II.    CONTEMPORARY  AUTHORITIES 
A.  Chronicles 

Altinate.    Chronicon  Venetum  quod  Altinate  nuncupatur.    In  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Script. 

Vol.  XIV.    Also  in  Archivio  Storico  Italiano.    Vol.  viii.    Florence.  1845. 
Canal,  Martino  da.    La  Cronaca  dei  Veneziani.    In  Archivio  Storico  Italiano.    Vol.  viii., 

ut  sup. 

Caresini,  Raphayni.    Continuatio  Chronicorum  Danduli.    In  Muratori  Rer.  Ital.  Script. 
Vol.  XII. 

Chinazzi.    Cronaca  della  Guerra  di  Chioggia.    Milan.    1865.    Also  in  Muratori,  Rer. 

Ital.  Script.    Vol.  xv. 
Cortusii  Historia.    In  Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Script.    Vol.  xvii. 

Dandolo,  Andrea.    Chronicon  Venetum.    In  Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Script.    Vol.  xii. 
Da  Porto,  Luigi.    Lettere  Storiche  dalP  anno  1509  al  1528.    Florence.  1857. 
Diario  della  Guerra  di  Chioggia.    (Anonymous.)    Pub.  per  le  Nozze  Cittadella-Papafava. 
Padua.  1859. 

Gattari.    Istoria  Padovana.    In  Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Script.   Vol.  xvii. 
Lorenzo  de  Monacis.    Chronicon.    Venice.  1758. 

729 


730 


Venice 


Malipiero,  Domenico.   AnnaliVeneti,  1457-1500.    In  Archivio  Storico  Italiano.  Vol.  vii. 
Florence.  1843-4. 

Priuli,  Girolamo.    Chronicon  Venetum,  1494-1500.    In  Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Script.  Vol. 

XXIV.    This  is  the  first  volume  of  Priuli's  Diarii.    The  rest  is  still  inedited. 
Sagorniuo,  sive  Johannes  Diaconus.    Chronicon  Venetum.    Venice.    1765.    Also  in  Mon. 

Germ.  Hist.    Vol.  vii.    Hanover.    1848.    Also  in  Monticolo,  Cronache  Veneziane 

Antichissime.    Rome.  1890. 
Sanuto,  Marino.    Vitae  Ducum  Venetorum.    In  Muratori,  Rer.  Ital.  Script.    Vol.  xxii. 

Also  in  Parts  3,  4,  and  5  of  the  new  edition  of  Muratori  by  G.  Carducci.    Sanuto  is 

edited  by  G.  Monticolo.    Citt^  di  Castello.  1900. 

  Diarii,  1496-1533.    Venice.    1879-1902.    (In  course  of  publication.) 

Villehardouin,  G.   La  Conquete  de  Constantinople.   Paris.  1872. 


B.    Collections  of  Documents 

Alberi,  E.  Relazioni  degli  Ambasciatori  Veneti.  3rd  Series.  Vol.  xv.  Florence.  Con- 
tinued by  Nicol6  Barozzi  and  Guglielmo  Berchet.    Vol.  vii.    Venice.  1864. 

Archivio  Storico  Italiano.    In  course  of  publication.    Florence.    1842,  etc. 

Archivio  Veneto.    Venice.    1871,  etc.    (In  course  of  publication.) 

Baschet,  A.    Les  Archives  de  Venise.    Paris.  1870. 

Berchet,  G.    La  Republica  di  Venezia  e  la  Persia.    Turin.  1865. 

Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Venetian.    1202-1607.    Vol.  x.    London.  1900- 

Castellani,  C.    I  privileggi  di  Stampa.    Venice.  1888. 

Cicogna,  E.    Iscrizioni  Veneziane.    Vol.  vi.    Venice.  1824. 

Constitutiones  Patriarchales  Patriarchatus  Venetiarum.   Venice.  1522, 

Cornet,  E.   Le  guerre  dei  Veneti  nelP  Asia,  1470-74.    Vienna.  1856. 

  Barbaro,  giornale  dell'  Assedio  di  Constantinopoli.    Vienna.  1856. 

Fulin,  R.  Documenti  per  servire  alia  storia  della  Tipografia  Veneziana.  Venice. 
1882. 

GalliccioUi,  G.   Memorie  Venete.   Vol.  viii.   Venice.  1795. 

Hopf,  C.    Chroniques  Greco-Romanes.    Berlin.  1873. 

Lamansky,  V.    Secrets  d'fetat  de  Venise.    Petersburg.  1884. 

Ljubic,  S.    Commissiones  et  relationes  Venetae.    Vol.  ii.    Agram.  1876. 

Mas  Latrie,  le  Comte  J.  de.    Histoire  de  Pile  de  Chypre.    Vol.  iii.    Paris.  1855. 

Monticolo,  G.    I  Capitolari  delle  Arti  Veneziane.    Rome.  1896. 

  Cronache  Veneziane  Antichissime.    Rome.  1890. 

Morelli,  J.    Monument!  Veneziani  di  varia  letteratura.    Venice.  1796. 

Mutinelli,  F.    Storia  Arcana.    Vol.  iv.    Venice.  1855. 

Ongania,  F.    La  Basilica  di  San  Marco.    Vol.  iii.    Venice.  1877. 

Orford,  Lord.    Leggi  e  Memorie  Venete  sulla  prostituzione.    Venice.  1870. 

Schels,  G.  B.    Osterreichische  militarische  Zeitschrift.    Vienna.    (Nos.  i.  and  iii.  contain 

an  account  of  the  siege  of  Padua,  1509 ;  Nos.  x.  and  xii.  an  account  of  the  war  of 

Chioggia.  1378-81. 
Simonsfeld,  H.    Der  Fondaco  dei  Tedeschi.    Vol.  ii.    Stuttgart.  1887. 
Storia  Patria,  R.  Deputazione  per  la.    Venice.    1876.    (The  publications  of  this  Venetian 

Society  are  of  very  high  importance.) 
Tafel,  G.,  and  Thomas,  G.   Urkunden  zur  alteren  Handels-  und  Staatsgeschichte  der 

Republik  Venedigs.    In  Pontes  rer.  Aust.    Vol.  iii.    Vienna.  1856-7. 
Thomas,  G.    Capitular  des  deutschen  Hauses  in  Venedig.    Berlin.  1874. 
Villari,  P.   Dispacci  di  Antonio  Giustinian.   Vol.  iii.   Florence.  1876. 


Bibliography 


731 


III.    SECONDARY  WORKS 
A.    General  Histories 

Brown,  Horatio  F.   Venice  :  A  Historical  Sketcli  of  the  Republic.   London.  1893. 

Cappelletti,  G.    Storia  della  Republica  di  Venezia.    Vol.  xiii.    Venice.  1850. 

Daru,  P.    Histoire  de  la  Republique  de  Venise.    2nd  edit.    Vol.  viii.     Paris.  1821. 

(The  only  edition  containing  the  historical  bibliography  of  Venetian  manuscripts.) 

Italian  translation  by  Bianchi-Giovini,  Capolago,  1837  (with  valuable  notes). 
Filiasi,  G.    Memorie  Storiche  de'  Veneti  primi  e  secondi.    Vol.  ix.    Venice.  1796. 
Hazlitt,  C.    The  Venetian  Republic.    Vol.  ii.   London.  1900. 
Hodgson,  F.    The  early  history  of  Venice.   London.  1901. 
Laugier,  M.    Histoire  de  la  Republique  de  Venise.    Vol.  xii.    Paris.    1759,  etc. 
Musatti,  E.    Storia  di  un  Lembo  di  Terra.    Padua.  1886. 
Mutinelli,  F.    Annali  Urbani.    Venice.  1841. 
Paoletti,  E.    II  Fiore  di  Venezia.    Vol.  iv.    Venice.  1837. 
Romanin,  S.    Lezioni  di  Storia  Veneta.    Vol.  ii.    Florence.  1875. 

  Storia  documentata  di  Venezia.  Vol.  x.  Venice.  1853.  (By  far  the  most  impor- 
tant general  history  of  the  Republic.) 

Sandi,  V.  Principii  di  Storia  civile  della  Republica  di  Venezia.  Vol.  vi.  Venice. 
1755. 

Sismondi,  S.  Storia  delle  Republiche  italiane.  Vol.  xvi.  Capolago.  1846.  Trans- 
lation of  Histoire  des  R^publiques  Italiennes  du  moyen  age.  Paris.  1809, 
etc. 

Tentori,  C.    Storia  Veneta.    Vol.  xii.    Venice.  1785. 

Venezia  e  le  sue  Lagune.    Vol.  ii.    Venice.  1847. 

Verci,  G.    Storia  della  Marca  Trevigiana.    Vol.  xx.    Venice.  1786. 

B.    Official  Histories 

Bembo,  P.  (Card.).    Historiae  Venetae  Lib.  xii.    Venice.  1551. 
Paruta,  P.    Historia  Vinitiana.    Venice.  1605. 

Sabellico,  M.  A,  Rerum  Venetarum  ab  urbe  condita  ad  sua  usque  tempbra  Lib.  xxxiii. 
Venice.  1487. 

C.    Special  Works 
(1)  Political 

Armignaud,  J.    Venise  et  le  Bas-Empire.    Paris.  1886. 
Battistella,  A.   II  Conte  Carmagnola.    Genoa.  1889. 

Caro,  G.    Genua  und  die  Machte  am  Mittelmeer.    Vol.  ii.    Halle.  1895-9. 
Cittadella,   G.    Storia  della   dominazione  Carrarese  in  Padova.     Vol.   ii.  Padua. 
1842. 

Gloria,  A.    Padova  dopo  la  Lega  stretta  in  Cambrai.    Padua.  1863. 

Hopf,  C.    Der  Rath  der  Zehn.    Leipzig.  1865. 

Lazzarini,  V.    La  Congiura  di  Marin  Falier.    Venice.  1897. 

Lenel,  W.  Die  Entstehung  der  Vorherrschaft  Venedigs  an  der  Adria.  Strassburg. 
1897. 

  Studien  zur  Geschichte  Paduas  und  Veronas  im  xiii.  Jahrhundert.  Strassburg. 

1893. 

Macchi,  M.    Storia  del  Consiglio  dei  Dieci.    Vol.  ii.    Milan.  1864. 
Pears,  E.    The  Fall  of  Constantinople    London.  1885. 

P^lissier,  L.    Sur  les  dates  de  trois  lettres  in^dits  de  Jean  Lascaris.   Paris.  1901. 


732 


Venice 


Romanin,  S.    Bajamonte  Tiepolo  e  le  sue  ultime  vicende.    Venice.  1851. 
Rubieri,  E.    Francesco  Primo  Sforza.    Vol.  ii.    Florence.  1879. 
Santalena,  A.    Veneti  e  Imperiali.    Venice.  1896. 
Spangenberg,  H.    Can  Grande  della  Scala.    Vol.  ii.    Berlin.  1892-5. 
Tentori,  C.    II  vero  carattere  politico  di  Bajamonte  Tiepolo.    Venice.  1798. 


(2)  Constitutional 

Alletz,  E.    Discours  sur  la  puissance  et  la  ruine  de  la  R^publique  de  Venise.  Paris. 
1842. 

Cecchetti,  B.    II  Doge  di  Venezia.    Venice.  1864. 

Contarini,  G.    Della  Republica  et  Magistrati  di  Venezia.    Venice.  1591. 
Crasso,  N.   De  forma  Reipublicae  Venetae.    In  Thes.  Ant.  Italiae.    Vol.  v.  Lyons. 
1722. 

Giannotti,  D.    Libro  della  Republica  de'  Viniziani.    Vol.  ii.    Florence.  1850. 

La  Houssaye,  de,  A.    Histoire  du  Gouvernement  de  Venise.    Vol.  ii.    Paris.  1677. 

Stella,  A.    II  servizio  di  Cassa  dell'  antica  Republica  Veneta.    Venice.  1890. 

The  financial  documents  of  the  Republic  are  to  be  published  by  the  Italian  Govern- 
ment on  the  initiative  of  the  minister  Luzzatti ;  Vol.  i.  is  to  appear  shortly.  Prof.  Fabio 
Besta's  report  on  the  plan  to  be  adopted  has  been  lithographed  but  not  published. 


(3)  Commercial 

Formaleoni,  V.    Saggio  sulla  Nautica  antica  de'  Veneziani.    Venice.  1785. 

  Storia  filosofica  e  politica  della  Navigazione,  del  Commercio  e  delle  Colonic  degli 

Antichi  nel  Mar  Nero.    Venice.  1788. 
Heyd,  W.    Le  Colonic  commerciali  degli  Italiani  in  Oriente  nel  Medio  Evo.  Disserta- 

zioni  rifatte  dall'  autore  e  recate  in  italiano  dal  Prof.  G.  Miiller.    Vol.  ii.  Venice. 

1866. 

  Geschichte  des  Levantehandels  im  Mittelalter.    Stuttgart.  1879. 

Lattes,  E.    La  Libert^  delle  Banche  a  Venezia  dal  secolo  xiii.  a  xvii.    Milan.  1869. 
Marin,  C.    Storia  civile  e  politica  del  Commercio  de'  Veneziani.   Vol.  viii.  Venice. 
1798-1808. 

Mutinelli,  F.    Del  commercio  dei  Veneziani.    Venice.  1835. 
Padovan,  V.    Le  monete  della  Repubblica  Veneta.  1879. 
Papadopoli,  N.    Sulle  origini  della  Veneta  Zecca.  Venice. 
Simonsfeld,  H.    Der  Fondaco  dei  Tedeschi.    Vol.  ii.    Stuttgart.  1887. 
Soresina,  A.    II  Banco  Giro  di  Venezia.    Venice.  1889. 

Tafel,  G.  and  Thomas  G.  Vortrag  iiber  die  Herausgabe  urkundlicher  Quellen  zur  vene- 
tianischen  Handelsgeschichte.  In  transactions  of  the  Kaiserliche  Akademie  der  Wis- 
senschaften  in  Wien.  Vol.  v.  Vienna.  1852.  (This  series  contains  other  valuable 
publications  by  the  same  authorities.) 


(4)    Artistic  and  Literary 

Berenson.   Lorenzo  Lotto.    London,  1895. 

  Venetian  Painters  of  the  Renaissance.    London.  1894. 

Bernoni,  D.    Dei  Torresani,  Blado  e  Ragazzoni.    Milan.  1890. 
Brown,  H.    The  Venetian  Printing  Press.    London.  1891. 

Brown,  R.    Ragguaglii  intorno  alia  Vita  di  Marin  Sanudo.   Vol.  ii.   Venice.  1837-8, 


Bibliography 


733 


Castellani,  C.    La  Stampa  in  Venezia  alia  Morte  di  Aldo  Manuzio  Seniore.  Venice. 
1889. 

Cattaneo,  G.    L'Architettura  in  Italia.    Venice.  1889. 

Crowe,  J.  and  Cavalcaselle,  G.    Tiziano,  la  sua  vita  e  i  suoi  tempi.   Vol.  ii.  Florence. 
1877. 

Didot,  F,    Aide  Manuce.   Paris.  1875. 
Foscarini,  M.    Delia  Letteratura  Veneziana.    Padua.  1752. 
Ongania,  F.    La  Basilica  di  S.  Marco.    Vol.  iii.   Venice.  1877. 
  L'  Arte  della  Stampa.    Venice.  1895. 

Paoletti,  P.    L'  Architettura  e  la  Scultura  del  Rinascimento  in  Venezia.  Vol.  ii.  Venice. 
1893. 

Eenouard,  A.    Annales  de  I'imprimerie  des  Aides.    Vol.  iii.    Paris.  1803. 
Ridolfi,  C.    Le  Maraveglie  dell'  Arte  overo  le  Vite  degli  illustri  Pittori  Veneti.    Vol.  ii. 
Venice.  1648. 

Rivoli,  due  de.    Bibliographic  des  Livres  k  figures  Ven^tiennes.    Paris.  1892. 
Ruskin,  J.    The  Stones  of  Venice.    Vol.  ni.    London.  1873. 
Simousfeld,  H.    Andreas  Dandolo  und  seine  Geschichtswerke.    Munich.  1878. 
  Venetianische  Studien.    Munich.  1878. 

Somborn,  C.    Das  Venezianische  Volkslied  Die  Villotta.    Heidelberg.  1901. 
Symonds,  J.  A.    The  Renaissance  in  Italy.    Vol.  iii :  The  Fine  Arts.    London.  1877. 
Yriarte,  C.    Venise.    Paris.  1878. 

Zwiedineck-Sudenhorst,  H.  von.    Venedig  als  Weltmacht  und  Weltstadt.    Bielefeld  und 
Leipzig.  1899. 

(6)  Social 

Bernoni,  G.    Canti,  Fiabe,  Leggende,  Credenze  popolari.    Venice.  1872-4. 
Casola,  P.    Viaggio  a  Gerusalemme.    Milan.  1855. 
Cecchetti,  B.    La  Vita  dei  Veneziani.    Venice.  1886. 
Molmenti,  P.    I  Banditi  della  Republica  Veneta.    Turin.  1898. 
  La  Dogaressa.    Turin.  1884. 

  La  Storia  di  Venezia  nella  vita  privata.    Turin.  1880. 

  Vecchie  Storie.    Turin.  1882. 

  Studii  e  Ricerche.    Turin.  1892. 

Saint  Disdier,  de.    La  Ville  et  la  Republique  de  Venise.    Paris.  1680. 
Yriarte,  C.   La  vie  d'un  Patricien  de  Venise.    Paris,    s.  d. 

(6)  Ecclesiastical 

Cappelletti,  G.    Storia  della  Chiesa  di  Venezia  (incomplete).    S.  Lazzaro.  1849-55. 
Cecchetti,  B.    La  Republica  di  Venezia  e  la  Corte  di  Roma.    Vol.  ii.    Venice.  1874. 
Cornaro,  F.   Ecclesiae  Venetae  antiquis  monumentis  nunc  etiam  primum  editis  illustratae. 
Vol.  XV.    Venice.  1749. 

  Ecclesiae  Torcellanae,  etc.   Vol.  iii.    Venice.  1749. 

Sarpi,  Fra  Paolo.    Opere.    Vol.  viii.    Helmstadt  and  Verona.  1768. 

(7)  Topographical 

Barbari,  J.  de'.    A  large  wood-cut  plan  of  Venice.   Now  in  the  Museo  Civico.  1500. 
Coronelli,  V.    Isolario.    Venice.  1696. 

Molmenti,  P.  and  Mantovani,  D.    Calli  e  Canali  in  Venezia.    Venice.  1893. 
Sansovino,  J.    Venezia  Cittk  nobilissima  e  singolare.    Venice.  1663. 
Tassini,  A.    Curiosity  Veneziane.    Venice.  1863. 

Temanza,  T.    Antica  pianta  delP  inclita  Citt^i  di  Venezia.   Venice.  1781. 


CHAPTER  IX 


GERMANY  AND  THE  EMPIRE 

The  chief  Historical  Bibliographies  on  the  subject  are  :  Dahlmann-Waitz,  Quellen- 
kunde  der  deutschen  Geschichte,  6th  ed.  1894 ;  and  Lorenz-Goldmann,  Deutsche 
Geschichtsquellen  im  Mittelalter,  2  vols.  1886-7.  More  general  bibliographical  works 
such  as  H.  Oesterley,  Wegweiser  durch  die  Litteratur  der  Urkundensammlungen,  Part  I., 
Berlin,  1885;  and  A.  Potthast,  Bibliotheca  Historica  Medii  Aevi,  2  vols.,  Berlin,  1896, 
may  also  be  consulted  with  advantage.  Indications  of  the  more  recent  literature  will  be 
found  in  the  following  :  J.  Jastrow,  Jahresberichte  der  Geschichtswissenschaft  (since 
1895  edited  by  E.  Berner),  Berlin,  1878,  etc. ;  Masslow  and  Sommerfeldt,  Bibliographic 
zur  deutschen  Geschichte,  in  Deutsche  Zeitschrift  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft,  1889-97, 
from  1898  by  O.  Masslow  in  Historische  Vierteljahrsschrift.  F.  Forster's  Kritischer  Weg- 
weiser durch  die  neuere  deutsche  historische  Literatur,  Berlin,  1900,  puts  the  recent 
literature  conveniently  together. 


I.    ORIGINAL  AUTHORITIES  AND  COLLECTIONS 
A.  General 

Alberi,  E.   Le  Relazione  degli  ambasciatori  Veneti  al  Senato  nel  secolo  xvi.  Florence. 

1839-62.    1st  Series.    Vols.  i.  ii.  and  vi. 
Altmann-Bernheim.    Ausgewahlte  Urkunden  zur  Erlauterung  der  Verfassungsgeschichte 

Deutschlands  im  Mittelalter.    2nd  ed.    Berlin.  1895. 
Andlau,  P.  von.    De  Imperio  Romano,  cum  notis  M.  Freheri.    Strassburg.  1612. 
Bergenroth,  G.    A.     Calendar   of    Spanish    State    Papers.     Vols.   i.    ii.  London. 

1862-6. 

Brant,  Sebastian.    Das  Narrenschiff.    Herausg.  von  F.  Zarncke.    Leipzig.  1854. 
Brewer,  J.  S.    Calendar,  Letters,  and  Papers  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  VIII.    Vols.  i.  ii. 
London.  1862-4. 

Brown,  R.    Calendar  of  Venetian  State  Papers.    Vols.  i.  ii.    London.  1864-7. 
Burgermeister,  J.  S.    Codex  diplomaticus  equestris.    Ulm.  1721. 

(Cusanus,  Card.)  Cues,  Nicolaus  v.  De  Concordantia  Catholica  libri  tres.  Basel. 
1566. 

Erdmannsdorffer,  B.  Ausziige  der  ven.  Relationen  in  Berichte  iiber  die  Verhand- 
lungen  der  k.  sachs  Gesellsch.  der  Wiss.,  Philol.-hist.  Classe,  vol.  ix.  Leipzig. 
1857. 

Faber,  A.    Europaische  Staatskanzlei.   Niirnberg.  1697. 

734 


Bihliograpliy 


735 


Freher,  M.,  and  Struve,  B.  G.    Germanicarum  Rerum  Scriptores.    Vols.  ii.  and  iii. 

Strassburg.    1717.    (Contain  many  chronicles,  letters,  panegyrics.  State  papers,  and 

other  documents  of  this  period.) 
Gebwiler,  H.    Libertas  Germaniae,  qua  Germanos  Gallis...imperasse  probatur.  Strass- 

burg.  1519. 

Grimm,  J.,  and  Schroder.    Weistumer.    7  vols.    Gottingen.  1840-78. 
Harpprecht,  J.  N.  von.    Staatsarchiv  des  kays.    Kammergerichts.    Frankfort.  1759-69. 
Ulm.  1785-9. 

Kluckhohn,  A.    Deutsche  Reichstagsakten.    Jiingere  Reihe.    (From  1519.)    Vol.  i.  pp. 

1_140.    Gotha.  1893. 
Koch,  C.  G.    Neue  und  vollstandige  Sammlung  der  Reichsabschiede.   4  Parts.  Frankfort. 

1747. 

Liliencron,  R.  von.  Die  histor.  Volkslieder  der  Deutschen,  vom  13.  bis  16.  Jahrh.  5  vols. 
Leipzig.  1865-9. 

Lorenzi,  de.    Geiler  v.  Kaisersbergs  ausgewahlte  Schriften.   4  vols.    Trier.  1881. 
Liinig,  J.  C.    Das  deutsche  Reichsarchiv.    24  vols.    Leipzig.  1713-22. 

  Thesaurus  iuris  der  Grafen  und  Herren  des  heil.  rom.  Reichs.   Leipzig.  1725. 

Moser,  F.  C.    Sammlung  samtlicher  Kreisabschiede.    Leipzig.  1747. 
Moser,  J.  J.    Teutsches  Staatsrecht.    50  vols.  1737-54. 
  Neues  teutsches  Staatsrecht.    Frankfort.  1766-75. 

  Vermischte  Nachrichten  von  reichsritterschaftlichen  Sachen.    Niirnberg.  1773-4. 

  Beitrage  zu  reichsritterschaftlichen  Sachen.    Ulm.  1775. 

Miiller,  J.  J.    Reichstagsstaat,  1500-8.   Jena.  1708. 

  Reichstagstheatrum  unter  Keyser  Friedrich  V.    3  Parts.    Jena.  1713. 

  Reichstagstheatrum  unter  Keyser  Maximilian  I.    2  Parts.    Jena.  1718-9. 

Sanuto,  Marino.    Diarii.    Venice.  1879-92, 

Schilter,  J.  S.  Scriptores  Rerum  Germanicarum.  Vol.  i.  Aeneas  Sylvius,  Hist.  Frid. 
Imp.  Vol.  II.  Boecleri  Specimen  Annotationum  in  Aeneae  Sylvii  historiam.  Vol. 
III.  Diplomata  res  gestas  Frid.  Ill  illustr.  Vol.  xiv.  Index  Diplom.  Frid.  III.  Strass- 
burg.  1702. 

Weizsacker,  J.,  etc.  Deutsche  Reichstagsakten,  1376-1435.  11  vols.  Munich  and 
Gotha.  1868-88. 

Wimpheling,  J.  Works,  to  a  large  extent  printed  in  Riegger,  Amoenitates  Litterariae 
Friburgenses.    Ulm,  1775,  and  Freiburg,  1779. 


I 


B.    Territorial  and  Local 

Anonymi  Cannen  de  obsidione  et  expugnatione  arcis  Hohenkrayen.  1512. 

Anshelm.    Berner  Chronik,  herausg.  von  E.  Stierlin  u.  J.  R.  Wyss.   Bern.  1825-33. 

Barack,  K.  A.    Zimmersche  Chronik  herausg.  von.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1881. 

Burkhardt,  C.  A.  H.    Quellen  zur  Geschichte  des  Hauses  Hohenzollern.    Das  funftt 

merckisch  Buech  des  Churfuersten  Albrecht  Achilles,  1471-3.    Jena.  1857. 
Pontes  Rerum  Austriacarum.     Part  i.   Scriptores.    Vol.  i.   Kirchmair,  Herbersteins 

Selbstbiographie,  Tichtels  Tagebuch,  1477-95,  and  other  important  chronicles. 
  Part  II.   Diplomataria  et  acta.    Vol.  ii.  Diplomatarium  Habsburgense  seculi  xv. 

1850.    Vol.  XXX.  Relationen  venetianischer  Botschaften  liber  Deutschland  und  Oster- 

reich  im  16.  Jahrh.    Vol.  xlii.  Urkunden  und  Actenstiicke  zur  osterr.  Geschichte, 

1440-71.    Vol.  xLiv.  Briefe  und  Acten  zur  osterr.-deutschen  Gesch.  im  Zeitalter  K. 

Friedrich  III.    Vol.  xlvi.  Urkundliche  Nachtrage  zur  osterr. -deutsch.  Gesch.  im 

Zeitalter  K.  Fried.  III.  Vienna. 
Fugger,  J.  J.    Spiegel  der  Ehren  des  Ertz- Hauses  Osterreich,  erweitert  durch  S.  von 

Birken.    Bk.  vii.   Niirnberg.  1668. 


736 


Germany  and  the  Empire 


Goerz,  A.    Kegesten  der  Erzbischofe  v.  Trier,  814-1503.    Trier.    1859,  etc. 
Gudenus,  V.  F.    Codex  diplomaticus  Moguntinus.    Gottingen.  1743-68. 
Hanauer.    Les  constitutions  des  Campagnes  de  I'Alsace.  1864. 

Hegel,  K.  von.  Die  Chroniken  der  deutschen  Stadte  vom  14.  bis  zum  16.  Jahrhund. 
Baier.  Academic  der  Wissenscliaften,  25  vols.  Leipzig.  1862,  etc.  Among  the  most 
important  of  these  are  NUrnberg's  Krieg  gegen  Albrecht  Achilles,  ii.  95-530,  H. 
Deichsler's  Niirnberger  Kronik  and  Chr.  Scheurl's  Epistel  iiber  die  Verfassung  der 
Reichsstadt  Niirnberg,  both  in  xi.,  J.  Koelhoff's  Cronica  van  der  heiliger  Stat  van 
Coellen,  xiii.  and  xiv.,  C.  Wierstraat,  Histori  des  beleegs  van  Nuis,  xx.,  H.  Miilich's 
Augsburger  Chronik,  xxii.,  CI.  Sender's  Augsburger  Chronik,  xxiii.  The  elaborate 
introductions  by  Hegel  and  others,  and  occasional  notes,  such  as  Hegel's  note  tiber 
Niirnbergs  Bevolkerungszahl,  ii.  Beilage  iv. ,  are  very  useful. 

Hofler-Minutoli.  Das  kaiserliche  Buch  des  Markgr.  Albrecht  Achilles,  1440-70.  Bay- 
reuth,  1850.    1470-86.    Berlin,  1850. 

Janssen,  J.  Frankfurts  Reichscorrespondenz  nebst  andern  verwandten  Actenstiicken. 
Vol.  I. :  1376-1439  :  Freiburg  i.  B.  1863.  Vol.  ii.  Part  i. :  1440-86  :  lb.  1866.  Part 
II.  :  1486-1519  :  lb.  1872. 

Kliipfel,  C.  Urkunden  zur  Gesch.  des  schwabischen  Bundes,  1488-1533.  2  vols.  Biblio- 
thek  des  lit.  Vereins,  xiv.  xv.    Stuttgart.  1846. 

Krenner.   Baierische  Landtagshandlungen,  1429-1513.    Munich.  1804. 

Lacomblet.  Urkundenbuch  fiir  die  Gesch.  des  Niederrheins.  Vols.  iii.  iv.  Diisseldorf. 
1853-8. 

Lemnius,  S.    Raeteis.   Der  schweizerisch-deutsche  Krieg  von  1499.    Epos  in  ix.  Gesan- 

gen  herausg.  v.  P.  Plattner.  Chur.  1874. 
Osterreichische  Weisttimer.    7  vols.  1870-86. 

Priebatsch,  F.  Politische  Korrespondenz  des  Kurfiirsten  Albrecht  Achilles.  Leipzig. 
1894,  etc. 

Quellen  und  Erorterungen  zur  bayer.  und  deutsch.  Geschichte.  Vols.  ii.  and  iii.  Quellen 
zur  Geschichte  Friedrichs  I  des  Siegreichen.  Regesten  zur  Gesch.  Fried.  I  des  Sieg- 
reichen.    Munich.  1857-63. 

Regesta  Archiepiscoporum  Moguntinensium,  742-1514.    Innsbruck.  1877. 

Riedel,  A.  F.    Codex  diplomaticus  Brandenburgensis.    Berlin.  1838-58. 

Schafer.    Hanserecesse.  1477-1530. 

Schonherr,  D.  Urkunden  u.  Regesten  aus  d.  k.-k.  Staatsarchive  in  Innsbruck.  2  vols. 
Wien,  1883-4. 

Serarius,  N.    Rerum  Moguntinarum  lib.  quinque.    Mainz.  1604. 

Trithemius,  J.    Annales  Hirsaugienses.  1690. 

  Historia  Belli  Bavarici  a.d.  1504  in  Freher-Struve,  nr. 

Weinrich,  C.  Danziger  Chronik.  Hirsch's  Script.  Rerum  Prussicarum,  rv.  725 — 800. 
Leipzig.  1870. 

Wiirdinger,  J.   Urkundenausztige  zur  Gesch.  des  Landshuter-Erbfolgekriegs.  Verhand- 

lungen  des  hist.  Vereins  v.  Niederbaiern,  viii. 
Zimerman,  H.   Urkunden  u.  Regesten  aus  d.  k.-k.  Staatsarchiv.   Vienna.    1885.  The 

last-named  three  books  are  in  Jahrbiicher  der  kunsthistor.  Sammlungen  des 

Kaiserhauses. 

Zimerman,  H.  and  Kreyczki,  F.  Urkunden  u.  Regesten  aus  d.  k.-k.  Reichsfinanzarchiv. 
Vienna.  1885. 


C.    Special  "Works  on  Maximilian  I  and  his  Age 

Birk.    Urkunden-Ausziige  zur  Geschichte  K.  Fried.  Ill,  1452-67.    Archiv  f,  osterr. 
Geschichte,  x.-xi. 

Chmel,  J.   Urkundliches  zur  Gesch.  K.  Fried.  IV.   Archiv  f.  osterr.  Geschichte,  iii. 


Bibliography 


737 


Chmel,  J.    Regesta  Friderici  III.    Vienna.  1859. 

  Urkunden,  Briefe  und  Actenstucke  zur  Gesch,  Maximilian's  I  und  seiner  Zeit. 

Bibl.  des  lit.  Vereins,  vol.  x.    Stuttgart.  1845. 
Cuspinian,  J.    Diarium  de  congressu  Maximiliani  et  trium  regum  apud  Viennam.  1516. 

In  Freher-Struve,  ii. 

Diirer,  A.    Randzeichnungen  aus  dem  Gebetbuche  des  Kaisers  Maximilian  I.  1850. 
Gachard,  L.  P.    Lettres  in^dites  de  Maximilien  I  sur  les  affaires  des  Pays-Bas.    2  vols. 

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sa  fille.    Soc.  de  I'histoire  de  France.    Vols,  i.-ii.  1839. 
Grunbeck.   Hist.    Frid.  et   Maximiliani,     in     Chmel,    Ostreichischer  Geschichtsfor- 

scber,  i. 

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Karajan,  T.  G.  von.    Kaiser  Maximilians  geheimes  Jagdbucb.   Vienna.  1858. 
Keller,  A.  von.    Geschichten  und  Thaten  Wilwolts  v.  Schaumburg.    Bibl.  des  lit.  Vereins. 

Stuttgart.  1859. 

Kraus,  V.  von.  Maximilians  vertraulicher  Briefwechsel  mit  Sigmund  Priischenk.  Inns- 
bruck. 1875. 

Leitner,  Q.  von  Freydal.  Des  Kaisers  Maximilians  I  Turniere  und  Mummereien.  Vienna. 
1880-2. 

Machiavelli,  N.  Ritratti  delle  cose  della  Magna,  etc.  Opere,  vi.  119 — 230.  Milan. 
1811. 

  Legazione  al  imperatore.    Opere,  xi.  15 — 124. 

Monumenta  Hapsburgica.  Sammlung  von  Actenstiicken  und  Briefen  zur  Gesch.  des 
Hauses  Hapsburg  im  Zeitraume  1473-1576.    Vols,  i.-iii.    Vienna.  1853-7. 

Pfintzing,  M.  Die  geuerlichkeiten  und  einsteils  der  geschichten  des  loblichen  streyt- 
paren  und  hochbertimbten  Helds  und  Ritters  herr  Tewrdanckhs.  Niirnberg. 
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Pirkheimer,  B.    De  bello  Helvetico,  in  Freher-Struve,  iii.  or  separately  edited  in  Riick. 

W.  Pirckheimer's  Schweizerkrieg.    Munich.  1895. 
(Pius  II.)    Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini.    Hist.  rer.  Friderici  III.    Strassburg.  1685. 
Proposals  of  Knights  in  1494.    Archiv.  fiir  osterr.  Geschichte,  xi. 

Saint-G6nois.  Lettres  de  Maximilien  h.  I'abb6  de  Saint-Pierre  Gand.  Messager  hist,  de 
la  Belgique.  1845. 

Scheurl,  Chr.  Briefbuch,  1505-40,  herausgegeben  von  Soden  und  Knaake.  Potsdam. 
1867-72. 

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Teuerdank.    Herausg.  von  K.  Goedeke.     (Goedeke  and  Tittmann's  Deutsche  Dichter  des 

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Ulmann,  H.    Der  Traum  des  Hans  v.   Hermannsgrun.     Forschungen  zur  deutsch. 

Geschichte,  xx.  67—92.  1880. 
Villari,  P.    Dispacci  di  A.  Giustinian.  1876. 

Zasius,  Faber,  and  others.    Funeral  orations  on  Maximilian.    In  Freher-Struve,  ii. 
Zeibig.    Der  Ausschusslandtag  der  osterr.  Erblande  im  J.  1518.    Archiv.  fiir  osterr. 

Geschichte,  xiii.  203 — 316,  cf.  Sitzungsberichte  der  k.  Acad.,  philos. -histor.  Classe, 

X.  518,  XI.  485.    Vienna.  1853. 

C.  M.  H.  I.  47 


738 


Germany  and  the  Empire 


The  original  editions  of  Maximilian's  half-autobiographical  works  have  been  sumptu- 
ously facsimiled  and  those  previously  unpublished  have  been  issued  in  equally  magnifi- 
cent form  in  the  Jahrbiicher  der  kunsthistor.  Sammlungen  des  Kaiserhauses,  i.  ii.  iii.  iv. 
V.  VI.  VII.  VIII.  IX.,  with  Introductions,  of  which  S.  Laschitzer's  to  Teuerdank  (viii.)  is 
particularly  important.  Compare  also  the  Holbein  Society  Facsimiles  of  Teuerdank,  ed. 
1519  (1884),  and  the  Triumph  (1883).  Cf.  also  R.  von  Liliencron,  Der  Weisskunig,  in 
Raumer's  Histor.  Taschenbuch,  Ser.  v.,  Jahrg.  3,  and  Schonherr,  Uber  M.  Treitzsaurwein, 
Archiv  f.  osterr.  Geschichte,  xlviii. 

II.   LATER  WORKS 
A.    General  Histories 

Allgemeine  deutsche  Biograpbie.    See,  among  many  useful  articles,  especially  Frederick 

III  by  G.  Voigt,  Frederick  the  Victorious  by  K.  Menzel,  Frederick  the  Wise  by  Th. 

Flathe,  Diirer  by  Woltmann,  M.  Lang  by  H.  Ulmann,  Berthold  of  Mainz  by 

K.  Kliipfel,  Maximilian  I  by  H.  Ulmann. 
Altmann,  W.    Die  Wahl  Albrecht's  II  zum  romischen  Konige.    Jastrow's  Historische 

Untersuchungen.    Berlin.  1886. 
Aschbach,  J.    Geschichte  Kaiser  Sigmunds.    4  vols.    Hamburg.  1838-45. 
Bachmann,  A.    Deutsche  Reichsgeschichte  im  Zeitalter  Friedrichs  III  und  Max.  I.  1884. 

Fontes  Austr. ,  vol.  xLiv.    Vienna.    1885.    With  Supplement,  1892. 
Bezold,  F.  von.    Geschichte  der  deutschen  Reformation,  pp.  1 — 161.  (Allgemeine 

Geschichte  in  Einzeldarstellungen.)    Berlin.  1890. 
Jahns,  M.    Geschichte  der  Kriegswissenschaften  vornehmlich  in  Deutschland.  First 

Part.    Munich.  1889. 

Janssen,  J.  Geschichte  des  deutschen  Volkes  seit  dem  Ausgange  des  Mittelalters. 
Vols.  I.— IV.  Freiburg  i.  B.  1878,  etc.  English  translation  by  A.  M.  Christie  :  His- 
tory of  the  German  People  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages.  (In  course  of 
publication.) 

Nitzsch,  K.  W.  Geschichte  des  deutschen  Volkes,  vol.  iii.  pp.  312 — 416.  Leipzig.  2nd 
ed.  1892. 

Ranke,  L.  von.    Deutsche  Geschichte  im  Zeitalter  der  Reformation.    Vol.  i.  of  Sammt- 

liche  Werke,  pp.  1 — 147.    1874,  etc. 
  Geschichte  der  romanischen  und  germanischen  Volker,  1494-1514.    Vols,  xxxiii. 

and  xxxiv.  of  Sammtliche  Werke.    Leipzig.    1874,  etc. 

B.    Territorial  and  Local  Histories 

Berlichingen-Rossach,  F.  W.  G.  Graf.  von.  Geschichte  des  Ritters  Gotz  von  Berlichingen. 
Leipzig.  1861. 

Bode,  W.  J.  L.    Geschichte  des  Bundes  der  Sachsenstadte  bis  zum  Ende  des  Mittelalters. 

Forschungen  zur  deutsch.  Gesch.,  ii.  203—292.  1862. 
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744 


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Gothein,  E.   Politische  und  religiose  Volksbewegungen  vor  der  Reformation.  Breslau. 
1878. 

Scharpff,  F.  A.    Der  Cardinal  und  Bischof  Nicolaus  von  Cusa  als  Reformator  in  Kirche, 

Reich  und  Philosophie.    Tiibingen.  1871. 
Schneider,  J.    Die  kirchliche  u.  politische  Wirksamkeit  des  Cardinals  R.  Peraudi.  Halle. 

1882. 

Stumpf,  Th.   Die  politische  Ideen  des  Nicolaus  von  Cues.    Cologne.  1865. 


G.    Social  and  Economic 

Gothein,  E.    Die  Lage  des  Bauernstandes  am  Ende  des  Mittelalters  in  S.  W.  Deutschland, 

Westdeutsche  Zeitschrift  fiir  Gesch.,  vol.  iv. 
Haupt,  H.    Ein  oberrheinischer  Revolution ar  aus  dem  Zeitalter  Kais.  Maximilians  I 

Westdeutsche  Zeitschr.  fiir  Geschichte,  Erganzungsheft  viii. 
Jastrow,  J.    Die  Volkszahl  deutscher  Stadte  zu  Ende  des  Mittelalters.  Historische 

Untersuchungen.    Berlin.  1886. 
Lamprecht,  K.    Deutsche  Geschichte,  vol.  v.  pp.  1 — 217.    Berlin.    1894.    (Especially  for 

the  social  and  economic  aspects  of  history.) 
  Die  Entwickelung  des  rheinischen  Bauernstandes.    Westdeutsche  Zeitschrift  fiii 

Geschichte,  vol.  vi. 

Mayer,  F.  M.    Der  innerosterreichische  Bauernkrieg  im  Jahre  1515.    Archiv  f.  osterr. 
Gesch.,  Band  lxv. 

Schultz,  A.    Deutsches  Leben  im  xiv.  und  xv.  Jahrhundert.    Vienna.  1892. 
Ulmann,  H.    Franz  von  Sickingen.    Leipzig.  1872. 


« 


CHAPTER  X 
HUNGARY  AND  THE  SLAVONIC  KINGDOMS 
BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

Krones,  F.,  Ritter  von  Marchland.  Grundriss  der  osterreichischen  Geschichte.  Vienna. 
1882.  Index  of  subjects  and  names,  pp.  926  sqq. ;  for  the  period  treated  in  this 
Chapter,  see  pp.  390—440.  (Up  to  the  date  of  its  publication  the  most  complete 
bibliography  of  Austro-Hungarian  history.) 

Chevalier,  U.  Repertoire  des  sources  historiques  du  Moyen  Age.  Part  ii.  Topo- 
Bibliographie.  Montb^liard,  1894,  etc.  See  s.  vv.  Boh6me,  Hongrie,  Pologne  (pub- 
lished 1901).    (Useful  lists.) 

Potthast,  A.  Bibliotheca  historica  medii  aevi.  Second  revised  edition.  Berlin.  1896. 
(Contains  in  Appendix,  nos.  17,  18,  19,  the  chief  sources  of  the  history  of  Bohemia, 
Hungary,  and  Poland  respectively  ;  while  the  literature  on  those  sources  is  given  in 
the  body  of  the  work.) 

Horvdth,  E.  (Jeno)  de  Rona.  Magyar  hadi  krdnika  (Hungarian  military  annals).  Pub- 
lished by  the  Hungarian  Akad^mia.  Budapest.  1895.  (Contains  full  lists  of  the 
literature  bearing  on  the  military  events  of  the  period,  pp.  245,  331.) 

Havass,  R.  Bibliotheca  Hungariae  geographica.  (Contains  a  full  bibliography  of  local 
historiography.) 

Finkel,  L.  Bibliografia  historyi  Polskiej,  I.  (Polish  historical  bibliography.)  Lemberg. 
1891. 

Zeissberg,  H.    Die  polnische  Geschichtsschreibung  im  Mittelalter.   Leipzig.  1873. 

As  to  Bohemia  the  most  complete  bibliographical  indications  will  be  found  in 
Krones  (see  above)  :  and  in  E.  Denis,  Fin  de  I'ind^pendance  de  la  Boh^me.  2  vols. 
Paris.  1890. 

Jastrow's  Jahresberichte  der  Geschichtswissenschaft  contain  ample  material  to 
bring  up  the  bibliography  within  two  years  of  the  present  date.  For  current  literature, 
i.e.  such  as  appeared  not  earlier  than  three  months  previously,  consult  English  His- 
torical Review,  Deutsche  Zeitschrift  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft,  Historische  Zeitschrift, 
and  the  publications  of  the  Academies  of  Science  at  Vienna,  Budapest,  Cracow,  and 
Prague. 

For  the  reign  of  Matthias  Corvinus,  covering  the  period  of  thirty-two  years 
previous  to  that  treated  of  in  this  chapter,  see  the  full  list  of  the  sources  bearing  on 
the  reign,  in  Hadtort^neti  Kozlem^nyek  (Annals  of  military  history),  published  by 
the  Hungarian  Academy,  in  Part  for  1890,  pp.  252—264;  and  in  Part  for  1894, 
pp.  695—698. 

745 


746         Hungary  and  the  Slavonic  Kingdoms 


I.    LAWS,  CHARTERS,  DOCUMENTS,  DESPATCHES  OF  AMBASSADORS 

A.  Laws 

All  the  statutes  of  the  period  from  1490  to  1526  will  be  found,  together  with 
Verbbczy's  Iripartitum,  in  the  great  edition,  published  in  1896,  under  the  title 
Corpus  Juris  Hungarici  1000 — 1895.  The  short,  but  very  useful,  juristic  and  his- 
toric notes  to  the  statutes  of  the  period  1490 — 1526  are  by  Professors  C.  6vari  and 
A.  Kolosvari. 

B.    Charters,  Documents 

The  Central  Archives  at  Budapest  contain  over  35,000  documents  and  charters 
from  the  time  previous  to  1526,  and  the  majority  of  those  documents  date  from  the 
fifteenth  century.  There  are  also  numerous  and  important  charters  to  be  found  both 
in  the  archives  of  towns  like  Pecs,  Kassa,  Arad,  and  the  Transylvanian  towns,  and  in 
the  private  archives  of  the  great  families,  such  as  the  Csakys,  the  Forgachs,  the 
Eszterhazys,  the  Borneraiszas,  etc.  For  all  these  documents  there  are  now  various 
periodical  publications,  including  genealogy  and  heraldry,  edited  or  subsidised  by  the 
Hungarian  Academy. 

For  our  period  nearly  all  the  important  charters  and  documents  will  be  found  in : 

Acta  Tomiciana,  temp.  Sigismundi  regis  Poloniae  (a  vast  collection  of  documents  made  by 
Archbishop  Peter  Tomicki  in  the  sixteenth  century).  Edited  by  Gorski,  from  1852. 
(Very  important  for  Poland,  Bohemia,  and  Hungary.) 

Analecta  saeculi  XVI.    (A  manuscript  in  the  library  of  the  Budapest  University.) 

Engel,  J.  C.    Monumenta  Ungrica.    Vienna.  1809. 

Fej^r,  G.  Codex  diplomaticus  Huugariae  ecclesiasticus  et  civilis.  Buda.  1829-44. 
Rendered  more  available  by  the  chronological  Tabula  of  F.  Knauz,  1862,  and  the 
Index  alphabeticus  of  M.  Czinar,  1866.    (It  does  not  extend  beyond  1440.) 

Firnhaber,  F.  Beitrage  z.  Gesch.  Ungarns  unt.  d.  Regierung  Konig  Wladislaw's  u. 
Lud wig's  II.  In  Archiv  f.  Kunde  osterr.  Geschichtsquellen.  Published  by  the 
Vienna  Academy  of  Science,  1849.  See  pp.  375 — 552,  covering  period  1490-3,  con- 
taining 109  charters. 

Katona,  S.  S.  J.  Historia  critica  regum  Hungariae.  Buda.  1778-1817.  8vo.  42  vols. 
(Contains  a  very  great  number  of  documents  printed  from  the  originals. )  To  our 
period  refer  vols.  xvii.  xviii.  xix. 

Kovachich,  M.  G.  Vestigia  comitiorum  apud  Hungaros,  Buda,  1790 ;  and  especially  the 
Supplementa,  ib.,  1798-1801.  3  vols.  (Many  of  the  numerous  charters  and  docu- 
ments collected  by  Kovachich  and  his  son  are  printed  in  the  Vestigia  and  other  works 
by  them.) 

Pray,  G.  S.  J.    Epistolae  procerum  regni  Hungariae  (1490-1531).    Vol.  i.  Vienna. 

1806.    (A  valuable  compilation.) 
Theiner,  A.    Vetera  monumenta  historica  Hungariam  sacram  illustrantia  ex  tabulariis 

Vaticanis  deprompta.    Rome.    1859 — 60.    2  vols. 
Vatikani  Magyarorszagi  Okirattar.     (Hungarian  archives  from  the  Vatican  Library, 

a  periodical  publication  of  the  Hungarian  Academy.)     See  especially  the  part 

published  in  1884. 

In  addition  to  the  preceding  works,  there  is  much  material  to  be  found  in  the  Archives 
of  Vienna  and  Modena,  and  also  in  those  of  Mantua. 

In  the  Monumenta  Hungariae  historica  published  by  the  Hungarian  Academy 
in  four  divisions  (Diplomataria,  Scriptores,  Monumenta  comitialia,  Acta  externa) 
are  many  charters  and  documents  bearing  on  the  reigns  of  Wladislav  II  and 
Louis  II. 


Bibliography 


747 


C.    Ambassadors'  Despatches 

Several  of  these  are  in  Pray's  Epistolae  (see  above) ;  the  most  abundant  collection  of 
such  material  is  however  to  be  found  in  the  Despatches  of  the  Venetian  ambassadors, 
contained  chiefly  in  the  Diari  of  Marino  Sanuto  the  younger.    58  vols.  1496-1583. 

A  useful  extract  of  the  whole  has  been  published  for  the  years  1496-1515,  by  Valen- 
tinelli,  1863,  in  Esposizione  di  rapporti  fra  la  Repubblica  Veneta  e  gli  Slavi  meridionali. 
Extracts  from  the  Diari  bearing  on  Hungarian  history  have  been  printed  by  G.  Wenczel, 
in  the  Publications  of  the  Hungarian  Academy. 

For  many  important  events  of  the  period  under  question  (1490-1526),  Sanuto  is  not 
only  the  chief  but  the  sole  source  of  information. 

11.    CHRONICLERS  AND  HISTORIANS 

For  Bohemia  the  most  important  contemporary  history  is  the  work  of  John  Dubravius, 

Historiae  regni  Bohemiae  ab  initio  libri  xxxiii.,  in  Freher,  Scriptores  rer.  Bohem., 

1602,  more  particularly  for  our  period. 

With  regard  chiefly  to  Hungarian  affairs  see : 
Bonfinius,  Antonius  (died  1502).    Rerum  Hungaricarum  decades  libris  xlv.  comprehensae, 
covering  the  years  364-1495,  but  important  only  for  the  fifteenth  century.  Best 
edition,  Leipzig,  1771. 

Cuspinianus,  Joannes.    Conventus  Maximiliani  I  Caes.  cum  Vladislao  Hungariae,  Sigis- 

mundo  Poloniae  ac  Ludovico  Bohemiae  Regibus  (in  Freher,  Germ.  rer.  Script,  ii. 

pp.  304-320) ;  and  especially  his  Tagebuch,  covering  the  years  1502-27  (in  Fontes  rer. 

Austriac.  Script,  i.  pp.  397—416). 
Istvanfi,  N.    Regni  Hungarici  historia  libris  xxxiv  ab  anno  1490         Vienna,  1758. 

(Istvanfi,  who  died  in  1615,  although  not  strictly  contemporary,  is  still  very  important 

for  the  period  1490-1526.) 
Tubero,  L.,  a  Dalmatian.    Commentariorum  de  rebus  suo  tempore  in  Pannonia  et  Turcia  et 

finitimis  regionibus  gestis  libri  xi.,  covering  the  years  1490  to  1522.    In  Schwandtner, 

Script,  rer.  Hung.  ii.  pp.  107 — 381. 

IIL    MODERN  WORKS 
A.  General 

The  general  histories  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  empire  by  Krones,  Handb.  d.  Gesch. 
Osterr.  and  Huber,  Gesch.  Osterr.  vol.  iii.  (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten),  and  in  the  general 
histories  of  Hungary  by  L.  Szalay,  M.  Horvath,  Engel,  Fessler  (ed.  E.  Klein),  and  Sayous 
(in  French),  contain  some  useful  chapters;  while  the  fifth  volume  of  Palacky's  Geschichte 
von  Bohmen  (Prague,  1865)  is  still  fairly  exhaustive  for  the  period  after  1490.  The  best 
general  history  of  our  period,  however,  is  that  written  for  the  "  millennial,"  A  Magyar 
nemzet  tort^nete  (Hist,  of  the  Magyar  nation),  ed.  by  Alex.  Szilagyi.  Vol.  iv.,  by 
W.  Frakndi,  who  has  published  a  series  of  authoritative  monographs  on  the  chief  events 
of  the  period,  comprises  all  the  aspects  of  Hungarian  history  from  1458  to  1526. 

B.  Monographs 

Fraknoi,  W.  Matyas  Kiraly  ^lete  (1890),  (Life  of  King  Matthias);  Magyarorszag  a 
mohacsi  v^sz  elott  (Hungary  before  the  disaster  of  Mohacs),  1884;  Bakdcz  Tamas 
^letrajza  (Biography  of  T.  B.). 


748 


Hungary  and  the  Slavonic  Kingdoms 


Marki,  A.    Ddzsa  Gyorgy  6s  forradalma  (George  D6zsa  and  his  rebellion),  1886. 
Neustadt.    Ungarn's  Verfall  am  Beginn  des  xvi.  Jahrhuuderts.    Ungarische  Revue  for 
1885. 

Thury,  J.    Torok  tort^netirok  (Turkish  historians) .    Budapest.  1890. 

Minor  raonographs  can  easily  be  reached  by  means  of  the  bibliographies  under  (I). 


IV.    HISTORICAL  MAPS;  BATTLE-PLANS 

There  are  as  yet  no  special  Historical  Atlases  for  the  history  of  Hungary,  Bohemia,  or 
Poland.  For  Hungary  a  historical  gazetteer  is  supplied  in  D.  Csanki's  very  elaborate 
Magyarorszag  Foldrajza  a  Hunyadiak  koraban  (The  topography  of  Hungary  in  the  time 
of  the  Hunyadis:  fifteenth  century).  Consult  also  the  map  of  Hungary  in  1490  in  article 
Magyarorszag  in  the  Hungarian  Encyclopedia  Pallas.  Some  battle-plans  will  be  found  in 
the  Hadi  kronika  mentioned  above.  See  also  the  general  Historical  Atlases  of  Spruner- 
Menke  and  Droysen,  and  the  Oxford  Historical  Atlas. 

The  best  general  history  of  Poland  in  Polish  is  Bobrzynski's  Dzieje  Polski  n  zarysie 
(Sketch  of  Polish  history),  Warsaw,  1879.  There  is  much  historico-geographical  material 
in  Lelewels'  work  Polska  dziej  (1868);  and  the  great  Polish  History  of  Adam  Naruszewicz 
in  Polish  is  always  helpful,  chiefly  in  the  Lelewel  edition  with  the  atlas  (1803).  In  German 
the  most  authoritative  History  of  Poland  is  the  Geschichte  Polen's  by  R.  Roepell,  con- 
tinued by  J.  Caro  in  vols.  i. — v.,  Hamburg  and  Gotha,  1840-86  (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten). 
All  the  requisite  details  for  closer  research  will  be  found  in  the  bibliographical  work  of 
Finkel  (see  above);  and  in  Pawinski's  report  in  Jastrow  for  1891. 

On  early  Russian  history  consult  A.  Rambaud,  Histoire  de  la  Russie.  New  ed.  Paris, 
1893. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  CATHOLIC  KINGS 
I.  MANUSCRIPTS 

Accounts  of  some  of  the  chief  collections  of  Spanish  historical  manuscripts  are  con- 
tained in  : 

Altamira  y  Crevea,  R.    Historia  y  Arte.    Madrid.  1898. 
Beer,  R.    Handschriftenschatze  v.  Spanien.    Vienna.  1894. 
Diaz  Sanchez,  F.    Villa  y  Archivo  de  Simancas.    Madrid.  1885. 
Gallardo,  B.  J.    Biblioteca  Espanola.    Madrid.    4  vols.  1863-89. 

Gayangos,  P.  de.    Catalogue  of  Spanish  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  London. 
1875. 

Morel-Fatio,  A.    Catalogue  des  MSS.  Espagnols  dans  la  Biblioth^que  Nationale.  Paris. 
1881. 

Ochoa,  E.  de.   Manuscritos  Espanoles  en  la  Biblioteca  de  Paris.    Paris.  1844. 

II.    PRINTED  COLLECTIONS  OF  DOCUMENTS;   CONTEMPORARY  WORKS; 

CHRONICLES 

Academia  de  la  Historia.    Memorias  de  la  R.  Academia  de  la  Historia.    Vols.  iv.  vi.  viii. 

Madrid.  1796-1852. 

  Cortes  de  Leon  y  Castilla.    Vol.  iv.    Madrid.  1882. 

  Cortes  de  Aragon,  Valencia  y  Cataluna.    Madrid.  1897. 

  Boletln  de  la  R.  Academia  de  la  Historia.    Madrid.  1877-1900. 

Alberi,  E.    Relazioni  degli  Ambasciatori  Veneti.    Vols.  i.  ii.    Florence.  1839-40. 
Alcocer,  P.  de.    Relacion  sobre  las  Comunidades,  ed.  Gamero.    Seville.  1872, 
Almakkari.    Mohammedan  Dynasties  in  Spain  (trans,  by  P.  de  Gayangos).  Oriental 

Translations  Fund.    London.  1840. 
Argensola,  B.  L.  de.    Anales  de  Aragon.    Saragossa.  1630. 

Bergenroth  and  Gayangos.    Calendar  of  Letters,  etc.,  relating  to  Negociations  between 

England  and  Spain,    Vols.  i. — iv.    London.  1862-82. 
Bernaldez,  A,    Historia  de  los  Reyes.    In  Cronicas  de  los  Reyes  de  Castilla, 
Bleda,  J.    Cor6nica  de  los  Moros  de  Espana.    Valencia.  1618, 

BofaruU  y  Mascaro,  P.  de,    Documentos  in^ditos  de  la  Corona  de  Aragon.  Barcelona. 
1847-61. 

Castillo,  D.  Enriquez  de,    Cronica  del  Rey  Enrique  IV.    Ed.  J,  M,  de  Flores.  In- 
cluded in : 

Cr6nicas.    Coleccion  de  las  Cr6nicas  y  Memorias  de  los  Reyes  de  Castilla.    7  vols. 
Madrid.  1779-87. 

749 


750 


The  Catholic  Kings 


Crdnicas  de  los  Reyes  de  Castilla.    Vol.  iii.    In  Rivadeneyra  Biblioteca,  vol.  lxx. 
Madrid.  1878. 

Dormer,  D.  J.  Anales  de  Aragdn.  1516-40.  [Saragossa  ?]  1697. 
Eguilaz  Yanguas,  L.  de.    Conquista  de  Granada.    Granada.  1894. 

Epistolario  Espanol.     In  Rivadeneyra  Biblioteca,  vols.  xiii.  and  lii.     Madrid.  1870, 
1884. 

Gachard,  L.  P.    Correspondance  de  Charles-Quint  et  Adrien  VI.    Brussels.  1859. 

  Voyages  des   Souverains  des   Pays-Bas.     Comm.   Roy.  d'Histoire.  Brussels. 

1885. 

Galindez  Carvajal,  L.     Anales   Breves.     Navarrete,  etc.,  Documentos  In^ditos,  vol. 

XVIII. 

Gomez  de  Castro,  A.    De  Rebus  Gestis  Francisci  Ximenii.    In  A.  Schott,  Hispaniae 
lUustratae. 

Guevara,  A.  de.    Epi'stolas  Familiares.    Salamanca.    1578.    In  Epistolario  Espanol. 
Guicciardini,  F.    Legazione  di  Spagna.    Opere  Inedite,  vol.  vi.    Florence.  1864. 
Hinojosa,  R.  de.    Despachos  de  la  Diplomacia  Pontifica  en  Espana.    Madrid.  1896. 
Jovio,  P.  Vita  Hadriani  VI.    Basel.  1578. 

Lanz,  K.    Correspondenz  des  Kaisers  Karls  V.    Vol.  i.    Leipzig.  1844. 

Le  Glay,  A.  J.  G.    N^gociations  diplomatiques  entre  la  France  et  I'Autriche.  Collection 

de  documents  in^its.    Paris.  1845. 
Maldonado,  J.    El  Movimiento  de  Espana.    Madrid.  1840. 

Marinaeus  Siculus,  L.    De  Rebus  Gestis  Hispaniae.    Reprinted  in  A.  Schott,  Hispaniae 
Illustratae. 

Mejfa,   P.     Relacidn  de  las  Comunidades.     In   Rivadeneyra  Biblioteca,  vol.  xxi. 
1852. 

  Historia  Imperial  y  Cesarea.    Madrid.  1655. 

Moret,  J.  de.    Anales  de  Navarra.    12  vols.    Tolosa.  1890-2. 

Navarrete,  Zabalburu,  and  others.    Documentos  InSditos  para  la  Historia  de  Espana. 

Vols.  I.  II.    III.  VII.    IX.   XI.   XII.  XIV.  XVII.  XVIII.  XXIII.  XXIV.    XXV.  XXXVI.  XXXVIII. 

xxxix.  L.  LI.  cvi.  cxii.    Madrid.    1842-92.    Index.    Madrid.  1891. 
Oviedo,  G.  Fernandez  de.    Las  Quinquagenas  de  la  Nobleza  de  Espaiia.    Ed.  La  Fuente. 

R.  Academia  de  la  Historia.    Madrid.  1880. 
Peter  Martyr.    (Vermigli,  P.  M.  de.)    Opus  Epistolarum.  1670. 

Pulgar,  H.  P.  del.    Cr6nica  de  los  Reyes  Cat61icos.    Rerum  Hispanicarum  Scriptores. 

Frankfort.    3  vols.  1579-81. 
  Claros  Varones  de  Espana.    In  F.  Gomez  de  Cebdareal,  Centon  Epistolario. 

Madrid.  1775. 

Quintanilla  y  Mendoza,  P.    Fray  Francisco  Ximenes  de  Cisneros.    Palermo.  1653. 

Rivadeneyra,  M,    Biblioteca  de  Autores  Espaiioles.    71  vols.    Madrid.  1849-80. 

Salazar  de  Mendoza,  P.    Cronica  del  Gran  Cardinal.    Toledo.  1625, 

Sandoval,  P.  de.    Historia  del  Emperador  Carlos  V.    Pampeluna.  1634. 

Sayas,  F.  D.    Anales  de  Aragdn.    1520-25.    Saragossa.  1666. 

Schottus,  Andreas.    Hispaniae  Illustratae.    4  vols.    Frankfort.  1603-8. 

Sepulveda,  J.  G.  de.    De  Rebus  Gestis  Caroli  V.  1780. 

Simpson,  L.  F.    Autobiography  of  Charles  V.    London.  1862. 

Ulloa,  A.    Vita  dell'  Imperatore  Carlo  V.    Venice.  1562. 

Valera,  D.  de.    Crdnica  de  Hyspana.    Burgos.  1487. 

Verardus,  C.    Expugnatio  Regni  Granatae.    In  A.  Schott,  Hispaniae  Illustratae. 

Weiss,  C.    Papiers  d'Etat  du  Cardinal  de  Granvelle.    Collection  de  documents  in^dits. 

Vol.  I.    Paris.  1841. 
Ximenes  de  Cisneros,  F.    Cartas.    In  Epistolario  Espanol. 
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Fernandez  y  Gonzalez,  F.    Los  Mud^jares  de  Castilla.    Madrid.  1866. 

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752 


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Menendez  y  Pelayo,  M.    Historia  de  las  Ideas  esteticas  in  Espana.   Madrid.  1883. 
Mignet,  F.  A.  M.    Kivalit6  de  Frangois  I^r  et  de  Charles-Quint.    Madrid.  1875. 
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IV.     WORKS  ON  CONSTITUTIONAL,  LEGAL,  ECONOMIC,  AND 
ECCLESIASTICAL  HISTORY 

Antequera,  J.  M.    Historia  de  la  Legislaci6n  Espanola.    Madrid.  1874. 

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Cardenas,  F.  de.    Historia  de  la  Propiedad  Territorial  en  Espafia.    Madrid.  1873. 
Castillo  de  Bovadilla,  G.    Polftica  para  Corregidores.    Barcelona.  1624. 
Colmeiro,  M.  de.    Cortes  de  Leon  y  Castilla.    Madrid.  1885. 

  Historia  de  la  Economla  Politica  en  Espana.    Madrid.  1863. 

Coroleu,  J.,  and  Pella,  J.    Las  Cortes  Catalanas.  1876. 

Danvila  y  Collado,  M.    Las  Libertades  de  Aragon.    Madrid.  1881. 

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Du  Hamel,  V.    Histoire  Constitutionelle  de  la  Monarchie  Espagnole.    Paris.  1845. 
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1873-4. 

Gallardo  y  Fernandez,  F.    Rentas  de  la  Corona  de  Espana.    7  vols.    Madrid.  1805. 
Gams,  P.  B.    Kirchengeschichte  von  Spanien.    Vols.  iv.  v.    Ratisbon.  1876-9. 
Gonzalez,  T.    Censo  de  la  Poblacidn  en  el  Siglo  xvi.    Madrid.  1829. 
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(/S'ee  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  1. 11.  and  iT.) 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


48 


CHAPTER  XII 


TRANCE 
BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

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Paris.    1877-88.    Topo-bibliographie.    Paris.  1894-5. 
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Langlois,  C.  V.,  and  Stein,  H.   Les  Archives  de  I'histoire  de  France.   Paris.  Picard. 
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Vidier,  A.    Repertoire  ra^thodique  du  moyen  age  fran9ais.    1894  sqq.    (Annual.)  Extr. 
from  the  Moyen  Age. 


L    CONTEMPORARY  CHRONICLES,  COLLECTIONS  OF 
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Amboise,  Card.    Lettres  de,  ^  Louis  XII.    1504-14.    4  vols.    Brussels.  1712. 
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3  vols. 

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Pontanus,  Joannes  Jovianus.    De  bello  Neapolitano  (Ferdinand  v.  John  of  Anjou) 

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Saint-Gelais,  J.  de.    Histoire  de  Louis  XII  (to  1510).    Ed.  Godefroy.    Paris.  1622. 

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Hist,  de  France.    Paris.    1858,  etc. 


II.    LATER  WORKS 


A.    General  Histories 


Anselme  de  Ste  Marie,  le  P§re.  Histoire  g^n^alogique  et  chronologique  de  la 
Maison  Royale  de  France,  des  pairs  et  grands  officiers,  etc.  9  vols.  Paris. 
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Cherrier,  C.  de.    Histoire  de  Charles  VIII.    2  vols.    Paris.  1868. 

Du  Fresne  de  Beaucourt,  G.    Histoire  de  Charles  VII.    6  vols.    Paris.  1880-. 

Kirk,  J.  Foster.    History  of  Charles  the  Bold.    3  vols.    London.  1864-8. 

Legeay,  U.    Histoire  de  Louis  XI.    2  vols.    Paris.  1874. 

Leroux  de  Lincy.    Histoire  d'Anne  de  Bretagne.    4  vols.    Paris.  1860-1. 

Martin,  H.    Histoire  de  France.    17  vols.    Paris.  1833-6. 

Maulde  la  Claviere,  R.  Histoire  de  Louis  XII.  Paris.  1890.  3  vols.  (Previous  to  his 
accession.) 

Pigeonneau,  H.  Histoire  du  Commerce  de  la  France,  to  the  fifteenth  century.  Paris. 
1885. 

Rainaldus,  O.    Annales  Ecclesiastici,  1198-1534.    Cologne.    1694,  etc. 
Schmidt,  E.  A.    Geschichte  Frankreichs.    4  vols.    (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten.)  Gotha. 
1840. 

Schmidt,  C.  Precis  de  I'histoire  de  I'^^glise  d' Occident  pendant  le  moyen  ^ge.  Paris. 
1885. 

Tailh^.    Histoire  de  Louis  XII.    Milan  and  Paris.  1755. 

Toutey,  E.    Charles  le  T^m^raire  et  la  Ligue  de  Constance.    Paris.  1902. 

Vallet  de  Viriville.    Histoire  de  Charles  VII.    3  vols.    Paris.  1865. 


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Aubert,  F.    Le  Parlement  de  Paris  de  Philippe-le-Bel  a  Charles  VII.   Paris.  1878. 
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Beaurepaire,  R.  de.    Les  6tats  de  Normandie  sous  la  domination  Anglaise.  Evreux. 
1859. 

Bourel  de  La  Ronci^re,  C.    Histoire  de  la  Marine  frangaise.    Vol.  i.    Origines.  Paris. 
1899. 

Boutaric,  E.    Actes  du  Parlement  de  Paris.    2  vols.    Paris.  1863-7. 

  Institutions  militaires  de  la    France  avant  les  armees  permanentes.  Paris.. 

1863. 

Clamageran.  Histoire  de  I'Impot  en  France.  1867. 
Coville,  A.  Les  Etats  de  Normandie.  Paris.  1894. 
Daniel,  G.    Histoire  de  la  Milice  frangaise.    Paris.  1721. 

Dansin,  H.    Histoire  du  gouvernement  de  la  France  sous  le  r^gne  de  Charles  VIL  Paris., 
1858. 

Dareste,  C.    Traites  et  droits  de  douanes  dans  I'ancienne  France,  1304-1714.   Bibl.  de 

Vkc.  des  Chartes.    viii.  1846-7. 
Gamier,  J.    Recherche  des  Feux  en  Bourgogne  aux  xiv^  et  xv^  si^cles.    Dijon.  1876. 
Glasson,  E.  D.    Histoire  du  Droit  et  des  institutions  de  France.    Paris.    1887,  etc. 
Guettee,  F.  R.    Histoire  de  I'Eglise  de  France.    Vols.  vii.  viii.    Paris.  1847-56. 
Guidon  General  des  Finances,  avec  les  annotations  de  V.  Gelee.    Ed.  S.  Hardy.  Paris. 

1644. 

Jacqueton,  G.  Le  Tresor  de  I'epargne  sous  Fran5ois  I.  Revue  Historique.  1894. 
La  Chauvelays,  J.  de.  Etude  sur  les  armees  des  dues  de  Bourgogne.  Paris.  1881. 
Laferri^re,  L.  F.  J.    Histoire  du  Droit  fran9ais.    Paris.  1836. 

Le  Chanteur.     Dissertation    historique  et  critique  sur  la  Chambre  des  Comptes. 
1765. 

Le  Grand,  J.    Instruction  sur  le  fait  des  Finances  et  Chambre  des  Comptes.  Paris. 
1583. 

LuQay,  H.  de.    Les  Secretaires  de  I'etat  depuis  leur  institution  jusqu'  h.  la  mort  de  Louis 

XV.    Paris.  1881. 
Moreau  de  Beaumont.    Traite  des  impositions.    4  vols.    Paris.  1768. 
Pardessus,  J.  M.    Essai  historique  sur  P organisation  judiciare  de  la  France  et  I'adminis- 

tration  de  la  justice  depuis  H.  Capet  jusqu'  k  Louis  XII.    Ordonnances  des  rois  de 

France.    Vol.  xxi.    Paris.    1849.    Also  separate :  Paris.  1851. 
Picot,  G.  M.  R.     Histoire  des  ^^tats  Generaux . . .  de.     1355-1614.    4  vols.  Paris. 

1872. 

  Le  Parlement  de  Paris  sous  Charles  VIII.    Paris.  1877. 

  ^]tats  gendraux  sous  Charles  VIL    Cabinet  historique.  1878. 

Rapport  au  grand  conseil  de  Louis  XI  sur  les  abuses  de  la  cour  des  aides.    1468.  BibL 

Ec.  des  Chartes.    x.  1848-9. 
S^e,  H.    Louis  XI  et  les  Villes.    Paris.  1892. 
Spont,  A.    Lataille  en  Languedoc.    Annales  du  Midi,  1890-1. 

  La  gabelle  du  sel  en  Languedoc.    Annales  du  Midi,  1891,  October. 

  Une  recherche  g^ndrale  des  feux,  1490.    Ann.  Bull.  Soc.  Hist,  de  Fr.  Paris. 

1892. 

  La  Marine  fran^aise  sous  Charles  VIII.     Rev.  des  Quest.    Hist.     Vol.  xv. 

1894. 

  La  Milice  des  francs-archers  (1448-1500).    Rev.  des  Quest.  Hist.  lxi.  2.  April,, 

1897. 

Thomas,  A.    Les  ^itats  provinciaux  de  la  France  centrale  sous  Charles  VII.  Paris.. 
1879. 


758 


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Valois,  N.  ^Jtude  historique  sur  le  Conseil  du  Roi.  Introduction  to  the  Inventaire  des 
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  Le  Conseil  du  Koi  aux  xiv«,  xv^,  et  xvi«  si^cles.    Paris.    Picard.  1888. 

Viollet,  P.  Election  des  d^put^s  aux  6tats  g^n^raux  en  1468,  et  1484,  d'apr^s  des  docu- 
ments de  Bayonne,  Senlis,  Lyon,  Orleans,  Tours.  Bibl.  de  PEc.  des  Chartes.  xxvii. 
1866. 

Vuitry,  A.  ^^tude  sur  le  Regime  Financier  de  la  France.  Nouvelle  S^rie.  2  vols. 
1285-1380.    Paris.  1883. 

C,  Provincial 

Argentr^,  B  d'.    L'histoire  de  Bretaigne  jusques  aux  temps  de  Madame  Anne,  dernifere 

duchesse.    Paris.  1588. 
Barante,  A.  de.    Histoire  des  Dues  de  Bourgogne.    12  vols.,  etc.    Paris.  1824-6. 
Boucliet,  J.    Annales  d'Aquitaine  et  Poitou.  1524. 

Boutaric,  E.    Organisation  judiciare  du  Languedoc  au  moyen  age.    Bibl.  de  I'Ec.  des 

Chartes.    xvi.    1854-5.    xvii.  1855-6. 
Calmet,  A.    Histoire  eccl^siastique  et  civile  de  Lorraine.  1728. 
Daru,  P.  A.  N.  B.    Histoire  de  Bretagne.    3  vols.    Paris.  1816. 

Dognon,  P.  Les  Institutions  politiques  et  administratives  du  pays  de  Languedoc  du 
xiii«  si^cle  aux  guerres  de  religion.    Bibliot.  M^ridion.    S^r.  2,  vol.  4.  1896. 

Dom  Felibien  et  Dom  Lobineau.    Histoire  de  Paris.    5  vols.    Paris.  1725. 

Dom  Vaiss^te  et  Dom  Devic.  Histoire  de  Lauguedoc.  5  vols.  Paris.  1733-45.  15  vols. 
Toulouse.  1872-. 

Dupuy,  A.  Histoire  de  la  reunion  de  la  Bretagne  la  France.  2  vols.  Paris. 
1880. 

La  Mure,  J.  M.  de.    Histoire  des  dues  de  Bourbon  et  des  comtes  de  Forez.   Ed.  Chante- 

lauze.    3  vols.   Lyons.  1860-8. 
Le  Moyne  de  la  Borderie.    Histoire  de  Bretagne.    Rennes.  1897. 

Morice,  H.,  et  Taillandier.  Histoire  eccl^siastique  et  civile  de  Bretagne.  2  vols.  Paris. 
1756. 

Plancher,  U.    Histoire  gdn^rale  et  particuli6re  de  Bourgogne.    4  vols.    1779,  etc. 
Ribbe,  C.  de.    La  Soci6t6  proven^ale  k  la  fin  du  moyen  ^ge.    Paris.  1898. 

D.  Biography 

Boislisle,  A.  de.  Notice  sur  ^^tienne  de  Vesc.  In  Annuaire  Bulletin,  Soc.  Hist,  de  France. 
1883-4. 

Bricard,  G.   Un  serviteur  et  compere  de  Louis  XI :  Jean  Bourr^,  Seigneur  du  Plessis. 

1424-1506.    Paris.  1893. 
Chabannes,  H.  de.    Histoire  de  la  Maison  de  Chabannes.    Paris.  1893. 
Clement,  P.    Jacques  Coeur  et  Charles  VII.    Paris.  1886. 
Fierville,  Ch.    Le  Cardinal  Jean  Jouffroy  et  son  temps.    Paris.  1873. 
Forgeot,  H.    J.  de  la  Balue.    Bib.  de  PEc.  pratique  des  Hautes  ^]tudes...Sciences  philol. 

et  hist.  fasc.  106.    Paris.  1895. 
La  Borderie,  A.  de.   Louis  de  la  Tremoille  et  la  guerre  de  Bretagne  en  1488.  Paris. 

1877. 

Lecoy  de  la  Marche.    Le  roi  Ren6.    Paris.  1875. 

Luchaire,  A.  Alain  le  Grand,  sire  d'Albret;  P administration  royale  et  la  f^odalit^  du 
Midi.    Paris.  1877. 

Mandrot,  B.  de.    Jacques  d'Armagnac,  Due  de  Nemours,  1433-77.    Revue  Historique, 

XLTII.  XLIV.  1890. 

  Louis  XI  et  Jean  V  d'Armagnac.    Revue  Historique.    xxxviii.  1888. 


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Mandrot,  B.  de.    Ymbert  de  Batarnay,  S^"  du  Bouchage.    1438-1523.    Paris.  1886. 
Maulde  la  Clavi^re,  R.    Jeanne  de  France,  Duchesse  d' Orleans.    Paris.  1883. 
Perret,  P.  M.    Malet  de  Graville,  Amiral  de  France,  1442-1516.   Paris.    Picard.  1889. 
Reilhac,  Jean  de,  Secretaire  des  Kois  Charles  VII,  Louis  XI  et  Charles  VIII,  1456-99. 
Paris.  1886-7. 

Spont,  A.    Semblan5ay,  ?-1527.    La  Bourgeoisie  Financi^re  au  d^but  du  xvi^  si6cle. 
Paris.  1895. 


E.  Miscellaneous 

Beyold.    Die  Lehre  der  Volkssouveranitat  wahrend  des  Mittelalters.    Histor.  Zeitschr. 

XXXVI.    Munich.  1876. 
Boissonnade,  P.    Histoire  de  la  reunion  de  la  Navarre  ^  la  Castille,  1479-1521.  Paris. 

1893. 

[Brantome.]    Bourdeilles,  P.  de,  S'^  de  BrantOme.    (Euvres  completes.    Ed.  M.  L.  C. 

Lalanne.    Soc.  Hist,  de  France.    Paris.  1864-82. 
Ch^rot,  H.    The  social  condition  of  France  at  the  beginning  of  the  xvith  century.  Revue 

des  Quest.  Hist.    lvii.  1895. 
Delaborde,  H.  F.    La  legation  du  Cardinal  Balue  en  1485.    Bull,  de  la  Soc.  Hist,  de 

Paris.    Paris.  1884. 

Desjardins,  A.    Louis  XI,  sa  politique  ext^rieure,  ses  rapports  avec  Tltalie.  Paris. 
1874. 

Fagniez.    ^^tudes  sur  I'histoire  de  I'Industrie  et  de  la  classe  industrielle  ^  Paris  du  xiii^  au 

xve  si^cle.    Paris.  1878. 
Franck.    Rgformateurs  et  publicistes  du  raoyen  ^ge  et  de  la  renaissance.    Paris.  1863. 
Fred^ricq,  P.    Essai  sur  le  role  politique  et  social  des  dues  de  Bourgogne  dans  les  Pays- 

Bas.    Ghent.  1875. 
Harrisse,  H.    Jean  et  Sebastien  Cabot.    Paris.  1882. 
Jacquet,  A.    Claude  de  Seyssel.    Rev.  des  Quest.  Hist.    lvii.  1895. 
Jal,  A.    Archgologie  navale.    2  vols.    Paris.  1839. 

Laborde,  L.  E.  de.    Les  Dues  de  Bourgogne ;  6tude  sur  les  lettres,  arts,  etc.,  pendant  le 

xve  siecle.    Paris.  1849-52. 
  Renaissance  des  arts  k  la  cour  de  France.    Vol.  i.    Peinture.    Additions.  Paris. 

1850-5. 

Lacroix,  P.    Vie  militaire  et  religieuse  au  moyen  age.    Paris.  1873. 

  Le  moyen  age  et  la  Renaissance.    5  vols.    Paris.  1848-51. 

Lecoy  de  la  Marche,  A.    La  Chaire  fran9aise  au  moyen  age.   2nd  ed.    Paris.  1886. 
Leroux,  A.    Nouvelles  recherches  sur  les  relations  de  la  France  et  de  I'Allemagne,  1378- 
1461.    Paris.  1892. 

Le  Roux  de  Lincy.    Paris  et  ses  historiens  aux  xiv^  et  xv^  si^cles.   Paris.  1867. 
Lindner,  Th.    Die  Zusammenkunft  K.  Friedrichs  III  mit  Karl  d.  Ktihnen,  1473,  zu  Trier. 
1876. 

Longnon,  A.    Paris  sous  la  domination  anglaise  (1420-36).    Soc.  Hist,  de  Paris.  Paris. 
1879. 

Mandrot,  A.  de.    ^:tudes  sur  les  relations  de  Charles  VII  et  Louis  XI  avec  les  Cantons 

suisses.    Jahrbuch  ftir  schweiz.  Gesch.  1880-1. 
Maulde  la  Clavi^re,  R.    Les  origines  de  la  Revolution  fran^aise  au  xvi^  siecle.  Paris. 

1890. 

Moland,  L.  E.  D.    Les  origines  litt^raires  de  la  France.    Paris.  1862. 
Miintz,  E.    Renaissance  k  I'epoque  de  Charles  VIII.    Paris.  1885. 
Nerlinger,  Ch.    P.  de  Hagenbach  et  la  domination  bourguignonne  en  Alsace.  Nancy. 
1890. 


760 


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Palustre,  L.    La  Renaissance  en  France.    Paris.  1879. 
Pasquier,  E.    Les  Recherches  de  la  France.    Paris.  1665. 

Pelicier,  P.    Essai  sur  le  gouvernement  de  la  Dame  de  Beaujeu.    Chartres.  Gamier, 
1882. 

Perrens,  F.  T.    La  Democratie  en  France  au  moyen  ^ge.    2  vols.    Paris.  1873. 
Petit,  E.    S^jours  de  Charles  VIII.    Bulletin  hist,  et  phil.  du  Comite  des  Travaux  Hist,  et 
Sclent.  1897. 

Quicherat,  J.    Histoire  du  Costume  en  France.    Paris.  1875. 

Roderer,  P.  L.    Louis  XII  et  Francis  I  ou  Memoires  pour  servir  h.  une  nouvelle  histoire  de 

leur  r^gne.    Paris.    1825.    2  vols. 
Spont,  A.    War  with  France,  1512-3.    Navy  Records  Society.    1897.    Vol.  x. 
Thierry,  A.    Histoire  du  Tiers  l]tat.    Paris.  1868. 

Tuetey,  A.    Les  Ecorcheurs  sous  Charles  VII.    2  vols.    Montp61iard.  1874. 

Vallet  de  Viriville.    Essais  critiques  sur  les  historiens  originaux  du  r^gne  de  Charles  VII. 

Bibl.  de  I'Ecole  des  Chartes.  1857. 
Viollet  le  Due,  E.  E.    Dictionnaire  raisonn6  du  Mobilier  de  l'^]poque  Carlovingienne  la 

Renaissance.    Paris.    1865,  etc. 
Witte,  H.    Zur  Geschichte  de  Burgunder  Kriege.    Zeitschr.  fiir  Gesch.  des  Oberrheins 

47-49.    Also  in  Jahrbuch  der  Lothring.    Gesch.  und  Altertumskunde,  1892-,  116-28, 

and  other  papers. 


{8ee  also  Bibliography  of  Chap.  IV.) 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  NETHERLANDS 
BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

See,  besides  the  Ghent  Bibliotheca  Belgica  and  other  collections  on  the  general 
bibliography  of  the  Netherlands,  S.  de  Wind,  Bibliotheek  d.  Nederlandsche  Geschied- 
schrijvers,  vol.  i.,  Middelburg,  1835 ;  L.  La  Haye,  H.  Francotte,  and  F.  de  Potter, 
Bibliographic  de  I'histoire  de  la  Belgique,  1830-82,  Li^ge,  from  1886 ;  and  the  in- 
valuable Bibliographie  de  I'histoire  de  Belgique  by  H.  Pirenne,  2nd  ed.,  Brussels  and 
Ghent,  1902.  Special  bibliographies  have  also  been  published  of  the  histories  of  several 
towns  and  territories.  The  short  lists  in  E.  Poullet,  Les  Anciens  Pays-Bas,  and  in  Lavisse 
and  Rambaud's  Histoire  G^n^rale,  vol.  iii.  ch.  4  (by  L.  Pingard)  and  8  (by  H.  Pirenne), 
will  be  found  useful,  together  with  the  names  of  authorities  in  P.  Fr^d^ricq,  Les  Dues  de 
Bourgogne.  A  list  of  essays  and  articles  in  Belgian  periodicals,  1830-65,  was  published 
by  E.  van  Bruyssel,  Brussels,  1869  ;  many  Dutch  contributions  of  value  are  to  be  found 
in  De  Gids,  Amsterdam,  from  1837. 


I.    ORIGINAL  DOCUMENTS 

Of  the  original  documents  preserved  in  the  national,  provincial,  municipal,  and  other 
archives  of  Holland  and  Belgium,  numerous  inventaires  have  been  published.  Those 
of  the  Belgian  archives,  drawn  up  under  the  direction  of  Gachard  by  himself,  C.  Plot, 
A.  Pinchart,  and  L.  Galesloot,  were  begun  in  1837  (Gachard's  Analectes  Belgiques 
appeared  1830,  his  Collection  de  doc.  in^d.  cone.  I'hist.  de  Belg.  in  3  vols.,  1833-5)  ;  the 
archives  of  the  Chambres  des  Comptes,  of  the  Council  of  Flanders,  and  of  the  Feudal 
Court  of  Brabant,  were  successively  introduced  by  Gachard  and  Pinchart  (Brussels, 
1837-65),  V.  Gaillard  (Ghent,  1856),  and  Galesloot  (Brussels,  1870)  ;  among  later  inven- 
taires are  those  of  the  Bruges  archives  by  E.  van  den  Bussche,  1881,  and  of  the  Brussels 
by  A.  Wauters,  from  1888.  Cf.  for  a  general  survey  La  Haye,  etc.  u.  s.  The  publication 
of  a  series  of  inventaires  of  the  Belgian  archives  under  the  direction  of  the  Administr. 
des  Arch.  G^n.  du  Royaume,  Part  i :  Catalogue  raisonn^,  has  quite  recently  (1902) 
begun.  The  Nederlandsche  Rijksarchiev  was  inventoried  by  R.  A.  Bakhuizen  van  den 
Brink,  L.  Ph.  C.  van  den  Bergh,  and  J.  de  Jonge,  Amsterdam,  1855  ;  other  Dutch  archives 
by  the  above,  P.  Scheltema  (Amsterdam,  1866-74),  van  den  Brandeler  (Dort,  1862-4), 
Rammelman  Elsevier,  J.  A.  Nijhoff,  etc.  ;  those  of  Groningen  by  H.  O.  Feith  (Groningen, 
1853-7).  Numerous  original  documents  of  Dutch  history  are  to  be  found  in  the 
publications  of  the  Royal  Netherlands  Inst,  and  Acad,  of  Sc.  (Class  II.),  and  of 
Belgian  in  the  m^moires  and  bulletins  of  the  Acad.  Roy.,  the  Comm.  Roy.  d'Hist. 
(whose  comptes-rendus  fill  4  series  from  1834),  the  Comm.  Roy.  pour  la  publ.  des  anc. 

761 


762 


The  Netherlands 


lois  et  ordonnances,  and  the  Ghent  Acad.  Koy.  Plamande.  The  Utrecht  Historisch 
Genootschap,  which  published  the  Codex  Diplomaticus  Neerlandicus  in  6  vols.  (1853-63), 
and  other  historical  societies  in  Leyden  and  otlier  Dutch  as  well  as  in  Belgian  towns, 
have  likewise  been  active  in  printing  original  documents ;  cf.  also  the  Annuaire  of  the 
Brussels  Biblioth^que  Royale,  edited  by  Baron  de  Reiffenberg,  1840-51.  Of  importance 
as  to  ancient  statutes  and  customs  are,  besides  the  Liste  chronol.  des  edits  et  des 
ordonnances  des  Pays-Bas  (1885),  the  Recueil  des  anc.  ord.  de  la  Belgique  (from  1860) 
and  the  Rec.  des  anc.  coutumes  de  la  B.  (from  1867),  the  publications  of  the  Vereeniging 
t.  uitg.  der  bronnen  v.  h.  oude  vaterl.  recht,  13  vols,,  the  Hague,  from  1880;  the 
Keurboeken  of  the  Dutch  towns,  and  the  documents  of  the  Flemish  towns  ap.  Warnkoenig 
and  Ghedolf,  A.  Wauters,  etc. 

For  documentary  illustrations  of  the  relations  between  the  Netherlands  and  the 
Empire,  France  and  England  respectively,  see  the  ordinary  repositories,  and  especially 
Janssen,  Reichscorrespondenz,  vol.  ii.,  Ordonnances  des  rois  de  France,  vols.  xv. — xvi., 
Lettres  de  Louis  XI,  ed.  Vaesen  et  Charavay  for  Soc.  de  PHist.  de  France,  vols.  i. — v., 
from  1883 ;  Rymer ;  and  State  Papers,  Henry  VIII,  calendared  by  Brewer  and  Gairdner. 
The  following  collections  of  documents  illustrate  other  special  points,  and  are  enumerated 
in  the  order  in  which  these  are  to  be  found  in  the  text. 

Reusens,  E.    Documents  rel.  ^  I'hist.  de  PUniversit^  de  Louvain,  1425-07. 
Kervyn  de  Lettenhove.    Progr.  d'un  gouvernement  constit.  en  Belgique  au  15™®  si^cle. 
Brussels,    s.  d. 

Limburg-Brouwer,  P.  A.  van.  Boergoensche  Charters,  1428-82.  (Part  iii.  of  Orkoon- 
denboek  van  Holland  en  Zeeland  ;  ed.  L.  Ph.  C.  van  den  Bergh.)  The  Hague. 
1869. 

Wall,  P.  H.  van  der.  Handvesten,  Vorregten  etc.  van  Dordrecht.  3  vols.  Dort. 
1790. 

Smetius,  J.    Handvesten  en  Charters  etc.  van  Nijmegen.    2  vols.  Nymegen. 

Dodt  van  Flensborg,  J.  J.    Stukken  betr.  David  van  Borgondie  en  het  Sticht,  1456-97  ; 

betr.  de  Geestelijke  Broederschappen  te  U.,  1313-1472  ;  tijdp.  1486-1527  d.  U.  gesch. 

Utrecht.  1838. 

Ram,  P.  F.  X.  de.  Documents  relatifs  aux  troubles  da  Pays  de  Li6ge,  1455-1505. 
Brussels.  1844. 

Gingins  la  Sarra,  F.  de.    Ddpeches  des  Ambassadeurs  Milanais  sur  les  campagnes  de 

Charles-le-Hardi  etc.,  1471-7.    2  vols.    Paris.  1858. 
Kervyn  de  Lettenhove.    Lettres  et  N^gociations  de  P.  de  Commines.    3  vols.  Brussels. 

1867-8. 

Chmel,  J.  Urkunden,  Briefe  und  Actenstucke  zur  Gesch.  Max.  I  u.  s.  Zeit.  [1493-1508.] 
Stuttgart.  1845. 

Gachard,  L.  P.  Lettres  in^d.  de  Max.,  due  d'Autr.,  sur  les  aff.  des  Pays-Bas,  1478-1508. 
Brussels,    s.  d. 

Diegerick,  L.  A.  Corresp.  des  magistrats  d'Ypres,  pendant  les  troubles  sous  Max. 
[1483].    Bruges.  1855. 

Hofler,  C.  von.  Depeschen  d.  Venet.  Botsch.,  V.  Quirino,  bei  Erzh.  Philipp  v.  B. 
1505-8.    Vienna.  1884. 

Cartas  de  Felipe  el  hermoso.    (Coll.  des  doc.  inM.  d'Esp.    Madrid.  1846. 

Le  Glay,  A.  Corresp.  de  I'Emp.  Max.  I  et  de  Marguerite  d'Autr.,  Gouvernante  des  Pays- 
Bas  [1507-19].    2  vols.    Paris.  1839. 

Bergh,  L.  Ph.  C.  van  den.  Corresp.  de  Marguerite  d'Autr.  etc.,  1506-28.  (Archives  de 
Lille.)    2  vols.    Leyden.  1847. 

Quinsonas,  de.  Mat^riaux  p.  s.  k  I'hist.  de  Marguerite  d'Autr.  3  vols.  Paris. 
1860. 

Erasmus,  D.    Epistolae.    (Vol.  iii.  of  Opera,  ed.  Le  Clerc.)    Leyden.  1703. 


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II.    CHRONICLES  AND  OTHER  NARRATIVES  WHOLLY  OR  IN 
PART  CONTEMPORARY 

A.  Collections 
{Subsequently  cited  by  the  abbreviations  here  appended,^ 

Buchon,  J.  A.    Coll.  des  Clironiques  Nationales  Fran9aises,  du  IS^^e  au  16™^  si6cle.  Paris, 
1826-8.  [Buchon.] 

Chroniques  rel.  ^  I'Hist.  de  la  Belgique  sous  les  dues  de  Bourgogne.    Ed.  Kervyn  de 

Lettenhove.    3  vols.    1870-3.    [Chron.  Belg.] 
Coll.  de  Chroniques  Beiges  in^dites,  publ.  p.  o.  du  Gouvernement.    Brussels.  1836-93. 

[Chron.  Belg.] 

Coll.  des  Chroniqueurs  et  Trouvferes  Beiges,  publ.  p.  I'Acad^mie  de  Bruxelles.  Brussels 

and  Louvain.    1863-79.    [Chron.  Acad.] 
Mart^ne  et  Durand.    Vet.  Script,  et  Monum.  Amplissima  Collectio.    9  vols.  Paris. 

1724-33.    [Ampl.  Coll.] 
Matthaeus,  A.    Vet.  Aevi  Analecta.    2nd  ed.  5  vols.    The  Hague.    1738.  [Matth. 

Anal.] 

Petitot,  C.  B.    M^moires  sur  I'Hist.  de  France.    1^  s6rie.    Paris.    1819-26.    [Petitot,  i.] 


B.    Chronicles  treating  of  the  General  History  op  the  Netherlands 

Basin,  T.  (Archiep.  Caesar.).    De  rebus  gestis  Caroli  VII  et  Ludov.  XI  11.  xii.    Ed.  J. 

Quicherat  for  Soc.  de  PHist.  de  France.    4  vols.  1854-9. 
Chastellain,  G.    Chroniques.    These  include  :  Declar.  des  hauts  faits  du  due  de  Bourgognv  ; 

la  Grande  Chronique  [1420-74]  ;  Chron.  de  J.  de  Lalain  etc.,  8  vols.    Chron.  Acad.  ; 

Chron.  des  dues  de  B.,  3  vols.  Buchon. 
Commines,  P.  de.    M^moires  [1464-98].    3  vols.    Petitot,  i.    Ed.  Mile.  Dupont,  for  Soc. 

Hist,  de  la  France.    3  vols.    Paris.    1840-71.    Chantelauze.    Paris.  1881. 
Duclercq,  J.    M^moires  [1448-67].    Ed.  B.  de  Reiffenberg.    4  vols.    Brussels.  1823. 

Buchon ;  Petitot,  i. 

Froissart,  J.  Chroniques  [1326-1400].  Ed.  Buchon.  15  vols.  Ed.  Kervyn  de  Letten- 
hove. 25  vols,  in  26.  Chron.  Acad.  Ed.  S.  Luce.  11  vols.  (In  course  of  publica- 
tion.)   Paris.    1899,  etc. 

Gaehard,  L.  P.,  et  Plot,  C.  Collection  des  Voyages  des  Souverains  des  Pays-Bas.  4  vols. 
1877-82.  (Contains  int.  al.  :  A.  de  Lalahig,  Le  Voyage  de  Philippe  le  Beau,  1503.) 
[Chron.  Belg.] 

Hermannus  Goudanus,  G.  Hollandiae  Geldriaeque  Bellum  (from  1507).  Matth. 
Anal.  I. 

La  Marche,  O.  de.    L'Estat  de  la  Maison  du  due  Charles  de  Bourgogne  d.  le  Hardy  [1474]. 

Petitot,  I.    A  Flemish  version  of  this,  s.  t.  :  Rationarium  Aulae  et  Imperii  Carol. 

Audae.  etc.  in  Matth.  Anal.  i. 
  M^moires  [1435-92].    2  vols.    Petitot,  l    Soc.  Hist,  de  la  France.    4  vols.  Paris. 

1883-8. 

La  Marck,  R.  de,  le  s.  de  Fleuranges.    M^inoires,  1490-1537.  Buchon. 
Macquereau,  R.    Chronique  de  le  mais.  de  Bourgogne,  1500-27.    Louvain.  1765. 
Magnum  Chronicon  Belgicum  [-1474].    In  J.  N.  Pistorius,  Rer.  German.  Scriptores, 

vol.  III.    Ratisbon.  1726. 
Molinet,  J.    Chroniques  [-1492]  with  Supplement  [to  1506].    Ed.  Buchon.    5  vols. 

Paris.  1828. 


764 


The  Netherlands 


Monstrelet,  E.  de.  Chroniques  [1400-44].  Ed.  Douet  d'Arcq.  7  vols.  Paris. 
1857-62.  With  the  Supplements  of  M.  de  Coussy,  etc.  (-1467).  15  vols.  Buchon. 
[Erom  M.  are  adapted  or  abridged  the  chronicles  of  J.  Lefebvre  de  St.  Remy  and 
others.  ] 

Pontus  Heuterus.    Rerum  Burgundicarum  11.  vi.  [the  Austrian  period  from  O.  de  la 

Marche],    Antwerp,  1584,  and  later  editions. 
(Troyes,  J.  de.)    Les  Chroniques  de  Louys  XI,  autrem.  dites  La  Chronique  Scandaleuse 

[1460-83].    2  vols.    Petitot,  i.    Paris.  1820. 

C.    Provincial  and  Local  Chronicles 
(^According  to  the  order  of  Provinces  followed  in  the  text.) 

Histoire  et  Chronique  de  Elandre.     Ed.  Kervyn  de  Lettenhove.     2  vols.  1879-80. 

Cont.  int.  al. :  Histoire  des  Pays-Bas  en  forme  de  Journal.    Chron.  Belg. 
Corpus  Chronicorum  Elandriae.     Ed.  J.  E.  de  Smet.     4  vols.     1837-65.  Chron. 

Belg. 

Kronyk  van  Vlaenderen  (-1467).    2  vols.    Ghent.  1840. 

Chroniques  de  Brabant  et  de  Elandre  (-1565).    Ed.  C.  Plot.    1846.    Chron.  Belg. 
Dagboek  der  Gentsche  Collatie,  1446-1555.    Ed.  A.  C.  Schayer.    Ghent.  1842. 
Dagboek  van  Gent,  van  1447  tot  1515.    Ed.  V.  Fris.    (In  course  of  publication.) 
Gedenkschrif ten  van  Jan  Heere  van  Dad izeele  [1437-80].    Bruges.  1850. 
Rombaut  de  Donpere.      Chronique  Brugeoise  1491-98.     Ed.   H.  Dussart.  Bruges. 
1893. 

Relations  des  troubles  de  Gand  sous  Charles  V.    Ed.  Gachard.    1846.    Chron.  Belg. 
Dynter,  E.  van.    Chronica  due.  Lotharing.  et  Brabant,  et  reg.  Franc.  [-1447].    Ed.  P. 

J.  X.  de  Ram.    3  vols,  in  4.    1854-60.    With  the  French  version  by  J.  Wauquelin. 

Chron.  Belg. 

(Heyden,  Van  der.)    P.  a  Thymo.    Hist.  Brabantiae  diplom.    [Continuation  of  Dynter.] 

Ed.  B.  de  Reiffenberg.    2  vols.    Brussels.  1830. 
Barlandus,  H.    De  reb.  gest.  due.  Brabant.  [-1526].    Louvain.  1532. 
Monuments  p.  s.  k  Phist.  des  prov.  de  Namur,  Hainaut  et  Luxembourg.    Edd.  de 

Reiffenberg,  Devillers,  de  Smet  et  Borgnet.    Chron.  Belg. 
Chronique  du  Hainaut  et  de  Mons.    Ed.  A.  Lacroix.    Mons.  1841. 

Cronycke,  die,  van  Hollandt,  Zeelandt  en  Vrieslandt,  -1517  ;  with  continuations  to 
1530,  Antwerp,  1530;  and  to  1555  in  vol.  i.  of  Dort  edition,  1620.  (The  so-called 
Divisie-cronyk.) 

Scharlensis,  O.  Cronycke  etc.  van  Vrieslandt  [to  1500].  Leeuwarden.  1597  and 
1742. 

Stavelot,  J.  de.    Chronique  (history  of  Liege,  1399-1447).    Chron.  Belg. 
(Oudenbosch.)    Adrian,  de  Veteri  Busco.    Chronicon  rer.  Leodensium,  etc.  (1449-83.) 
Ampl.  Coll. 

Burlandus,  H.    Trajectan.  Episcop.  Catalogus  et  eorum  res  gest.    Frankfort.  1585. 
Erp,  H.  ab,  Abbatiss.  v.  d.  Vrouwen-clooster  in  suburb.  Trajectan.     Annales  vernaculi, 

1421-1549.    Matth.  Anal.  i. 
Annales  rer.  in  Holland,  et  dioeces.  Ultrajectan.  gest.,  1481-3.  Ibid. 

III.    LATER  WORKS 

A.    General  History,  Geography,  and  Institutions 

Bergh,  L.  Ph.  C.  van  den.    Handboek  d.  Middel-Nederlandsche  Geographic.  Leyden, 

1852  ;  the  Hague,  1872. 
Biographic  Nationale,  publ.  par  1' Academic  R.  de  Belgique.    Brussels,  from  1866. 


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Blok,  P.  J.    Geschiedenis  v.  h.  Nederlandsche  Volk.    Vols.  i. — iv.  (to  the  Peace  of 

Westphalia).     Groningen.     1892-99.     Vols.  i.  and  ii.,  tr.  by  O.  Bierstadt  and 

R.  Putnam.    New  York  and  London.  1898-1900. 
Borchgrave,  E.  de.    Hist,  des  rapports  de  droit  publ.  entre  les  Provinces  Beiges  et  PEmp. 

d'Allemagne.    Brussels.  1869. 
Deventer,  J.  de.    Atlas  des  Villes  de  Belgique  au  xvi™^  si^cle.    Ed.  Reutens.    (In  course 

of  publication.) 
Doornik,  J.    De  Magno  Mariae  Privilegio.    Leyden.  1792. 

Gachard,  L.  P.  Lettre  etc.  cone,  les  anciennes  Assemblies  Nationales  de  la  Belgique, 
1465-1034.    In  Etudes  et  Notices  hist.    Vol.  i.    Brussels.  1890. 

Guicciardini,  L.  Descrittione  di  tutti  i  Paesi  Bassi,  altr.  della  Germania  Inferiore. 
Antwerp.    1588.    (Later  Dutch  and  English  versions. ) 

Juste,  T.  Hist,  des  I]tats-G6n6raux  des  Pays-Bas,  1465-1790.  Brussels  and  Paris. 
1864. 

Kampen,  N.  G.  van.  Geschichte  der  Niederlande,  (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten.)  2  vols. 
Hamburg.  1831. 

Nam^che,  A.  J.    Cours  d'Hist.  nationale.    29  vols.    Louvain.  1853-92. 

Nijhoff,  D.  C.    Staatkund.  Gesch.  van  Nederland.    2  vols.    Zutphen.  1891-3. 

Pirenne,  H.  Geschichte  Belgiens.  German  tr.  by  F.  Arnheim.  Vols.  i. — ii.  (vol.  ii., 
from  the  beginning  of  the  14th  century  to  the  death  of  Charles  the  Bold, 
tr.  from  the  Erench  manuscript).  (Gesch.  der  europ.  Staaten.)  Gotha.  1899- 
1902. 

Poullet,  E.  Origines,  diveloppements  et  transformations  des  Institutions  dans  les 
anciens  Pays-Bas.  2"^^  ed.  (Vol.  ii.  compl.  by  Pr.  Poullet.)  2  vols.  Louvain. 
1882-92. 

Pycke,  M.  Mim.  sur  les  Metiers  dans  les  Pays-Bas.  (Mem.  Acadim.)  Brussels. 
1827. 

Sickesz,  C.  de.    De  Schutterijen  in  Nederland.    Utrecht.  1864. 

Tarlier,  J.  et  Wauters,  A.  G^ographie  et  Hist,  des  communes  Beiges.  3  vols.  Brussels. 
1859-74. 

Wagenaar,  J.  Vaderlandsche  Historic.  21  vols.  Amsterdam,  1749-59 ;  with  continua- 
tions, and  French  and  German  translations. 

Wauters,  A.  Les  libertes  communales.  2  vols.  Brussels.  1878  (vol.  of  documents, 
1869). 

Wenzelburger,  K.  Th.  Gesch.  der  Niederlande.  (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten.)  2  vols. 
Gotha.  1879-86. 

Wynne,  J.  A.  Gesch.  v.  de  Nederlanden.  Vol.  i.  (no  more  publ.).  Groningen. 
1873. 

B.    History  of  Successive  Periods 
{In  chronological  order.) 

Mieris,  F.  van.    Hist.  d.  Nederland.  vorsten  u.  d.  h,  v.  Beijere,  Borgonje  en  Oostenrijk. 

(With  numismatic  illustrations.)    2  vols.    The  Hague.  1732-5. 
Deschamps  de  Pas,  L.    Essai  sur  I'Hist.  Monitaire  des  comtes  de  Flandre  de  la  m.  de 

Bourg.  et  de  la  m.  d'Autr.    2  vols.    Paris.  1863-74. 
Barante,  A.  G.  P.  B.  de.    Histoire  des  Dues  de  Bourgogne,  1364-1477.    13  vols.  Paris. 

1824-6,  and  later  editions. 
Praet,  J.  van.    Les  Dues  de  Bourgogne.    In  Essais,  etc.    Brussels.  1867. 
Fredericq,  P.    Essai  sur  le  role  polit.  et  soc.  des  Dues  de  Bourgogne  dans  les  Pays-Bas. 

Ghent.  1875. 

Loher,  F.  von,  Jakobaea  von  Bayern  und  ihre  Zeit.  2nd  ed.  2  vols.  Nordlingen. 
1869. 

Loher,  F.  von.  Jak.  von  B.,  Phil,  von  Burgund  u.  d.  Kaiser  Sigismund.  In  Mtinchner 
Histor.  Jahrb.    Munich.  1866. 


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Vanderkindere,  L.    Le  Si6cle  des  Artevelde.    Brussels.  1879. 
Richter,  F.    Der  Luxemburger  Erbfolgestreit,  1438-43.    Trier.  1889. 
Reiffenberg,  B.  de.    Hist,  de  I'Ordre  du  Toison  d'Or.    Brussels.  1830. 
Kirk,   J.  F.     Hist,   of  Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy.     3  vols.  London. 
1863-8. 

Heuvard,  P.  Appreciation  sur  le  r^gne  de  Charles  le  T^m.  (M^m.  cour.  par  PAcad^m. 
Belg.  vol.  XXIV.)  ;  and  Les  Campagnes  de  C.  le  T.  contre  les  Li^geois.  Brussels. 
1868. 

Freeman,  E.  A.    Charles  the  Bold.    In  Hist.  Essays,  1st  ser.    London.  1871. 
Petit-Dutaillis,  C.    Charles  VII,  Louis  XI  et  les  premieres  ann^es  de  Charles  VIII. 

Vol.  IV.  of  E.  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France.    (In  course  of  publication.) 
Miiller,  K.  E.  M.     Die   deutschfeindliche  Politik  Karl's  des  Kiihnen.  Prenzlau. 

1872. 

Bussierre,  J.  M.  de.    Hist,  de  la  Ligue  form^e  contre  Charles  le  T^m.    Paris.  1845. 

Chauvelays,  de  la.    ^]tude  sur  les  armies  du  due  de  Bourg.    Paris.  1881. 

Guillaume,  G.    Hist,  de  1' Organisation  Militaire  sous  les  dues  de  Bourg.  and  Hist,  des 

Ban  des  d'Ordonnance  des  Pays-Bas.    (M^m.  cour.  par  I'Acad^m.  Belg.)  Brussels. 

1846  and  1873. 

Toutey,  E.    Charles  le  T^m^raire  et  la  ligue  de  Constance.    Paris.  1892. 
Nerlinger,  Ch.    Pierre  de  Hagenbach  et  la  domination  bourguign.  en  Alsace.  Nancy. 
1890. 

Daendliker.    Ursachen  und  Vorspiele  der  Burgunderkriege.    Zurich.  1876. 
Delbriick,  H.    Die  Perserkriege  u.  d.  Burgunderkriege.    Berlin.  1887. 
Paris,  A.  J.    Louis  XI.  et  la  ville  d' Arras  (1477-83).    Arras.  1868. 

Miinch,  E.  Maria  v.  Burgund,  nebst  d.  Leben  v.  Margaretha  v.  York.  2  vols.  Leipzig. 
1832. 

Paillard,   C.    Le  proems  du  chanc.    Hugonet  et  du  s.  d'Humbercourt.     (M^m.  de 

r  Acad.  R.)    Brussels.  1880. 
Praet,  L.  van.    Louis  de  Bruges,  s.  de  la  Gruthuuse.    Paris.  1831. 

Ulmann,  H.  Kaiser  Maximilian  I,  auf  urkundl.  Grundl.  dargest.  2  vols.  Stuttgart, 
1884. 

Huber,  A.  Gesch.  Osterreichs.  Vol.  iii.  (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten.)  Gotha. 
1888. 

Smet,  J.  J.  de.    M^m.  sur  la  guerre  de  Max.  roi  des  Rom.  contre  les  villes  de  Flandre, 

1482-88.    (M6m.  de  I'Acad^m.  Belg.)    Brussels.  1863. 
Asch  van  Wijck,  H.  M.  A.  J.  van.    Driej.  Oorlog  t.  Max.  v.  O.  en  de  stad  Utrecht,  1481-4. 

Vol.  I.    Utrecht.    1841.    (Papers  by  the  same  author  on  the  Boar  of  the  Ardennes, 

Bishop  David  of  Utrecht,  etc.) 
Serrure,  C.  A.    Not.  sur  Engelbert  II,  corate  de  Nassau.    Ghent.  1862. 
Le  Glay,   A.     Maximilien  I  et  Marguerite  d'Autriche.     Paris.     1839   (and  with 

Corresp.). 

Miinch,  E.    Margaretha  von  Osterreich.    Leipzig.  1883. 
Juste,  T.    Charles-Quint  et  Marguerite  d'Autriche.    Brussels.  1858. 
Henne,    A.     Hist,    du   r^gne    de    Charles   V    en    Belgique.     10    vols.  Brussels. 
1858-60. 

{See  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  XII.  and  XIV,) 
C.    History  of  the  Several  Provinces 
{According  to  the  arrangement  adopted  in  the  text.) 

Meyerus,  J.    Annales  Flandriae  (-1471).    Antwerp.  1561. 
Oudegherst.    Annales  de  Flandre.    Antwerp,  1571,  and  2  vols.  Ghent,  1789. 
Kervyn  de  Lettenhove.    Histoire  de  Flandre.    6  vols.    (Vols.  iv.  and  v.  :  Les  Dues  de 
Bourgogne.)    Brussels.  1847-50. 


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Smet,  J.  J.    Notice  historique  et  critique  sur  le  pays  de  Waes.    Brussels.  1878. 

Papenbrochius.  Annales  Antverpienses.  Ed.  F.  Mertens  and  E.  Buschmann.  5  vols. 
Antwerp.  1845-8. 

Mertens,  F.  and  Torfs.    Gesch.  van  Antwerpen.    8  vols.   Antwerp.  1845-53. 
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Gachard,  L.  P.  M^m.  sur  la  composition  et  les  attributions  des  anc.  ^]tats  de  Brabant. 
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Poullet,  E.    La  Joyeuse  Entree  ou  Constitution  Braban9onne.    Brussels.  1862. 
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Henne,  A.  et  Wauters,  A.    Hist,  de  la  ville  de  Bruxelles.    3  vols.    Brussels.  1843-5. 

Ernst,  S.  P.  Histoire  de  Limbourg.  Vols.  i. — v.  [to  1427  only].  Annot.  E.  de  Laveleye. 
Li^ge.  1837-48. 

Vinchaut.  Annales  de  la  pro  v.  et  du  comt^  de  Hainaut  (-1555).  6  vols.  Brussels. 
1848-54. 

Delewarde.    Hist,  g^n^rale  de  Hainaut.    6  vols.    Mons.  1718-22. 

Devillers,  L.  Hainaut  sous  la  r^gence  de  Maximilien  d'Autr.,  1483-5.  Brussels. 
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Kluit,  A.     Hist.  Crit.  Commitatus  Hollandiae  et  Zeelandiae.    4  vols.  Middelburg. 
1777-82. 

Rammelman  Elsevier,  W.  J.  C.    De  strijd  t.  de  Hoeckschen  en  Kabeljaauwschen  in  1479- 
83.    Utrecht.  1851. 

Floten,  J.  van.    Nederlandsche  Geschiedzangen  (-1609).    New  ed.    2  vols.  Amsterdam. 
1864. 

Wagenaar,  J.    Amsterdam  in  zyne  opkomst,  aanw.  en  geschieden.    13  vols.  Amsterdam. 
1760-8. 

Gouw,  J.  ter.    Gesch.  van  Amsterdam.    Vols.  i.  iv.  [to  abdication  of  Charles  V].  Am- 
sterdam. 1879-84. 

Reyn,  G.  van.    Geschiedkund.  beschrijving  d.  stad  Rotterdam.    2  vols.  Rotterdam. 
1831-74. 

Fruin,  R.    Een  Hollandsche  Stad  in  de  middeleeuwen,  cont.    De  midd.  Keurboeken  d. 
stad  Leiden,  ed.  H.  G.  Hamaker.    Amsterdam.  1873. 


768 


The  Netherlands 


Blok,  P.  J.  Eene  Hollandsche  Stad  in  de  middeleeuwen.  The  Hague.  1883.  Eene 
H.  S.  onder  de  Bourgond.-Oostenr.  heersch.  The  Hague.  1884.  Een  Hollandsch  Dorp 
in  de  xiv«  eeuw.    Amsterdam.  1856. 

Oosten  de  Bruyn,  G.  Van.    De  stad  Haarlem  en  h.  geschiedenissen.    Haarlem.  1765. 

Woude,  C.  van  der.    Kronyk  d.  stad  Alkmaar.    Amsterdam.  1725. 
Hooft.    Friesland  en  de  Friezen  in  de  middeleeuwen.    Leyden.  1883. 
Richthofen,  K.  von.    Untersuchungen  liber  friesische  Rechtsgeschichte.    3  vols.  Berlin. 
1880-6. 

Blok,  F.  J.    Schieringers  en  vetkoopers.    n.  d. 

Diest  Lorgion,  F.  J.  Geschiedkund.  beschrijving  d.  stad  Groningen.  2  vols.  Groningen. 
1852-7. 

Bertholet,  J.    Hist,  du  duch6  de  Luxembourg.    8  vols.    Luxemburg.  1741-3. 
Schotter,  J.     Gesch.  d.  luxemb.  Landes.    Ed.  K.  A.  Herchem  et  N.  van  Werweke.  Lux- 
emburg, from  1882. 

Richter,  F.    Der  Luxemburger  Erbfolgestreit  in  d.  J.  1438-43.    Trier.  1889. 

H6naux,  F.    Hist,  du  pays  de  Li6ge.    3rd  ed.    2  vols.    Liege.  1872-4. 
Borman,  C.  de.    Les  l^chevins  de  la  souveraine  justice  de  Liege.    Vol.  i.    Li6ge.  1892. 
Daris,   J.    Hist,  du  dioc.  et  de  la  princ.  de  Liege  pendant  le  xv™e  siecle.  Li6ge, 
1887. 

Gamier,  E.    Louis  de  Bourbon,  6veque-prince  de  Li6ge,  1452-82.    Paris.  1860. 
Henrard,  P.    Les  campagnes  de  Charles  le  Tem.  contre  les  Liegeois  (1463-8).  Annales 

de  I'Acad.  d'Archeol.  1867. 
Pirenne,  H.    Hist,  de  la  const,  de  la  v.  de  Dinant  au  moyen-age.    Ghent.  1889. 
Cortgren,  J.  van.    Stichtsche  Cleyne  Crony  eke,  -1578.    Amsterdam.  1745. 
Oudegein  de  Geer,  J.  J.  van.    Bijdr.  t.  d.  gesch.  en  oudh.  d.  prov.  Utrecht.   2  vols. 

Utrecht.  1860. 

Pontanus.    Historiae  Gelricae  11.  xiv.    Harderwyk.  1639. 

Nijhoff,  J.  A.  Gedenkw.  uit  de  Gesch.  van  Gelderland.  6  vols.  (vol.  v. :  De  Borgondische 
Heerschappij  ;  vol.  vi. :  Karel  van  Egmond).    The  Hague.  1830-75. 


D.    Trade  and  Industry 

Altmeyer,  J.  J.     Hist,  de  la  Hanse  teutonique  dans  ses  relations  avec  la  Belgique. 
Brussels.  1835. 

Altmeyer,  J.  J.    Hist,  des  relations  commerciales  et  dipl.  des  Pays-Bas  avec  le  Nord  de 

1' Europe  pendant  le  xvi™^  siecle.    Brussels.  1890. 
Ashley,  W.  J.    An  Introduction  to  English  Economic  History  and  Theory.    Vol.  ii. 

London.  1893. 

Bruyssel,  E.  van.    Histoire  du  Commerce  et  de  la  Marine  en  Belgique.    3  vols.  Brussels. 
1861-5. 

Douw  van  der  Krap,  K.  K.    Gesch.  van  Nederlands  Koophandel.    Zierikzee.  1854. 
Ehrenberg,  R.    Das  Zeitalter  d.  Fugger :  Geldkapital  u.  Creditverkehr  im  16.  Jahrh. 
2  vols.    Jena.  1896. 

Pinchart,  A.    E.  sur  les  relations  commerciales  des  Beiges  avec  le  Nord  d' Italic  et  part.  a. 

les  Vgnitiens  (12me_i6me  siecles).    Ghent.  1851. 
Potter,  F.  de,  and  Broeckaert,  J.    Gesch.  v.  d.  Belgischen  Boerenstand  t.  h.  einde  d. 

XVIII.  eeuw.    (Mem,  Acad.)    Brussels.  1881. 
Reiffenberg,  B.  de.    De  P^tat  de  la  population,  des  fabriques  et  des  manuf.  des  Pays-Bas 

pendant  le  xv^e  et  le  xvi""^  siecle.    (M6m.  Acad.)    Brussels.  1822. 


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Rooy,  E.  W.  de.    Geschied.  van  den  Nederlandsche  Handel.    Amsterdam.  1854. 
Schanz,  G.    Englische  Handelspolitik  gegen  Ende  d.  Mittelalters.    2  vols.  Leipzig. 
1880-1. 

Severen,  G.  van.  Les  relations  de  la  Hanse  teutonique  avec  la  ville  de  Bruges  au 
commencement  du  xv^e  si^cle.  Bull,  de  la  Comm.  royale  d'hist.  Vol.  vii.  Brussels. 
1880. 

E.  Religion 

Acquoy,  J.  G.    De  Kroniek  v.  h.  Fraterhuis  te  Zwolle.    Amsterdam.  1879. 

  Het  Klooster  te  Windeshem  en  zyn  invloed.    3  vols.    Utrecht.  1875-80. 

Altmeyer,  J.  J.  Les  pr^curseurs  de  la  R^forme  aux  Pays-Bas.  2  vols.  Brussels. 
1886. 

Bohringer,  F.    Die  Kirche  Christi  und  ihre  Zeugen  ;  vol.  ii.  part  3  cont.  Rusbroek, 

Groote,  F.  Radevynzoon,  T.  v.  Kempen.    Zurich.  1857. 
Delprat,  G.  H.  M.    Verh.  o.  d.  Broederschap  van  G.  Groote,  en  o.  d.  invloed  d.  Frater- 

huizen.    2nd  ed.    Arnhem.  1856. 
Friedrich,  J.    Johann  Wessel.    Ratisbon.  1892. 
Moll,  W.    Johannes  Brugmann,  etc.    2  vols.    Amsterdam.  1854. 

  Kerkgeschiedenis  van  Nederland  voor  de  Hervorming.    5  vols.    Arnhem  and 

Utrecht.  1864-71. 
Schmidt,  G.  C.    ]fetude  sur  J.  Rusbroek.    Strassburg.  1859. 

Ullraann,  C.  Reformatoren  vor  der  Reformation,  vorn.  in  Deutschland  u.  d.  Nieder- 
landen.  2  vols.  Hamburg.  1841.  Vol.  ii.  contains  Brethren  of  the  Common  Lot 
and  Joh.  Wessel.    Eng.  tr.  by  R.  Menzies.    2  vols.    Edinburgh.  1865. 


F.    Manners,  Letters,  and  Art 

Crowe,  J.  A.,  and  Cavalcaselle,  G.  B.   The  Early  Flemish  Painters.   2nd  ed.  London. 
1872. 

Hellwald,  F.  von.    Geschichte  d.  holland.  Theaters.    Rotterdam.  1871. 
Hofdijk,  W.  J.   0ns  Voorgeslacht  in  zijn  dagelijksch  leven  geschildert.   6  vols.  Haarlem. 
1858-62. 

Jonckbloet,  W.  J.  A.    Gesch.  d.  nederlandsche  Letterkunde.    4th  ed.,  rev.    C.  Honigh ; 

vols.  I.  and  ii.    Groningen.  1888-9. 
Laborde,  L.  E.  S.  J.  de.    Les  Dues  de  Bourgogne.    Essai  sur  les  lettres,  les  arts  et  I'in- 

dustrie  pendant  le  15™^  si^cle,  etc.,  part  ii.   3  vols.    Paris.  1849-51. 
Linde,  A.  van  der.    De  Costerlegende.    The  Hague.    1869  and  later  editions. 
Moke.    Moeurs,  usages,  fetes  et  solennites  des  Beiges.    2  vols.    Brussels.  1847. 
Schayes,  A,    Histoire  de  1' architecture  in  Belgique.    4  vols.    Brussels,    s.  d. 
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Serrure,  C.  A.    Gesch.  d.  Nederlandsche  en  Fransche  Letterkunde  in  Vlaenderen  tot  het 

einde  d.  regeering  v.  h.  Huis  v.  Burgondie.    Ghent.  1855, 
Snellaert,  A.    Hist,  de  la  Litt^rature  Flamande.    Brussels.  1847. 
Thibaut,  F.    Marguerite  d'Autriche  et  Jehan  Lemaire  de  Beiges.    Paris.  1888. 

(jPor  the  literature  of  the  Renaissance,   and  of  Erasmus  in  particular,   see  the 
Bibliographies  of  Chaps.  XVI.  XVII.  XVIII  and  XIX.) 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


49 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  EARLY  TUDORS 
BIBLIOGRAPHIES 

Gardiner,  S.  R.  and  Mullinger,  J.  B.    Introduction  to  the  Study  of  English  History. 

3rd  ed.    London.  1894. 
Gross,  C.     The  Sources  and  Literature  of  English  History  from  the  earliest  times  to 

about  1486.    London,  New  York  and  Bombay.  1900. 


L  DOCUMENTS 

Baga  de  Secretis  in  Report  III.  App.  ii.  of  Deputy  Keeper  of  Public  Records.  London. 
1842. 

Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Henry  VIII.  Vols.  i. — iv.  (Commission  for  printing  and 
publishing  State  Papers.)    London.  1862-70. 

Calendar  of  Letters  and  State  Papers,  Spanish.  Vols,  i.— iii.  1862-77.  With  Supple- 
ment to  vols.  I.  and  ii.    London.  1868. 

Calendar  of  State  Papers,  etc.,  Venetian.    Vols.  i. — in.    London.  1864-9. 

Campbell,  W.  Materials  for  a  History  of  the  Reign  of  Henry  VII.  Vols  i.  and  ii.  (all 
published).    Rolls  Series.    London.    1873,  1877. 

Collier,  J.  P.  Bull  of  Innocent  VIII  for  the  marriage  of  Henry  VII  with  Elizabeth  of 
York.    Camden  Miscellany,  vol.  i.    London.  1847. 

Ellis,  H.  Original  Letters.  First  Series,  vol.  i.  1824.  Second  Series,  vol.  i.  1827. 
Third  Series,  vols.  i.  and  ii.    London.  1846. 

Ellis,  Sir  H.  E.  The  Pylgrymage  of  Sir  Richard  Guylforde  to  the  Holy  Land,  a.d.  1506. 
Camden  Soc.    London.  1851. 

English  Historical  Review.    Vol.  xiv.  529 — 34. 

Gairdner,  J.    Memorials  of  Henry  VII.    Rolls  Series.    London.  1858. 

  Letters  and  Papers  illustrative  of  the  Reigns  of  Richard  III.  and  Henry  VII.   2  vols. 

Rolls  Series.    London.    1861,  1863. 
  "The  Spousells"  of  the  Princess  Mary  to  Charles,  Prince  of  Castile.  1508. 

(Camden  Miscellany,  vol.  ix.)    London.  1893. 
Historical  MSS.  Commission.    Report  on  Duke  of  Rutland's  MSS.  at  Belvoir  Castle. 

Vol.  I.    London.  1888. 
  Report  on  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury's  MSS.  at  Hatfield.    Vol.  i.  London. 

1883. 

Jerdan,  W.    Rutland  Papers.    Camden  Soc.    London.  1842. 
Leland,  J.    Collectanea.    Vol.  iv.  pp.  179— .309.    Oxford,  1715,  etc. 
Nichols,  J.  G.    Chronicle  of  Calais.    Camden  Soc.    London.  1846. 

  Chronicle  of  the  Grey  Friars.    Camden  Soc.    London.  1852. 

770 


Bibliography 


771 


Paston  Letters,  the.    Ed.  J.  Gairdner.    Vol.  iii.    Westminster.  1895. 
Rymer,  T.    Foedera.    Vols.  xii. — xiv.    London.  1711-2. 

Schanz,  G.    Englische  Handelspolitik  gegen  Ende  des  Mittelalters.    2  vols.  Leipzig. 
1881. 

Sheppard,  J.  B.    Christcliurch  Letters.    Camden  Soc.    London.  1877. 
Sneyd,  C.  A.    A  relation... of  the  Isle  of  England. .. about  the  year  1500.    Camden  Soc. 
London.  1847. 

Stapleton,  T,    Plumpton  Correspondence.    Camden  Soc.    London.  1839. 
Will,  the,  of  King  Henry  VII.    Ed.  T.  Astle.    London.  1775. 
Wilkins,  D.    Concilia.    Vol.  iii.    London.  1737. 


Relating  to  Ireland 

Calendar  of  Carew  MSS.    (Book  of  Howth,  etc.)    London.  1871. 

Calendar  of  Carew  MSS.,  1515-74.    London.  1867. 

Calendar  of  State  Papers  relating  to  Ireland.    Vol.  i.    London.  1860. 


Relating  to  Scotland 

Bain,  J.    Calendar  of  Documents  relating  to  Scotland.    Vol.  iv.    Edinburgh.  1888. 
Calendar  of  State  Papers  relating  to  Scotland.    Vol.  i.    London.  1858. 
•Dickson,  T.    Accounts  of  the  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  Scotland,  1473-98.  Edinburgh. 
1877. 

Rotuli  Scaccarii  Regum  Scotorum.    The  Exchequer  Rolls  of  Scotland.    Ed.  J.  Stuart  and 

G.  Burnett.    Vols,  ix.— xv.    Edinburgh.  1886-95. 
Ruddiman,  T.    Epistolae  Jacobi  Quarti,  Jacobi  Quinti  et  Mariae,  Regum  Scotorum. 

Vol.  I.    Edinburgh.  1722. 


II.    EARLY  HISTORIES  AND  CHRONICLES 

Andrg,  B.  Historia  Regis  Henrici  Septimi,  in  Gairdner's  Memorials.  Rolls  Series. 
1858. 

Cavendish,  G.    Life  of  Wolsey.    Hammersmith.  1893. 
Cottonian  MS.    Vitellius  A  xvi. 

Eabyan,  R.    Chronicle.    Ed.  H.  Ellis.    London.  1811. 
Hall,  E.    Chronicle.    Ed.  H.  Ellis.    London.  1809. 
Holinshed,  R.    Chronicle.    London.  1587. 

Polydori  Virgilii  Historia  Anglica.  Leyden.  1651.  (Book  xxvi.  treats  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII ;  Book  xxvii.,  which  is  absent  in  some  editions,  of  the  first  part  of  that  of 
Henry  VIII.) 

Wriothesley,  C.    Chronicle.    Vol.  i.    Camden  Soc.   London.  1875. 


Ireland 

Harris,  W.  Hibernica,  pp.  59—77.  Dublin.  1770. 
Ware,  J.    Annales.    London.  1658. 


772 


The  Early  Tudors 


Scotland 

Buchanan,  G.    History  of  Scotland  (Translation  by  Aikman).    4  vols.    Glasgow.  1827. 

  Rerum  Scoticarum  Historia.    Edinburgh.  1582. 

Pinkerton,  J.    History  of  Scotland.    2  vols.  1797. 


III.    PRINCIPAL  MODERN  HISTORIES 

Bacon,  E.    History  of  Henry  VII  (in  Spedding  and  Ellis'  edition  of  Bacon's  "Works, 

Vol.  VI.  1861,  with  valuable  annotations). 
Bagwell,  R.    Ireland  under  the  Tudors.    Vol.  i.    London.  1885. 
Brewer,  J.  S.    The  Reign  of  Henry  VIII.    Two  vols.  1884. 

Busch,  W.  England  unter  den  Tudors,  vol.  i.  (all  yet  published).  Stuttgart.  1892. 
English  translation  by  A.  M.  Todd.    London.  1895. 

Clowes,  W.  L.    History  of  the  Royal  Navy.    4  vols.    London.  1897-9. 

Gairdner,  J.    Henry  the  Seventh.    (Twelve  English  Statesmen  Series.)   London.  1889. 

  The  Story  of  Perkin  Warbeck  (at  end  of  History  of  Richard  the  Third,  Cam- 
bridge, 1898). 

Green,  M.  A.  E.    Lives  of  the  Princesses.    Vol.  iv.    London.  1852. 

Herbert  of  Cherbury,  Lord.    Life  and  Reign  of  Henry  VIII.    In  W.  Kennett's  Complete 

History  of  England,  vol.  ii.  1706. 
Pauli,  R.    Geschichte  von  England.    Vol.  v.    (Gesch.  d.  europ.  Staaten.)  Gotha. 

1858. 

Richey,  A.  G.    A  Short  History  of  the  Irish  People.    Dublin.  1887. 
Strickland,  A.    Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland.    Vol.  i.'  Edinburgh  and  London. 
1850. 

  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England.    Vol.  ii.    London.  1851. 

Tytler,  P.  F.    History  of  Scotland.    9  vols.    Edinburgh.  1828-43. 


IV.    AUXILIARY  INFORMATION 

Busch,  W.    Drei  Jahre  englischer  Vermittlungspolitik,  1518-21.    Bonn.  1884. 

  Cardinal  Wolsey  und  die  englisch-kaiserliche  AUianz,  1522-5.    Bonn.  1886. 

Jacqueton,  G.    La  Politique  ext^rieure  de  Louise  de  Savoie.    Paris.  1892. 

Oppenheim,  M.    Naval  Accounts  and  Inventories,  1485-8,  and  1495-7.    (Navy  Records 

Soc.  vol.  VIII.)    London.  1896. 
Pauli,  R.   Aufsatze  zur  englischen  Geschichte.   Leipzig.    1869.    Neue  Folge.  Leipzig. 

1883. 

Skelton,  J.    Poetical  Works.    Edited  by  A.  Dyce.    2  vols.  1843. 

Spont,  A.    The  War  with  France,  1512-3.    (Navy  Records  Soc.  vol.  x.)    London.  1897. 
{See  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  IX.  XL  XII.  and  XIII.) 


CHAPTER  XV 


ECONOMIC  CHANGE 

The  course  of  economic  progress  has  always  been  closely  linked  with  that  of  political 
change  and  the  sources  of  information  regarding  it  are  not  really  distinct.  An  exhaustive 
list  of  authorities  for  this  period  would  necessarily  include  all  collections  of  Treaties, 
since  they  throw  much  light  on  commercial  relationships,  all  collections  of  Statutes 
and  Royal  or  Civic  Ordinances  and  numberless  histories  of  separate  localities.  The 
present  list  is  merely  intended  to  assist  the  student  by  calling  his  attention  to  some 
important  books  and  papers,  which  are  primarily  of  economic  interest.  Additional 
bibliographical  information  will  be  found  in  many  of  these  books,  and  especially  in  the 
works  distinguished  by  an  obelus  (t). 


L  GENERAL 

Beer,  A.    Allgemeine  Geschichte  des  Weithandels.    Vienna.  1860-84. 

tCossa,  L.    An  introduction  to  the  study  of  political  economy,  translated  from  the 

Italian.    London.    Italian  edition,  Milan.  1893. 
Cunningham,  W.    An  Essay  on  Western  Civilisation  in  its  economic  aspects.  Cambridge. 

1898-1900. 

Delisle,  L.    Operations  financi^res  des  Templiers.    M^moires  de  PInstitut.  Acad^mie 

des  Inscriptions  et  Belles-Lettres.    Vol.  xxxiii,    Paris.  1888. 
Depping,  G.  B.    Les  Juifs  dans  le  moyen  age.    Paris.  1834. 

Ehrenberg,  R.     Das  Zeitalter  der  Fugger.     Geldkapital  und  Creditverkehr  im  16. 

Jahrhundert.    Jena.  1896. 
Erignet,  E.    Histoire  de  I'Association  Commerciale  depuis  Tantiquit^  jusqu'au  temps 

actuel.    Paris.  1868. 
Goetz,  W.    Die  Verkehrswege  im  Dienste  des  Weithandels.    Stuttgart.  1888. 
Goldschmidt,  L.    Handbuch  des  Handelsrechts.    Vol.  i.    Universalgeschichte  des  Han- 

delsrechts.)    Stuttgart.  1891. 
Heyd,  W.    Histoire  du  commerce  du  Levant  au  moyen  age.    Paris.    1885-7.  French 

translation  by  F.  Raynaud  from  the  German,  with  author's  additions.  Leipzig. 

1885. 

Mas  Latrie,  le  Comte  J.  de.    Relations  et  commerce  de  I'Afrique  Septentrlonale  avec  les 

nations  chr6tiennes  au  moyen  age.    Paris.  1886. 
Miller,  K.    Die  altesten  Weltkarten.    Stuttgart.  1895. 

Naud^,  W.    Die  Getreidehandelspolitik  der  europaischen  Staaten  vom  13.  bis  zum  18. 

Jahrhundert.    Acta  Borussica.    Berlin.  1896. 
Piton,  C.    Les  Lombards  en  France.    Paris.  1892. 

773 


774 


Economic  Change 


Ruge,  S.  Geschichte  des  Zeitalters  der  Entdeckungen.  (AUgemeine  Geschichte  iu 
Einzeldarstellungen.)    Berlin.  1881. 

Schmoller,  G.  Studien  ueber  die  wirthschaftliche  Politik  Friedrichs  des  Grossen. 
Jahrbuch  fiir  Gesetzgebung,  Verwaltung  und  Volkswirthschaft  im  deutschen  Reich. 
Leipzig.  1884.  1886.  1887.  (Tlie  chapter  on  the  mercantile  system  is  translated 
into  P^nglish  and  published  in  Professor  Ashley's  Series  of  Economic  Classics  under 
the  title  The  Mercantile  System  and  its  historical  significance.  London  and  New- 
York.  1896.) 

Shaw,  W.  A.  The  history  of  Currency  1252-1894,  being  an  account  of  the  gold 
and  silver  monies  and  monetary  standards  of  England  and  America.  London. 
1895. 

Soetbeer,  A.    Edelmetallproduktion  und  Werthverhaltniss  zwischen  Gold  und  Silber  seit 

der  Entdeckung  Amerikas  bis  zur  Gegenwart.    Mittheilungen  aus  Justus  Perthes 

geographischer  Anstalt.    Gotha.  1879. 
Wiebe,  G.    Zur  Geschichte  der  Preisrevolution  des  xvi.  und  xvii.  Jahrhunderts.  1895. 

In  the  Staats-  und  Socialwisseuschaftliche  Beitrage,  edited  by  A.  von  Miaskowski. 

Leipzig. 


IL    MEDIEVAL  OPINION  AND  CONDITIONS 

Ashley,  W.  J.  An  introduction  to  English  economic  history  and  theory.  London. 
1892-3. 

t Brants,  V.  L'ifeconomie  politique  au  moyen  age,  esquisse  des  theories  6conomiques 
professe'es  par  les  ^crivains  des  xiii«  et  xiv«  si6cles.    Lou  vain.  1895. 

Cibrario,  G.  A.  L.    Dell'  economia  politica  nel  medio  evo.    Turin.  1839. 

Endemann,  W.  Studien  in  der  romanisch-kanonistischen  Wirthschafts-  und  Rechtslehre. 
Berlin.  1874-83. 

Kautz,  J.  Die  geschichtliche  Entwickelung  der  Nationalokonomie  und  ihre  Literatur. 
Vienna.  1860. 

Wiskemann,  H.  Darstellung  der  in  Deutschland  zur  Zeit  der  Reformation  herrschenden 
nationalokonomischen  Ansichten.  In  the  Preisschriften  gekront  von  der  Fiirstlich 
Jablonowskischen  Gesellschaft  zu  Leipzig.    Leipzig.  1861. 


A.  Rural 

Andrews,  C.  M.    The  Old  English  Manor.    Baltimore,  Md.  1892. 
Bonnem^re,  E.    Histoire  des  Paysans,  depuis  la  fin  du  moyen  age.    Paris.  1856. 
Dareste  de  la  Chavanne,  A.  E.  C.    Histoire  des  Classes  Agricoles  en  Prance.  Paris. 
1858. 

t  Davenport,  F.  G.    A  classified  list  of  printed  original  materials  for  English  manorial 

and  agrarian  history  during  the  Middle  Ages.    In  the  Radcliffe  College  Monographs. 

Cambridge,  Mass.  1894. 
Delisle,  L.   ^Jtudes  sur  la  condition  de  la  Classe  Agricole  et  de  I'etat  de  1' Agriculture  en 

Normandie  au  moyen  §,ge.    ^lvreux.  1851. 
Neilson,  N.    Economic  Conditions  of  the  Manors  of  Ramsay  Abbey.  Philadelphia. 

1898. 

Page,  T.  W.    The  end  of  Villainage  in  England.    Publications  of  the  American  Economic 

Association.    3rd  Series.    Vol.  i.    Saratoga.  1900. 
Walter  of  Henley.    Le  dite  de  Hosebondrie.    Edited  and  translated  by  E.  Lamond. 

London.  1890. 


Bibliography 


775 


B.  Fairs 

Borel,  F.    Les  Foires  de  Geneve  au  xv^  si^cle.    Geneva.  1892. 

Bourquelot,  F.  I:tude  sur  les  Foires  de  Champagne,  sur  la  nature,  I'^tendue,  et  les  regies 
du  commerce  qui  s'y  faisait  aux  xn«,xiii «  et  xiv^  si^cles.  M^moires  pr^sentes  par 
divers  savants  k  l'Acad6mie  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles-Lettres  de  I'lnstitut  de  France. 
Series  ii.    Vol.  v.    Paris.  1865. 

tHuvelin,  P.    Essai  historique  sur  le  droit  des  Marches  et  des  Foires.    Paris.  1897. 

C.  Guilds 

Doren,  A.    Entwickelung  und  Organization  der  Florentiner  Ziinfte  im  13.  und  14. 

Jahrhundert.    In  Staats-  und  Social wissenschaftliche  Forschungen,  vol.  xv.  edited 

by  G.  Schmoller.    Leipzig.  1897. 
Franklin,  A.    Les  Corporations  Ouvri^res  de  Paris  du  xii^  au  xviii«  si^cle.  Paris. 

1884. 

Geering,  T.     Handel  und  Industrie  der  Stadt  Basel.     Zunftwesen  und  Wirtschafts- 

geschichte  bis  zum  Ende  des  xvii.  Jahrhunderts.    Basel.  1886. 
fGross,  C.    Gild  Merchant.    Oxford.  1890. 

Lespinasse,  R.  de.  Les  Metiers  et  Corporations  de  la  ville  de  Paris  au  xiii. — xviii.  sifecle. 
Paris.  1886-92. 

Martin  St  L6on,  E.    Histoire  des  Corporations  de  Metiers  depuis  leurs  origines  jusqu'^ 

leur  suppression  en  1791.   Paris.  1897. 
Rodocanachi,  E.    Les  Corporations  Ouvriferes  ^  Rome  depuis  la  chute  de  I'Empire 

remain.    Paris.  1894, 
Schanz,  G.    Zur  Geschichte  der  deutschen  Gesellen-Verbande.    Mit  Documenten  aus  der 

Zeit  des  14^^" — 17ten  Jahrhunderts.    Leipzig.  1877. 
Schmoller,  G.    Die  Strassburger  Tucher-  und  Weberzunft.    Strassburg.  1879. 
Stieda,  W.    Zur  Entstehung  des  deutschen  Zunftwesens.    In  Hildebrands  Jahrbiicher  fur 

Nationalokonomie  und  Statistik.    Jena.  1896. 

IIL    IN  PARTICULAR  COUNTRIES 
A.  France 

Avenel,  G.  d'.  Histoire  ^conomique  de  la  propriety,  des  salaires,  des  denr^es  et  de  tous 
les  prix  en  gengral  depuis  Pan  1200  jusqu'en  Pan  1800.    Paris.  1894-8. 

Blancard,  L.  Documents  inedits  sur  le  commerce  de  Marseille  au  moyen  age.  Marseilles. 
1884. 

Claraageran,  J.  J.    Histoire  de  I'Impdt  en  France.    Paris.  1867-76. 
Clement,  P.     Jacques  Cceur  et  Charles  VII,  ou  la  France  au  xv^  si6cle.  Paris. 
1866. 

Fagniez,  G.    ^:tudes  sur  I'lndustrie  et  la  classe  industrielle  h  Paris  au  xm^  et  au  xiv^ 

si^cle.    Paris.  1877. 

  L'^:conomie  Sociale  de  la  France  sous  Henri  IV.    Paris.  1897. 

  Documents  relatifs  k  I'histoire  de  I'lndustrie  et  du  Commerce  en  France.  Paris. 

1898. 

FrSville  de  Lorme,  C.  E.  de.  Memoire  sur  le  commerce  maritime  de  Rouen.  Paris. 
1857. 

Hauser,  H.    Ouvriers  du  temps  passe.    Paris.  1899. 

Levasseur,  E.  Histoire  des  Classes  Ouvriferes  et  de  I'lndustrie  en  France  avant.  1789. 
Paris.  1900. 

Malvezin,  T.    Histoire  du  commerce  de  Bordeaux.    Bordeaux.  1892. 
Pigeonneau,  H.    Histoire  du  commerce  de  le  France.   Paris.  1885. 


776 


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B.  Italy 

Bini,  T.    I  Lucchesi  a  Venezia.    Lucca.  1853. 

Broglio  d'Ajano,  R.    Die  venetianische  Seidenindustrie.  .  Munchener  Volkswirtschaftliche 

Studien.    Stuttgart.  1893. 
fDixon,  E.    Florentine  Wool  trade  in  the  Middle  Ages.    In  the  Transactions  of  the 

Royal  Historical  Society,  xii.    London.  1898. 
Doren,  A.    Studien  aus  der  Florentiner  Wirtschaftsgeschichte.    Vol.  i.    Die  Florentiner 

Wollentuchindustrie  vom  14ten  bis  zum  16*^"  Jahrhundert.    Stuttgart.  1902. 
Knies,  K.    Niccolo  Machiavelli  als  volkswirthschaftlicher  Schriftsteller.    In  the  Zeit- 

schrift  fiir  die  gesammte  Staatswissenschaft,  p.  251.    Tiibingen.  1852. 
Lenel,  W.    Die  Entstehung  der  Vorherrschaft  Venedigs  an  der  Adria.  Strassburg. 

1897. 

Peruzzi,  S.  L.    Storia  del  commercio  e  dei  banchieri  di  Firenze  in  tutto  il  mondo  cono- 

sciuto  dal  1200  al  1.345.    Florence.  1868. 
Pohlmann,  R.    Die  Wirthschaftspolitik  der  Florentiner  Renaissance.    In  the  Preis- 

schriften  d.  F.  Jablonowskischen  Gesellschaft.    Leipzig.  1878. 
Sieveking,  H.    Genueser  Finanzwesen  mit  besonderer  Beriicksichtigung  der  Casa  di  S. 

Giorgio.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1898. 
Simonsfeld,  H.    Der  Fondaco  dei  Tedeschi  in  Venedig  und  die  deutschvenetianische 

Handelsbeziehungen.    Stuttgart.  1887. 


C.  Germany 

Daenell,  E.  R.    Geschichte  der  deutschen  Hanse  in  der  zweiten  Halfte  des  14.  Jahrhun- 

derts.    Leipzig.  1897. 
Ehrenberg,  R.    Hamburg  und  England  im  Zeitalter  der  Konigin  Elisabeth.  Jena. 

1896. 

Hanauer,  C.  A.  ^^tudes  economiques  sur  1' Alsace  ancienne  et  moderne.  Paris. 
1876. 

Hanserecesse  von  1256-1430.    Konigliche  Baierische  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften.  1870. 

Continued  by  the  Verein  fiir  Hansische  Geschichte,  Liibeck. 
Hoehlbaum,  C.    Hansisches  Urkundenbuch.    Liibeck.  1876. 
  Kolner  Inventar.    Liibeck.  1896. 

Inama  Sternegg,  C.  T.  von.  Deutsche  Wirthschaftsgeschichte.  Leipzig.  1879- 
1901. 

Lamprecht,  K.    Deutsches  Wirthschaftsleben  im  Mittelalter.    Leipzig.  1886. 

  Zum  Verstandniss  der  wirthschaftlichen  und  socialen  Wandlungen  in  Deutschland 

vom  14.  zum  16.  Jahrhundert.    In  the  Zeitschrift  fiir  Social-  und  Wirthschafts- 

Geschichte.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1893. 
Mayer,  M.    Bayern's  Handel.    Munich.  1893, 
Nuebling,  E.    Ulm's  Handel  im  Mittelalter.    Ulm.  1899-1900. 
Roth,  J.  F.    Geschichte  des  niirnbergischen  Handels.    Leipzig.  1800-2. 
Schmoller,  G.    Die  historische  Entwickelung  des  Fleischconsums  in  Deutschland.  In 

Zeitschrift  fiir  die  gesammte  Staatswissenschaft,  xxvii.    Tiibingen.  1871. 
Schonberg,  G.    Finanzverhaltnisse  der  Stadt  Basel  im  xiv.  u.  xv.  Jahrhundert.  Tiibingen. 

1879. 

Schulte,  A.  Geschichte  des  mittelalterlichen  Handels  und  Verkehrs  zwischen  West- 
deutschland  und  Italien  mit  Ausschluss  von  Venedig.    Leipzig.  1900. 

Stieda,  W.  Hansisch- Venetianische  Handelsbeziehungen  im  15.  Jahrhundert.  Rostock. 
1894. 


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D.  Netherlands 

Bruyssel,  E.  van.  Histoire  du  Commerce  et  la  Marine  en  Belgique.  Brussels.  Leipzig. 
Paris.  1861-5. 

Finot,  J.  Relations  commerciales  et  maritimes  entre  la  Flandre  et  I'Espagne  au  moyen 
age.    Annales  du  comit^  flamand  de  France,  vol.  xxiv.    Dunkirk.  1898. 

  ^itude  historique  sur  les  relations  commerciales  entre  la  France  et  la  Flandre  au 

moyen  age.  1894. 

Pringsheira,  O.  Beitrage  zur  "wirthschaftlichen  Entwickelung  der  vereinigten  Nieder- 
lande  im  17.  und  18.  Jahrhundert.  1890.  In  the  Staats-  und  Socialwissenschaft- 
liche  Forschungen,  vol.  x.    Edited  by  G.  Schmoller.  Leipzig. 

Reiffenberg,  F.  de.  Quel  a  6t6  I'^tat  de  la  population,  des  fabriques  et  manufactures  et 
du  commerce  dans  les  provinces  des  Pays  Bas  pendant  les  xve  et  xvie  si6cles  ?  Brus- 
sels. 1822. 

Witt,  Jan  de.  The  true  interest  and  political  maxims  of  the  Republic  of  Holland  and 
West-Friesland.    Translated  from  the  Dutch.    1702.  London. 


E.    Portugal  and  Spain 

Bernays,  J.    Zur  inneren  Entwickelung  Castiliens  unter  Karl  V.    In  the  Deutsche 

Zeitschrift  fiir  Geschichtswissenschaft.    Freiburg  in  B.  1889. 
Bonn,  M.  J.    Spaniens  Niedergang  wahrend  der  Preisrevolution  des  16.  Jahrhunderts. 

Stuttgart.  1896. 

Capmany  de  Montpalau,  A.  de.    Memorias  historicas  sobre  la  marina,  commercio,  y  artes 

de  la  antigua  ciudad  de  Barcelona.    Madrid.  1779-92. 
Cassel,  J.  P.    Privilegia  und  Handlungsfreiheiten  welche  die  Konige  von  Portugal  ehedem 

an  deutsche  Kaufleute  zu  Lissabon  ertheilt  haben.    Bremen.  1771. 
Colmeiro,  M.    Historia  de  la  economia  politica  en  Espana.    Madrid.  1863. 
tHaebler,  K.    Die  wirthschaftliche  Bliite  Spaniens  im  xvi.  Jahrhundert  und  ihr  Verfall. 

Berlin.  1888. 

  Die  Geschichte  der  Fuggerschen  Handlung  in  Spanien.    Weimar.  1897. 

Saalfeld,  J.  C.  F.    Geschichte  des  portugiesischen  Kolonialwesens  in  Ost-Indien.  Got- 
tingen.  1810. 

Veitia  Linage,  J.  de.    The  Spanish  rule  of  trade  in  the  West  Indies,  translated  by 
J.  Stevens.    London.  1702. 


F.  England 

t Cunningham,  W.  The  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Commerce.  Cambridge. 
1893. 

  Alien  Immigrants  to  England.    London.  1898. 

t Gross,  C.  A  bibliography  of  British  Municipal  History  including  Gilds  and  Parlia- 
mentary Representation.    Cambridge,  Mass.  1897. 

Hulme,  E.  W.  The  History  of  the  Patent  System  under  the  Prerogative  and  at  Common 
Law.    Law  Quarterly  Review.    London.    1896  and  1900. 

Leadam,  I.  S.    The  Domesday  of  Inclosures.    London.  1897. 

Leonard,  E.  M.    The  Early  History  of  English  Poor  Relief.    Cambridge.  1900. 

Marwick,  J.  D.  Records  of  the  Convention  of  Royal  Burghs  of  Scotland.  Edinburgh. 
1870-90. 

Ochenkowski,  W.  von.  Englands  wirthschaftliche  Entwickelung  im  Ausgang  des 
Mittelalters.   Jena.  1879. 


778 


Economic  Change 


Rogers,  J.  E.  T.    The  History  of  Agriculture  and  Prices  in  England.  Oxford. 
1866. 

Schanz,  G.   Englische  Handelspolitik  gegen  Ende  des  Mittelalters.    Leipzig.  1881. 


IV.    CONTEMPORARY  LITERATURE 

{In  chronological  order.) 

Crescentiis,     Petrus    de.     Opus    ruralium    commodorum.     (-1300.)  [Augsburg.] 
1471. 

Domenico  Lenzi  (1320-35).    Narrazioni  estratte  dal  diario  de  D.  Lenzi,  ed.  P.  Fanfani. 
Florence.  1864. 

Balducci  Pegolotti,  F.    (Fourteenth  century,)    La  Pratica  della  Mercatura  published  in 

vol.  III.  of  Delia  Decima.    Florence.  1766. 
Oresme,  N.    Tractatus  de  origine,  natura,  jure  et  mutationibus  Monetarum.  (-1382.) 

Edited  by  L.  Wolowski.    Paris.  1864. 
Libelle  of  Englishe  Polycye,  1436.    In  Political  Songs  (Rolls  Series),  London,  or  ed.  with 

historical  introduction  by  R.  Pauli.    Leipzig.  1878. 
D^bat,  le,  des  h^raults  d'armes  de  France  et  d'Angleterre,  edited  by  L.  Pannier  and 

P.  Meyer.    (-1456. )    Soci6t6  des  anciens  textes  f ran9ais.  Paris. 
Sanuto,  Marino.    Itinerario  per  la  terra  ferma  veneziana  nell'  anno  1483.    Edited  by 

Rawdon  Brown.    Padua.  1847. 
Ledger  of  A.  Halyburton,  Conservator  of  the  privileges  of  the  Scotch  nation  in  the 

Netherlands.    1492-1503.    Edited  by  Cosmo  Innes.    Edinburgh.  1867. 
Dudley,  E.    The  Tree  of  the  Commonwealth.    1509.    Manchester.  1859. 
Tagebuch  des  Lucas  Rem,  1494-1541,  edited  by  B.  Greiff  in  Jahresbericht  xxvi  d.  his- 

torischen  Kreisvereins  im  Regierungsbezirke  v.  Schwaben  und  Neuberg  f.  d.  J.  1860. 

Augsburg. 

Armstrong,  C.    A  Treatise  concerning  the  Staple  and  the  Commodities  of  this  Realme, 

about  1530.    With  two  other  anonymous  memorials  dedicated  to  the  Earl  of  Essex. 

Drei  volkswirthschaftliche  Denkschriften  aus  der  Zeit  Heinrichs  VIII.    Edited  by 

R.  Pauli.    Gottingen.  1878. 
Drei  Flugschriften  iiber  den  Miinzstreit  im  1530.    Brentano  und  Leser,  Sammlung  alterer 

und  neuerer  staatswissenschaftlicher  Schriften.    Leipzig.  1893. 
Hales,  J.    A  discourse  of  the  common  weal  of  this  realm  of  England.    1549.    Edited  by 

E.  Lamond.    Cambridge.  1893. 
Agricola,  G.    De  re  metallica.    Basel.    1556.    Translated  into  German  under  the  title 

Vom  Bergkwerck  xii  Biicher  darin  alle  Empter,  Instrument,  Bezeuge  und  alles  zu 

diesem  Handel  gehorig.    Basel.  1557. 
Bodin,   J.    Discours  sur  les  causes  de  I'extrfeme   Cherts  qui  est  aujourd'huy  en 

France.    1574.    In    the    Archives    Curieuses    de    I'histoire    de    France.  Paris. 

1835. 

  Discours  sur  le  rehaussement  et  diminution  des  Monnoyes.    [Paris.]  1578. 

Olivier  de  Serres.    Theatre  d' agriculture.    Paris.  1600. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  CLASSICAL  RENAISSANCE 

I.    WORKS  ON  THE  GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CLASSICAL 
RENAISSANCE 

liurckhardt,  J. ,  Die  Cultur  der  Renaissance  in  Italien.    Leipzig.  1896. 

Bursian,  C.    Geschichte  der  classischen  Philologie  in  Deutschland  von  den  Anfangen  bis 

zur  Gegenwart.    Munich  and  Leipzig.  1883. 
Geiger,  L.    Humanismus  und  Renaissance  in  Italien  und  Deutschland.    Oncken's  Series. 

Berlin.  1882. 

Hallam,  H.    Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  Europe  in  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth  and 

seventeenth  centuries.    6th  edition.    London.  1860. 
Heeren,  A.  H.  L.    Geschichte  des  Studiums  der  klassischen  Litteratur  seit  dem  Wie- 

deraufleben  der  Wissenschaften.    In  Historische  Schriften,  vols.  iv.  v.  Gottingen. 

1822. 

Michelet,  J.    Histoire  de  France.    Vol.  vii. :  Renaissance.    Paris.  1855. 
Monnier,  M.    La  Renaissance  de  Dante  k  Luther.    Paris.  1884. 

Miintz,  E.    La  Renaissance  en  Italic  et  en  France  k  I'epoque  de  Charles  VIII.  Paris. 
1885. 

Symonds,  J.  A.    The  Renaissance  in  Italy.    London.  1897. 
Tiraboschi,  J.    Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana.    11  vols.    Modena.  1772-. 
Voigt,  G.    Die  Wiederbelebung  des  classischen  Alterthums,  oder  Das  erste  Jahrhundert 
des  Humanismus.    Berlin.  1859. 


II.    OTHER  AUTHORITIES 

Antonii  Bononiae  Beccatelli  cognomento  Panhormitae  Epistolarum  Libri  v.  Eiusdem 

Orationes  ii.    Carmina,  etc.    Venice.  1553. 
Baldelli,  G.    Vita  di  Giovanni  Boccaccio.    Florence.  1806. 
Blondus,  Flavins.    (Flavio  Biondo.)    Opera.    Basel.  1559. 
Boccaccio,  G.    Opere.    Vols,  iv.— vi.    Florence.  1723-4. 

  Lettere  edite  e  inedite,  tradotte  et  commentate  con  nuovi  document!  da  Corazzini. 

Florence.  1877. 

Botfield,  B.    Prefaces  to  the  first  editions  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics.  London. 
1861. 

Brunus,  Leonardus  (Arretinus).    Epistolarum  libri  viii  rec.  Mehus.    Florence.  1741. 
Bursian,  C.    Geschichte  der  classischen  Philologie  in  Deutschland.    Munich.  1883. 
Carmina  Illustrium  Poetarum  Italorum.    Florence.  1719-21. 
Carmina  quinque  Illustrium  Poetarum.    Bergamo.  1753. 

779 


780 


The  Classical  Renaissance 


Comparetti,  D.    Vergilio  nel  medio  evo.    2  vols.    Livorno.    1872.    Engl,  transl.  by 

E.  F.  M.  Benecke.    London.  1895. 
Didot,  A.    Aide  Manuce  et  PHell^nisme  k  Venise.    Paris.  1875. 
Einstein,  L.    The  Italian  Renaissance  in  England.    New  York.  1902. 
Erasmus,  D.    Opera.    Ed.  Le  Clerc.    10  vols.    Ley  den.  1703-6. 
Geiger,  L.    Johann  Reuchlin.    Leipzig.  1871. 

Gregorovius,  F.    Geschichte  der  Stadt  Rom  im  Mittelalter.    8  vols.  Stuttgart. 

1859-72.    English  trans,  by  Mrs  G.  W.  Hamilton.    London.    1900,  etc. 
Haur^au,  J.  B.    Histoire  de  la  Philosophic  scolastique.    2nd  edition.    Paris.  1872. 
Hodius  de  Graecis   illustribus  linguae   Graecae  literarumque  humaniorum  instaura- 

toribus,   eorum  vitis,   scriptis  et  elogiis  libri  duo.     Edd.   S.  Jebb.  London. 

1742. 

Hortis,  A.  M.  T.  Cicerone  nelle  opere  del  Petrarca  e  del  Boccaccio.  Trieste. 
1878. 

Hutten,  Ulrich  von.  Schriften.  Ed.  C.  Bocking.  5  vols,  and  2  supplementary 
vols.  Suppl.  vol.  I.  contains  the  Epistolae  Obscurorum  Virorum.  Leipzig. 
1859-69. 

Janitschek,  H.    Die  Gesellschaft  der  Renaissance  in  Italien  und  die  Kunst.   Vier  Vor- 

trage.    Stuttgart.  1879. 
Jovius,  Paulus.    Elogia  doctorum  virorum.    Basle.  1556. 
  Elogia  virorum  bellica  virtute  illustrium.    Basle.  1575. 

Kampschulte,  F.  W.  Die  Universitat  Erfurt  in  ihrem  Verhaltnisse  zu  dem  Humanismus 
und  der  Reformation.    2  vols.    Trier.  1858. 

Klette,  Th.  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  und  Litteratur  der  italienischen  Gelehrtenrenais- 
sance.  i.  Johannes  Conversanus  und  Johannes  Malpaghinl  von  Ravenna.  Nebst 
Excursus  zu  Manuel  Chrysoloras,  etc.  Greifswald.  1888.  ii.  Leonardi  Aretini  ad 
Petrum  Paulum  Istrum  dialogus.  1889.  iii.  Die  griechischen  Briefe  des  Franciscus 
Philelphus.  1890. 

Koerting,  G.    Petrarca' s  Leben  und  Werke.  1878. 

  Boccaccio's  Leben  und  Werke.  1880. 

Kyriacus  Anconitanus.    Itinerarium  ed.  Mehus.    Florence.  1742. 

Landau,  M.    Giovanni  Boccaccio,  sein  Leben  und  seine  Werke.    Stuttgart.  1877. 

Legrand,  'k.    Bibliographie  hell6nique,  ou  description  des  ouvrages  publics  en  grec  par  des 

Grecs  aux  xv®  et  xvi^  sifecles.    Vols,  i.  ii.    Paris.  1885. 
Maehly,  J.  A.    Angelus  Politianus.    Ein  Culturbild  aus  der  Renaissance.  Leipzig. 

1864. 

Maitland,  S.  R.    The  Dark  Ages.    London.  1844. 

Maitre,  L.    Ecoles  ^piscopales  et  monastiques.    Paris.  1866. 

Mancini,  G.    Vita  di  Leon  Battista  Alberti.    Florence.  1882. 

Masius,  Alfr.    Flavio  Biondo,  sein  Leben  und  seine  Werke.    Leipzig.  1879. 

Meiners,  C.    Lebensbeschreibungen  beriihmter  Manner  aus  den  Zeiten  der  Wiederher- 

stellung  der  Wissenschaften.    Vols.  i. — nr.    Zurich.  1795-7. 
Memorie  e  documenti  per  la  storia  dell'  University  di  Pavia.    P.  ii.    Pavia.  1878. 
Mullinger,   J.   B.     The  University  of  Cambridge  from  the  earliest  times  to  the 

Royal  Injunctions  of   1535.    1873.    Vol.  ii.    From  1535  to   1625.  Cambridge. 

1884. 

  The  Schools  of  Charles  the  Great,  and  the  restoration  of  education  in  the  ninth 

century.    London.  1877. 
Mtintz,  E.    Les  arts  k  la  cour  des  Rapes  pendant  le  xv^  et  le  xvi^  sifecle.    Ptie.  i.  ii. 

(Bibliotheque  des  Ecoles  fran5aises  d'Ath^nes  et  de  Rome,  Fasc.  iv.  ix.)  Paris. 

1878,  1879. 

Miintz,  E. ,  et  Fabre,  P.    La  Bibliothfeque  du  Vatican  au  xv^  si^cle.    (Bibliotheque  des 

Ecoles  fran^aises  d'Ath^nes  et  de  Rome,  Fasc.  xlviii.)    Paris.  1887. 
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Poole,  R.  L.    Illustrations  of  the  History  of  Mediaeval  Thought.    London.  1884. 
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Translation  of  selected  letters.    New  York  and  London.  1898. 
Roscoe,  W.    Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  called  the  Magnificent.    Liverpool.    1795,  etc. 

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1897. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


THE  CHRISTIAN  RENAISSANCE 

{The  order  adopted  here  is  mainly  that  of  the  subjects  as  treated  in  the  text.) 

Bacon,  Roger.  Opera  inedita,  ed.  J.  S.  Brewer  (Rolls  Series).  London.  1859.  Opus 
Majus,  ed.  Bridges.  3  vols.  Oxford.  1897-1900.  Greek  and  Hebrew  Grammars, 
ed.  E.  Nolan.    Cambridge.  1902. 

Grosseteste's  Suidas.    See  Val.  Rose  in  Hermes,  vol.  v.  p.  155. 

Lightfoot,  J.  B.    Ignatius,  i.  76.    Cambridge.  1885. 

Berger,  S.    Des  essais  qui  ont      faits  k  Paris  au  treizi^me  si^cle  pour  corriger  le  texte 

de  la  Vulgate.    Paris.  1883. 
  Quam  notitiam  linguae  hebraicae  habuerint  Christiani  medii  aevi  temporibus  in 

Gallia.   Paris.  1893. 

Hirsch.  Articles  on  Medieval  Hebrew  Scholars.  In  Jewish  Quarterly  Review.  1899, 
etc. 

Odonis  Isagoge.    MS.  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  B.  14.  33. 

Herbert  of  Bosham.  Willelmus  Medicus,  etc.  Delisle,  Journal  des  Savants,  Dec. 
1900. 

Greek  MSS.  at  S.  Denis.  Omont,  Inventaire  Sommaire  des  MSS.  Grecs  de  la  Biblio- 
thfeque  Nationale,  vol.  iv.    Biblioth^que  Nationale.  Paris. 

Catalogue  of  Library  of  Christ  Church,  Canterbury.  Edwards,  E.  Memoirs  of  Libra- 
ries, I.  122—236.    2  vols.    London.  1859. 

Greek  Octateuch  from  Canterbury.    Bodl.  Canon.  Gr.  35. 

Hebrew  and  Greek  MSS.  at  Ramsey  Abbey.    See  Chronicon  Abbatiae  Ramesiensis. 

Rolls  Series,  79.    3  vols.    London.  1884-93. 
James,  M.  R.    Sources  of  Archbishop  Parker's  Collection  of  MSS.    Cambridge  Antiq. 

Soc.  1899. 

Vercellone,  C.  De  correctoriis  Bibliae. 
Martin,  J.    Roger  Bacon  et  la  Vulgate. 

Henry  of  Cosleisey.  Expositio  super  Psalmos.  MS.  Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  F. 
I.  17. 

Farrar,  F.  W.  (Dean).    History  of  Interpretation.    London.  1886. 
Little,  A.  G.    The  Grey  Friars  in  Oxford.    Oxford  Historical  Society,  1891. 
Monumenta  Franciscana.    Rolls  Series,  4,  i.  555.    2  vols.    London.  1858-62. 
Brinkley,  Richard.    See  J.  Rendel  Harris,  The  Leicester  Codex.    Cambridge.  1887. 

M.  R.  James,  Two  Essays  on  the  Abbey  of  Bury  St  Edmunds.    Cambridge  Ant.  Soc. 

Octavo  Series,  28. 
Registrura  Librorum  Angliae.    Bodl.  MS.  Tanner  165. 

Borlais,  John.  Catalogus  Scriptorum.  See  Bibliotheca  Britannico-Hibernica,  edd.  Wil- 
kins  and  Tanner.    London.    1748.    Also  Univ.  Libr.  Cambr.  MSS.  add. 

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Miiiitz,  E. ,  et  Fabre,  P.    La  Biblioth^que  du  Vaticane  au  quinzi^me  si^cle  (Bibl.  des 

Ecoles  Fran9aises  d'Ath^nes  et  de  Rome,  1887). 
Catalogue  of  the  Library  of  St.  Mark's  Convent  at  Florence  :  in  the  State  archives  at 

Modena:  a  transcript  made  for  J,  W.  Clark,  M.A.,  Registrary. 
List  of  works  presented  by  Duke  Humphrey  to  the  University  of  Oxford :  Anstey, 

Munimenta  Academica  Oxon.,  Rolls  Series,  50,  p.  758. 
Selling,  William.    See  Bibliotheca  Britannico-IIibernica,  edd.  Wilkins  and  Tanner,  s.  v. 

Cellinge. 

John  of  Ragusa's  MSS.    See  C.  R.  Gregory,  Prolegomena  in  Nov.  Test.  Graecum  iii.  457 

etc.    Leipzig.  1869-94. 
Cusanus,  Nicolas,  Card.     Catalogue  of  the  MSS.  at  Cues.    In  Serapeura.  Leipzig. 

1864-5. 

Metius,  L.    Vita  et  Epistolae  Ambrosii  Camaldulensis.    Florence.  1759. 
Seebohm,  F.    The  Oxford  Reformers.    3rd  ed.    London.  1887. 

Delitzsch,  F.    Handschriftliche  Funde  [on  MSS.  used  for  the  Complutensian  Polyglot, 

etc.].    Leipzig.  1861-2. 
Scrivener,  F.  H.  A.,  and  Miller,  E.    Introduction  to  the  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament. 

4th  ed.    London.  1894. 
Swete,  H.  B.    Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  in  Greek.    Cambridge.  1900. 
Geiger,  L.    Johann  Reuchlin,  sein  Leben  und  seine  Werke.    Leipzig.  1871. 
Erasmus,  D.    Opera.    Ed.  Le  Clerc.    10  vols.    Leyden.  1703-6. 

Bibliotheca  Erasmiana  (a  bibliography  of  the  works  of  Erasmus,  in  course  of  publication 

by  C.  Vyt  at  Ghent). 
Grocyn's  library  :  catalogue  in  Collectanea  of  Oxford  Historical  Society,  vol.  ii. 
Beatus  Rhenanus.    Die  Bibliothek  zu  Schlettstadt.   J.  G6ny  and  G.  Knod.  Schlettstadt. 

1889. 

Ittig,  T.    De  Bibliothecis  Patrum.    Leipzig.  1707. 

Dowling,  T.  G.    Notitia  scriptorum  SS.  Patrum.    Oxford.  1839. 

Also : 

Catalogues  of  MSS.  at  the  British  Museum,  the  Bodleian,  the  University  Library  at 

Cambridge,  and  in  Oxford  and  Cambridge  College  Libraries. 
Tanner,  T.    Bibliotheca  Britannico-Hibernica.    Ed.  Wilkins.  1748. 
Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France.    Paris.    1733,  etc. 

Tiraboschi,  G.    Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana.    11  vols.    Modena.  1772-95. 


(See  Bibliography  of  Chapter  XVI.  for  other  works  on  the  Benaissance  period  in 

general.) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


CATHOLIC  EUKOPE 

I.     LITERATURE  AND  GENERAL  HISTORY 
Bessarion,  Card.    Opera.    Migne,  Patrologia,  Greek  Series  161. 

Creighton,  M.  (Bishop).    History  of  the  Papacy  from  the  Great  Schism  to  the  Sack  of 

Rome.    6  vols.    2nd  edition.    London.  1897. 
Cusanus,  N.  (Card.).    Opera.    3  vols.    Basel.  1565. 
Dollinger,  J.  I.  von.    Die  Reformation.    3  vols.    Ratisbon.  1846-8. 
Hefele,  C.  J.  von,  and  Hergenrother,  I.   (Card.).     Conciliengeschichte.    Vol.  viii. 

Freiburg  i.  B.  1887. 

Janssen,  J.    Geschichte  des  deutschen  Volkes  seit  dem  Ausgang  des  Mittelalters.  14th 

and  15th  editions.    Vols,  i.— ii.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1887. 
Mansi,  J.  D.    Sacrorum  Conciliorum  Collectio.    29-31.  Florence. 

  Monumentorum  Historicorum  Appendix.    In  Steph.  Baluzii  Miscellanea.  Lucca. 

1761. 

Muratori,  L.    Rerum  Italicarum  Scriptores,  xxiii. — xxiv.    Milan.  1733-8. 
Pastor,  L.    Gesch.  der  Papste  im  Zeitalter  der  Renaissance.    6  vols.    Freiburg  i.  B. 
1886  seq. 

(Pius  II.)  Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini.    Opera.    Basel.  1571. 
Platina,  B.    Vitae  Pontificum  Romanorum.    Venice.  1479. 
Raynaldus.    Annales  Ecclesiastici.    viii. — xii.    Lucca.  1752-5. 
Reumont,  A.  von.    Lorenzo  de'  Medici  il  Magnifico.    2  vols.    Leipzig.  1874. 
Wessenberg.     Die  grossen  Kirchenversammlungen  d.  xv. — xvi.  Jahrh.  Constance. 
1840  seq. 


II.     BIOGRAPHIES  AND  SPECIAL  TREATISES 
Abert,  F.  P.    P.  Eugenius  IV.    Mainz.  1884. 

Altmeyer,  J.  J.    Les  Precurseurs  de  la  RSforme  aux  Pays  Bas.    2  vols.    Paris  and 

Brussels.  1886. 
Altzog,  J.    Die  deutschen  Plenarien.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1874. 

Ambrosius,  F.    De  Rebus  Gestis  ac  Scriptis  Operibus  Bapt.  Mantuani.    Turin.  1784. 
Antonius  de  Vercellis.    Quadragesimales.    Venice.  1492. 

Aschbach,  J.    Geschichte  der  Wiener  Universitat  im  ersten  Jahrhundert  ihres  Bestehens. 

2  vols.    Vienna.  1865-77. 
  Die  friiheren  Wanderjahre  des  Conrad  Celtes.    Sitzungsberichte  der  k.  k.  Academie 

der  Wissenschaften.    Vienna.  1868. 
Bangen,  J.  H.    Die  Romische  Curie.    Munster.  1854. 

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Bernaldez,  A.    Historia  de  los  Reyes  Catolicos  Don  Ternando  y  Dona  Isabel.    2  vols. 

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Berger,  S.    La  Bible  fran^aise  au  moyen  age.    Paris.  1884. 
Bianco,  J.  F.  von.    Die  alte  Universitat  Koln.    Cologne.  1855. 
Binder,  F.    Charitas  Pirkheimer.    Ed.  2.    Freiburg  im  Breisgau.  1878. 
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Busch,  J.    Chronicon  Windeshemense.    In  Scriptores  Erunsvic.  ed.  Leibniz.   Vol.  ii. 

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Fiorentino.    Pietro  Pomponazzi.    Florence.  1869. 
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Frantz,  E.    Frk  Bartolomeo  della  Porta.    Ratisbon.  1879. 
Friedrich,  J.    J.  Wessel.    Ratisbon.  1862. 

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(/S'ee  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  XIIL  XVI.  and  XIX.) 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE  EVE  OF  THE  EEEORMATION 

I.     UNPUBLISHED  MATERIAL 

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Keller,  L.    Johann  von  Staupitz  u.  die  Anfange  der  Reformation.    Leipzig.  1888. 

  Die  Anfange  der  Reformation  u.  die  Ketzerschulen.    Monatschrifte  der  Comenius 

Gesellschaft.    Vol.  v.  1896. 
Lammer,  H.    Meletematum  Romanorum  Mantissa.    Ratisbon.  1875. 
  Monumenta  Vaticana.    Freiburg  i.  B.  1861. 

Lea,  H.  C.    A  History  of  Auricular  Confession  and  Indulgences.    3  vols.  Philadelpbia. 
1896. 

— —    Studies  in  Church  History.    Philadelphia.  1883. 

Mariana,  Juan.    Historia  de  Espana.    Libros  xxiv.  xxvi.    Valencia.  1783-96. 

Menendez  y  Pelayo.    Heterodoxas  Espanoles.    Vol.  ii.    Madrid.  1880. 

M^ray,  A.    La  Vie  aux  temps  des  Libres  Precheurs.    2  vols.    Paris.  1878. 

Mironi,  Barbarano  dei.    Historia  di  Vicenza.    Vol.  ii.    Vicenza.  1649. 

Pastor,  L.     Geschichte  der  Papste  im  Zeitalter  der  Renaissance.    Vols.  i. — iii.  Erei- 

burg  i.  B.  1891-5. 
Preger,  W.    Die  Politik  des  Papstes  Johann  XXII.    Munich.  1885. 
Preuves  des  Libertez  de  l'^^glise  Gallicane.    Paris.  1651. 

Raynaldus,  O.    Continuatio  Annalium  Caesaris  Baronii.    8  vols.    Cologne.  1692-4. 
Reusch,  Er.  Heinr.    Der  Index  der  verbotenen  Biicher.    Vol.  i.    Bonn.  1883. 
Rodriguez,  Manuel.     Explicacion  de  la  Bula  de  la  Sancta  Cruzada.  Salamanca. 
1597. 

Strauss,  D.  F.    Ulrich  von  Hutten.    2nd  ed.    Leipzig.  1871. 

Tangl,  M.    Die  papstlichen  Kanzleiordnungen  von  1200-1500.    Innsbruck.  1894. 

  Das  Taxwesen  der  papstlichen  Kanzlei.     Mittheilungen  des  Instituts  fiir  oster- 

reichische  Geschichtsforschung.    Vol.  xiii.  1892. 
Ullmann,  C.     Reformatoren  vor  der  Reformation.    2nd  ed.    2  vols.     Gotha.  1866. 

English  translation  by  Robert  Menzies.    Edinburgh.  1855. 
Villari,  P.    La  Storia  di  Girolamo  Savonarola.    2  vols.    Florence.  1887-8. 

  Niccol6  Machiavelli  e  i  suoi  tempi.    3  vols.    Milan.  1895-7. 

Voigt,  J.    Stimmen  aus  Rom.    Raumer's  Hist.  Taschenbuch.  1833. 
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{8ee  also  Bibliographies  of  Chapters  XVL  XVII.  and  XVIII.y 


INDEX 


Abd-ur'rahman  Adahil,  12 
Aculhuaque,  the  ('*  Strong  Men"),  38 
Acuna,  Alonso  de,  Bishop  of  Zamora,  374 
Adil  Khan,  31 

Adrian  VI,  Pope  (Adrian  of  Utrecht),  94, 

368,  372  sqq.,  436,  678,  682,  691 
Aeneas  Sylvius,  see  Pius  II,  Pope 
Affonso  V,  King  of  Portugal,  16,  19,  21 
Agnadello,  battle  of,  132,  246 
Agricola,  Rudolf,  436,  572,  634 
Aides,  405 

Alain  le  Grand,  Duke  of  Britanny,  397 
Albania,  71,  80 

Albany,  Alexander,  Duke  of,  484 
Albany,  John,  Duke  of,  484,  488 
Albert  (John  I  Albert),  King  of  Poland, 
336 

Albert  II,  Roman  King,  294,  687 

Albert    IV,   Duke    of  Bavaria-Munich, 

296  sqq. 
Alberti,  Leo  Battista,  559 
Albertini,  Francesco,  549 
Albizzi,  Luca  d',  169 
Albizzi,  Giovanna  d',  176 
Albornoz,  Cardinal,  237 
Albret,  Henri  d',  378 
Albret,  Jean  d',  366  sqq. 
Albuquerque,  Affonso  de,  31 
Alcantara,  Order  of,  11 
Alcuin,  535 

Aleander,  papal  nuncio,  678,  686,  690 
Alessandria,  fall  of,  121 
Alexander  I,  King  of  Poland,  345 
Alexander  VI,  Pope  (Rodrigo  Borgia),  105, 

110,    124,   149,    167  sqq.,  195,  225-41, 

620,  chap.  XIX,  passim 
Alexius  III,  Emperor  of  the  East,  255 
Alfonso,  Duke  of  Ferrara,  248  sqq. 
Alfonso  I,  King  of  Naples,  105  sqq.,  123, 

560 

Alfonso  II,  King  of  Naples,  231 

Algonquins,  the,  38,  44 

Alidosi,  Cardinal,  136,  249 

Allfegre,  Yves  d',  117,  122  sqq. 

Almeida,  Francisco  de,  31 

Alopa,  Lorenzo,  561 

Alva,  Duke  of,  480 

Alviano,  Bartolommeo  d',  197 

Amboise,  Cardinal  Georges  d',  388,  415 

Ambrogini,  Angelo  :  see  Politian 


America,   discovery  of,  7,  35,  518 ;  the 

Catholic  Church  in,  60  sq. 
Ammirato  Scipione,  200 
Ancona,  79 
Angelico,  Fr^,  168 

Angus,  Archibald  Douglas,  Earl  of,  485 
"Animal  Mounds"  in  America,  38 
Anjou,  Charles,  Duke  of,  396 
Anne  de  Candale,  Queen  of  Hungary,  336 
Anne  (Duchess  of  Britanny),  Queen  of 

France,  111,  302,  396,  450,  467,  483 
Anne  of  Beaujeu,  397,  445 
Annone,  capture  of,  121 
"Antarctic  France,"  48 
Antella,  Lamberto  della,  175 
"  Antilha,"  the  search  for,  20 
Antilles,  the  four  greater,  40  sq. 
Antv^erp,  the  commercial  rise  of,  429, 

507-10 

Apocryphal  literature,  613 

Apologists  :  the  Greek,  615  ;  the  Latin,  617 

"Apostolic  Fathers,"  the,  614 

Apu-Capac-Incas,  45 

Aquinas,  St  Thomas,  627 

Aquitaine,  Charles,  Duke  of,  389 

Arabia,  28 

Aragon,  institutions  of,  351 
Arbues,  St.  Peter,  359 
Aremberg,  William  of,  see  Marck,  William 
de  la 

Areniti,  Constantin,  133 

"  Argentine  Sea,"  the,  38,  44 

Argyropoulos,  John,  543 

Armagnac,  Jean  d',  396,  415 

Armagnac,  Louis  d',  124 

Armagnacs,  the,  293,  396 

Aron,  Peter,  83 

Arrabbiati,  the,  169,  170,  174 

Arras,  treaty  of  (1435),  389  sqq.,  423  ;  peace 

of  (1482),  229,  445 
Ars,  Louis  d',  125 
Artois,  cession  of,  by  France,  229 
Ascham,  Roger,  580 
Asparros,  Andre  de  Foix  d',  378 
Athens,  duchy  of,  74 
Aubigny,  Stuart  d',  155 
Aubusson,  Peter  d',  84,  86 
Audley,  Edmund,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  597 
Augsburg,  299  ;  Diet  of  (1500),  308,  (1510), 

319 


793 


794 


Index 


Aulic  Council,  the  (Hofra(h),  313 
Auratus  (Jean  Dorat),  577 
Aurispa,  Giovanni,  550 
Austria,  the  political  centre  of  gravity  of 
Europe,  330  ;  Lower  and  Upper,  314  sq. 
Awans,  the,  422 
Ayala,  Pedro  de,  471 
Aymara-Quichua,  the  (Peruvians),  38,  45 
Azores  Islands,  the,  10,  19 
Azteca  ("Crane-people  "),  39 

Bacon,  Sir  Francis  (Viscount  St  Albans), 

62  sqq. 
Bacon,  Roger,  18,  205,  687 
Baden  (margravate),  298 
Badius  Ascensius  (Bade  of  Asche),  435 
Baeda,  535 

Bagiione,  Giampaolo,  128 
Bahamas,  the,  23 

Bahia  dos  Vaqueiros  (Mossel  Bay),  17 
Bainbridge,  Cardinal,  483 
Balaban,  71 

Baldwin  I,  King  of  Jerusalem,  254 

Balue,  Cardinal,  403,  415 

Barbaro,  Ermolao,  657 

Barbo,  Pietro  :  see  Paul  II,  Pope 

Barbosa,  Arias,  379,  578 

Barlaam,  Bernard,  540 

Barnabotti,  the,  282 

Baronius,  Cardinal,  568,  609 

Barzizza,  Gasparino  da,  544 

Basel,  308  ;  Council  of,  293,  385,  699,  623, 

655 ;   Greek  books  at,   699 ;  peace  of 

(1499),  307 
Basque  provinces,  in  Middle  Ages,  352 
Batarnay,  Ymbert  de,  403 
Batori,  Stephen,  339 
Bavaria  (duchy),  298 
Bayard,  Chevalier,  133,  412,  481 
Bayazid  II,  Ottoman  Sultan,  85  sqq.,  114, 

224,  229,  259 
Beaujeu,  Sire  de,  394 
Beaune,  Jacques  de,  409,  410 
Beglerbegs,  the,  99 
Bek,  Anthony,  301 
Belgrade,  siege  of  (1456),  69 
Bellarmin,  Cardinal,  611 
Bellini,  Gentile,  84 
Bembo,  Cardinal,  56,  545,  564 
Benedetto,  Fr^,  188 
"Benefit  of  Clergy,"  660 
Bentivoglio,  Giovanni,  128,  245 
Bentley,  Richard,  582 
Bergamo,  280 
Bergues,  Sieur  de,  477 
Bernaldez,  Andres,  381 
Bernard  of  Chartres,  536 
Bernardo,  Antonio  di,  156 
Beroaldo,  Filippo,  566 
Berruguete,  Alonso  de,  382 
Berry,  Duke  of :  his  Hours,  414 
Berthold,  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  292,  300 

sqq.,  685 
Bessarion,  Cardinal,  80,  284 
Bessey,  Antoine  de,  112,  122 


Bible,  the :  in  Greek,  603,  604  ;  in  Syriac, 
604  ;  old  English,  641  ;  printing  of,  639, 
640 

Biel,  Gabriel,  637 
Bigi,  the,  175 

Bilad  Ghana,  "  Land  of  Wealth,"  9  sqq. 
Biseglia,  Alfonso  di,  236 
Bisticci,  Vespasiano  da,  551 
Black  Death,  the,  426,  500 
Black  Forest,  the,  299 
Black  Sea  commerce  in  fourteenth  century, 
494 

Blackheath,  battle  of,  469 

Blois,  treaty  of  (1505),  127 

Blondus  (Flavio  Biondo),  547 

Boccaccio,  Giovanni,  641 

Boetius,  634 

Bogomils,  the,  71 

Boheim,  Hans,  674 

Bohemia,  293,  chap,  x,  passim 

Bologna,  taken  by  Julius  II,  245  ;  surrenders 

to  France,  479 
Boniface  IX,  Pope  (Pietro  Tomacelli),  237, 

670 

Bonnivet,  Admiral  G.  G.  de,  490 

Borgia,  Alfonso  :  see  Calixtus  III,  Pope 

Borgia,  Cesare,  114,  128,  192-5,  234-8,  672 

Borgia,  Lucrezia,  234,  236,  239 

Bosnia,  71  sqq. 

Boston,  John,  692,  611 

Botticelli,  Sandro,  147 

Bourbon,  Bastard  of,  438 

Bourges,   Pragmatic    Sanction    of,  385; 

Council  of,  671 
Bourr6,  Jean,  403,  409 
Brabant,  419 

Brabant,  Anthony,  Duke  of,  418,  421 
Brandan,  St,  19 

Brandenburg,  Albert  Achilles,  Margrave  of, 

297,  691 
Brankovic,  George,  69 
Brant,  Sebastian,  637  ;  his  Ship  of  Fools^ 

683 

"Brasil  Island,"  20 
Bray,  Sir  Reginald,  477 
Brazil,  discovery  of,  34 ;  Durand's  colony 
in,  49 

Brederode,  Francis  van,  449 
Bremen,  299 
Brescia,  sack  of,  137 
Bresse,  Philippe  de,  118 
Breton  fisheries,  414 

Bri9onnet,  Guillaume  (Cardinal  de  St 
Malo),  109,  112,  409 

Bri9onnet,  Guillaume,  Bishop  of  Meaux,  674 

Bri9onnet,  Pierre,  409 

Brinkley,  Richard,  592 

Brissonet,  Cardinal,  177,  184 

Brissonius  (Barnabe  Brisson),  577 

Bristol,  maritime  and  commercial  enter- 
prise at,  33 

Britanny,  392-5 ;  alliance  with  England 
against  France,  466 

Broderith,  Chancellor,  96 

Bro7ikhorsts,  the,  423 


Index 


795 


Bruges,  banking  business  of,  429 ;  craft- 
gilds  of,  428  ;  Maximilian  I's  captivity 
at,  448 

Brugmann,  Johannes,  435 

Bruni,  Lionardo,  541 

Brussels,  419  ;  treaty  of  (1498),  454 

Buchanan,  George,  582 

Budaeus  (Guillaume  Bud6),  576 

Bullock,  Henry,  580 

Bundschuh,  the,  299 

Buonaccorsi,  Biagio,  200 

Burghley,  William  Cecil,  Lord,  522  sq. 

Burgundian  Circle,  the,  451) 

Burgundio,  Johannes,  of  Pisa,  588 

Burgundy,  Charles  the  Bold,  Duke  of,  295, 
389-91,  410,  417,  422,  424,  430-2 

Burgundy,  the  House  of,  its  dominions,  418 
sqq. ;  its  monarchical  power,  424  sqq. 

Burlamacchi,  Frk  Pacifico,  168 

Busch,  John,  631,  639 

Busche,  Hermann  von  dem,  435 

Cabot,  John,  20,  33,  36,  50  ;  his  three  sons, 

Lewis,  Sebastian,  and  Sanctus,  33 
Cabral,  Pedro  Alvarez,  29,  34 
Caffa,  conquest  of,  83 
Cahera,  Gallus,  340 
Calais,  staple  at,  452 
Calicut,  25  sqq. 
Caliphate,  the,  91 

Calixtus  III,  Pope  (Alfonso  Borgia),  69 

sqq.,  552,  688 
Callistus,  Andronicus,  543 
Cam,  Diego,  17 
Cambi,  Giovanni,  175 

Carabray,  League  of,  131,  246,  266,  277, 

319,  344,  456 
Cambridge,  the  New  Learning  at,  580 
Cameral  Tribunal,  the  (Kammergericht), 

304  sq. 

Camerarius  (Joachim  Kammermeister) ,  574 

Campeggio,  Cardinal,  489 

Canale,  Nicolo  da,  79 

Cananor,  29 

Canary  Islands,  40 

Candale,  Sire  de,  394 

Cantacuzenus,  Manuel  (Ghin),  75 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  17,  285 

Cape  St  Catherine,  16 

Cape  St  Vincent,  12 

Cape  Verde  Islands,  discovery  of,  15 

Capella,  Martianus,  533 

Capponi,  Piero,  154,  172 

Caramania,  81  sqq. 

Cardona,  Ramon  de,  137  sqq.,  198,  249 
Caribs,  the,  38,  41 

Carillo,  d'Acuna,  A.,  Archbishop  of  Toledo, 
355 

Carmagnola  (Francesco  Bussone),  279  sq. 

Carpaccio,  Vittore,  284 

Carrara,  Francesco,  258,  265 

Carrara,  Jacopo  da,  262 

Carrara,  Marsilio  da,  262  sqq. 

Carraresi,  the,  265 

Cartier,  Jacques,  44 


Carvajal,  Juan  de,  69 

Castiglione,  Baldassare,  560 

Castile,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  348  ;  the  Holy 

Brotherhood  in,  352  sq. 
Castillo,  Hernando  del,  379 
Castriotes,  George  :  see  Scanderbeg 
Catalonia,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  351 
Catholic  Church,  the,  341;  in  America,  60  sq. 
Catholic  Europe,  chap,  xviii,  passim 
Catholic  Kings,  the,  chap,  xi,  passim 
Caxton,  William,  641 
Cechs,  the,  330 
Cennini,  Bernardo,  561 
Cerdagne,  recovery  of,  by  Spain,  229,  362 
Ceri,  Renzo  da,  134 
Cerignola,  capture  of,  125 
Cerretani,  Bartolommeo,  147 
Cerveira  (chronicler),  16 
Ceuta,  capture  of,  10 
Chalcondylas,  Demetrius,  543 
Chaldiran,  battle  of,  90 
Charles  the  Great,  9,  260  ;  schools  of,  535 
Charles  II,  King  of  Naples,  108 
Charles  V,  Emperor  (Charles  I,  King  of 

Spain),  46,  358,  368-77,  423,  477,  487, 

490,  658,  685,  691 
Charles  V,  King  of  France,  384,  389,  392, 

398,  411,  657 
Charles  VI,  King  of  France,  259,  384,  409, 

414 

Charles  VII,  King  of  France,  107,  chap,  xii, 

passim,  411,  413,  430,  636 
Charles  VIII,  King  of  France,  86,  107  sqq., 

152,  155,  170,  191,  228  sqq.,  303,  chap. 

XII,  passim,  410,  445,  450,  467,  564,  672 
Charles  (the  Little),  Prince  of  Durazzo,  108 
Chastelain,  Georges,  415,  433 
Ch^teaubriant,  treaty  of,  393 
Cheke,  Sir  John,  580  sq. 
Chevalier,  ^^tienne,  409 
Chi^vres,  see  Croy 
Chioggia,  war  of,  258 
Christ  Church,  Canterbury,  library  of,  580 
Christian  Renaissance,  the,   chap,  xvn, 

passim 

Chrysoloras,  Manuel,  541  sq. 
Cib6,  Franceschetto,  110,  227,  233 
Circles  (Kreise)  of  Empire,  294,  320  sq. 
Cisneros,  Ximenes  de  :  see  Ximenes,  Car- 
dinal 

Clarence,  George,  Duke  of,  464  sq. 
Classical    Renaissance,    the,    chap,  xvi, 

passim 

Clement  VII,  Pope  (Giulio  de'  Medici), 

108,  250,  353 
Clercq,  Jacques  du,  430,  433 
Cleves,  Adolf,  Duke  of,  424 
Cleves,  Philip,  Duke  of,  447  sqq. 
Clifford,  Sir  Robert,  468 
Cloth   industry,    the,    in    Flanders  and 

England,   429 ;    in  Florence,   512 ;  in 

England,  ib. 
Clugny,  William  de,  440,  441 
Coblenz,  Council  of,  689 
Cochin,  destruction  of,  30 


796 


Index 


Coeur,  Jacques,  409,  414,  503 
Colet,  John,  Dean  of  St  Paul's,  580,  644 
Coligny,  Admiral,  48,  50,  55 
Colletorti,  the,  169 
Colmenar  de  Arenas,  44 
Cologne,  299  ;  Diet  of  (1505),  316  sqq. 
Colombe,  Michel,  414 
Colombo,  Bartolomeo,  21,  22 
Colombo,  Cristoforo,  7,  11,  21-4,  34  sqq., 
55 

Colonna,  Fabrizio,  137,  250 

Comacchio,  salt  works  at,  247 

Commines,  Jeanne  de,  439 

Commines,  Philip  de,  109,  115,  200,  228, 

282,  393,  403,  415,  422,  426,  430,  438, 

440 

Common  Life,  Brethren  of  the,  435,  627 
Common  Penny,  the,  304  sqq. 
Comneni,  the  Grand,  of  Trebizond,  78 
Comnenus,  David,  82 
Compagnacci,  the,  169,  174,  181 
Complutensian  Polyglot,  the,  603 
Comuneros,  Revolt  of  the,  357,  372-5 
Condone,  the  (at  Venice),  270 
Concordat,  the,  of  Vienna  (1448),  295 ;  the 

French  (1516),  388 
Condottieri,  the,  104 
Conegliano,  Cima  da,  284 
Conflans,  treaty  of,  389 
Congo  river,  17 
Connecte,  Thomas,  676 
Conquistador es,  the,  39,  40,  42,  58 
Constance,  Council  of,  295,  655 ;  Diet  of, 

317  sq. 

Constantine,  Donation  of,  646,  602 
Constantinople,  earthquake  at,  89 ;  fall  of, 

255,  281,  285 
Conversino,  da  Ravenna,  Giovanni  di,  543 
Coppenole,  446,  448,  449 
Cordova,  Gonzalo  de,  115  sqq.,  196,  233, 

361  sqq. 
Corinth,  siege  of  (1463),  79 
Corneto,  Cardinal  Adrian  de,  241,  489 
Corsica,  107 

Corte,  Bernardino  da,  121 

Cortenberg,  Letter  of,  419 

Cortereal,  Gaspard,  36 

Cortes,  Hernan,  41  sqq. 

Cortes,  the,  of  Spain,  350 

Corvinus,   Matthias,  King   of  Hungary, 

70  sqq.,  293,  335,  395,  658 
Council  of  Regency,  the  (Beichsregiment), 

309  sq. 

Council,  the  Great  (at  Venice),  the  closing 
of  the,  273 

Craft-gilds  :  at  Bruges,  428  ;  at  Ghent,  428  ; 

in  thirteenth  century,  511-13 
Crete,  colonisation  of,  by  the  Venetians, 

256 

Cr^vecoeur,  Philip  de,  4.38,  446,  451 
Crnoievic,  Stephen,  74 
Croatia,  Ban  of,  72 
Croke,  Richard,  580 

Croy,  William  of,  Archbishop  of  Toledo, 
370,  379 


Croy,  William  of.  Seigneur  de  Chi^vres, 

369  sq.,  452  sqq. 
Crusade,  the  Fourth,  255  ;  the  "Last,"  11 
Cuba,  40  sq. 
Cues,  library  of,  599 
Cujacius  (Jacques  Cujas) ,  577 
Cunha,  Tristao  da,  32 
Curzon,  Sir  Robert,  474,  476 
Cusanus,  Cardinal  (Nicholas  of  Cues),  435, 

599,  624  sqq. 
Cuzco,  44,  45 
Cyclades,  the,  266 
Cyprus,  246 

Dacre,  Thomas,  Lord,  486 

Dadizeele,  Jan  van,  443 

Dain,  Olivier  le,  440 

Dalmatia,  246  ;  "dukedom"  of,  254 

Damascene,  John,  586 

Dandolo,  Enrico,  Doge  of  Venice,  256 

Daubeney,  Lord,  469 

David,  Bishop  of  Utrecht,  423,  435,  437 

David,  Emperor  of  Trebizond,  78 

Dederoth,  John,  Abbot  of  Bursfelde,  631 

Desmond,  Earl  of,  468,  470 

Deventer,  Latin  school  at,  435 

Diaz,  Bartolomeo,  17,  19,  22,  286 

Diaz,  Diniz,  14 

Diet,  see  Empire 

Diether,  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  675,  688 
Dietrich,  Archbishop  of  Mainz,  688 
Dietrich  of  Nieheim,  670 
Dietrichstein,  Sigismund  von,  326 
Digby,  Sir  John,  473 

Dijon,  school  of  sculpture  at,  414  ;  sack  of,, 
422 

Dispositio  Achillea,  the,  297 

Disputationes  Camaldunenses,  569 

Doczi,  Peter,  343 

Dolet,  ^Itienne,  577 

Dolfin,  Piero,  286 

Dolmos,  Fernam,  20 

Domaine,  the,  405 

Domenichi,  Domenico  de',  647,  674 

Domenico,  Frk,  147 

Dominican  Observantists,  149 

Dominicans  at  Antwerp,  626 

Donato,  Leonardo,  276 

Donellus  (Hugues  Doneau),  577 

Doria,  Pietro,  Admiral,  258,  259 

Dorset,  Thomas,  Marquis  of,  367,  480,  482: 

D(5zsa,  George,  337 

Dragfy,  General,  337 

Dudley,  Edmund,  477,  478 

"  Duke  of  Dalmatia,"  254 

Durand,  Nicolas,  48,  49 

Durandus,  William,  620 

Diirer,  Albrecht,  326 

Dusan,  Stephen,  67 

Dutch  Baltic  fleet,  capture  of  (1511),  466 
Dynter,  Edmond  of,  433 

Eastern  factories,  in  Middle  Ages,  496 
Easton,  Adam,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  593,  597 
Eck,  Dr  Johann,  678 


Index 


797 


Eckhart,  "Master,"  434 
Ecuador,  45 
Eden,  Richard,  52  sqq. 
Edgecombe,  Sir  Ricliard,  471 
Edrisi  (Abu  Abd-allah  Mohammad),  9 
Edward  I,  King  of  England,  301 
Edward  III,  King  of  England,  257 
Edward  IV,  King  of  England,  390,  430, 
463  sq. 

Edward  VI,  King  of  England,  52 
Edzard,  Prince  of  East  Eriesland,  453 
Egypt,  Ottoman  conquest  of ,  91 
Electoral  College,  the,  291  sq. 
Elizabeth  of  Gorlitz,  421 
Elsass,  "  New  league  "  of  the  towns  of,  295, 
307 

Empire,- the,  chap,  ix,  passim;  Diet  of  the 

{Beichstag),  290  sqq. 
Empson,  Sir  Richard,  477  sq. 
Encina,  Juan  del,  380 

England,  naval  power  of,  522  sq. ;  industry 
and  agriculture  in,  524  ;  intellectual  and 
social  condition  of,  early  in  sixteenth 
century,  490  sqq.  ;  Hebrew  learning  in, 
590  ;  commercial  relations  of,  with  the 
Netherlands,  452 

English  ideas  on  America,  61 

Erasmus  Desiderius,  435,  437,  460-2,  545, 
563,  569-71,  579,  580,  606-8,  642,  682; 
his  Greek  Testament,  603 

Erigena,  John  Scotus,  535 

Espanola,  40 

Esquivel,  Juan  de,  41 

Este,  Alfonso  d',  137 

Este,  Azzo  d',  261 

Este,  Ippolito  d',  Archbishop  of  Gran,  658 

Estienne,  Henri,  576,  613 

Estienne,  Robert,  576,  615 

Estouteville,  Cardinal  d',  388 

^:taples,  treaty  of,  111,  467 

Eugenius  IV,  Pope  (Gabriel  Condulmero), 

237,  385  sq.,  552 
Evil  Mayday  (April  .30,  1517),  488 
Eyck,  Hubert  van,  433 

Eabricius,  John  Albert,  614 

Faenza,  surrender  of,  to  Cesare  Borgia, 

238  ;  seizure  of,  by  the  Venetians,  244 
Federigo,  King  of  Naples,  118,  124,  234, 

245 

Felix  V,  anti-Pope,  623 

Ferdinand  I,  Emperor,  343 

Ferdinand,  King  of  Aragon,  81,  115,  119, 

120  sqq.,  193,   198,  251,  308,  316,  346- 

68,  379,  394,  466,  476,  482,  656 
Fernando,  Don,  Regent  of  Portugal,  363 
Ferrante,  King  of  Naples,  104  sqq.,  110, 

124,  227,  387,  665 
Ferrantino,  King  of  Naples,  114  sqq.,  231, 

234,  245 

Ferrara,  Niccolo  d'Este,  Marquis  of,  658 

Ferrara,  war  of,  261 

Ferrari,  Giuseppe,  341 

Ficino,  Marsilio,  147,  151,  188,  559 

Filelfo,  Francesco,  544,  554 


Fisher,  John,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  491, 

580 

Fitzgerald,  Lord  Thomas,  466 

Fitzsimmons,  Walter,  472 

"Five  Nations,"  the,  44 

Flaminio,  Marcantonio,  567 

Flammock,  Thomas,  469 

Flanders,  257,  418,  428,  440 ;  communes 
of,  425-9 ;  commercial  and  industrial 
decline  of,  429  ;  the  so-called  treaty  of, 
449 

Flemmyng,  Robert,  597 

Flodden,  battle  of,  482 

Florence,  113,  118,  chaps,  v,  vi,  passim; 

Academy  of,  559 ;  cloth  manufacture  at, 

496 

Florida,  64,  55 

Foix,  Gaston  de,  136,  137,  198,  250^ 
Foix,  Germaine  de,  363 
Fonseca  (Spanish  commander),  373 
Forli,  surrender  of,  238 
Forment,  Damien,  382 
Fornovo,  battle  of,  116 
Foscari,  Francesco  (Doge  of  Venice),  276 
sqq. 

Foscari,  Jacopo,  282 
Foucquet,  Jean,  414 
Foulques  de  Neuilly,  676 
Foxe,  Richard,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  620, 
645 

France,  chap,  xii,  passim;  her  relations 
to  Italy,  107  sqq.  ;  her  war  with  Spain 
(1502-3),  125 ;  revival  of  her  material 
prosperity,  525  sqq. ;  early  humanism  in, 
575 

Franche  Comte,  cession  of,  to  Austria, 
229 

Francis  I,  King  of  France,  43,  92  sqq., 

128,  140,  301,  388  sqq.,  458,  484,  490 
Francis  I,  Duke  of  Britanny,  392 
Francis  II,  Duke  of  Britanny,  393 
Franciscan  Order,  the,  591,  592 
Franco,  Duke  of  Athens,  74 
Franconia,  297  sq. 

Frankfort,  304,  311  ;  Diet  of  (1485),  302 ; 
peace  of  (1489),  394,  449 

Fraticelli,  the,  151,  623 

Frederick  II,  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  297 

Frederick  II,  Emperor,  260 

Frederick  III,  Emperor,  76,  104,  chap,  ix, 
passim,  335,  344,  390,  442,  449,  687,  689 

Frederick  I  (the  Valiant),  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony, 297 

Frederick  I  (the  Victorious),  Elector  Pala- 
tine, 296,  311 

Frederick  III  (the  Wise),  Elector  of  Sax- 
ony, 297,  310,  316,  321 

Freiburg,  308  ;  University  of,  325 

French  Protestants  and  America,  48 

Friesland,  421  ;  subjection  of,  453 

Friuli,  conquest  of,  278 

Frobisher,  Sir  Martin,  53,  54 

Froissart,  Jean,  433 

Fuggers,  the,  of  Augsburg,  358,  506,  518, 
667 


798 


Index 


Fulvio,  Andrea,  549 

Fiirstenberg,  Henry,  Count  of,  323 

Gabelle,  the,  405 
Gaeta,  118,  127 
Gallipoli,  278 

Gama,  Vasco  da,  12,  24-26,  29,  30,  34,  285 

Gandia,  Duke  of,  179,  233,  234 

Garzoni,  Thomas,  151 

Gattamelata,  Stephano  Giovanni,  280 

Gattilusio,  Nicol6,  76 

Gattinara,  Arborio  de,  371 

Gavre,  overthrow  of  Ghenters  at,  427 

Gaza,  Theodorus,  542,  546 

Gelderland,  423,  424 ;  Arnold,  Duke  of, 
424  ;  Adolf,  Duke  of,  424,  441 ;  Charles, 
Duke  of,  307,  424,  441,  450  sqq.,  475; 
Rainald  IV,  Duke  of,  424 

Gelders,  see  Gelderland 

Gelnhausen,  311 

Genazzano,  Fr^  Mariano  da,  147 

Genghis  Khan,  8 

Gennadios,  George  Scholarios,  103 

Genoa,  68,  129,  257  sqq.  ;  manufacture  of 

arms  at,  496  ;  peace  of  (1392),  265 
George  of  Trebizond,  542 
George  Podiebrad,  see  Podiebrad 
George  the  Rich,  Duke  of  Bavaria-Land- 

shut,  315 
Gerbert,  see  Sylvester  II,  Pope 
Germaine  of  Foix,  127 
Germania^  the,  of  Valencia,  376  sq. 
Germany,  chap,  ix,  passim;  Renaissance 

in,  572-4  ;  Reformation  and,  686 ;  schools 

in,  637 
Gesner,  Conrad,  611 

Ghent,  425-7,  446;  craft^gilds  of,  428; 

peace  of  (1492),  450 
Ghibellines,  the,  121 
Ghiberti,  Vittorio,  548 
Giacomini,  Antonio,  191,  197 
Gibraltar,  Straits  of,  18 
Gi^,  Marshal  de,  117 
Gilds,  see  Craft-gilds 
Giorgione  (Giorgio  Barbarelli),  284 
Giron,  Pedro,  374 
Giustinian,  Lorenzo,  267 
Giustinian,  Taddeo,  259 
Gloucester,  Humphrey,  Duke  of,  598 
Goa,  capture  of,  31 
Gold  Coast,  the,  16 
Golden  Bull,  the,  291,  292 
Golden  Fleece,  Knights  of  the,  446 
Gomes,  Fernam,  16,  19 
Gongalvez,  Antam,  12,  13 
Gonzaga,  Luigi  III  de.  Marquis  of  Mantua, 

280 

Gordon,  Lady  Katharine,  469 

Gorz,  Counts  of,  263,  264 

Gossembrot  (of  Augsburg),  324 

Gothofredus  (Denys  Godefroy),  577 

Gourmont,  Gilles,  576 

Gradenigo,  Pietro,  Doge  of  Venice,  261, 

268,  273 
Grado,  patriarchate  of,  267 


Granada :  conquest  of,  224,  353,  359 ;  treaty 

of  (1500),  124 
Granada,  New,  40 
Grand  Vezirate,  101 
Grassis,  Paris  de,  252 
Gray,  William,  Bishop  of  Ely,  597,  598 
Great  Fish  River,  17,  25 
Great  Privilege  (Groote  Privilegie),  the, 

438,  439 

Greece,  conquest  of,  by  the  Ottomans,  74 

Greek,  pronunciation  of,  581 

Greek  Testament,  the  first,  603 

Greek  scholarship,  540-2 

Gregory  of  Tours,  St,  534 

Gregory  IX,  Pope  (Ugolino),  260,  666,  668 

Gregory  XII,  Pope  (Angelo  Correr),  268 

Gregory    XIII,   Pope    (Hugo  Buoncom- 

pagni),  325 
Grijalva,  Hernando  de,  41 
Grimaldi,  Napoleone,  259 
Gritti,  Andrea,  87 
Grocyn,  William,  579,  643 
Groote,  Gerard,  434,  435,  627 
Grosseteste,   Robert,  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 

585-7,  657 
Grotius,  Hugo,  579 
Gualterotti,  Francesco,  154 
Guanches,  the,  10 
Guarino  da  Verona,  550,  558 
Guelfs,  the,  of  Brunswick,  297 
Gu^rande,  treaty  of,  393 
Guerre  Folle,  the,  393 
Guicciardini,  Francesco,  147,  150,  170,  176, 

184,  186,  200,  363,  368 
Guicciardini,  Piero,  169,  176 
Guinea,  9,  15,  17,  24 
"Guinea  negroes,"  14 
Guinegaste,  battle  of  (Battle  of  the  Spurs), 

391,  413,  481 
Gunthorpe,  John,  597 
Gutenberg,  Johann,  634,  689 
Guzman,  Fernan  Nunez  de,  379 
Gyraldus,  Lilius,  567 

Hagenau,  compact  of  (1505),  127 
Hagenbach,  Peter  von,  390 
Hainault,  420 
Haleby,  Ibrahim,  98 

Hales'  Discourse  of  the  Common  Weal,  525 
Hamsa  (Turkish  general),  70 
Hamza  Pasha,  82 

Hanse  League,  the,  292  ;  settlement  of,  at 

Bergen,  496  ;  in  London,  ih. 
Haro,  Count  of,  374 

Harrow  School,  the  New  Learning  at,  582 

Hasan  Uzun,  78,  82  sqq.,  88  sq. 

Hawkins,  Sir  John,  55 

Hawkwood,  Sir  John,  265 

Hebrew  learning  in  England,  590 

Heckerens,  the,  423 

Hegius,  Alexander,  435,  436,  461,  634 

Heimburg,  Gregor,  633,  680,  689 

Heinsius,  Daniel,  679 

Helena,  of  Servia,  70 

"Hellu-Land,"  50 


Index 


799 


Hendrik  of  Zutphen,  460 

Henneberg,   Berthold  of  :    see  Berthold, 

Archbishop  of  Mainz 
Henrique  of  Portugal  (Prince  Henry  the 

Navigator),  10-15 
Henry  II,  King  of  France,  396 
Henry  IV,  King  of  England,  10 
Henry  IV,  King  of  France,  525 
Henry  IV,  King  of  Castile,  352,  354,  379 
Henry  VI,  King  of  England,  427,  464 
Henry  VII,  King  of  England,  33,  HI,  118, 

393  sqq. ,  450  sqq.,  chap,  xiv,  i,  passim 
Henry  VIII,  King  of  England,  51,  136,  140, 

366,  456,  chap,  xiv,  ii,  passim,  580 
Hermann  of  Hesse,  Elector  of  Cologne,  316 
Hermann  of  Ryswyk,  460 
Hermonymus,  George,  597 
Herzegovina,  73 
Hesse,  298 
Heynlin,  John,  637 
Himbercourt,  Sire  d',  440,  441 
Hlawsa,  John,  340 
Hoeks,  the,  420,  423,  445,  449 
Hohenkrahen,  capture  of,  321 
Hohenzollern,  Eitelfritz,  Count  of,  323 
Holland,   420  sq. ;  the  trades  in,   428 ; 

North,  420 
Holy  Brotherhood,  the,  in  Castile,  352  sq. 
Holy  League,  the  (1511),  319,  366,  479,  486 
Hoogstraten,  Jacob  van,  460 
Hormuz,  32 

Howard,  Lord  Thomas,  479 

Howard,  Sir  Edward,  479,  480 

Hugonet,  Chancellor,  440,  441 

Humanism,  first  appearance  of,  533 ;  in 
what  sense  founded  by  Petrarch,  540 ; 
study  of,  in  Italy,  553  sqq. ;  in  the  North, 
568  sqq.  ;  in  Germany,  571  sqq.  ;  in 
England,  572  sqq.  ;  in  France,  575  sqq. 

Hundred  Years'  War,  the,  293 

Hungary  and  the  Ottoman  invasion,  69, 
96;  disappearance  of  German  influence 
in,  293  ;  chap,  x,  passim 

Hunyady,  John,  68  sqq.,  335 

Hutten,  Ulrich  von,  573,  667 

Ibrahim  (Grand  Vezir),  96,  101 
Ibrahim,  lord  of  Caramania,  81 
Iceland,  414 
Ilha  de  Villagalhao,  48 
lUyricus,  Matthias  Flacius,  609 
Imitation  of  Christ,  the,  628,  641 
Imola,  238 

Imperial  Cameral  Tribunal,  the  (Reichs- 

kammei-gericht),  304 
Inca  nation  (" People  of  the  Sun"),  44  sq. 
India  reached  by  sea,  25 
Indonauts,  49 
Infessura,  221 

Innocent  VIII,  Pope  (Giovanni  Battista 
Cibo),  86,  104,  221  sqq.,  448,  656  sqq., 
666  sqq. 

Innsbruck,  Diet  of  (1518),  314,  322 
Inquisition,   the,  in  Spain,   359  sq.  ;  in 
Venice,  269  sq. 


Iroquois,  the,  38,  44 

Isabella,  Spanish  colony,  40 

Isabel,  Queen  of  Castile,  126,  316,  347-63, 

379,  394,  476,  656 
Isabel,  Queen  of  Portugal,  362,  453 
Isidore,  Bishop  of  Seville,  534 
Ismail,  Sofi,  88  sqq. 
Isola  della  Scala,  136 

Italy,  chap,  iv,  passim,  229  sqq.,  250,  293, 
303,  362,  515  ;  Greek  learning  in,  542  ; 
Latin  learning  in,  543  ;  Renaissance  in, 
chap.  XVI,  passim,  593 

Ivan  I  (Wasilovic),  Czar  of  Russia,  74,  502 

"Ivory  Coast,"  the,  16 

Jacob,  Margrave  of  Baden,  316 

Jacob  of  Liebenstein,  Elector  of  Mainz,  316 

Jacqueline  (Jacobsea)  of  Bavaria,  heiress  of 

Hainault,  Holland,  etc.,  419  sqq. 
Jagellos,  the,  331,  336,  344 
Jajce,  capture  of,  97 
Jamaica,  41 

James  IV,  King  of  Scotland,  469,  471,  479, 
484 

Janissaries,  the,  100 
Jean,  see  John 

Jem,  Sultan,  85  sq.,  114  sq.,  224  sqq. 
Jenson,  Nicolas,  284,  561 
Jews,  the,  in  Spain,  360 
Joachim  I,  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  316 
Joan  of  Brabant  and  Limburg,  418  sqq. 
Joanna  I,  Queen  of  Naples,  108:  see  Juana 
Joanna  II,  Queen  of  Naples,  108 
Joao  I,  King  of  Portugal,  10 
Joao  II,  King  of  Portugal,  16,  17,  20,  24 
John  I,  Albert,  King  of  Poland,  345 
John,  Duke  of  Bavaria,  421,  422 
John  ("sa?is  peitr "),  Duke  of  Burgundy, 
422 

John,  Duke  of  Calabria,  104,  107,  387,  396 

John,  Duke  of  Cleves,  441 

John,  King  of  Denmark,  456 

John  II,  Duke  of  Brabant,  419 

John  II,  King  of  Aragon,  347 

John  II,  King  of  Castile,  347,  351,  379 

John  II,  King  of  France,  389 

John  IV,  Duke  of  Britanny,  392 

John  IV,  Emperor  of  Trebizond,  78 

John  XXII,  Pope  (Jacques  de  Cohors),  656 

John  of  Capistrano,  69,  77 

John  (Margrave  of  jSaden),  Elector  of 

Trier,  316 
John  (Pupper)  of  Goch,  437 
John  of  Lorraine  (son  of  Duke  Ben^  II), 

659 

John  of  Parma,  663 
John  of  Ragusa,  599 
John  of  Salisbury,  5.36 
John  of  Speyer,  284,  561 
Jonker-Franzen  AVar,  the,  449 
Joseph,  Michael,  469 
Jovius,  Paulus,  545,  568 
Juana,  Dowager  Queen  of  Naples,  476 
Juana,  Princess  of  Castile  {la  Beltraneja), 
352,  363 


800 


Index 


Juana  I,  Queen  of  Naples,  108 

Juana  II,  Queen  of  Naples,  108 

Juana,  Queen  of  Spain,  362-4,  368,  373, 

379,  453,  455,  475  sqq. 
Julius  II,  Pope  (Giuliano  della  Rovere), 

128  sqq.,  195  sqq.,  242  sqq.,  268,  319, 

366,  388,  479,  491,  548,  620,  655  sqq., 

665  sqq.,  690 
Justiciar  the  (in  Aragon),  351 

Kabeljaauws,  the,  419,  420,  423,  445 
Kaisersberg,  Geiler  von,  683 
Kammermeister,  Joachim  :  see  Camerarius 
Kansuh  Ghuri,  91 
Kasimir  IV,  King  of  Poland,  345 
Katharine  of  Aragon,  Queen  of  England, 

466,  476,  478,  482 
Kempis,  Thomas  k,  his  Imitation  of  Christ, 

625,  628 
Kennemer,  the,  420 
Kharaj  (capitation-tax),  102 
Kildare,  Gerald,  Earl  of,  468,  470,  472 
Kinizsi,  Paul,  335,  337 
Kismet,  100 

Knyvet,  Sir  Thomas,  480 
Konstantinovic,  Michael,  72,  73 
Kopidlansky,  the  Vladyk,  338 
Kroja,  fall  of,  80 
Kuttenberg,  Diet  of,  340 

Labatlan,  Gregory,  343 

Laetus,  Julius  Pomponius,  560 

Lagos,  13 

Laillier,  Jean,  681 

Laiot,  Prince  of  Wallachia,  83 

Lake  pueblos,  39,  42 

La  Marche,  Olivier  de,  430,  443,  446 

Lambinus  (Denys  Lambin),  577 

Landfriede,  see  Peace,  the  Public 

Landino,  Cristoforo,  559 

Landois,  execution  of,  393 

Landriani,  Gherardo,  550 

Landriano,  121 

Landshut  Succession  War,  315 

Landsknechte,  the,  325 

Landucci,  Luca,  153,  169,  176,  188 

Lang,  Matthaeus,  Cardinal,  184,  323  sq. 

Langen,  Rudolf  von,  634 

Langlois,  Jean,  681 

Lanzarote,  13,  14 

La  Palice,  133,  137 

Lascaris,  John,  543,  563,  566,  575 

Lateran  Council :  (732),  267  ;  (1512),  136, 

137,  249,  678,  680,  690 ;  (1517),  489 
Latin  Fathers,  the,  616 
Latin  scholarship,  536,  543-5 
La  Tr^mouille,  Louis  de,  394 
Laudonni^re,  Ren6,  55 
Leagues  and  Unions,  German,  292 
Learning,  Revival  of,  chaps,  xvi,  xvii, 

passim 
Lebrija,  see  Nebrija 
Lebrixa,  Antonio  (Nebrissensis),  578 
Leclercq,  Arnoul,  449,  450 
Lee,  Edward,  Archbishop  of  York,  682 


Lef^vre  d'^^taples,  Jacques,  614,  640,  681 
Lef^vre  de  Saint-Remy,  Jacques,  433 
Leghorn,  172 

Leo  X,  Pope  (Giovanni  de'  Medici),  32,  92, 
139,  153,  249,  323,  388,  489,  545,  548, 
550,  565,  621,  661,  665,  670,  678,  690 

Leon,  Ponce  de,  54 

Leopold  III,  Archduke  of  Austria,  264,  342 
Lescun,  Thomas  de,  Comte  de  Comminges 

(Marshal  de  Foix),  393 
Le  Verger,  peace  of,  394 
Lichtenhergers,  the,  423 
Liechtenstein,  G.  von,  324 
Li^ge,  destruction  of,  389,  421  sq. 
Lille,  treaty  of  (1513),  483 
Lilly,  William,  580,  582 
Limburg,  419 

Linacre,  Thomas,  579,  582,  643 
Lincoln,  Earl  of  (John  de  la  Pole),  465,  467 
Lindau,  Diet  of  (1496),  306 
Linz,  314 

Lippomannus,  Aloysius,  610 
Lipsius,  Justus  (Joest  Lips),  579 
L'Isle  Adam,  Villiers  de,  94 
Lockhorsts,  the,  423 
Lodi,  peace  of  (1454),  281 
Logrono,  siege  of,  378 
London,  trade  of,  with  Venice,  257 
Longueville,  Duke  of  (Louis  d' Orleans), 
481 

Lords  Appellant,  the,  301 
Lords  Ordainers,  the,  301 
Loredano,  Antonio,  Admiral,  80,  87 
Lotharingia,  418 

Louis  I  (the  Great),  King  of  Hungary  and 

Poland,  264,  342 
Louis  II,  King  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 

93,  95,  96,  331,  337  sqq. 
Louis  III,  Duke  of  Anjou,  108 
Louis  VI  (the  Fat),  King  of  France,  384 
Louis  IX  (St  Louis),  King  of  France,  12 
Louis  XI,  King  of  France,  107  sqq.,  301, 

335,  362,  chap,  xii,  passim,  437  sqq., 
463,  663 

Louis  XII,  King  of  France,  108,  115, 
188  sqq.,  190  sqq.,  236,  248,  306  sqq., 

336,  344,  363,  chap,  xii,  passim,  458,  485 
Louvain,  University  of,  419,  436 

Lovel,  Viscount,  465 

Loyola,  St  Ignatius,  651 ;  his  Spiritual 

Exercises,  625 
Liibeck,  299 
Lucca,  113 
Lucero,  360 

Ludovico  "il  Moro,"  156,  171  sqq.,  191 
Luna,  Alvaro  de,  354 
Lusatia,  331 

Luther,  Martin,  322,  340,  437,  638,  684 
Luxemburg,  421 

Luxemburg,  Charles,  Duke  of,  454 
Lyons,  silk  trade  at,  414 
Lyra,  Nicholas  de,  591 

Machiavelli,  Niccol6,  87,  170,  chap,  vi, 
passim,  237,  240,  242,  298,  616 


Index 


801 


Madeira,  40,  49,  414 

Magalhaes,  Fernao  de,  12,  36 

Magalhaes,  Strait  of,  36 

"Magdeburg  Centuriators,"  the,  609 

Maggior  Cotisiglio,  the,  272 

Magnus  Bitercursus,  the,  452 

Magyars,  the,  330  sqq. 

Mahmud  Pasha  (Beglerbeg  of  Kumelia), 

70  sqq. 
Malacca,  27,  28,  31 
Malatesta,  Fr^,  188 

Malatesta,  Sigismondo,  Lord  of  Rimini,  624 

Malindi,  25 

Malipiero,  284,  287 

Malmoe,  peace  of  (1512),  457 

Mais,  conference  at,  118 

Malus  Intercursus,  the,  454,  455 

Manetti,  Gianozzo,  679 

Manfredi,  Astorre,  238 

Manoel,  Don  (Emmanuel),  King  of  Portugal, 

31  sqq. 
Manrique,  Jorge  de,  381 
Mantegna,  Andrea,  284 
Mantua,  Council  of,  78 
Mantua,  Gian  Francesco  Gonzaga,  Marquis 

of,  557 

Manucci,  Teobaldo :  see  Manuzio,  Aldo 
Manuel,  Don  Juan,  363,  364,  367 
Manuzio,  Aldo  (Teobaldo  Manucci),  561-3 
Mara,  William  de,  590 
Marcel,  Etienne,  399 
March,  Ausias,  379 

Marck,  William  de  la  (Aremberg) ,  440,  444 
Margaret  of  Maele,  heiress  of  Flanders,  418 
Margaret  Tudor,  Queen  of  Scotland,  484, 
488 

Mariana,  Juan,  360 
Mariano,  Frk,  174 
Marignano,  battle  of,  141,  486 
Marliano,  Bartolommeo,  549 
Martin  V,  Pope  (Otho  Colonna),  237 
Mary,  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  consort  of 

Maximilian  I,  295  sq.,  391  sqq.,  437  sqq. 
Mary  Tudor,  Princess  of  England,  Queen 

of  France,  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  477,  481 
Mary  Tudor,  Queen  of  England,  53 
Masih  Pasha,  84 

Matilda,  Countess  of  Tuscany,  251,  260 
Matricula,  the,  317 
Matthew  of  Vendome,  654 
Maurus,  Rabanus,  535 

Maximilian  I,  King  of  the  Romans  and 
Emperor-elect,  92,  chap,  iv,  passim,  172, 
chap.  IX,  passim,  336,  339,  343,  364,  391 
sqq.,  chap,  xiii,  passim,  467,  470,  475 
sqq.,  490,  672,  690 
Mazochi,  Jacopo,  549 
Mecca,  the  Sherif  of,  91 
Medicean  conspiracy,  the  (1497),  175,  176 
Medici,  Cosimo  de',  145,  150,  164,  165,  552 
Medici,  Giuliano  de',  140,  186,  199,  217, 
661 

Medici,  Giulio  de' :  see  Clement  VII,  Pope 
Medici,  Lorenzo  de',  104,  110,  141,  147  sqq., 
158,  176,  217,  223  sqq.,  559,  661 


Medici,  Piero  de',  110,  127,  148  sqq.,  166, 

174,  185,  193,  228,  230 
Mediterranean,  Saracens  on  the,  9 
Melanchthon,  Philip,  574 
Memling,  Hans  van,  433 
Mendoza,  Diego  de,  377 
Mendoza,  Pedro   Gonzalez  de.  Cardinal, 

Archbishop  of  Toledo,  355 
Meno,  Pr^gent,  468 
Menting,  Ludwig,  507 
Merchant  Adventurers,  the,  429,  508 
Mers-el-Kebir,  conquest  of,  365 
Mexico,  38,  39,  41,  42 
Meyer,  Dr.  Martin,  688 
Michelangelo,  143,  147,  382,  548,  559  ;  his 

statue  of  Pope  Julius  II,  245,  249 
Michiel,  Antonio,  285 

Milan,  105,  106,  120  sqq.,  138,  303 ;  French 

conquest  of,  237,  308 
Mina,  San  Jorge  da,  16 
Mirandola,  siege  of,  135,  248,  249 
Mirtschea  the  Great,  Prince  of  Wallachia, 

82 

Mocenigo,   Pietro,   Doge  of  Venice,  80, 

279 
Modena,  248 

Mohacs,  battle  of,  96,  345 
Mohammad  Abu  Jafar,  91 
Mohammad,  Sultan  of  Malacca,  31 
Mohammad  I,  Ottoman  Sultan,  68,  82,  278, 
281 

Mohammad  II,  Ottoman  Sultan,  chap,  iii, 

passim 
Moldavia,  83,  84 
Molinet,  Jean,  417,  433,  447 
Molla  Khusrev,  98 
Mombasa,  25 

Monaco,  siege  of  (1507),  129 
Monstrelet,  Enguerrand  de,  433 
Montaigne,  Michel  de,  58,  59,  63,  577 
Montalvo,  Garcia  Ordonez  de,  358,  381 
Montefeltro,  Federigo  de,  Duke  of  Urbino, 
553 

Montenegro,  74 

Monte  San  Giovanni,  114 

Montpensier,  Louis  I  de  Bourbon,  Comte 

de,  114,  117,  397 
"Moors,"  the,  27 
Morat  (Murten),  battle  of,  391 
Moravia,  329,  331,  335 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  641 ;  his  Utopia,  56-58, 

491 

Morea,  conquest  of  the,  75,  285 
Morosini,  Michele,  Doge  of  Venice,  269 
Morton,  Cardinal,  477 
Mosto,  Ca  da,  15 
Motecuhzoma,  41,  42 
Mozambique,  25 

Miiller,  Johann :  see  Regiomontanus 

Multeka-ul-ubhar,  98 

Murad  I,  Ottoman  Sultan,  67,  99,  258 

Murad  II,  Ottoman  Sultan,  68,  70 

Murano,  glass  manufacture  at,  275 

Murner,  Thomas,  675 

Mustafa  (son  of  Mohammad  II) ,  82 


C.  M.  H.  I. 


51 


802 


Index 


Musurus,  Marcus,  562,  566 
Mutianus,  Conrad,  435 

NMasdi,  Th.,  340 

Nagera,  Duke  of,  365,  378 

Naharro,  Torres  de,  380 

Nahuatlaca  (Mexicans),  38,  39,  43 

Naldi,  Dionigi  di,  132 

Namur,  419 

Nancy,  battle  of,  391 

Naples,  105  sqq.,  126  ;  conquest  of  (1501), 

124,  239  ;  Academy  of,  560 
Nardi,  Jacopo,  200 
Narentine  pirates,  the,  254 
Narvaez,  Pamphilo  de,  54 
Nassau,  Count  Adolf  of,  443 
Nassau,  Count  Engelbert  of,  449,  452 
Navagero,  Andrea,  567 
Navarra,  Pedro,  Count  of,  125,  137,  140, 

365  sq. 
Navarre,  366,  367,  378 
Nebrija,  Antonio  de,  379 
Nebrija,  Francisca  de,  379 
Negroponte,  fall  of,  79,  286 
Nemours,  Jacques  de,  397,  415 
Nerli,  Jacopo,  149,  154 
Nero,  Bernardo  del,  154,  173  sqq. 
Netherlands,   the,   293,   303,   chap,  xiii, 

passim ;  spiritual  movements  in,  626 ; 

their  relations  with  England,  452 
Neuburg,  315 
Neuss,  siege  of,  295,  390 
Newfoundland,  Banks  of,  414 
*'New  France,"  43 

New  Learning,  the,  chap,  xvi,  passim;  the 

influence  of,  679 
"New  Spain,"  42 
New  World,  the,  chap,  ii,  passim 
Niccoli,  Niccolo  de',  551 
Niccolini,  Agnolo,  185 
Nicholas  of  Calabria,  396 
Nicholas  of  Cusa :  see  Cusanus,  Cardinal 
Nicholas  of  Treves,  550 
Nicholas  V,  Pope  (Tommaso  Parentucelli), 

76,  78,  546,  552,  594,  679 ;  his  library, 

595 

Nieszava,  Statute  of,  345 
"Nile,  the  Western,"  14 
Nola,  Antonio  de,  15 
Norfolk,  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of,  482 
Normandy,  Charles,   Duke  of,  389,  390, 
393 

North  America,  44 
North-west  passage,  the,  53 
Novara,  sieges  of,  117,  139 
Novi,  Paolo  da,  129,  130 
Noyon,  treaty  of,  247,  369,  487 
Nueva,  Joao  de,  29 

Nunez,  Fernando  de  Guzman :  see  Pintianus 
Nlirnberg,  299 ;  Diets  of  (1491)  302,  (1501) 
311 

"Old  League,"  the  Swiss,  295 
Olmtitz,  peace  of  (1477),  331,  335 
Omar  Pasha,  79 


Oran,  conquest  of,  365 

Orchan,  Ottoman  Sultan,  67,  99 

Orders,  religious,  in  America,  62 

Orleans,  Louis,  Duke  of :  see  Louis  XII, 
King  of  France 

Orleans,  Louis,  first  Duke  of,  108 

Ormond,  Sir  James,  470 

Orseolo,  Pietro  II,  Doge  of  Venice,  271 

Orsini,  Cardinal,  240 

Orsini,  Paolo,  153 

Orsini,  Pitigliano,  114,  117 

Orsini,  the,  114,  126,  227;  war  of  Alex- 
ander VI  with,  233  sq. 

Orsini,  Virginio,  110,  115,  117,  227 

Osma,  Pedro  de,  680 

Ostia,  reduction  of  (1497),  233 

Othman,  Ottoman  Sultan,  99 

Otranto,  capture  of,  81,  286,  666 

Otto  the  Great,  Emperor  of  Germany,  536 

Ottoman  Conquest,  the,  chap,  iii,  passim; 
constitution,  98 

Ottomans,  the,  at  war  with  Venice,  272, 
286 

Ovando,  Don  Nicholas,  41 
Oxford,  New  Learning  at,  580 ;  Provisions 
of,  301 

Pace,  Dr.  Richard,  486 
Pacheco,  Duarte, "  the  Portuguese  Achilles," 
30 

Padilla,  Juan  de,  372-5 

Padua,  siege  of  (1500)  133,  (1509)  246; 

capture  of  (1404),  266 
Palatinate,  the  young  (die  Junge  Tfalz)^ 

315 

Paleologus,  Demetrius,  74,  75 
Paleologus,  John,  Emperor  of  the  East, 
258 

Paleologus,  Thomas,  74,  75 
Palmieri,  Matteo,  596 
Pamplona,  surrender  of,  366 
Pandolfini,  Angelo,  147 
Parenti,  Piero,  169,  183,  187 
Parentucelli,  Tommaso :  see  Nicholas  V, 
Pope 

Paris,  Matthew,  537 
Paris,  University  of,  635,  636 
Parlamento,  the,  at  Florence,  162 
Parlement,  the,  of  Paris,  401,  402 
Parma,  121,  251 
Pashek,  John,  338 
jPaston  Letters,  the,  492 
Patagonia,  36 

Paul  II,  Pope  (Pietro  Barbo),  71,  80,  560, 

624,  655,  666 
Paul  V,  Pope  (Camillo  Borghese),  270 
Pazzi,  conspiracy  of  the,  661 
Peace,  the  Public  (Landfriede) ,  293,  294, 

302  sqq. 
"  Pearl,"  the,  98 

Peasants'  War,  the,  in  the  Netherlands,  450 
Pelagius  II,  Pope,  267 
Per^nyi,  Emericus,  336 
Pernstein,  William  of,  338 
P^ronne,  treaty  of,  440 


Index 


803 


Perraudi,  Cardinal,  311 
Persia,  88 
Peru,  44,  45,  61. 

Perugia,  surrender  of  (1506),  245 

Pesaro,  Giovanni  Sforza,  Lord  of,  234 

Pescia,  Domenico  da,  181,  182 

Peter  Martyr,  248,  379  sqq. ;  his  Decades,  53 

Peter  of  Rosenberg,  338 

Peter  the  Hermit,  77 

Petrarch  (Francesco  Petrarca),  264,  538-40, 
649 

Petrucci,  Pandolfo,  193 

Pfefferkorn,  Johann,  573 

Pfintzing,  Melchior,  326 

Phanariots,  the,  103 

Phebus,  Fran9ois,  366 

Ph6bus,  Gaston,  366 

Philip,  Duke  of  Brabant,  419 

Philip,  Elector  Palatine,  311,  315,  316 

Philip  II  (the  Good),  Duke  of  Burgundy, 

380,  chap.  XIII,  i,  passim 
Philip  II  (Augustus),  King  of  France,  384 
Philip  II,  King  of  Spain,  46,  53,  419 
Philip  IV  (the  Fair),  King  of  France,  384, 

404,  407,  411 
Philip  VI  (of  Valois),  King  of  France,  405 
Philip  the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  418,  431 
Philip  the  Fair,  Archduke  of  Austria  and 

King  of  Castile,  126,  303,  306,  318,  362-4, 

434,  446  sqq.,  467,  475  sqq. 
Piacenza,  121,  251 

Piagnoni,  the,  169,  170,  174,  181,  182 
Picard,  Aymon,  681 

Pico  della  Mirandola,  Giovanni,  147,  151, 

659,  572,  596,  605,  680 
Picquanet,  George,  449 
"Pier,  the  Great"  (in  East  Friesland),  453 
Pilatus,  Leontius,  541 

Pintianus  (Fernando  de  Guzman  Nunez), 
578 

Pinturicchio  (Bernardino  Betti),  233 
Pinzon,  Vicente  Yanez,  34,  35 
Pirckheimer,  Wilibald,  682 
Pisa,  113 ;  revolt  of,  171 ;  Council  of,  249, 
251 

Pisani,  Vettor,  258,  259 

Pius  II,  Pope  (Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini), 

72,  76  sqq.,  92,  145,  285,  387,  547,  623, 

632,  647,  655,  665  sqq.,  688 
Pius  III,  Pope  (Francesco  Piccolomini), 

126,  195,  242 
Pizarro,  Francisco,  45,  46,  58 
"  Place  of  Battles  "  (Rasboieni),  84 
Plate  River,  36,  43 
Platina  (Bartolommeo  Sacchi),  552 
Plethon,  Gemistos,  542 
Podiebrad,  George,  King  of  Bohemia,  293, 

296,  331,  655,  689 
Poggio,  Bracciolini,   Giovanni  Francesco, 

547,  549 
Poland,  329,  342,  345  sq. 
Pole,  Edmund  de  la  :  see  Suffolk,  Earl  of 
Pole,  Richard  de  la,  481 
Polentani,  the,  281,  287 
Polish  constitution,  the,  345 


Politian  (Angelo  Ambrogio  de  Poliziano), 

18,  555  sq. 
Polo,  Marco,  8 

Pompeio,  Bishop  of  Rieti,  249 
Pontanus,  Jovianus,  560 
Pontremoli,  116 

Ponzo,  Fr^  Domenico  da,  151,  162 

"Poor  Conrad,"  revolts  of,  299 

Port  Natal,  25 

Port  Royal  Sound,  50 

Porta,  Bartolommeo  della,  168 

Porto  Seguro,  35 

"  Portugal,  Greater,"  10  sqq. 

Portugal,  Renaissance  in,  578 

Postel,  Guillaume,  604,  613 

Poynings  Acts,  the,  472 

Poynings,  Sir  Edward,  472,  479 

Pozsony,  treaty  of,  344 

Pragmatic  Sanction  :  of  Bourges,  385,  386  ; 

"of  St  Louis,"  386 
Pratica,  the,  at  Florence,  161 
Prato,  capture  of,  199 
Precy  (French  commander),  117 
Pregadi,  the,  271,  272 
Pregent  de  Bidoux,  Admiral,  483 
Pressburg,  Peace  of,  395 
Prester  John,  8,  14 
Priuli,  Diaries  of,  285 
Procops,  the  (Hussite  leaders),  331 
Prussia,  West,  surrendered  by  the  German 

Order  to  Poland,  293 
"Public  Weal"  {Bien  Public),  war  of  the 

(in  France),  396 
Pucci,  Giannozzo,  175 
Puglia,  Francesco  da,  181 
Pulgar,  Hernando  del,  381 

Racova,  battle  of,  83 

Radak,  Prince,  73 

Radevynszoon,  Florentius,  434,  435 

Radolt,  Erhardt,  284 

Radu,  Prince  of  Wallachia,  83 

Raffaelle,  143,  548 

Rainald  IV,  Duke  of  Gelders,  424 

Rapallo,  battle  of,  112,  117 

Ratisbon,  313 

Ravenna,  battle  of  (1512),  137,  250,  365,  479 
Ravenstein,  Adolf,  Lord  zum,  439  sqq. 
Red  Sea,  the,  32 
Pederijkers,  the,  434 

Reformation,  the,  chap,  xix,  passim;  in 
Hungary  and  Bohemia,  340  ;  and  Eras- 
mus, 461  sq. 

Regiomontanus  (Johann  Miiller),  571 

Beichstag,  the,  290 

Remieulx,  449 

Renaissance,  the  Christian,  chap,  xvii, 
passim;  the  classical,  chap,  xvi,  passim ; 
in  England,  579-83  ;  in  Hungary,  339  ;  in 
Italy,  593 ;  in  the  Netherlands,  579 ; 
in  Portugal,  578 ;  in  Spain,  ib. ;  and 
Erasmus,  460  ;  the  earlier,  and  religion, 
633  sqq. 

Rene,  Duke  of  Anjou,  396 

Ren^,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  108,  391,  393 


804 


Index 


Renee,  Princess  of  France,  457,  483 
Reuclilin,  Joliann,  572  sq.,  605,  637 
Rhaetian  Leagues,  the,  308 
Rhinelaud,  the,  298.  299,  301 
Rhodes,  siege  of,  84,  93  ;  fall  of,  94 
Riario,  Cardinal  Piero,  658,  659 
Riario,  Girolamo,  221,  238 
Ribault,  eJean,  50 

Richard  III,  King  of  England,  393,  447,  464 

Ridolfi,  Giovanni  Battista,  169,  183 

Ridolfi,  Niccolo,  175 

Rieux,  Marshal  de,  394 

Rimini,  capture  of,  244 

Rin,  William,  446,  447 

Rivers,  Earl,  441 

Roberval,  rran9ois  de  Roque,  Sieur  de, 
44,  50 

Robortello,  Francisco,  567 

Roccasecca,  126 

Rocquebertin,  129 

Roger  II,  King  of  Sicily,  9 

Rohan,  Sire  de,  394 

Rojas,  Fernando  de,  380 

Romagna,  the,  128,  238,  242,  246,  250 

Boman  de  la  JRose,  the,  415 

"  Roman  Emperor,"  289 

"Romans,  King  of  the,"  289 

Rome,  114  ;  Academy  of,  560 ;  French  oc- 
cupation of,  230 

Romolino,  Bishop  of  Ilerda,  184 

Romont,  Count  de,  390,  446 

Rondinelii,  Fr^,  181 

Ronquillo  (Spanish  judge),  373 

Roosebeke,  overthrow  of  the  Communes 
at,  425,  426 

Rosenberg,  Peter  of,  338 

Roses,  Wars  of  the,  309,  463 

Ross,  Alexander,  Duke  of,  485 

Rossi,  Pietro  de',  262 

Roumanian  wars,  83 

Roussillon,  cession  of,  to  Spain,  229,  362 
Rovere,   Cardinal  della,   114,    177,  184, 

221  sqq. :  see  also  Julius  II,  Pope 
Rovere,  Francesco  della :  see  Sixtus  IV, 

Pope 

Rovere,  Giuliano  della,  110 
Rozmital,  Zdenko  Lew  of,  338 
Rubeanus,  Crotus,  573 
Rucherath,  Johann,  680 
Rueda,  Lope  de,  380 
"  Rumes,"  27  sq. 
Rupert,  Count  Palatine,  315 
Rusbroek,  Johannes,  434 

Sacchi,  Bartolommeo :  see  Platina 
Sacred  Promontory,  the,  11,  12 
Saint-Quentin,  122 
Saiamanca,  treaty  of,  364 
Salinguerra,  260 
Salonika,  255 
Salutati,  Colucciode',  544 
Saluzzo,  Marquis  of,  118 
Salvatierra,  Count  of,  375 
Salviati,  Alamanno,  169 
Salviati,  Jacopo,  169 


Salviati,  Lucrezia,  175 

Samori,  the  :  see  Zamorin 

San  Bernardino,  144,  147,  151,  163,  167, 

186,  189 
San  Domingo,  40 

San  Severino,  Francesco  di,  120,  124 
San  Severino,  Galeazzo,  120,  121 
Sanjaks,  the,  99 
Sanseverino,  Cardinal,  250 
Sant'  Anton ino,  188 
Sant'  Uffizio,  270 
Santiago,  Order  of,  11 
Santiago  de  los  Caballeros,  41 
Sanudo,  284 

Saracens,  the,  on  the  Mediterranean,  9 ; 

in  Spain,  360,  361 
Saracenus,  Johannes,  588 
Sarpi,  Fr^  Paolo,  270 
Sarzana,  113 

Sauvage,  Jean  le,  370,  371 

Savonarola,  Girolamo,  chap,  v,  passim,  230, 

233,  649 
Savoy,  Amadeo,  Duke  of,  264 
Savoy,  Bona,  Duchess  of,  106 
Savoy,  Margaret,  Duchess  of,   362,  369, 

392,  439,  447,  451  sqq.,  465  sqq.,  474 

sqq. 

Savoy,  Philibert  the  Fair,  Duke  of,  455 

Saxony,  Albert,  Duke  of,  449,  450,  452,  453 

Saxony,  George,  Duke  of,  453,  475 

Sayf  ad-Din,  89 

Scala,  Antonio  della,  265 

Scala,  Can  Grande  della,  262 

Scala,  Mastino  della,  262 

Scala,  the  Della,  262 

Scales,  Lord,  394 

Scanderbeg  (George  Castriotes),  70  sqq.,  100 
Schaffhausen,  308 
Schaufelein,  326 

Scherenberg,  Rudolf  von.  Bishop  of  Wiirz- 

burg,  675 
Schieringers,  the,  421,  452 
Schinner,  Matthias,  Cardinal  of  Sion,  135, 

138,  141,  487 
Schmalkalden,  League  of,  691 
Scholastic  philosophy,  532 
Schwyz,  136 

Scodra  (Scutari),  siege  of  (1474),  80  ;  second 

siege  of  (1478),  286 
Scriptoris,  Paul,  682 
Scutari,  see  Scodra 

Selim  I,  Sultan  of  Turkey,  84,  89  sqq. 
Selling,  William,  Prior  of  Christ  Church, 

Canterbury,  491,  579,  598,  643 
Semlin,  capture  of,  93 
Senlis,  peace  of,  451 ;  treaty  of.  111,  392 
Serntein,  324 
Serristori,  Battista,  175 
Servatus,  Lupus,  535 
Servia,  68,  69,  70 

Sforza,  Bianca  Maria,  consort  of  Maxi- 
milian I,  106,  111 

Sforza,  Cardinal  Ascanio,  110,  123,  177, 
196,  226 

Sforza,  Caterina,  113,  238,  624 


Index 


805 


Sforza,  Francesco,  Duke  of  Milan,  105,  106, 
109,  486 

Sforza,  Galeazzo  Maria,  Duke  of  Milan, 
106 

Sforza,  Gian  Galeazzo,  Duke  of  Milan,  106, 
113 

Sforza,  Giovanni,  Lord  of  Pesaro,  234 
Sforza,  Ludovico,  Duke  of  Milan,  106  sqq., 

115,  122,  177,  228,  232,  236,  238,  245,  308 
Sforza,  Massimiliano,  Duke  of  Milan,  138, 

251,  486 
Sheikh-ul-Islam,  the,  101 
Shiites,  the,  90 
Ship  of  Fools,  the,  683 
Sickingen,  Franz  von,  321,  322 
Siculus,  Marineus,  379,  381 
Sidon,  fall  of,  254 
Sierra  Parda,  17 

Sigismund,  Archduke  of  Tyrol,  294  sqq., 
632,  689 

Sigismund,  Emperor,  289  sqq.,  424 

Sigismund  I,  King  of  Poland,  343,  345 

Silesia,  329,  331 

Silvestro,  Fr^,  169,  182 

Simnel,  Lambert,  465,  466 

Simonetta,  Cicco,  106 

Sinigaglia,  capture  of,  240 

Sinope,  surrender  of,  to  the  Turks,  285 

Sintius  (Sintheim),  Johannes,  436 

Sipahis,  the,  99 

Six  Beans,  the,  at  Florence,  161 

Sixtus  IV,  Pope  (Francesco  della  Rovere) , 

80,  108,  221,  237  sq.,  268  sq.,  359,  387, 

560,  650,  chap,  xix,  passim 
Sixtus  of  Siena,  his  Bihliotlieca  Sancta, 

611 

Slavonic  kingdoms,  chap,  x,  passim 
Smith,  Sir  Thomas,  580,  581 
Soderini,  Cardinal,  150 
Soderini,  PaoP  Antonio,  156,  160,  169 
Soderini,  Piero,  161,  190,  196 
Soils,  Juan  Diaz  de,  36 
Solyman  (Sulayman)  the  Magnificent,  Sul- 
tan of  Turkey,  92  sqq.,  337 
Soto,  Hernan  de,  54 
Sousa,  Martira  Affonso  de,  49 
South  America,  34 
South  Carolina,  50 

Spain,  chap,  xr,  passim;  and  France,  at 
war,  125 ;  Jews  and  Saracens  in,  360, 
361  ;  Renaissance  in,  578  ;  the  accumu- 
lation of  treasure  in,  and  its  results,  518 
sqq. 

Spanish-American  Empire,  38,  40 

Sporades,  the,  255 

St  Angelo,  Castle  of,  233,  242 

St  Aubin,  battle  of,  466 

St  Augustine,  535 

St  Bartholomew,  Massacre  of,  56 

St  Benedict,  534 

St  Boniface,  534 

St  Brandan,  50 

St  Columba,  535 

St  Columbanus,  535 

St  Denis,  Greek  learning  at,  588 


St  Dominic,  Order  of,  145,  149 
St  George,  Kni,2:hts  of,  292 
St  Honoratus,  534 
St  Jean  Pied-de-Port,  siege  of,  369 
St  John,  Knights  of,  84,  86,  224 
St  eTohn's  River  ("  River  of  May  "),  55 
St  Lawrence,  Gulf  of  the,  44 
St  Louis,  Pragmatic  Sanction  of,  386 
St  Maur  des  Fosses,  treaty  of,  389 
St  Paul's  School,  the  New  Learning  at, 
582 

St  Pol,  Louis  de,  415 
St  Venceslas,  treaty  of,  338 
Stanley,  Sir  William,  468,  469 
Star  Chamber,  Court  of,  465 
Staupitz,  Johann  von,  682 
Stephen  the  Great,  King  of  Moldavia,  83, 
84 

Stephen  Thomas,  King  of  Bosnia,  71,  72, 73 

Strozzi,  Carlo,  176 

Stuniga,  Lope  de,  379 

Suffolk,  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of,  484 

Suffolk,  Earl  of  (Edmund  de  la  Pole),  452, 

474,  475,  481 
Sulayman,  Sultan  :  see  Solyman 
Sulayman,  Pasha,  of  Rumelia,  80,  83 
Sully,  Maximilian,  Duke  of,  525,  526 
Sulzbach,  315 
Sunnites,  the,  90 

Surrey,  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of  (after- 
wards Duke  of  Norfolk),  471,  482 
Swabian  League,  the,  292,  296,  307,  321 
Sweating  Sickness,  the  (1485),  488 
Swiss  Confederacy,  the,  293,  307 
Swiss  League,  the,  142;   "Old  League," 
295 

Swiss,  the,  and  Pope  Julius  II,  135 
Sylvester  II,  Pope  (Gerbert),  536 
Synods,  Diocesan  and  Provincial,  629,  630 
Syria,  Ottoman  conquest  of,  91 
Szabacs,  fall  of,  81,  93 
Szakmary,  George,  336 
Szegedin,  Diet  of,  72 

Taille,  the,  406 

Talavera,  Archbishop  of  Granada,  360 
Tassino,  106 
Tauler,  Johann,  434 
Tecpanec  confederacy,  the,  39 
Tecpanecs,  the,  39 

Ten,  the  Council  of,  at  Venice,  274  sq. 
Tendilla,  Count  of,  360,  361 
Terdshan,  battle  of,  82 
Terouanne,  capture  of,  140  ;  surrender  of, 
481 

Teutonic  Knights,  the,  293,  343,  345 
Tezcucans,  the,  39 
Tezcuco,  42 

Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  535 
Thorn,  peace  of  (1466),  293 
Thurgau,  the,  308 

Tiepolo,  Bajamonte,   conspiracy  of,  261, 
273 

Tiepolo,  Jacopo,  269 
Tifernas,  Gregory,  575 


806 


Index 


Titian,  284 
Titicaca,  Lake,  45 
Tlatohuani  (Motecuhzoma) ,  41,  42 
Tlaxcallan,  41,  42 
Tlaxcaltecs,  the,  42 
Tocco,  81 
Toltecs,  the,  40 
Tomasevi6,  Stephen,  72 
Tomory,  Paul,  Archbishop  of  Kalocsa,  96, 
97,  339 

Tornabuoni,  Lorenzo,  175,  176 

Toro,  battle  of,  352 

Torok,  Valentine,  340 

Torquemada,  Thomas  de.  Grand  Inquisitor, 

359,  360 
Torresano,  Andrea,  284 
Tortona,  occupation  of,  121 
Toscanelli,  Paul  del  Pozzo,  19,  20 
Tournay,  surrender  of,  483 
Tours,  silk  trade  of,  414  ;  synod  at,  135 
Traversari,  Ambrogio,  586,  601 
Trebizond,  fall  of,  78 ;  surrender  of,  to  the 

Turks,  285 
Treitzsaurwein,  Max,  326 
Tr^mouille,  Louis  de  la,  116,  122,  126,  139 
Trent,  Council  of,  235,  652,  691 
Trier,  Diet  of  (1512),  320  sq. 
Tristam,  Nuno,  13 

Trithemius  (von  Trittenheim) ,  Johann,  611 
Trivulzio,  Gian  Giacomo,  114,  121  sqq., 

135  sqq.,  198,  249 
Tudors,  the  early,  chap,  xiv,  passim 
Tumanbeg,  91 

Tupi-Guarani,  the,  38,  44,  59 
Turcomans,  the,  82 
Turin,  peace  of  (1381),  264 
Turks,  the :  see  Ottomans 
Turnebus  (Adrien  Turn^be),  576 
Turoczi,  Benedictus,  343 
Turuiani,  Giovacchino,  General  of  Domini- 
cans, 183 

Tyre,  siege  and  capture  of  (1123),  254 
Tyrol,  296 


Ujlaky,  Lawrence,  336,  337 

Uirich,  Duke  of  Wiirtemberg,  321,  322 

Urbino,  see  Montefeltro 

Utrecht,  423,  428  ;  siege  of  (1484),  445 

Valencia,  in  Middle  Ages,  352;  the  Ger- 

mania  of,  376  sq. 
Valenza,  121 

Valeriano,  Giampetro,  the  De  Literatorum 

Infelicia  of,  567 
Valla,  Lorenzo,  545,  546,  602,  664 
Valori,  Francesco,  169,  170  sqq.,  181,  183 
Vanities,  Burning  of  the,  167,  650 
Vatican  Library,  the,  595 
Velasquez,  Diego,  41 

Venice,  68,  79-81,  87,  118,  130,  134,  246, 
chap.  VIII,  passim  ;  Aldine  Press  at,  562  ; 
League  of  (1494),  362  ;  manufacture  of 
glass  and  silk  at,  496,  512  ;  trade  of,  in 
fourteenth  century,  494 


Verboczy,  Stephen,  337,  339 
Vergerius,  Pietro  Paolo  (the  elder),  556 
Vergil,  Polydore,  489 
Verino,  188 

Verona  and  Maximilian  I,  487 

Veronese,  Paolo,  284 

Verrazzano,  Giovanni  da,  36,  43,  44 

Vesc,  Etienne  de,  109 

Vespasiano  da  Bisticci,  552,  553 

Vespucci,  Americo,  24,  34,  35,  57 

Vespucci,  Guidantonio,  169,  176,  222 

Vetkoopers,  the,  421 

Vicente,  Gil,  380 

Vicenza,  siege  of,  266 

Victorius,  Petrus  (Pietro  Vettori),  200,  567 

Vida,  Marco,  564 

Vienna,  314;  "Congress"  of,  344;  siege 
of,  97  sq.  ;  Hungarians  expelled  from, 
296  ;  University  of,  325 

Vigarny,  Philip  de,  382 

Vilain,  Adrian,  447 

Villalar,  Comuneros  routed  at,  375 

Villegagnon  (Nicolas  Durand),  48,  49 

Villeroy  (French  ambassador),  489 

Villon,  Francois,  415 

"Vineland,"  19  sqq.,  33,  50 

Vischer,  Peter,  326 

Visconti,  Filippo  Maria,  Duke  of  Milan, 
278  sqq. 

Visconti,  Gian  Galeazzo,  Duke  of  Milan, 

108,  265,  266 
Visconti,  Valentina,  Duchess  of  Orleans, 

108,  281 
Vitelli,  Paolo,  192 
Vitelli,  Vitellozzo,  193,  195,  673 
Vitovt,  Prince  of  Lithuania,  345 
Vitrier,  Jean,  681 
Vittorino  da  Feltre,  556,  557 
Vivarini,  the,  284 
Vives,  Luis,  379 

Vlad  IV,  prince  of  Wallachia,  82,  83 
Vladyks,  the,  334 
Vukcic,  Stephen,  71,  72 

Waldorf er  (printer),  284 
Wallachia,  82,  83 
Walter  (k  Water),  John,  470,  473 
Walzmiiller  (printer),  35 
Warbeck,  Perkin,  468-70,  473 
Warham,  William,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 491,  644 
Waroux^  the,  422 

Warwick,  Edward  Plantagenet,  Earl  of, 
473 

Warwick,  Richard   Nevill,  Earl   of  (the 

"  King-maker"),  464 
Wasiliei  (Ivanovic),  Czar  of  Russia,  343 
Wels,  322 

Welsers,  the,  of  Augsburg,  506,  507,  518 
Wenceslas,  Duke  of  Luxemburg,  419,  421 
Wenceslas,  King  of  the  Romans,  105,  292, 
294,  421 

Wessel,  John,  437,  460,  636,  680 
West,  Nicholas,  Bishop  of  Ely,  482 
"Western  Nile,"  14 


Index 


807 


Wettin,  House  of,  297,  298 
Wetzlar,  317 

Whit- Wednesday,  the  Terrible,  427 

Widmanstetter,  Johann  Albrecht,  604 

Wiener  Neustadt,  314,  326 

Wilford,  Ralph,  473 

William  of  Gap,  588 

William  of  Malmesbury,  598 

William  of  Wykeham,  301 

William  VI,  Count  of  Hainault,  418,  419 

William  IX,  Duke  of  Juliers  and  Gelders, 

423,  424 
Willoughby,  Sir  Hugh,  53 
Wimpheling,  Jacob,  634,  635,  690 
Windesem  Congregations,  435 
Wingfield,  Sir  Richard,  486 
Wittelsbach,  House  of,  296,  298,  315 
Wladislav    II,    King    of    Hungary  and 

Bohemia,  69,  70,  296,  317,  318,  chap,  x, 

passim 

Wolfgang,  Duke  of  Bavaria-Munich,  315 
Wolsey,  Cardmal,  323,  324,  336,  chap,  xiv, 

ii,  passim,  645 
Woodville,  Lord,  466 


Worms,  Diet  of  (1495),  303  sqq.;  its  Edict, 

305  sq. 
Wiirtemberg,  298 

Ximenes,  Cardinal,  355,  360  sqq.,  380,  578, 

625,  651 

Yahuarpampa,  45 

York,  Richard,  Duke  of,  451 

Ypres,  425  sqq. 

Yucatan,  41,  43 

Zacharias,  Pope,  552 

Zamorin,  the,  of  Calicut,  26,  29,  30 

Zancani,  Andrea,  87 

Zapolya,  John,  96,  97,  317,  336,  337 

Zapolya,  Stephen,  336 

Zara,  255 

Zeeland,  420 

Zenete,  Marquis  of,  377 

Zeno,  Carlo,  259 

Ziska,  John,  331 

Zumel,  Dr,  370,  374 

Zurara,  Gomez  Eaunes  de,  15,  16 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

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THE  LIFE  OF  NAPOLEON  I. 

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